FAQ
Short answers to the things people ask before they get started. If your question isn't here, the troubleshooting guide covers the common snags, and you can always reach a human.
Is it free to start?
Yes. Signing up is free, and you land in a workspace you can use right away.
BitterClip is free to start. Create your account and you're in a working space right away. We'll email you a verification link when you sign up — click it to start uploading and transcribing recordings.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. BitterClip is built for creators, not developers. There's nothing to install, no config files, and no commands to run. You upload a recording, pick the part you want to keep, and BitterClip handles the rest. If you can highlight text, you can make a clip.
What happens after I upload?
BitterClip transcribes the recording for you, lining up every word with the audio. Once that's done, you open the episode and pick the part you want, either in the browser or by chatting with your assistant. How long the transcription takes depends on how long your recording is, but you can leave the page and come back to it later.
Does it work with ChatGPT, Claude, or both?
Both, but the connection rules are different today. Claude lets every plan add a custom connector (Free accounts can add one). In ChatGPT, custom-app access and available actions depend on your plan and workspace policy. The assistant guide walks through both paths. You can always skip the assistant and work in your browser.
Do I have to use an AI assistant, or can I use the browser?
Either one. The clipping itself works the same whether you chat or click, and your recordings, episodes, and clips show up in both places.
Where do my recordings and clips live?
In your BitterClip workspace. Uploaded recordings stay there, and every clip you export lands in your project's Outputs tab, the gallery of finished clips, ready to download or share.
You don't type in timestamps. You (or your AI assistant) pick the strongest moment by choosing the words to keep, right in the transcript. Every word in the transcript is already lined up to the audio, so BitterClip knows exactly when each one was spoken.
The cut runs from the first word you kept to the last, with a little breathing room added before and after so the clip doesn't feel clipped off. It lands in the natural gaps between words, so a clip never starts or ends mid-word. To get the edge exactly right, your assistant can look closely at the actual sound at a cut point and choose to end the clip just before the next breath. You get a clean clip that starts and ends on a full thought.
Because the cut comes from the words, every clip stays tied to its recording, its speaker, and the exact moment it came from. You can always trace a clip back to the spot in the recording where it was said.
The find and share guide shows where everything ends up.
Will it post to my channels without asking?
You're in control. First you connect a channel yourself (see connect your channels), then you choose how each project handles publishing.
You stay in control of what goes out. Nothing gets posted until you set up a channel first, and connecting one just lets BitterClip post on your behalf when you ask it to.
Each project has its own publishing setting, and you choose which one fits:
- Wait for my approval (the default): clips are prepared as drafts and sit ready for you to look over. Nothing goes out until you say so.
- Publish automatically: once you turn this on for a project, ready clips post to your connected channels on their own. You opt into it, so it's never the starting point.
Your account, your plan, and your payment details always live on BitterClip's own site, and nothing you connect can reach them.
You can read the whole flow on the publish a clip page.
Can two people work on one episode or one project?
Yes, in two ways.
First, one episode can be built from more than one recording:
There are three things you'll work with in BitterClip, and each one comes from the last.
- Recording — a video or audio file you upload. This is your raw source: the full interview, the whole podcast take, the long stream.
- Episode — the recording laid out as a transcript timeline, with the words lined up to the audio. This is where you actually work. An episode can be one recording on its own, or several recordings joined into a single timeline. When you upload a recording, BitterClip transcribes it and turns it into its own episode for you automatically.
- Clip — a short, exported cut taken from an episode. You pick the part worth keeping, and the clip is what you download or post.
So the path is simple: Recording → Episode → Clip. Upload a recording, open it as an episode, pick your clip.
One episode can come from more than one recording. Say you record your side of a conversation and a guest records theirs. You upload your video, then add the guest's into the same episode. Now it's two recordings, one episode: a single timeline you clip from as if it were one piece.
Second, you can invite an editor or client into a project. They get an invite link, accept it, and then they can pull their own clips from your recordings, in the browser or by connecting their own assistant. The projects and collaborators page covers inviting people.
What file types can I upload?
Any common video or audio file. Podcasts, interviews, calls, recorded streams: if your device sees it as video or audio, you can upload it and BitterClip will transcribe it.
Large files are fine too. How big you can go depends on your plan. If a file gets rejected, it's almost always because your device didn't label it as video or audio. Re-export it through a normal recorder or editor so it comes out as a standard video or audio file, and it'll go through.
Still have a question?
Need a hand? Email us at hello@bitterclip.com and tell us what you were trying to do. A real person reads every message, and the more detail you share, the faster we can help.