How to make a social video with Claude, step by step (the hard way)

Claude is a strong writer. It is not a video maker. It does not generate photos or illustrations, and its plans list no video editing. So a social video made "with Claude" is really made with Claude and four or five other tools.

What Claude does have is connectors. They let it reach other apps from the chat. That is the route below. It works. It is also the hard way, and you should know what it takes before you start.

Prices are monthly billing, read on October 28, 2026, from each tool's own page unless a line says otherwise. They change often. The times are rough estimates for someone who knows the apps. Your first video will take longer. If you use ChatGPT instead, read the ChatGPT version of this guide.

Step 1: Write the script in Claude

Cost: Claude Pro is $20 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly. The no-cost plan writes scripts too, with lower limits. Time: about 15–30 minutes.

Give Claude the whole job, not just a topic. For example: “Write a 30-second voiceover script for a vertical video about our new lunch menu. Open with a hook. Keep each sentence short enough to say in one breath. End with one call to action. Then give me a shot list, one line per shot, five on-screen text lines, and a caption with three hashtags.”

The shot list matters more here than with other chat tools. Claude cannot make the pictures, so the list is what you will film or design in step 4. Read the script aloud with a timer. Ask for a shorter cut if it runs long. Two or three rounds is normal.

Step 2: Connect your tools to Claude

Cost: Zapier Pro is $29.99 a month ($19.99 billed yearly). Canva Pro is about $18 a month (as reported by Piktochart; Canva's own page could not be read). Time: about 30–60 minutes, once.

Connectors live in Claude under Customize, then Connectors. Select Discover, search for a service, select Connect to Claude, and sign in to that service. Then, in any chat, open the + menu, choose Connectors and switch on the ones you want. Claude asks before it uses a connector's tools. Choose Allow once or Always allow. Connected tools work on the web, the desktop app and mobile (Claude's connector guide).

Three connectors cover a social video. Canva lets Claude create designs, fill templates with your words, find your designs and export them as images. Canva's guide says this needs a paid Claude plan. Zapier reaches the apps Claude has no connector for, your scheduler included. Its connector is on every Zapier plan, and each tool call uses about two tasks, so watch your task count. n8n is for people who build workflows: it has a built-in MCP server. An admin turns it on, and you mark each workflow as available to Claude.

You do not need all three. Most people pick Canva plus Zapier. n8n suits someone who already runs it.

Step 3: Record the voice

Cost: your own voice costs nothing. ElevenLabs lists Starter at $6 a month, with first-month offers that change. Time: about 10–20 minutes.

Claude cannot speak your script into a file. Either read it yourself or use a voice tool. To read it yourself, record on your phone in a quiet room, phone close, one take per sentence. For ElevenLabs, open Text to Speech, pick a voice, paste the script and generate. Write numbers and names the way they should sound. Listen to the whole file before you download it.

Step 4: Make the visuals: your footage and Canva designs

Cost: included in the tools above. Time: about 30–60 minutes.

Work through the shot list from step 1. Film what you can on your phone, held upright, in good light: your shop, your product, your team, you. Real footage is often the most convincing part of a video.

For the rest, use the Canva connector. In the same chat, ask: “Using Canva, make five vertical title cards from these on-screen lines, in our brand colors.” Claude creates the designs in your Canva account. Open each one in Canva, check the type and the crop, and export them as images. Expect to fix a few by hand.

There is no generated video in this route. If you want AI clips, that is a different tool and another bill. Gemini makes them, and our Gemini guide shows how.

Step 5: Edit it in CapCut

Cost: CapCut Pro is $19.99 a month on monthly billing. There is a no-cost tier with basic tools. Time: about 45 minutes to 2 hours. This is the longest step.

Claude cannot open your timeline. This part is yours. Set the project to 9:16. Lay the voice on the main track first. Cut the dead air. Put your footage and the Canva cards above it, timed to the words. Generate auto captions, then read every line and fix the names and numbers. Add music well under the voice. Export at 1080 x 1920, and export again for any other size you post. The ChatGPT guide walks through this edit click by click.

Step 6: Make the cover and schedule it

Cost: Buffer Essentials is $5 a month per connected account, so Instagram, TikTok and Facebook come to $15. Time: about 20–40 minutes.

For the cover, ask Claude to make one through the Canva connector: a 1080 x 1920 design with a frame from your video and a short title. Keep the important part in the middle so profile grids do not crop it. Export it.

Claude's plans list no posting to social accounts. Pro's scheduled tasks run Claude on a timer; they do not post. Zapier fills the gap: its Buffer integration has an **Add to Queue** action, so Claude can put a post in your Buffer queue through the Zapier connector. Check each post in Buffer before it goes out. Make sure the right video and cover are attached, the caption fits each platform, and the time is right. Many people simply upload in Buffer by hand.

The honest tally

Time: add up the estimates and the first video takes roughly 2½ to 5½ hours, setup included. After that, about 2 to 4½ hours a video. The edit is the biggest block.

Money: Claude Pro $20, Canva Pro $18, Zapier Pro $29.99, CapCut Pro $19.99 and Buffer at $15 come to about $103 a month for five subscriptions. Add ElevenLabs if you do not want to use your own voice. A ChatGPT stack costs $61 to $124; a Gemini stack about $73.

And you are still the glue. You write the prompts, film the shots, fix the designs, edit the video, check each post and remember to post. Connectors move some files for you. They do not plan next week. How the three chat tools compare covers the rest.

In dollars, that stack costs less than VEXI. In hours, it costs you the afternoon.

Or just ask VEXI

VEXI costs more than the stack: $199, $399 or $599 a month, and every plan starts with a 15-day trial. What you pay for is the work you no longer do.

There is nothing to connect. Type what you want in one chat, the way you would say it to a person. It writes the script, and your script rolls on screen while you record. Videos come back cut, with B-roll and captions, sized for each platform, without you opening an editor. Upload a long raw recording and get back the clips that work best, captioned, with music under each cut.

Tap anything on a design to change it, or say what you wanted instead and it remakes it. Then it posts for you to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads and your Google Business Profile. Autopilot writes, designs and posts your week ahead, at the times your audience shows up, and it can wait for your approval on everything.

So yes, you can wire it up the hard way. Or just ask VEXI.

See what VEXI makes, compare it with Claude, or see the plans.