Caption-first video editing

Turn speech into motion.

Cut a word from the transcript and the timing, captions and motion follow. Local on Mac now, browser next.

See how it works

Editing the words is editing the video.

This is the real interaction, running on this page. Cut a word: the clip closes, the caption re-times, and the duration drops.

Transcript editor Representative UI

Transcript

We shot the whole thing in one take, and honestly, the edit is where it starts to work. You cut the dead words, the timing tightens up, and suddenly it plays.

Click a word to cut it. Click again to keep it.

Preview

Timeline

Duration: 10.05s
Words kept: 31/31
Clips: 1

The transcript is the timeline.

Word level timing drives the cuts, the caption motion, the scene changes and the export. Subtitles are one of the things that come out of it.

Transcript editing

Whisper transcribes on your machine, then the transcript becomes the edit. Cutting a word cuts the clip. Fixing a word fixes the caption.

Kinetic captions

Caption presets with karaoke timing, per word emphasis and styling that stays locked to the speech.

Scenes, overlays, masks

Full frame scenes, layered overlays and alpha masking sit on the same timeline as the captions.

Export that lands in your NLE

Render finished video, or hand the caption layer to Final Cut and Resolve and keep cutting there.

From footage to finished cut.

Import

Drop in a video file. It stays in the project folder on your disk.

Video in, no upload
Transcribe

Whisper runs on your machine and returns word level timing, not just lines.

On device
Shape

Cut words, style the captions, add scenes, overlays and masks against the same timeline.

Transcript drives timeline
Export

Render the video, or take the caption layer and the timeline into another editor.

MP4 / MOV alpha / FCPXML / SRT

Two ways to run it.

Same editor either way. The local build exists today and is free. The browser version is still being built, and it will be paid.

Available now, private beta

Local, on your Mac

You install it, you supply the compute, and the media never leaves the machine.

Runs against your own Claude setup
Transcription and rendering happen locally
Files stay in a folder you control
Free forever

Cost: your machine and your time

In development

Cloud, in the browser

Open a tab and edit. No install, no local render queue, no Claude setup of your own.

Same caption, transcript and motion tools
Media and rendering run on our side
Metered by media hours and storage
Paid, on the plans below

Not live yet. No accounts, no billing.

Pricing.

Monthly Annual

Local

Private beta / local-first

$0 forever

No account needed

Run GlyphCut on your Mac with your own Claude setup. You handle installation and compute.

Local files and local rendering
No cloud upload
All core editing tools
Community documentation

Creator Cloud

Studio Cloud

Coming soon

$59 /month

Billed monthly

Everything in Creator, at team scale.

30 media hours per month
4K export
250 GB active cloud storage
3 seats
Shared brand kits and templates
Priority render queue
FCPXML and advanced export

Preview pricing. Cloud plans are not available yet. Limits may change before launch.

Questions.

Is GlyphCut just a subtitle tool?

No. Subtitles are one of the things it exports. GlyphCut is a caption-first editor: the transcript drives cuts and timing, and the same timeline carries kinetic captions, scenes, overlays and masks. It renders finished video as well as sidecar caption files.

What is the difference between Local and Cloud?

Local runs on your own Mac. You install it, you supply the compute, your media stays on disk, and it is free. Cloud will run in a browser tab with no installation, on a paid plan with media hour and storage limits. Cloud is not available yet.

Do I need Claude to use it?

For the local workflow, yes for part of it. Transcription is local Whisper and does not need Claude. The assisted steps do: proofreading a transcript after transcription, and generating custom graphics. Those run against your own Claude setup on your machine. Cutting, captioning, scenes, overlays, masking and export work without them.

When will Cloud launch?

There is no date yet. It is in development and the waitlist is not connected. A launch date will be announced here once one is fixed.

What happens to my media?

On Local, nothing is uploaded. Files sit in a project folder on your disk, transcription runs on device, and rendering happens locally. On Cloud, media would be uploaded so the browser editor and render queue can work on it, within the storage limit of the plan. Since Cloud is not live, there are no accounts and no stored media today.

Make the words hit.

GlyphCut is in private beta and runs locally on macOS today. The browser version and its waitlist are still being built.