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1. Core idea: API pricing = credits + a high-volume plan

Opus Clip uses a credit system for all processing, including the API:

• 1 credit = 1 minute of video processing.

• Credits are consumed based on the length of the source video you send (or the portion you choose).

• This same rule applies whether you use the web app or the Opus Clip API.

So when you think about “Opus Clip API pricing,” you’re really asking two things:

1. Which plan do I need to even access the API?

2. What’s my cost per processing minute at that plan level?

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2. The plans behind Opus Clip API access

2.1 Standard plans (for context)

Opus Clip’s public plans all give you a pool of credits each month/year:

• Free Forever

  • 60 minutes/credits per month

  • Watermark, limited export time

  • No editing tools; not suitable for API or serious automation

• Starter – around $15/month

  • 150 minutes per month

  • No watermark, basic automation features

  • Aimed at solo creators

• Pro – around $29/month (or equivalent annual)

  • 300 minutes per month (or 3,600 per year on annual plans)

  • Team workspace (up to 2 seats), social scheduler, exports to Premiere/Resolve, AI B-roll, more import sources

Most reviewers agree Pro is the “sweet spot” for active creators and small agencies.

But these standard plans alone do not automatically give you API access.

2.2 API eligibility: closed beta for high-volume customers

The official docs are very clear:

“Our API is currently in closed beta and is offered only to paid large-volume annual plan users (20+ packs annual Pro plan). To assess your API qualification, please fill out this form…”

Translated:

• You need to be on a large annual Pro/Business-style agreement, typically purchasing many “packs” of Pro credits.

• API usage is treated as an enterprise / high-volume feature, not something included in a $15 or $29 hobby plan.

• Exact contract pricing is negotiated with Opus Clip’s sales team.

External guides and comparison articles back this up, listing API integrations and “enterprise storage, priority support” under a Business / custom tier, not the basic plans.

So: API pricing = Enterprise plan + credits. The unit cost per minute will depend on your negotiated packs.

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3. How credits are billed for API usage

Once you’re on an API-eligible plan, the way you pay for processing is straightforward:

• 1 credit per minute of original video submitted, rounded to whole minutes.

  • < 1 minute is rounded up to 1 credit.

  • Multi-minute videos round to the nearest whole minute.

Example:

• You send a 30-minute podcast episode via API → 30 credits deducted.

• You only process a 10-minute segment from a 90-minute webinar (using a timeframe parameter) → 10 credits.

Additional notes:

• Some non-processing actions, like posting to X via the social scheduler, also consume credits (1 credit per post). If you’re wiring Opus Clip into an autoposting pipeline, factor this into your budget.

• Storage of projects (including those created by the API) is limited; by default, projects expire after about 30 days unless your plan’s storage feature keeps them longer.

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4. Estimating your effective “API price per minute”

Because enterprise/API pricing is negotiated, we can’t give an official per-minute number—but we can estimate using public plan data.

From current public info and independent breakdowns:

• Starter: $15 for 150 credits ≈ $0.10 per minute

• Pro: $29 for 300 credits ≈ $0.096 per minute

Enterprise and “20+ Pro packs” plans typically discount further as you buy more volume, so your API cost per minute should be equal to or lower than those figures—exactly how much lower depends on:

• How many packs/credits you commit to annually

• Whether you negotiate custom Business pricing

• Temporary promotions (e.g., Cyber Month discounts on Pro/annual plans) that lower your blended cost in the first term.

So when budgeting:

1. Estimate your total monthly processing minutes.

2. Multiply by ~$0.08–$0.10 per minute as a rough planning range.

3. Use that as a starting point when talking to sales—expect discounts at higher volumes.

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5. API-specific limits that affect cost

The API has technical limits that indirectly drive how you architect your usage and spending:

• Rate limit: ~30 requests per minute per API key

• Concurrency: Up to 50 projects processing at once

• Max duration: 10-hour videos

• Max file size: 30 GB

From a cost perspective, this means:

• You can’t just fire thousands of tiny jobs per minute; you’ll need a queue.

• You should avoid sending unnecessarily long videos—trim or pre-segment them to cut credit burn.

• If your workflow requires near-real-time clipping of large events, plan for bursts and have enough credit buffer to handle spikes.

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6. Cost-control strategies for Opus Clip API projects

If you’re building a product on top of Opus Clip API, these tactics help keep your invoice predictable:

1. Trim before you clip

   • Use Opus Clip’s “processing timeframe” or pre-cut your recordings so you’re not paying for irrelevant dead air.

2. Batch ingestion

   • Group uploads and trigger clipping once per long video rather than many small overlapping runs.

3. Use test environments wisely

   • For dev/staging, work with shorter sample videos to avoid burning credits on experiments.

4. Monitor credits programmatically

   • Poll their billing/usage endpoints (or dashboard) and set alerts before your credits run low.

