# Slice > Slice is built by video editors, and it cuts like one. It makes short captioned clips and transcripts from long podcasts and videos, for podcasters, churches and coaches. Upload a long episode, sermon, class or interview, video or audio only, and Slice finds the moments worth posting, cuts them into vertical clips with word-by-word captions, and gives you the transcript. AI agents can do the same through the Slice MCP server and the Slice API. Slice is also listed as "Slice Media". Its home is https://tryslicemedia.com (not the package tracker app of the same name). ## Start here - Shorts by Slice, clips from a long video or audio episode: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts - Slice for AI agents, setup for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Claude Code: https://tryslicemedia.com/agents - MCP server (streamable HTTP, OAuth): https://mcp.tryslicemedia.com/mcp - Slice API reference: https://tryslicemedia.com/developers - OpenAPI 3.1 file: https://tryslicemedia.com/openapi.json - Free transcription, audio and video to text: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/audio-to-text - For podcasters: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcasters - For churches: https://tryslicemedia.com/churches - Full detail for AI systems: https://tryslicemedia.com/llms-full.txt ## 1. Shorts by Slice Turns a long video (podcast, stream, interview, sermon) into captioned vertical clips. It reads the whole transcript, picks the moments worth posting, cuts them and burns in captions. Upload the recording (MP4, MOV, MP3 and more, up to three hours and 4.5GB). Audio-only podcasts and sermons (Slice Audio, the audio-only line of Shorts by Slice, at https://tryslicemedia.com/audio-podcast-clips): upload an MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG or FLAC with no video and Slice clips it the same way, drawing each vertical clip with one of 46 templates made from the transcript's words, the show's cover art, host and guest photos and the real sound level (cover art with big captions and a moving waveform, kinetic type, a notes app, a reply sticker, a pull quote that ends on a quote card, a chat thread, faces that light up when each person talks, split screen, polaroid, neon and more). A video episode can switch to the same templates with a Video / Audio switch, and each side keeps its own settings. For podcasters: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcasters Who it is for: podcasters, solo creators, clippers, interviewers, social media managers and churches (sermon clips). URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts For churches: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/for/churches (sermon clips: upload the recording of the sermon or the finished livestream; Slice lists the moments that stand on their own, captioned and vertical for Reels, Shorts and TikTok). Step-by-step guide with a real sermon: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/sermon-to-short-clips Church Reels ideas: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/church-reels-ideas (ideas grouped by where they come from: sermon moments, worship and the music licence problem, baptisms and testimonies with consent, announcements, volunteers, kids and youth with photo permission, Easter, Advent and Christmas, prayer; and a weekly plan built on one sermon). Sermon notes from a YouTube video: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/sermon-notes-from-youtube (download your own sermon from YouTube Studio, upload the file to Slice Transcribe; with Transcribe hours, Slice lists every Bible passage named with its time, splits the sermon into parts, keeps starred quotes, can draft an AI outline and small-group questions labelled as AI, and gives a Sermon notes Word file and a print page). How to start a remote podcast: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/how-to-start-a-remote-podcast (host and guests in different places: record each person on their own machine with Riverside, Descript Rooms, Zencastr or StreamYard, or Zoom with separate audio files; a guest kit; backups; starter kits at $0, about $120, about $490 and $1,000+ with prices read 6 October 2026; real podcasters' mistakes, time per episode and monthly costs). How to start an in-person podcast: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/how-to-start-an-in-person-podcast (everyone in one room: a dynamic mic and a track per person, recorders and mixers compared by inputs and headphone jacks, headphones and splitters, room treatment on a budget, mic technique and bleed, cameras; starter kits at $0, about $130, about $500 and $1,250+). How to start a church podcast: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/how-to-start-a-church-podcast (the sermon as a podcast from the sound desk or the livestream, a volunteer rota, hosting and submitting the RSS feed to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, what CCLI's Streaming License and ONE LICENSE cover for podcasts, consent for congregants' voices, a weekly routine, original shows, and starter kits). Best sermon clip tools for churches: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/best-sermon-clip-tools (Sermon Clips, Pulpit AI, Sermon Shots, OpusClip, Choppity, Clypse and Shorts by Slice compared from each tool's own public pages and pricing on 5 October 2026; we make Slice. Price, free tier, YouTube link or upload, caption languages, whether a person makes the clips, worship music, and what each makes besides clips, with when each is the right choice. Slice's stated weaknesses for churches: no team accounts yet, YouTube sometimes blocks a link so upload the file, no posting. Side by side: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/sermon-clips, https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/pulpit-ai, https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/sermon-shots) Slice Audio, clips for audio-only podcasts: https://tryslicemedia.com/audio-podcast-clips (Slice Audio: video clips for audio-only podcasts, part of Shorts by Slice; same account, same plan and same editor as Shorts. For shows with no video: upload the MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG or FLAC, up to three hours; Slice reads the whole episode, picks moments that stand on their own with clean sentence starts and ends, and draws each as a captioned vertical clip in one of 46 templates on seven shelves (Photo, Words only, Poster, Cover, Waveform, Social, Fun); hosts' and guests' photos and names on screen with the speaker lit up, or no photos at all; brand template, colour sets and your own colours, Listen on logos; 26 of them shown playing on an illustrative show with stock-photo hosts and guests and real CC BY-SA audio; first video and first 3 clips free with no card, never watermarked; not yet: Premiere export for audio clips, posting, RSS import). Slice Audio templates: https://tryslicemedia.com/audio-podcast-clips/templates (Slice Audio: video clips for audio-only podcasts, part of Shorts by Slice. All 46 templates on their seven shelves, each playing as a real clip made by Slice's renderer from the same episode of an illustrative show, with what each one shows (photos of the people talking, names, cover art, or words only) and the names of its colour sets; first video and first 3 clips free with no card, in any template). How to turn an audio podcast into video clips: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/audio-podcast-to-video (the five ways audio-only shows make clips: static cover art, waveform audiograms, stock footage, made by hand in Canva, and templates drawn from the words; what r/podcasting says works, quoted and linked; one real CC BY-SA episode, LinuxGameCast Weekly 430, drawn in 16 of Slice's 46 audio templates (the 16 it had on 2 October 2026), with a 27-second example clip; step by step from the audio file to a vertical MP4; Headliner and other ways to do it). Should you put an audio-only podcast on YouTube: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/audio-podcast-on-youtube (yes, cheaply: YouTube Studio turns an RSS feed into static-image videos where RSS delivery is offered, but episodes sent that way cannot contain inserted advertisements; uploading yourself with a still image or audiogram; what YouTube's help pages say, quoted; podcasters' own results both ways; why Shorts from each episode do the finding, and that podcast Shorts do not appear in YouTube Music). Best podcast audiogram makers: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/best-audiogram-makers (Headliner, Wavve, Descript, Recast Studio, EchoWave, Adobe Podcast, Canva and Shorts by Slice, read from each tool's own pages on 6 October 2026: price, what is free, whether it finds the moment, the look, whether it posts; Headliner's free plan gives 1 unwatermarked audiogram a month; Wavve was bought by Disctopia in May 2025 and caps Starter at 70 upload minutes and 18 exports a month; where Slice is the wrong pick). Side by side: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/headliner and https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/wavve How to grow a podcast with short clips: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/grow-a-podcast-with-clips (do clips grow a podcast: podcasters' reports both ways, quoted and linked; Edison Research: YouTube is the service US weekly podcast listeners use most often (33%); our census: fewer than half of podcasts reach episode 7; the median chart show publishes about 372 minutes a month; 3 to 6 usable clips per hour; a routine: YouTube Shorts first, 3-4 clips per episode, measure clips on their own terms). How to pick the best moments from a podcast: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/best-moments-from-a-podcast (the 10-second setup test; story with a turn, opinion with a reason, disagreement, useful answer; 3 to 6 usable moments per hour by podcasters' counts; platform length limits from the platforms' own pages; a real CC BY-SA episode with the four moments Slice listed, their lengths, opening lines and why; AI for the shortlist, people for the choice). How to clip a video podcast into vertical clips that follow the speaker: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/podcast-speaker-framing (crop to whoever is talking; ignore turns under 1.5 seconds, hold each shot at least 3 seconds, cut in the pause, stack both people for a rapid exchange; why a centre crop keeps 31.6% of a 16:9 frame; what four Lenny's Podcast episodes (595 shots) show about switching; recording setups compared (two-box calls, two people on one camera, edited multicam, three or more); a real CC BY 4.0 two-person episode, The Impodcast Episode 1, framed by Slice with nothing done by hand, including the clip it got wrong). How long should a podcast clip be: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/how-long-should-podcast-clips-be (usually 30 to 90 seconds, and never longer than the moment; each platform's limit from its own pages, read 2 October 2026 and linked, with what to post: TikTok, Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels 30 to 90 seconds; YouTube Shorts take up to 3 minutes but stay under 60 seconds with licensed music, because Shorts over a minute with a Content ID claim are blocked; LinkedIn up to 2:30; X under 2:20 on a free account; Instagram Stories and Snapchat Spotlight from the web 60 seconds; what r/podcasting reports, quoted word for word and checked 8 October 2026; Slice's rule: every clip it finds runs 30 seconds to 2 minutes 30, fitted by whole sentences, and a clip you mark yourself runs 3 seconds to 10 minutes; a real CC BY-SA episode's four moments, 0:34 to 1:11. No video? Slice Audio makes the same clips from audio-only episodes. Published 8 October 2026; we make Slice). Slice Audio, podcast clips with your guest's photo and name: https://tryslicemedia.com/audio-podcast-clips/guest-photo (Slice Audio: video clips for audio-only podcasts, part of Shorts by Slice. From the audio alone: add the guest's photo and name once in Show & people, say which voice is theirs under Who is speaking or by clicking the name on the preview, and pick a Photo template; the guest is on screen with their name, lit up while they talk; hosts are kept for every episode, guests per episode; with no photo, the show's colour and their initials, or one picture for the episode; eight real renders on an illustrative show