sooo i've been looking into this too! For ur situation, I would suggest:

- CapCut Desktop Pro: Honestly just $7.99/mo. It's got killer auto-captions and 4K export.
- Descript Creator Plan: Around $15/mo. Basically lets u trim video by editing text.
- Veed.io Basic Plan: Usually $18/mo.

Tbh CapCut feels like the best deal, but be careful with credit limits on others... i think they get pricey fast. GL!

yo, been thinking about your question and i totally get the frustration with those $30+ price tags... it's honestly ridiculous for casual projects. if you want to avoid the ones already mentioned, you might want to consider Clipchamp Premium. since Microsoft bought them, it's actually become a decent contender for basic social media stuff. it's only like $12 a month and handles 1080p (or even 4K) without watermarks. it has basic AI text-to-speech and some decent auto-captions, though it's not as "fancy" as the high-end AI stuff.

but if you need more technical "oomph," i'd honestly suggest checking out the Filmora 13 Monthly Plan. i think it's usually around $19.99/mo. the reason i like it is the AI smart cutout and the "AI Copilot" which actually helps you find tools. it's much more of a "real" editor than some web-based tools, and the smart trimming (silence detection) is a huge time saver for cleaning up raw footage.

one thing to be careful about with these budget tiers is the *credit system* for AI features. even if the sub is $15, they might limit you to like 20 minutes of auto-captions per month. make sure to check the fine print on "AI Credits" specifically. for text-to-video stuff specifically, InVideo AI Plus Plan is solid, but it pushes the upper limit of your budget at $20/mo. it's highkey the best for those "faceless" social clips tho. basically, just watch out for those hidden limits on export minutes! peace.

Seconded!

> I’m specifically looking for an AI video editor that offers a solid "starter" or "basic" monthly tier. Honestly, if u look at the market landscape right now, the value prop for Pictory is pretty interesting for ur specific needs. Their "Starter" plan hovers right around $19/mo, which is basically the ceiling of ur budget, but the text-to-video automation is technically more robust than basic editors. Another one to watch is Runway. Their Standard plan is $15/mo. From a technical spec standpoint, their Gen-2 and Gen-3 research models are way ahead of the "template-based" editors, though the learning curve is steeper. Most of these SaaS companies are moving toward a credit-based GPU usage model rather than unlimited exports, so just double-check the "compute credits" before subbing. Pretty sure both beat the watermark issue on their entry tiers while giving u more *actual* AI power.

Solid advice 👍

Re: "Solid advice 👍" - totally agree with the suggestions so far. i've been testing a bunch of these for my own channel over the last year and found a couple of gems that fit that sub-$20 sweet spot perfectly. honestly, i’ve been very satisfied with Canva Pro Subscription lately. it's about $15 a month and they recently added a ton of AI features. the background remover and the tool for changing video formats from landscape to vertical works well for my workflow. no complaints about the export quality since it handles 1080p easily. another one i use is the OpusClip Starter Plan which sits right at $19/mo. if you're doing social media clips, this thing is a beast. it takes a long video and uses AI to find the best hooks, then automatically adds those trendy captions. i was skeptical at first but it saves me hours of manual trimming. definitely worth a look if you want to skip the watermarks and get high-res exports without spending a fortune.

Yo, just saw this thread! Tbh if you're looking for a DIY approach that's super versatile for social clips, you should definitely check out InVideo AI. Their monthly tier is right at that $20 mark and it's basically a beast for churning out videos from just a text prompt. I use it for my side projects all the time and the AI voiceovers are actually decent too!!! Another one that people usually sleep on is Ssemble. It’s basically a browser-based editor where you can add specific AI plugins like "Auto Subtitles" or "Background Remover" as you need them. It keeps the workflow really clean and the pricing is usually around $15/mo which fits your budget perfectly tho. Honestly, the best part is that you don't need a crazy powerful computer to run these since they're cloud-based (at least that's why I like them). Both offer 1080p exports and no watermarks on the paid tiers so you're good to go there. Definitely worth a look if you want to avoid those massive corporate subscriptions???