5. Negotiate volume discounts early

   • If you know you’ll process tens of thousands of minutes per month, talk to sales about a Business contract with API specifically called out.

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7. When does upgrading for the API make sense?

Upgrading to an API-eligible plan typically makes financial sense if:

• You’re a platform, agency, or media company generating hundreds or thousands of clips per month.

• Manual use of the web app is already taking too much time, or you’re juggling multiple team members logging in.

• You want clipping and captioning to run fully in the background—for example, auto-ingesting every new YouTube upload or broadcast and turning them into clips for your own app’s feed.

If you’re a solo creator or small team processing a few hours of content a month, the Starter or Pro UI alone is usually more cost-effective than negotiating API access.

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Opus Clip API Pricing FAQs: Clear Answers to Your Top Questions

1. Does Opus Clip have separate pricing just for the API?

Answer: No public “API-only” price list exists. The Opus Clip API uses the same credit system as the main app—you pay in minutes of video processed—and access is tied to higher-tier, large-volume plans rather than a standalone API subscription.

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2. How do credits work for Opus Clip API calls?

Answer: Credits are consumed exactly like in the web app: 1 credit = 1 minute of original video processed. If you send a 30-minute video through the API, it costs 30 credits, regardless of how many clips are generated from it.

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3. Is the Opus Clip API available on the normal Starter or Pro plans?

Answer: Not by default. The docs say the API is “currently in closed beta and offered only to paid large-volume annual plan users (20+ packs annual Pro plan)”. Regular Starter or Pro subscriptions are for UI use; you need to qualify as a high-volume/enterprise customer for API access.

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4. What does “20+ packs annual Pro plan” actually mean for pricing?

Answer: Opus doesn’t publish a public table for these large-volume packs. In practice, it means you’re committing to a lot of Pro-level credits on an annual contract, and API access is part of that custom deal. Exact pricing is negotiated with their sales team rather than set from the website.

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5. How much does a “normal” Opus Clip plan cost (without API)?

Answer: Third-party pricing trackers and reviews list:

• Starter around $15/month

• Pro around $29/month

• A custom Business/enterprise tier on top of that

All plans are credit-based, and there’s also a limited free tier.

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6. So what’s my real cost per minute when I use the API?

Answer: Since 1 credit = 1 minute, your effective rate is:

Monthly price ÷ credits included = cost per processed minute.

Guides that analyze Opus Clip pricing show it works out to roughly $0.08–$0.10 per minute on standard Pro plans; high-volume/API contracts usually negotiate a lower per-minute rate depending on how many credits you commit to.

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7. Does the API charge extra for posting or scheduling clips?

Answer: Yes, some actions other than processing can also consume credits. For example, posting to X (Twitter) via the scheduler costs 1 credit per post, so if your API workflow triggers auto-posting, you’ll spend minutes on content and credits on distribution.

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8. Are there any limits that affect how I spend credits with the API?

Answer: The API has technical limits that indirectly shape your costs:

• 30 requests per minute per API key

• Up to 50 concurrent projects

• Max 10-hour video length, 30 GB file size

• Projects expire after 30 days by default

Hitting rate or concurrency limits returns HTTP 429, so most devs queue jobs and avoid sending unnecessary footage to keep credits under control.

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9. Can I test the API on the free plan to see how much it would cost?

Answer: Not really. The free plan is good for testing the web app and includes a small bucket of credits with watermarks, but API access is restricted to large annual customers, not free users. To test the API itself, you’d need to work with Opus Clip sales and get into the closed beta.

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10. Is Opus Clip API pricing worth it vs just hiring an editor?

Answer: Opus’s own case-study blog argues that using their credit system can cut editing costs by up to ~70%, citing examples like “1,000 credits for $29/month” eliminating thousands in hourly editor fees. Whether that holds for you depends on your volume and how much manual polishing you still do after the auto-clips.

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11. How should I budget if I want to build a product on top of the API?

Answer: A common Reddit strategy is:

1. Estimate how many minutes of source video you’ll process per month.

2. Multiply that by ~$0.08–$0.10 as a rough per-minute range.

3. Add some buffer (10–20%) for retries, test jobs, and social posting credits.

4. Take that estimate to Opus Clip and negotiate a Business/API contract that matches or beats it.

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12. Where do I go if I want exact Opus Clip API pricing instead of guesses?

Answer: There’s no public calculator for API-only pricing. To get exact numbers, you have to:

1. Check the API overview & credits docs so you understand how billing works.

2. Fill out the API request/contact form and talk to their sales team about your volume, contract length, and required features.

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13. Does Opus Clip really offer a developer API?

Yes. Opus Clip (sometimes referred to as “Opus Pro” in documentation) provides an official developer API that converts long-form videos into short, social-ready clips with captions and consistent branding at scale.