with Unsplash stock photos and CC BY-SA audio; first video and first 3 clips free, no card, never watermarked; same account and plan as Shorts. Published 8 October 2026). More side by side, read 8 October 2026 from each vendor's own pages, not signed in (we make Slice; each page says where the other tool is the better pick): https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/castmagic (Castmagic: Hobby $29, Starter $69, Team $199 a month, or $19, $48 and $139 billed yearly; no free plan listed; show notes, newsletters and posts plus unlimited clips and audiograms), https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/recast-studio (Recast Studio: a free trial of 60 upload minutes once; Starter $17 a month or $14 billed yearly; publishes to six platforms on Professional) and https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/echowave (EchoWave: a free-forever browser editor with 720p exports and a small badge; Basic £12 a month or £6 billed yearly, in pounds as shown from the UK). Is Headliner free? Yes, in part: an ad-supported Forever Free plan, video tools free "for a limited time", and 1 unwatermarked audiogram a month; Basic $9.99 a month gives 10 (read 8 October 2026): https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/headliner#free. Is Wavve free? Free to try, not free for good: a free trial of unstated length and no free plan; Starter $7.99 a month for 70 upload minutes and 18 exports (read 8 October 2026): https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives/wavve#free One episode, a week of posts: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/one-episode-a-week-of-posts (a day-by-day plan built from one real episode's four moments and transcript; how often to post (podcasters' views, quoted); YouTube Shorts behave like an evergreen library; 89% of chart episodes release on weekdays (our data); the free tools for transcript, chapters, carousels and safe zones). How to make podcast clips your guests will share: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/guest-clips (why most guests don't share, in hosts' own words; ask before recording; choose moments that make the guest look good; send finished captioned clips; Instagram collab posts in Instagram's own words; release forms and redos; guest clips from audio-only shows). Sermon audio to clips: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/sermon-audio-to-clips (for churches that only record the sermon audio or publish a sermon podcast: which sermon clip tools take audio (Pulpit AI says audio or video; Choppity lists MP3, WAV and M4A; Slice takes MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, FLAC with 46 templates); a real sermon moment drawn four ways; leave worship songs out; caption everything; steps). Pulpit AI vs Sermon Shots: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/pulpit-ai-vs-sermon-shots (from their own pages, read 5 October 2026 and re-checked 6 October: Pulpit AI $39/$59/$129 a month for 5/10/25 uploads with every feature on every plan, made by Subsplash; Sermon Shots $63/$67/$97 a month or $53/$57/$87 yearly, 10 upload hours a month, guides and devotionals from Silver, posts to Facebook and Instagram on Silver; a year's cost for one sermon a week; if you only need clips). Podcast captions that get watched: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/podcast-clip-captions (why caption (WHO: 430 million people need rehabilitation for disabling hearing loss); the clear area in TikTok, Reels and Shorts as Slice measured it, and the area all three leave clear; caption styles that read; speaker labels; fix names; writing the post caption). How to share a podcast on Instagram: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/share-podcast-on-instagram (to your Story from Spotify (three dots, Share, Instagram Stories) or Apple Podcasts (Share; Apple can share from a moment via Now Playing); the link sticker, which takes people who tap it to the episode; Stories disappear after 24 hours unless added to a highlight; Reels between 1.91:1 and 9:16 made from a captioned clip; collab posts with the guest; from Instagram's, Spotify's and Apple's help pages, read 8 October 2026; for audio-only shows, Slice Audio, which makes clips from audio-only episodes). YouTube Shorts for podcasters, audio-only shows included: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/audio-podcast-youtube-shorts (a square or vertical video up to three minutes is a Short; link each Short to the full episode with a related video in YouTube Studio (Content, the Short, Related video; needs advanced feature access; the video must be public or unlisted), shown as a clickable link below the channel handle; Shorts over one minute with an active Content ID claim are blocked; podcast Shorts are not in YouTube Music; what podcasters report; from YouTube's help pages and blog, read 8 October 2026; clips from audio via Slice Audio). Spotify Clips for podcasters: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/spotify-clips-for-podcasts (short videos uploaded to an episode in Spotify for Creators that appear on the show page and may be recommended in Home, Podcast feeds, Browse and Now Playing; specs: 15 to 90 seconds, up to 1 GB, .MP4 or .MOV, must contain audio, vertical recommended, one clip per episode; upload on the web: Episodes, three dots, Upload a clip, Select file, description and content checks, Publish; music only with rights; Clips analytics under Analytics, Discovery; clips vs episode previews; from Spotify for Creators' help pages, read 8 October 2026; Slice Audio clips fit once trimmed to 90 seconds or less). How to post an audio-only podcast on TikTok: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/podcast-on-tiktok (yes, as video; TikTok's help pages: uploads up to 60 minutes, in-app recordings up to 10 minutes, a browser upload uploads the entire video; what to show with no camera (captions, cover art, hosts' photos); 9:16 sizes from the ads and API specs; captions and the TikTok safe zone; podcasters report many views and fewer listens than from YouTube Shorts; read 8 October 2026; clips from audio via Slice Audio). From SermonAudio to sermon clips: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/sermonaudio-to-clips (download your church's own sermon with SermonAudio's Download button: 1080p, 720p or 360p video as MP4, HQ or standard audio as MP3, or the raw transcript; clip only your own church's sermons or with written permission; SermonAudio's Smart Clips is included for broadcasters; one point per clip, worship songs left out, captions on; for an MP3, Slice Audio, which makes clips from audio-only sermons and episodes; read 8 October 2026). Church YouTube Shorts: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/church-youtube-shorts (the full sermon and 3-5 Shorts on one channel; Shorts up to 3 minutes but blocked over 1 minute with an active Content ID claim; songs on permanent uploads get claimed; baptisms flagged by mistake; a real sermon run; church media teams' rhythms, quoted). Reels and Shorts from Sunday services: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/guides/church-reels-and-shorts-from-sunday (a practical routine for church media teams: record a clean feed without lower thirds, note 3-5 moments, caption every clip, scripture references and name titles on a vertical clip, safe zones per app, and a weekly posting plan; links the sermon clip tools comparison) Every comparison in one place: https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/alternatives (Slice alternatives and comparisons: best AI clipping tools, best stream clipping tools, best sermon clip tools, Slice compared, one page per alternative to OpusClip, Klap, Vizard, Submagic, Descript, Riverside, Choppity, quso, reap, Ssemble, Headliner, Wavve, Sermon Clips, Pulpit AI and Sermon Shots, free OpusClip alternatives, podcast to YouTube Shorts, and Spanish and Portuguese versions; each with the day its figures were read). ## 2. For AI agents: the Slice MCP server Slice has a remote MCP server for AI agents: https://mcp.tryslicemedia.com/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth sign-in). It turns a long episode, video or audio-only (MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, FLAC), into captioned vertical clips, and recordings into transcripts. Tools: start_episode, get_episode, make_clips, get_job, restyle_clip, list_styles, find_clips_about, read_captions, transcribe_audio, transcription_status, email_transcript. Works in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Claude Code (claude mcp add --transport http slice https://mcp.tryslicemedia.com/mcp). Clips use the account's Slice plan, the same as the website: first video and first 3 clips free, then $14.99 a month. Up to three hours and 4.5GB an episode; files only, no YouTube links. HTTP API: the Slice API with account keys (below, https://tryslicemedia.com/developers), and the free transcription API (under More from Slice). Setup for every app: https://tryslicemedia.com/agents ## 3. The Slice API (clips and transcripts over HTTP, account keys) The same tools as the MCP server over plain HTTP, for scripts, n8n and agents. Base URL https://tryslicemedia.com/api/v1, key as "Authorization: Bearer slk_live_..." (made in account settings at https://tryslicemedia.com/shorts/account#api). Test keys (slk_test_) return sample data and cost nothing. POST /episodes {"source_url": "https://example.com/episode.mp3"} (video or audio file link, or omit for a PUT upload url) GET /episodes/{id} (status, then the found clips) POST /episodes/{id}/clips {"clips": [1, 3]} -> job ids; GET /jobs/{id} gives a download_url POST /episodes/{id}/search {"about": "pricing"}, PATCH /clips/{id}, GET /clips/{id}/captions, GET /styles, POST /transcripts {"url": ...}, GET /me Signed webhooks (Standard Webhooks): episode.ready, clip.ready, transcript.completed. Idempotency-Key on every POST. Limits: 60 reads and 20 writes a minute per key, 30 episodes a day, 3 in progress per account. Pricing: pay as you go with credit, no plan needed: $5 an hour of episode by the minute ($1 minimum), including the clip search and 5 clip exports; $0.25 per extra export, $0.50 per extra clip search. Credit packs $10, $25, $50 (the $50 pack adds 10% extra). The $14.99 plan includes 5 API episodes a month, used before any credit. Credit packs can be refunded within 7 days for unused credit. Without credit or the plan: test mode and 3 free transcripts a month. Documentation: https://tryslicemedia.com/developers OpenAPI 3.1: https://tryslicemedia.com/openapi.json ## More from Slice ### Archive Free curated library of cinematic video clips for editors. High-quality B-roll and footage you can use in your projects. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/studio/archive ### Un-Stock Free browser-based video effects tool. Transform stock footage with film grain, light leaks, chromatic aberration, analog damage, and more. No plugins required. Export with audio. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/un-stock ### Moodboard Free visual reference tool. Capture frames from videos, organize references on an infinite canvas, add annotations, and share boards with anyone. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/moodboard ### Storyboard Free shot planning tool with AI assistance. Plan shots on an infinite canvas, add scripts, get AI suggestions for B-roll and hooks, export shot lists for your crew. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/storyboard ### Jobs Board (Catalyst) The #1 free job board for video editors and post-production professionals. Find remote, freelance, and full-time video editing jobs. Curated listings from agencies, YouTube channels, studios, and brands. Better than Indeed or LinkedIn for video-specific roles. Job categories: Video Editor, Motion Designer, Colorist, Podcast Editor, VFX Artist, and more. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/studio/catalyst ### Podshare Send finished podcast assets to guests and sponsors with one branded link. Replaces the messy Drive folder + long email after each episode. Imports your show from RSS, propagates show-level assets to every episode, lets you customise per-episode share pages, and gives guests one place to grab clips, transcripts, artwork, captions, and listen links. Built for indie podcasters, producers, and small studios. