OBS Studio vs Opus Clip vs Riverside vs Submagic
A side-by-side look at OBS Studio, Opus Clip, Riverside and Submagic for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
-
Free, open-source app for live streaming and recording scenes from any source
- Price
- Free. No paid tier; optional donations via Open Collective or Patreon
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Recording a live performance, panel or stage event from several cameras with a laptop
-
Cut long videos into vertical shorts with AI clip detection, reframing and captions
- Price
- Free / $15/mo Starter / $29/mo Pro; Business custom
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Turning a weekly podcast or interview episode into a batch of Shorts, Reels and TikToks
-
Record remote podcast and video interviews in 4K, then edit by text and prompt.
- Price
- Free; Pro $24/mo billed annually ($29 monthly); Business custom
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Remote podcast interviews recorded at 4K with separate tracks for post
-
AI captions, Magic Clips and B-roll for short-form, now with an API and MCP server
- Price
- From $12/mo billed annually ($19 monthly) · Pro $23/mo annual ($39 monthly) · Business $41/mo annual ($69 monthly)
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Repurposing podcasts, interviews and webinars into captioned vertical clips
The short version
Where they differ
- OBS Studio is the only one without team collaboration.
- Only Riverside offers text to image.
- OBS Studio is the only one without MCP server.
- Only OBS Studio offers open source.
Feature by feature
OBS Studio vs Opus Clip vs Riverside vs Submagic: capabilities
| OBS Studio | Opus Clip | Riverside | Submagic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free. No paid tier; optional donations via Open Collective or Patreon | Free / $15/mo Starter / $29/mo Pro; Business custom | Free; Pro $24/mo billed annually ($29 monthly); Business custom | From $12/mo billed annually ($19 monthly) · Pro $23/mo annual ($39 monthly) · Business $41/mo annual ($69 monthly) |
| Node / flow builder | No | Partial | No | No |
| AI agent | No | Partial | Yes | No |
| Chat assistant | No | Partial | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Team collaboration | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text to image | No | No | Yes | No |
| Text to video | No | No | Yes | Partial |
| Video to video | No | Yes | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Voice / TTS | No | Partial | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Music & SFX | No | Partial | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Upscaling | No | Yes | Partial | No |
| Third-party models | No | No | Partial | No |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| MCP server | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Desktop / local | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Open source | Yes | No | No | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Commercial use | Yes | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
OBS Studio
| OBS Studio | $0free |
|---|
Opus Clip
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Starter | $15monthly |
| Pro | $29monthly |
| Business | Customcustom |
Riverside
| Free | $0n/a |
|---|---|
| Pro | $24/mo annual ($288/yr); $29 monthlyannual or monthly |
| Grow | $34/mo annual ($408/yr); $39 monthlyannual or monthly |
| Webinar | $79/mo annual; $99 monthlyannual or monthly |
| Business | Customby request |
Submagic
| Starter | $19/member/mo monthly, $12/member/mo billed yearlymonthly or yearly |
|---|---|
| Pro | $39/member/mo monthly, $23/member/mo billed yearlymonthly or yearly |
| Business | $69/member/mo monthly, $41/member/mo billed yearlymonthly or yearly |
| Custom / API credit packs | Contact sales; API packs from $57/mo (250 min) to $1,000/mo (10,000 min)monthly |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
OBS Studio
Pick it for
- Recording a live performance, panel or stage event from several cameras with a laptop
- Recording screen walkthroughs and tutorials for film or editing courses
- Feeding a scene into video calls or a client review via the virtual camera
Stands out
- Free with no paid tier, no watermark, no export or recording-length cap, and no account required
- Unlimited scenes and sources, with Studio Mode, Multiview and per-source audio filters (noise gate, noise suppression, gain) plus VST plugin support
Watch out
- Not an editor: recordings need to go into a separate NLE or export tool
- Interface is dense and has a real learning curve for first-time users
Opus Clip
Pick it for
- Turning a weekly podcast or interview episode into a batch of Shorts, Reels and TikToks
- Pulling highlight reels from long gaming or sports streams
- Producing vertical cutdowns of a 16:9 talk or documentary interview for social
Stands out
- ClipAnything works on any genre (vlogs, gaming, sports, interviews, explainers), not just podcasts, and accepts a plain-language prompt to pull a specific moment.
- Hosted MCP server at mcp.opus.pro/mcp with OAuth sign-in: an AI assistant can submit a video, list ranked clips, apply edit scripts, export and schedule without a separate API key.
Watch out
- Free plan watermarks animated caption templates and exports are capped at 1080p
- Credits are consumed per imported minute, so long source footage burns the allowance quickly
Riverside
Pick it for
- Remote podcast interviews recorded at 4K with separate tracks for post
- Turning a long interview into vertical clips, show notes and social posts
- Documentary talking-head interviews that need clean multitrack audio from remote subjects
Stands out
- Local multitrack capture: each guest is recorded on their own device, so a bad connection degrades the stream, not the file.
- Transcript-first editing: the AI editing agent and edit-by-prompt work from the transcript, so filler removal and cuts happen in text.
Watch out
- Free plan exports are 720p with a watermark, and recording is capped at 2 hours one-off
- Recording caps are inconsistent: the pricing table lists hours per month, while the FAQ says recording is unlimited and the cap only applies to downloads
Submagic
Pick it for
- Repurposing podcasts, interviews and webinars into captioned vertical clips
- Channels that publish a batch of shorts a week in one caption style
- Agencies scripting clip production through the API or MCP server
Stands out
- Official MCP server and REST API on the same API key and credit pool, so the same jobs can run from a script or from Claude Code
- Caption templates modeled on named creator styles, with automatic keyword highlights and emoji insertion
Watch out
- Credit allowances are small: Starter's 45 credits cover about 15 videos
- Source length caps (2 min on Starter) rule it out for long-form work on low tiers
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page, checked against vendor pricing and changelog pages (oldest check: ). Sources are listed on each tool's page.
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