Pick CapCut if…
you edit trend-driven TikToks and Reels and want templates, effects and a usable free plan.
Both are phone-friendly editors for short-form creators. CapCut is a template-driven editor with an AI toolkit and a generous free plan, owned by ByteDance. Captions began as an auto-captioning app and now adds a chat-based editor and a Digital Twin avatar of you, but its free plan is thin.
Pick CapCut ($19.99/mo) if you want trending templates, 4K export and the most AI credits at entry, or a free plan you can actually publish from. Pick Captions ($24.99/mo) if you talk to camera and want captions styled for you, edits by chat, and a Digital Twin.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapCut | Yes | $19.99/mo | $79/mo | Short-form creators making TikTok, Reels, and Shorts who want trending templates and fast mobile editing |
| Captions | Yes | $24.99/mo | $279.99/mo | Solo creators and marketers who want auto-captioning plus an AI avatar of themselves for talking-head videos, without a studio |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated November 2, 2026
| CapCut | Captions | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | Templates and a mobile-first AI toolkit | Auto-captions, chat-based editor, Digital Twin |
| Free plan | 1080p exports, no watermark on your own edits | Basic trim and transitions, 1 caption template |
| Entry plan | Pro: 1,200 AI credits/mo, 4K, 1TB storage | Max: 500 credits/mo, Digital Twin, batch clip creation |
| Top plan | Ultra: 8,645 AI credits/mo | Frontier 4x: 5,600 credits/mo |
| Price list | Not public; varies by region and device | Max, then Frontier 1x/2x/4x |
you edit trend-driven TikToks and Reels and want templates, effects and a usable free plan.
you're a talking-head creator who wants captions handled automatically and an AI avatar of yourself.
CapCut Pro ($19.99/mo, US web price) is cheaper than Captions Max ($24.99/mo) and includes more AI credits (1,200 vs 500), though credits aren't priced the same way in both apps.
Yes. The free plan exports 1080p without a watermark on your own edits; Pro-locked templates and AI effects still add one. Captions' free plan is limited to basic trims, transitions and one caption template.
For its Digital Twin avatar and chat-based editor, and to avoid CapCut's region-dependent pricing and ByteDance privacy concerns.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.