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/podshare ### Podcast Tools Directory Free directory of every tool a podcaster might use — 540+ tools across 16 categories: recording, editing, transcription, captioning, clips, hosting, asset sharing, distribution, analytics, guest workflow, monetization, music & SFX, equipment, community, voice coaching, and learning resources. Each tool has an opinionated editorial review, pros and cons, side-by-side comparison pages against alternatives in the same category, curated collections like "best free podcast tools" and "best podcast tools for agencies", and direct external links. Editorial maintained by the Slice team, no paid placements. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools Researched guides (prices read from each vendor's own page on 6 October 2026, a comparison table, a verdict and honest downsides per tool, pricing-page screenshots, and user reviews quoted word for word with links; Slice's own tools included where relevant and marked as ours): - Best podcast editing software: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-podcast-editing-software - Best podcast hosting platforms, free and cheap: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-podcast-hosting-platforms - Best AI tools to turn podcasts into short clips (OpusClip, Vizard, Klap, Riverside Magic Clips, Submagic, Choppity, Headliner, Kapwing and Shorts by Slice; prices read 6 October 2026, speaker framing and the Slice entry updated 17 October 2026): https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-podcast-clip-makers - Best podcast transcription software: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-podcast-transcription-software - Best podcast microphones under $100: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-podcast-microphones-under-100 - Best remote podcast recording software: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-remote-podcast-recording-software - Best tools for a video podcast, by stage: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-podcast-tools-for-video-podcasts - The $0 podcast stack, every free tool by stage: https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/free-podcast-starter-stack - Best transcription for long recordings and lectures, 60-90+ minute files (read 11 October 2026): https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-transcription-for-long-recordings - Best AI podcast editors in 2026 (read 11 October 2026): https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-ai-podcast-editors - Best alternatives to Riverside's editor (read 11 October 2026): https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-riverside-editor-alternatives - Best Descript alternatives for podcasters (read 11 October 2026): https://tryslicemedia.com/podcast-tools/best/best-descript-alternatives ### Church Media Tools Directory The tools a church media team uses on a Sunday, priced and compared from each vendor's own pricing page (read 6 October 2026, with a screenshot of each page): live streaming (Restream, Church Online Platform, BoxCast, Resi, StreamYard), presentation software (FreeShow, OpenLP, EasyWorship, Proclaim, MediaShout, ProPresenter), church management (Planning Center, Breeze/Tithely Church Management, Elvanto, Tithely, Rock RMS, Subsplash, Pushpay), online giving (fees per gift), worship planning (Planning Center Services, WorshipTools, Elvanto), graphics and media (Canva, Church Media Drop), sermon transcription and captions (YouTube automatic captions, Slice Transcribe, Otter, Descript, Rev) and sermon clips. Most tools have 1-4 user quotes from r/churchtech, word for word with a link, praise and complaints both. Includes a Sunday workflow diagram and three costed starter stacks: $0 a month, under $100 a month, and multi-site. We make Slice, which appears only in the sermon clips and transcription guides, marked as ours. Not tested hands-on. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/church-media-tools Guides: https://tryslicemedia.com/church-media-tools/live-streaming, /church-media-tools/presentation-software, /church-media-tools/church-management-software, /church-media-tools/online-giving, /church-media-tools/worship-planning, /church-media-tools/graphics-and-media, /church-media-tools/transcription-and-captions, /church-media-tools/sermon-clips ### Captions Burned-in subtitle tool with libass-grade typography control. Generate captions for short-form video clips with pixel-perfect font weight, letter spacing, word spacing, animations, and tracking. Built for podcasters and creators publishing video versions of audio episodes. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/captions ### Free Transcription (audio and video to text) Transcribe audio or video to text free, up to 90 minutes a file and 600MB. Returns the transcript as plain text plus SRT and VTT subtitle files. No payment, no watermark, no credit card. Three files a month per person (calendar month, UTC; they reset on the 1st), each up to 90 minutes: the first needs no account and counts as one of the three; after that, a free Slice account (counted per person, not by network). For more: Slice Transcribe hour packs (https://tryslicemedia.com/transcribe). The language is detected and the transcript comes back in that language (French, Spanish and others work; accuracy is best in English). Speakers are labelled (Speaker A, B) when more than one person talks. The 90-minute limit was chosen by measuring 96 of Slice's own transcripts (February–September 2026): median episode 47.3 minutes, 96% at or under 90 minutes, only 17% at or under 15 minutes. Audio is deleted after 7 days, transcripts after 30. