Private, local AI video editing on your Mac
octuedit is an AI video editor that does its heavy work on your Mac. Your clips, projects and exports never leave it, transcription runs locally with whisper, and so do shot detection, beat tracking, subject tracking, audio cleanup and export. Your footage never reaches octuedit; the app sends us anonymous step diagnostics and a record of each agent edit (the request, the agent's steps and the timeline, never media) so the agent learns to edit better, both of which you can turn off in Settings > Privacy. The editing itself is done by your own Claude Code or Codex, under your own account: it receives your requests and its work on the project, plus a few frames per clip for visual search unless you switch that off. It runs on macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon or Intel, for $99 once.
Updated 27 October 2026 · By Shivank Goura, co-founder of octuedit
What can you ask for while keeping footage local?
Type the edit you want in plain words and your own Claude Code or Codex carries it out on a real timeline, which you can still adjust by hand. These requests work well for private editing on your Mac; each one shows what octuedit does with it.
- “Edit this without sending any frames”Turn off frame descriptions in Settings and the agent works from the transcript and project only.
- “Export a ProRes master and an MP4 for upload”Exports both locally with hardware encoding on Apple silicon.
- “Hand this edit to Final Cut Pro”Saves an FCPXML project that opens in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve.
- “Where are my project files?”In a normal folder on your Mac, with the edit stored as readable JSON.
Can octuedit edit my videos without uploading them?
Yes. octuedit edits on your Mac without uploading your video files. Clips, projects and exports stay on your computer, and transcription, shot detection, subject tracking, audio cleanup and export all run locally. No octuedit server ever receives your footage; the app sends us anonymous step diagnostics and a record of each agent edit (the request, the agent's steps and the timeline, never media) so the agent learns to edit better, both of which you can turn off in Settings > Privacy. The editing is done by your own Claude Code or Codex, under your own Claude or OpenAI account, which receives your requests and its work on the project, such as steps, file names and the transcript lines it reads, plus a few still frames per clip for visual search. You can switch the frames off too. So it is local for media, not fully offline: the agent needs an internet connection. Cloud editors such as Descript and OpusClip process your footage on their servers. octuedit runs on macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon and Intel, for $99 once.
What stays on your Mac, and what doesn't?
Everything heavy runs locally: transcription with whisper, shot detection, beat tracking, Apple Vision tracking and masks, audio cleanup and every export. Projects are ordinary folders in your Movies folder, with the edit stored as plain JSON, so your work is never locked inside a service. octuedit has no account of its own. It sends anonymous diagnostics (step timings, failures, CPU and memory use, never file names or media), on by default and easy to turn off.
The AI that makes the edits is your own Claude Code (or Codex), signed in on your Mac. It receives what you ask, the agent's steps and results, such as file names and the transcript lines it reads, and by default a few still frames per clip so search can find what is on screen. You can switch frame descriptions off in Settings. None of that goes to octuedit itself.
| Capability | In octuedit |
|---|---|
| Runs on your Mac | Transcription, shot detection, beat tracking, subject tracking, audio cleanup, voices and export |
| Goes to your own AI agent | Your requests, the agent's steps and results, and a few frames per clip unless switched off |
| Goes to octuedit | Anonymous step diagnostics only (timings, failures, CPU and memory), on by default, off in Settings |
| Imports | MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV, WebM and AVI video; MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, FLAC and more audio; PNG, JPG, HEIC and other images |
| Exports | MP4 (H.264), MOV (ProRes 422) and WebM in 1080p or 4K; GIF, WAV, MP3, PNG frames, SRT and WebVTT |
| Hand-off | Premiere Pro XML, FCPXML for Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve, and a DaVinci bundle with media and captions |
| Macs | macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon and Intel, with hardware encoding |
What should you know about privacy in octuedit?
- Projects are ordinary folders in your Movies folder, so Time Machine and any other backup picks them up.
- Price is $99 once; there are no credits because the AI runs on your own plan.
- Project hand-off carries cuts, order, tracks, speed and volume.
What does leave your Mac?
- The agent needs your Claude Code (or Codex) signed in, so editing by request needs an internet connection for the AI.
- Hand-off projects don't carry transforms, grades, transitions or caption styling.
- Mac only; there is no Windows or web version.
Where your footage goes
| octuedit | Cardboard | Ponder | Descript | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Footage | Stays on your Mac | Browser: cloud; Mac app: local, sends frames and transcript | Previews on your computer, with cloud copies | Uploaded to cloud storage |
| Transcription | On your Mac | In the cloud | Not stated | In the cloud |
| Price | $99 once | $8 to $175 a month | $29 to $999 a month | Free, or $16 to $65 a month |
Competitor details are from each company's own website, checked October 2026; each comparison page links its sources.
Questions
Does octuedit upload my videos?
No. Clips, projects and exports stay on your Mac, and transcription runs locally. Your own AI agent receives your requests and its work on the project, plus a few frames per clip unless you switch that off.
Can I edit without an internet connection?
Partly. Transcription, playback, manual editing and export run on your Mac. Editing by request uses your Claude Code or Codex agent, which needs an internet connection.
Does octuedit collect analytics from the app?
Two things, both on by default and each with its own switch in Settings > Privacy. Anonymous diagnostics: how long each editing step took, whether it failed, and CPU and memory use, never file names, footage, transcripts or requests. And shared edits, so the agent learns to edit better: your request, the agent's reply and steps, and the timeline before and after each edit, with media named by file name only. Neither ever includes video, audio or image files.
Does octuedit need an Apple silicon Mac?
No. It runs on any Mac on macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple silicon or Intel.