Review
Vizard AI Model v1 vs v2: Which Is Better?
We ran the same video through Vizard AI's Model v1 and the new v2 on the free plan. v1 gave 10 clips, v2 gave 5 — and v2 costs 30% more credits.
Disclosure: CreatorIntelHQ may earn a commission if you buy through some links. This page is based on hands-on testing and documented observations.
TL;DR: Vizard added a second clipping model, Model v2, on 8 July 2026. Both are available on the free plan — v2 is not paywalled. On an identical 10-minute video, v1 returned 10 clips and v2 returned 5, with v2's clips running roughly 1.8x longer. v2 costs about 30% more credits. Captions and export quality are identical between them, so the premium buys clip selection — nothing else.
This page answers one question: when you see that "Model v1 / Model v2" dropdown on Vizard's upload screen, which one should you pick? If you want the full tool walkthrough instead, read our Vizard AI review. Here we stay narrow — same video, same settings, both models, and the numbers that came back.
Based on hands-on testing · How we test creator tools
What We Tested
We ran Vizard exactly as a creator on the free plan would, with no paid features unlocked.
The setup:
- A fresh free-plan account with 60 monthly credits
- One source file: a 10:01, 1920x1080, 30fps video, uploaded directly (not pasted as a link)
- Identical settings on both runs — 9:16 ratio, "Any length" clips, Default template, Add emojis on, Highlight keywords on, B-rolls off, Remove silences off, Auto-censor off
- No subtitle file attached, so captions had to come from Vizard's own transcription
- Credits recorded before and after every step
- Output clips downloaded and inspected with
ffprobe
The source was a NASA Artemis II mission broadcast — public domain, two presenters at a desk, continuous speech throughout, no burned-in captions. We use the same file across every tool we test so results stay comparable.
One thing we could not control: the v2 run had spoken language set explicitly to English, while the v1 run was left on the default. For unambiguous English audio we do not think this changed anything, but it means this is not a perfectly controlled A/B and we would rather say so.
What Each Model Costs
Vizard prices by the minute of source video, and v2 carries a premium:
| Source length | Model v1 | Model v2 |
|---|---|---|
| 10:01 | 10 credits | 13 credits |
| 22:48 | 22 credits | 28 credits |
| Effective rate | ~1.0 credit/min | ~1.3 credits/min |
The model selector appears only at import. For this 22:48 source, Model v1 was quoted 22 credits and Model v2 28 — roughly a 30% premium.
On a 60-credit free month that works out to roughly 60 minutes of source video on v1, or about 46 minutes on v2.
Model v2 selected on a 10:01 1080p upload: 13 credits, against 10 for the same file on v1.
Watch the billing order. Vizard charges the base per-minute rate the moment you import a video — before you have configured anything or generated a single clip. The v2 premium is then charged separately when clips are generated. If you paste a link, change your mind at the settings screen and walk away, those base credits are already gone.
The Result: 10 Clips vs 5
Same video, same settings, both models:
| Model v1 | Model v2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Clips returned | 10 | 5 |
| Average clip length | ~38 seconds | ~59 seconds |
| Clip construction | One continuous run of the source | Several segments spliced together |
| Scoring | Single virality score | Virality plus Hook / Flow / Insight / Spread |
| Titles | Descriptive | Editorial — capitals, emoji |
| Export resolution | 720p | 720p |
| Watermark | Yes | Yes |
Vizard's own description — v1 is "faster, more clips", v2 gives "fewer clips, more complete" — turned out to be accurate. Exactly half the clips, noticeably longer.
Model v1 returned 10 clips from the 10-minute source, each a single continuous segment, each scored out of 10.
The difference nobody mentions: v2 splices
This is the behavioural change that is not in Vizard's changelog and is worth knowing before you pick.
Every v1 clip was a single continuous run of the source. Start point, end point, done.
v2 assembles clips from multiple non-adjacent moments. Its top clip was built from four separate points in the source — 03:55, then 05:15, 05:23 and 05:54 — stitched into one narrative.
That is a genuine editorial decision, not a longer trim. It means v2 can build a story arc that never existed contiguously in your footage. It also means v2 clips can cut between moments in ways you did not film, so if your video depends on continuity, check v2's output before publishing it.
Model v2 returned 5 clips from the identical source, with longer runtimes and an extra Hook / Flow / Insight / Spread breakdown under each score.
Longer source, more clips — but not proportionally
We also ran a 22:48 version of the same broadcast through v2. It returned 9 clips — up from 5 on the 10-minute cut, but for 2.3x the source length and 2.8x the credits.
The Scores Are Decorative
v2 shows a headline virality score out of 10 plus four sub-scores. It looks rigorous. We would not lean on it.