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/audio-to-text Also: /tools/mp3-to-text, /tools/video-to-text, /tools/audio-to-srt, /tools/transcribe-podcast. For students: /tools/lecture-transcription (recorded lectures, notes with timestamps), /tools/seminar-transcription, /tools/research-interview-transcription. For churches: /tools/sermon-transcription (sermon recordings to text for notes and small groups), /tools/sermon-notes-template (free printable sermon notes sheet with the church name, logo, series, title, date, speaker and passages printed in; twelve templates: classic, fill in the blanks from the preacher's outline (with a leader's copy), Cornell, lined and large print for adults; ages 3–6, 7–12 and teens; S.O.A.P. journal, small-group discussion guide and a week of daily reading; a half-page bulletin insert, two to a sheet; A4 or US Letter; ink saver; typeable on a phone and shareable as a link; printed from the browser, no email; references are checked and linked, and Bible text prints only if the church pastes it from its own translation) ### Free YouTube Chapters Generator Paste a video's transcript with its times (YouTube's own "Show transcript" text, or an .srt or .vtt captions file from YouTube Studio) and get YouTube chapters: cut where the subject changes, each titled by AI from what is said in it (generic labels such as "Introduction" or "Conclusion" are rejected), checked against YouTube's rules (first chapter at 00:00, at least three, ascending, each at least 10 seconds; no < or >; 5,000-character description). Edit titles, move times a second at a time, split or join chapters, choose fewer or more chapters, see a YouTube-style progress bar preview, and copy the description block. Free, no account, no length limit for a pasted transcript. It does not take a YouTube link. A recording not yet on YouTube can be uploaded and transcribed first with the free transcription tool (three a month, each up to 90 minutes). URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/youtube-chapters-generator For churches: /tools/sermon-youtube-chapters (the Bible passage read in each chapter is named in its title; music in a livestream becomes a Worship chapter). ### Free Podcast Clip Finder (find the best clip moments in an episode) Paste an Apple Podcasts link, an RSS feed or a show's name (found in Apple's podcast directory), pick an episode, and Slice transcribes it and picks its 3 best moments to clip: 30 to 90 seconds each, with a title, start time, length, the opening line in the speaker's own words and one sentence on why it works. Each moment plays from the episode itself, and the top one is previewed as a finished audio clip with the show's cover art, captions and a waveform. Free with an email address and no account; it shares the free transcription allowance (3 episodes a month per person, each up to 90 minutes). Uploading an MP3, M4A, WAV or MP4 also works. It does not take YouTube links, and Spotify links cannot be read because Spotify does not share feeds (type the show's name instead). "Make these 3 clips" opens the episode in Shorts by Slice with the three moments already made into clips (first 3 clip exports free, then $14.99 a month). Unlike OpusClip, Riverside Magic Clips or Descript, it needs no upload or account and shows the moments before anything is made. Built for audio-only podcasts and for churches that publish sermons as a podcast. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/podcast-clip-finder By format, each with a real worked example on a public episode: /tools/podcast-clip-finder/for/sermons, /tools/podcast-clip-finder/for/interview-podcasts, /tools/podcast-clip-finder/for/audio-only-podcasts, /tools/podcast-clip-finder/for/business-podcasts, /tools/podcast-clip-finder/for/storytelling-podcasts, /tools/podcast-clip-finder/for/educational-podcasts ### Free MP3 to Video An MP3 (or M4A, WAV, OGG, FLAC) plus a cover image becomes an MP4, made in the browser: nothing is uploaded, no sign-up, no watermark. Vertical 9:16 (TikTok, Reels, Shorts), square 1:1, or 16:9 for YouTube; blurred-cover or solid-colour background; optional title and a waveform or progress bar that follows the audio. Up to 10 minutes per video. MP4 in Chrome, Edge and Safari (a browser without WebCodecs audio encoding, such as older Safari, makes it in real time); Firefox saves WebM. For a whole episode made into captioned clips of its best moments, the page points to Slice Audio (https://tryslicemedia.com/audio-podcast-clips). URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/mp3-to-video ### Slice Transcribe (hour packs) Transcription sold by the hour, paid once. No subscription, nothing renews, and the hours never expire. - 5 hours for $4.99, 15 hours for $9.99, 40 hours for $24.99 (the semester pack). One-time card payment through Stripe. - You only use what you record: each recording uses its length, rounded up to the whole minute. A 47-minute lecture uses 47 minutes. - With hours: recordings up to 3 hours, no limit on how many, notes with a [mm:ss] timestamp on every paragraph, Word (.docx), Copy for Notion, plus .txt, .srt and .vtt. Transcripts made with hours stay on the account until deleted. - Any pack can be bought as a gift: the buyer gets a link (and can have it emailed); the hours go to whoever redeems it, once. - Free stays free: three recordings a month, each up to 90 minutes, transcripts kept 30 days. Built for students (lectures, seminars, research interviews) and anyone with long recordings. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/transcribe Also: /tools/lecture-transcription, /tools/seminar-transcription, /tools/research-interview-transcription, /my-transcripts (signed-in dashboard) ### Free Transcription API (for agents and scripts) A plain HTTP API for the same transcription. POST a direct media URL, get JSON back with text, srt and vtt inline. No upload, no HTML parsing, no email step. POST https://tryslicemedia.com/api/v1/transcribe Authorization: Bearer (optional; without one: 1 file a day per IP, 10 minutes max) {"url": "https://example.com/episode.mp3", "callback_url": "https://optional"} → 202 {"id", "status", "poll_url", "callback": {"url", "secret": "whsec_..."