Video making & editing
This category covers two different jobs. Editors like Edits, CapCut and InShot cut phone footage into reels and add captions, and CapCut sat at number 1 among free Photo and Video apps in the UK App Store in October 2026. The AI generators (Google Flow, Kling, Runway, Higgsfield) make new clips from a description, charge by credits that run out quickly, and draw steady billing complaints in user reviews.
Updated monthly.
Kenning's picks
Ranked by Kenning score out of 25. Tools scoring 12 or less are marked not recommended.
Edits (Instagram)
Edits is free, exports in 4K with no watermark, and does most of what casual Reels makers used to pay CapCut for. It needs an Instagram account, clips are capped at 10 minutes, and the AI animate and restyle tools produce soft, low-resolution results in testing. Meta can train its AI on public Instagram posts from UK adults unless they file an objection form.
Best for Free Reels and short clips for Instagram
CapCut
CapCut is the default editor for short social clips in the UK, sitting at number 1 in the App Store's Photo and Video free chart, and its templates and auto-captions turn phone footage into a finished reel quickly. Through 2026 more basic tools moved behind paid plans, with Pro listed at £21.99 a month, and user is full of users leaving over it. The privacy policy allows content and usage to train ByteDance's models, with no opt-out offered.
Best for Quick TikToks and reels with captions and templates
OpusClip
OpusClip finds candidate moments, crops them for phone screens and adds captions far faster than doing the first pass by hand. Independent 2026 tests still found that every clip needs a human check, because the score does not reliably pick the best moments. The free plan has a watermark and three-day export window, while paid plans start at $15 a month. Uploaded videos may be used for product improvement and model development, with a specific opt-out stated only for EU and EEA users.
Best for Podcasters, interviewers and teachers with regular long videos to turn into social clips
InShot
InShot is the easy option for cutting holiday clips, adding a song and some text on a phone, and it has 374,523 ratings averaging 4.81 on the UK App Store. The free version adds a watermark and ads, but Pro costs £4.99 a month or £49.99 once for life. Its AI tools trail CapCut's, and the privacy policy has not been updated since 2023.
Best for Quick family and holiday clips edited on a phone
Google Flow
Flow makes eight to ten second clips with sound from a sentence or a photo, and Google's Omni Flash model went straight to first place on Artificial Analysis video rankings in July 2026. Credits run out fast, since one Quality clip costs 100 of the 1,000 monthly credits in the £18.99 Google AI Pro plan. It is for adults only, and every clip carries an invisible SynthID watermark.
Best for Adults making short AI clips for social posts or fun
Captions
Captions takes a clip of someone talking and adds subtitles, zooms, cuts and B-roll in one tap, which is why 20 million people have tried it. The free plan has no AI credits, so the useful parts start at £9.99 a month on the UK App Store, and the Android version is a cut-down Lite app. Its privacy policy allows face and voice data to train its models and lets it pass data to third parties for training their algorithms.
Best for Regular posters of talking-to-camera clips on iPhone
Kling AI
Kling makes some of the most realistic AI clips available to the public, and it was the number one free Graphics & Design app in the UK on 10 October 2026. The free allowance buys very little, and user reviews is full of complaints about credits that expire, paid credits stuck in queues and charges after cancelling. It is owned by Kuaishou of Beijing, stores data in Singapore and blocks politically sensitive Chinese topics.
Best for Hobbyists wanting realistic AI clips from a photo
Runway
Runway makes some of the most convincing AI clips around, and in its own January 2026 test viewers spotted Gen-4.5 fakes only 57.1% of the time. The free plan is a one-off 125 credits, Standard costs £14.99 a month in the UK app, and individual reviewers report 15 seconds of video eating half a month's credits. Inputs and outputs train its models with no opt-out, and it faces a 2026 class action over scraped YouTube videos.
Best for Hobbyists and creators making short cinematic AI clips
Higgsfield
Higgsfield puts many of the leading AI video models in one website with ready-made camera moves, and it says it has 30 million users. Free accounts get no credits, plans start at $19 a month, and user reviews and The Register are full of complaints about throttled 'unlimited' deals, trial charges and refused refunds. In February 2026 Forbes found its marketing team had sent creators racist clips and nonconsensual deepfakes of celebrities to promote it.
Best for Heavy AI video users wanting many models under one bill
More tools
Adobe Premiere (iPhone)
Adobe's free phone editor with a multi-track timeline, auto captions and no watermark; launched September 2025.
Argil
Makes short social videos from a written idea, using a digital double trained from one selfie.
Descript
Desktop and web editor that edits video and podcasts by editing the transcript; no phone app.
GoEnhance AI
A web video tool that restyles clips as anime or cartoons, animates photos and swaps faces.
Grok Imagine
xAI's image and video generator inside the Grok app and on grok.com
Hailuo AI
MiniMax video generator from text or an image. iPhone app missing in the UK store. Android is on Google Play.
Hedra
A web studio that makes short videos, images and speaking characters by mixing several AI video models.
HeyGen
Avatar app that turns a script, photo or recording into a talking-head video for businesses, with obvious likeness questions.
HeyGen Video Agent
HeyGen's AI agent that turns a prompt into a finished video with presenter, graphics and B-roll
Higgsfield Supercomputer
Higgsfield's cloud AI agent that plans and makes marketing content with memory and scheduled tasks
HyperFrames Studio
HeyGen desktop app where an AI agent builds a video that is then edited by typing or drawing
invideo
Prompt-to-video tool that writes a script, adds stock or generated footage, voiceover and subtitles; leans to marketers and ads.
Kling AI Avatar 2.0
Kling feature that turns one picture and a voice track into a talking avatar video up to five minutes
LTX Studio
Plans and generates short AI films from a script, with storyboards, characters and camera controls.
Luma Dream Machine
Luma AI's image and video generator with a chat-style iPhone app; no Android app.
Luma Ray3 Modify
Luma's video editing mode that restyles real footage while keeping the actor's movement and timing
Magic Hour
A website of AI tools for making and editing short videos and images, such as face swaps and animation.
Media.io AI Video Enhancer
An online tool that sharpens blurry or low-resolution video clips, up to 4K.
Morph Studio
Generates short videos and images from text or a starting picture, using several AI models in one place.
Nero AI Video Upscaler
Windows software that sharpens old or low-quality videos to higher resolution and smoother motion.
Pika
Makes short videos from a text prompt or a photo, with effects for turning pictures into clips.
PixVerse
AI video generator known for viral effect templates (photo to video), on web and phone.
Reface
Face-swap app that puts a selfie into trending videos and movie clips; a novelty with clear deepfake and consent questions.
Revid AI
Turns a script, link or idea into short social videos with voiceover, captions and stock or AI footage.
Riverside
Records podcasts and video interviews in high quality over the internet, with AI editing and clip tools.
Screen Studio
Mac screen recorder that adds smooth zooms and cursor effects automatically, for polished tutorials and demos.
Shots: Photo & Video Generator
Turns a photo or sentence into an AI dance or cinematic clip. Charting in the UK, with few reviews.
Splice
Simple phone video editor from Bending Spoons with trimming, speed ramps and overlays; mostly behind a weekly subscription.
Topaz Video
Software that upscales and cleans up old or low-quality video and can turn ordinary footage into smooth slow motion.
VEED
A browser video editor that trims clips, adds subtitles, translates speech and can generate short videos from typed prompts.
Videoleap
Lightricks phone editor with templates and AI effects, aimed at social clips.
Vidu
Makes short video clips with sound from a written description, a still image or reference pictures.
VN Video Editor
Free multi-track phone editor with no watermark, plus auto captions and filler-word removal.