The top-scoring clip in our v2 run was rated 10.0 — while the model's own written rationale for that clip said it "lacks a strong hook or high-stakes information, making it the weakest in terms of shareability." Its sub-scores were Hook 7, Flow 7, Insight 8, Spread 9. None of that adds up to a 10.
Another clip scored 9.4 while being described as "somewhat dry" with no "wow moment".
There is also a range problem. Every v2 clip landed between 9.2 and 10.0, so the score cannot separate a strong clip from a weak one. v1's scores at least spread from 7.5 to 9.0.
Read the written rationale, ignore the number. The prose is genuinely useful and often quite honest about a clip's weaknesses. The score is not.
What The Premium Does Not Buy
Two things were identical across both models, and both matter more than clip count for most creators.
Captions. We scored Vizard's transcription against an official reference transcript of the same footage. On conversational speech it managed 2.75% word error rate over a 109-word sample — genuinely good. On technical, jargon-heavy speech it hit 10.0% over a 100-word sample. Every error was a proper noun or domain term: "optical comm" became "optical calm" repeatedly, "phased array" became "phase ray", and astronaut Christina Koch's surname came out as "Cook".
Those exact same errors appeared in both the v1 and v2 output. The clipping model does not touch transcription. If captions are your problem, changing model will not fix it — and note that the free plan shows you the transcript on screen but offers no subtitle file to export.
The per-clip export menu on the free plan: 720p is selectable, while 1080p, 2K and 4K each carry a paid badge — regardless of which model produced the clip.
Export quality. Both models exported at 720x1280 from a 1920x1080 source, both with the "made with Vizard.ai" watermark burned into the video file. On the free plan, 1080p, 2K and 4K all sit behind the paywall regardless of which model you choose.
The Trap: Your Model Choice Is Account-Wide
This one cost us credits, so learn it for free.
The model dropdown appears only on the import screen. Once a video is imported, open it later and there is no model selector anywhere — which makes it look like the model is locked to that project.
It is not. The model is an account-level setting applied at generation time. We imported a video at the v1 price, later switched the account to v2 for an unrelated test, then came back and generated the first video — and it processed on v2 and charged the premium.
Before you generate an old draft, check which model your account is currently set to. Otherwise you will be charged a premium you did not choose for a video you imported days earlier.
Which Should You Use?
Use Model v1 if you are on the free plan and want the most output per credit, you are testing whether Vizard suits your footage at all, your source is already tightly edited, or you plan to trim clips yourself anyway. Ten usable starting points beat five polished ones when you are the editor.
Use Model v2 if you want clips closer to publishable without manual work, your source is loose and conversational so a spliced narrative genuinely helps, or you are producing a small number of pieces and quality matters more than volume. Just budget for roughly 30% fewer minutes per month.
For most small creators evaluating Vizard on the free plan, start with v1. It costs less per minute, gives you twice as many candidates to judge the tool on, and produces clips whose relationship to your original footage is easy to verify. Move to v2 once you know the tool works for your content and you would rather have five near-finished clips than ten rough ones.
Testing Vizard for the first time? Start on the free plan with Model v1 — it gives you twice as many clips per credit to judge whether the tool suits your footage before you commit to anything.
FAQ
Is Model v2 available on the free plan?
Yes. Both v1 and v2 are selectable on the free plan with visible prices. v2 is not locked behind an upgrade — it simply costs more credits per minute.
How many credits does Model v2 use?
About 1.3 credits per minute of source video, against roughly 1.0 for v1. A 10-minute video cost 13 credits on v2 and 10 on v1 in our testing.
Does Model v2 give better captions?
No. Caption accuracy was identical in our tests — the same transcription errors appeared in both v1 and v2 output. The clipping model does not affect transcription.
Does Model v2 export at higher quality?
No. Both models exported at 720p on the free plan from a 1080p source, both watermarked. Export resolution is a plan limit, not a model feature.
Can I switch an existing project from v1 to v2?
There is no per-project model selector after import. The model is an account-level setting applied when clips are generated, so changing your account setting and then generating an older draft will process it on the new model — and charge the difference.
Why did Model v2 give me fewer clips?
That is the intended behaviour. Vizard describes v2 as returning "fewer clips, more complete". In our test it returned exactly half as many as v1 from the same source, with each clip about 1.8x longer.
Related Pages
- Vizard AI review — the full walkthrough
- Vizard AI free plan — every free-tier ceiling, with numbers
- Vizard AI watermark — when it appears and what removal costs
- Vizard AI vs OpusClip — if you are still choosing a tool
- Quso.ai vs Vizard AI — the other free-plan comparison