} (only when callback_url was sent)} GET https://tryslicemedia.com/api/v1/transcribe/?token= → {"status": "completed", "text", "srt", "vtt", "duration_seconds", "word_count", "language"} callback_url (public https): when the job finishes Slice POSTs {"type": "transcript.completed" | "transcript.failed", "timestamp", "data": }, signed the Standard Webhooks way (headers webhook-id, webhook-timestamp, webhook-signature "v1,", keyed with the secret). Three tries over about 20 seconds; answer 2xx. A free key is issued in one request: POST https://tryslicemedia.com/api/v1/keys {"email": "you@example.com"}. With a key: 90 minutes a file, 2 files a day. Every refusal states the limit, what was measured, and when it resets. Documentation: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/audio-to-text/api ## Original Research All of Slice's research in one place: https://tryslicemedia.com/data (Slice Research: every report with its key finding, the by-state, by-category and by-language pages, the free tools built on the data, and how to cite: CC BY 4.0, credit "Slice (tryslicemedia.com)"; press: mediabyslice@gmail.com). ### The State of Podcasting 2026 Original data from the public RSS feeds of 881 podcasts in Apple Podcasts' top charts (top 100 in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, India and Brazil, plus the US top 50 in eleven categories), 498,956 episodes, fetched 2 October 2026. Full episodes released in the 12 months to that date (n = 114,770 with a readable duration): - Median episode length 41.8 minutes; the typical show's own median is 49.9 minutes. 35% of episodes are under 30 minutes, 38% run 30–60, 27% run over an hour. - Longest category: Comedy (typical show 66 minutes, 86 shows). Shortest large category: News (35 minutes, 114 shows). - Weekly is the most common schedule (27% of 881 shows); 15% publish daily. The median active show publishes 7.2 episodes a month. - 89% of episodes are released Monday to Friday. US shows most often release at 03:00 Eastern (midnight Pacific). - Median title: 58 characters, 9 words. 11.5% are questions, 15.4% carry an episode number, 0.6% use an emoji. - The 327 shows that published every year since 2020 went from 4.4 to 8.6 episodes a month (survivorship applies: these are today's top shows). Methodology, limitations, a searchable table of every show and CSV downloads (CC BY 4.0, credit Slice) are on the page. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/state-of-podcasting-2026 Data: two CSVs (every show, and the aggregate tables), free from https://tryslicemedia.com/data/state-of-podcasting-2026#download after entering an email. Every finding is open on the page. By category: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/state-of-podcasting-2026/category (episode length, release schedule and the top shows for each of the 11 categories with at least 40 charting shows, e.g. /data/state-of-podcasting-2026/category/comedy) ### What creative jobs pay in 2026 (open data) and the rate calculator Salaries and freelance rates for 14 creative roles (video editor, social media manager, content creator, podcast producer, podcast editor, motion designer, graphic designer, photographer, videographer, copywriter, UX/UI designer, illustrator, music producer / audio engineer, community manager) in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Employed pay is copied from official statistics: US Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025, UK ONS ASHE 2025 (provisional), Job Bank Canada 2025 release, Australian Bureau of Statistics May 2025. Freelance figures are quoted from publishers' own pages (Upwork, Fiverr, Editorial Freelancers Association, Payoneer, Bectu, The Knot) and labelled as platform data, surveys or union minimums. Every figure names its source and date; nothing is estimated. Updated 2026-10-02. Example: in the US the median film and video editor earns $75,420 a year ($36.26 an hour), BLS May 2025; the middle half earn $52,720 to $105,310. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/creative-pay-2026 (search and filter; each role has an anchor, e.g. #social-media-manager) One page per role: /data/creative-pay-2026/video-editor, /data/creative-pay-2026/social-media-manager, /data/creative-pay-2026/content-creator, /data/creative-pay-2026/podcast-producer, /data/creative-pay-2026/podcast-editor, /data/creative-pay-2026/motion-designer, /data/creative-pay-2026/graphic-designer, /data/creative-pay-2026/photographer, /data/creative-pay-2026/videographer, /data/creative-pay-2026/copywriter, /data/creative-pay-2026/ux-ui-designer, /data/creative-pay-2026/illustrator, /data/creative-pay-2026/audio-engineer Data download (CSV): free from https://tryslicemedia.com/data/creative-pay-2026#download after entering an email. Every figure is open on the page. By state: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/creative-pay-2026/by-location (BLS May 2025 percentiles, metro areas and nearby states for the seven roles with an exact US occupation, in each state where BLS publishes every percentile and at least 250 jobs: 203 pages, e.g. /data/creative-pay-2026/video-editor/california) Rate calculator ("How much should I charge?"): freelance hourly rate and project prices from the income you want, costs and billable hours, or the salary to ask for, set against the official percentiles. Free, in the browser, shareable link with the inputs. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/creative-rate-calculator ## Original research (data pages) Free to cite and reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link. Each page has a methodology, dated sources and its data as a CSV (free to download after entering an email; the findings themselves are open on the page). Each key finding is also a shareable image card, linkable as #stat- on its page. ### We checked the cover art of 1,000 top podcasts (October 2026) Full-size artwork of 1,000 top shows on Apple's charts (US, UK, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil and 19 US genre charts, 2 October 2026), run through Slice's podcast cover art checker. 8.8% (87 of 993 measurable) fail Apple's artwork rules, almost all because the feed's image is under 1400 pixels (75 are 256x256). 57.8% are exactly 3000x3000, 22% are 1400x1400. 91.5% JPEG, 8.5% PNG; median file 0.5 MB. 22.1% of covers are dark overall and 18.8% light; black is the most common main colour (27.3%). OCR read words on 83% of covers; the median is 3 words. No artwork is reproduced. