Everything it does
Every feature in one video editor.
PandaStudio takes raw footage to a published video without leaving one app: record, edit by transcript, remove backgrounds, caption, add motion graphics, and publish. Do it by hand, or tell the built-in AI agent to do it for you. Everything runs on your machine, and you buy it once.
Record
Capture on your own machine, in full quality.
- Record your screen and camera together, cursor-free, with a smooth synthetic cursor the editor draws on top so it stays sharp through zooms.
- Record remote podcasts peer-to-peer: every guest's track is saved locally in full quality, never routed through a cloud.
- Multi-participant podcast composites for up to four people, including screen share.
Edit by transcript
If you can delete a word, you can edit a video.
- Every recording is transcribed on-device (English plus 25 European languages auto-detected, and 14 more including Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Chinese, and Japanese).
- Delete text from the transcript and the video re-cuts to match.
- Remove filler words (um, uh), repeated words, and false starts in one pass.
- Remove silences longer than a threshold across the whole timeline in one click.
- Fix speech-to-text errors with find-and-replace, and detect duplicate or abandoned takes automatically.
Cut and pace
The timeline tools that give a video rhythm.
- Trims, speed ramps, clip split, move, and remove on a multi-clip timeline.
- Zooms with a sound effect, anchored to transcript beats and following the cursor.
- Crop, switch aspect ratio between 16:9, 9:16, and 1:1, and auto-reframe on the speaker's face.
Background
Change what's behind you, for a moment or the whole video.
- Blur or remove your background for a specific time range, right on the timeline, using on-device person segmentation.
- Drop a timed background image behind the speaker to place yourself anywhere for a section.
- Set a wallpaper, solid color, or gradient as the canvas.
Captions
Word-synced captions that match your brand.
- Add animated, word-synced captions in a click, in ten styles.
- Captions read your brand colors and burn into the export so they play everywhere.
- Caption timing comes from the on-device transcript, so it matches the speech automatically.
Motion graphics
Polished graphics without After Effects.
- Lower thirds, stat reveals, chapter cards, flowcharts, checklists, quote cards, and comparison tables from a template library.
- The YouTube split look: host on one side of the frame, an animated panel on the other.
- Render fully custom HTML and GSAP motion graphics through a bundled, frame-perfect engine.
- Connect scenes with clean transitions and layered FX overlays.
Color and audio
Make it look and sound produced.
- Color-grade clips with LUT presets, tuned per content type with adjustable intensity.
- Clean up audio with on-device denoising.
- Add background music, sound effects, and per-region sound.
Focus tools
Direct the viewer's eye, or hide what shouldn't be seen.
- Spotlight a region to dim everything around it, tracking through zooms.
- Blur a region to hide an email address, a name, or anything private.
AI generation
Generate the pieces you don't have footage for.
- Generate images, background music, and voiceover narration.
- Generate titles, descriptions, and YouTube chapter timestamps.
- Generate thumbnails from a reaction, a subject image, and overlay text, or suggest one from the transcript.
The AI agent
Tell it what you want. It drives the editor.
- Edit by asking: say "cut the rambling, caption it, edit it like Ali Abdaal" and the agent applies real timeline edits.
- The agent runs on your own AI account (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Kimi), so there is no AI markup and no usage caps from us.
- A first-class CLI and MCP server expose every editing capability to Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Continue, and Claude Desktop.
- A bundled editing skill carries retention grammar measured frame by frame from top creators, so the agent edits with real structure, not guesses.
Publish
From finished video to posted, without leaving the app.
- Publish to YouTube (unlisted by default) and Instagram in one click.
- Turn one long recording into many shorts: discover the strong moments, fork a 9:16 project per moment, and batch them.
- An AI assistant on the export page writes and refines your title, description, timestamps, and thumbnail.
Foundation
The choices that make it different from everything else.
- Local-first: recording, transcription, and editing all run on your machine. Nothing leaves it until you publish.
- Buy once, own it forever. No subscription. Free updates for life.
- Runs natively on macOS and Windows.
- Workspaces and brand kits keep multiple channels or clients organized.
What most video editors can't do
The features below are standard in PandaStudio. The last four rows are the ones cloud, subscription editors structurally can't offer.
| Capability | PandaStudio | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Edit by deleting transcript text | Descript pioneered this; PandaStudio does it on-device. | |
| Screen + camera recording, cursor-free | ||
| Remote podcast recorded locally per guest | ||
| Background blur / removal on a time range | ||
| Word-synced animated captions | ||
| Motion graphics + custom HTML graphics | ||
| An AI agent that performs the edits for you | ||
| Driven by your own AI account (no AI markup) | Cloud editors meter AI against plan credits. | |
| CLI + MCP for Claude Code / Cursor / Cline | ||
| Runs fully on your machine (local-first) | ||
| Buy once, own forever (no subscription) |
See the full breakdowns: vs Descript, vs Riverside, and the agent-driven editing category.
Feature questions
Does PandaStudio remove or blur video backgrounds?
Yes. PandaStudio can blur or fully remove the background behind a speaker for any time range on the timeline, using an on-device person-segmentation model. You can also drop a timed background image behind the speaker. It works identically in the preview and the exported video.
Can PandaStudio edit a video with AI?
Yes. PandaStudio has a built-in AI agent you direct in plain language. Tell it to cut the rambling, add captions, or edit in a specific creator's style, and it applies real timeline edits. The agent runs on your own ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Kimi account, so there is no AI markup or usage cap from PandaStudio.
Is PandaStudio a subscription?
No. PandaStudio is a one-time purchase. The Starter license is $99, Creator is $199, and Team is $499, each bought once and owned forever with free updates. There is a free trial with three exports and no credit card required.
Does PandaStudio upload my videos to the cloud?
No. PandaStudio is local-first. Recording, transcription, and editing all run on your own machine, and even remote-podcast guest tracks transfer peer-to-peer. Nothing leaves your computer until you choose to export and publish.
Can PandaStudio make YouTube Shorts from a long video?
Yes. PandaStudio finds the strong moments in a long recording, forks a vertical 9:16 project for each, and lets you batch-edit them into shorts with captions, zooms, and motion graphics.
Does PandaStudio work with Claude Code, Cursor, or MCP agents?
Yes. PandaStudio ships a first-class CLI and an MCP server that expose every editing capability, plus a bundled Claude Skill. Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Continue, and Claude Desktop can drive the full editor programmatically.
What platforms does PandaStudio run on?
PandaStudio is a native desktop app for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows.
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