Uncut

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Facts checked

Uncut vs Kino

Kino is a team video platform with agents attached, and Uncut is a local open-source editor. What we tested, what comes from Kino's docs.

Kino is a much larger product than Uncut: a team media platform with search, review links and multiplayer. Uncut is a local editor for one person on a Mac.

How far this comparison goes. We installed Kino 1.5.69 on October 31, 2026 and did not create an account. Kino's app stops at sign-in, so we tested the download, the sign-in wall, the MCP server while signed out and two free browser tools. Everything else about Kino below is from its docs and pricing page, and we have not run it. We also wrote Uncut, so read this with that in mind.

Uncut is free under the MIT licence and runs on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 13 or later. It needs Claude Code or Codex installed and signed in, plus ffmpeg, and it has no Uncut account or quota. Its limits are real too: it is a young project on a 0.x version, with a small community.

UncutKino (from its docs unless marked)
LicenceMITProprietary
PlatformsApple silicon MacsmacOS, Windows, Linux
AccountNone (tested)Required: the app opens on sign-in (tested)
PriceFree, you pay your agent's providerFree; Pro $25 per editor per month ($20 billed yearly), plus usage; Enterprise custom
MeteringNone from UncutIndexing 5 h a month on Free, 75 h on Pro; 100 MCP calls a week on Free
StorageYour disk720p proxy of every clip in the cloud by default; originals stay on your drive unless uploaded
AgentsClaude Code or Codex in the appClaude Code, Codex, Kino Agent, ChatGPT, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code and cloud agents
SearchProject metadata onlyAcross a library by what is said or shown, and by person
ReviewNoneLinks, frame comments, multiplayer timeline (review links on Pro)
ExportH.264, HEVCH.264, HEVC, VP9, AV1, ProRes, including transparent ProRes 4444
Project interchangeNoneImports from Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut, CapCut and After Effects (Beta)

Where Kino is better

All of this is from Kino's docs, apart from the skills, which ship in its app.

  • Finding a moment. Search across hours of footage by speech, visuals or person. Uncut has no equivalent.
  • Client review. Viewers comment on a frame in the browser with no account, and the agent can pick those comments up.
  • Teams. A multiplayer timeline with cursors, seats and delivery links.
  • Reach. Windows and Linux, plus agents that work in the cloud.
  • Pro formats. BRAW, REDCODE, ProRes and DNx in, ProRes and alpha out.
  • Migration. Import from other editors, though Kino labels this Beta.
  • Skills. It ships 20 agent skills, which we read: the audio and reframing recipes are detailed and clearly drawn from real productions.

Where Uncut is better

  • Start with no account. Install it and work. Kino stops at sign-in (tested).
  • The work stays local by default. Footage files stay on your Mac and nothing is uploaded to Uncut. Frames, transcripts and prompts go to your agent's provider. Kino's docs say proxies go to its cloud by default.
  • No meter. Uncut has no indexing hours and no call limit. Your agent's plan has its own limits.
  • Open source. MIT, with a plugin SDK. Kino's app is proprietary and its interface loads from kino.ai (tested, signed out).
  • A separate critic. We found no equivalent stage in Kino's docs, though its skills do check their work with screenshots.
  • A typed project format. Agent edits are typed operations on project.json. Kino projects are Remotion code, which gives its agent more freedom for motion graphics and more room for fragile patches, as its own skills note.

Which to pick

Pick Kino if a team shares a large footage library or clients review your work. Pick Uncut if you edit alone on a Mac and want your project, your agent and your bill under your control.

Sources