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/podcast-cover-art-2026 CSV: free from https://tryslicemedia.com/data/podcast-cover-art-2026#download after entering an email Check a cover: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/podcast-cover-art-checker ### How many creatives work for themselves? (October 2026) US Census Nonemployer Statistics 2014 to 2024: 1,115,783 independent artists, writers and performers (NAICS 711510) ran a business with no employees in 2024, up 39.7% since 2014; 54.6% of them took in under $10,000. Across seven creative industry groups: 2.14 million. By state, with receipts. Plus BLS occupation shares (66.7% of photographers and 64.8% of writers and authors are self-employed, 2025) and UK DCMS figures (28.5% of UK creative industries jobs are self-employed, 2025, against 14.8% of all jobs). URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/self-employed-creatives-2026 CSV: free from https://tryslicemedia.com/data/self-employed-creatives-2026#download after entering an email By state: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/self-employed-creatives-2026/states (each state with at least 5,000 creative nonemployer businesses in 2024: counts and receipts by industry, the state's mix against the US, neighbours; e.g. /data/self-employed-creatives-2026/california) ### Creator economy statistics 2026 A sourced round-up: market size (IAB: US creator ad spend $37B in 2025, $44B projected for 2026; Goldman Sachs: $250B in 2023, $480B by 2027), number of creators (Goldman Sachs: about 67 million in 2025), earnings (CreatorIQ 2026: 67% earn under $10,000, just under 5% over $100,000), platform payouts (YouTube over $100B over four years to 2025; Facebook nearly $3B in 2025), US podcast ad revenue ($2.9B in 2025, IAB/PwC) and short-form video use. Every figure linked and dated; figures over two years old are flagged. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/creator-economy-statistics-2026 CSV: free from https://tryslicemedia.com/data/creator-economy-statistics-2026#download after entering an email ### The Podcast Census 2026 A census of every podcast in the open Podcast Index database (dump of 26 September 2026, 4,731,573 feeds), cleaned of duplicates, mirror feeds and test feeds to 4,391,041 podcasts. Key figures: 413,475 published in the last 90 days (9.4%) and 720,181 in the last year; among podcasts that have stopped, 24.4% stopped after episode 1 and 56.5% before episode 7 (n = 3,636,474); 49.1% of all podcasts reach 7 episodes, 7.5% reach 100; the median finished show with 2+ episodes lasted 125 days; only 0.7% of active podcasts publish video files in their RSS feed; likely automated or bulk-published feeds are 1.7% of feeds first seen since 2023 but 10.1% of the episodes in feeds first seen in 2026. Every definition and the cleaning steps are published; every figure table is free to download (CSV and JSON) from https://tryslicemedia.com/data/podcast-census-2026#download after entering an email. Data from Podcast Index (podcastindex.org); aggregates under CC BY 4.0. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/podcast-census-2026 Methodology: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/podcast-census-2026/methodology Tools from the census: https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/podcast-name-checker (is a podcast name taken, across 4.4 million shows) and https://tryslicemedia.com/tools/podcast-stats-checker (how a show's episode count, age and cadence rank against all podcasts and active ones; results share as #show=) By language and by host: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/podcast-census-2026/language and https://tryslicemedia.com/data/podcast-census-2026/host (shows listed, active in 90 days and share still publishing, for each language or host with at least 20,000 shows and 1,000 active; e.g. /language/spanish, /host/buzzsprout) ## Hubs for podcasters and churches Everything on this site for podcasters, in one list (clips, guides, free tools, data, the directory, comparisons): https://tryslicemedia.com/podcasters Everything on this site for churches (sermon clips, guides, sermon transcription and notes tools, the church media tools directory): https://tryslicemedia.com/churches ## Target Audience - Podcasters (solo, small team, agency, network), video and audio only - Churches and church media teams (sermon clips, sermon transcripts and printable sermon notes) - Coaches, teachers and course creators with long recorded sessions - Video editors - Content creators - YouTubers - Directors - Producers - Motion designers - Colorists - Documentary filmmakers - Agency creatives - Podcast producers and editors - Voice-over artists ### Social Video Specs 2026 (reference data) Video sizes, length limits, file sizes, frame rates, codecs, caption limits, cover sizes and safe zones for TikTok, Instagram Reels, Stories and Feed, YouTube Shorts and long-form, Facebook Reels, LinkedIn, X, Snapchat Spotlight, Pinterest and Threads. Every figure links to the platform's own page and is labelled official, ads spec, API docs, not published, or measured by Slice. Safe zones are measured from Slice's safe-zone tools on a 1080x1920 frame. Each platform has its own anchor (e.g. #tiktok, #instagram-reels, #youtube-shorts). Last checked 2 October 2026. URL: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/social-video-specs-2026 Data: CSV and JSON, free from https://tryslicemedia.com/data/social-video-specs-2026#download after entering an email One page per format: https://tryslicemedia.com/data/social-video-specs-2026/platforms (each spec answered with its source, and the measured safe zone drawn; e.g. /data/social-video-specs-2026/tiktok, /data/social-video-specs-2026/youtube-shorts) ## Pricing The archive, the directory, the free tools and free transcription are free (account required for some). Shorts, Captions, Reframe, Podshare and Moodboard are on one Slice plan: $14.99 a month or $149 a year. Trying Shorts needs no card: your first video and first 3 clips are free to export and download. After that, exporting needs a Slice plan ($14.99 a month or $149 a year, lower in some countries). Cancel any time. A full refund if you email within 7 days of your first payment. The plan renews until cancelled. Podshare and Moodboard are free to try with no card. ## Contact Website: https://tryslicemedia.com Twitter: @slicemedia ## For More Details See /llms-full.txt for comprehensive documentation of each tool's features and capabilities.