Yapwing vs Kapwing
Yapwing and Kapwing are different products from unrelated companies; only the names are close. Kapwing is a video editor you use in a web browser, with a free plan, cloud storage, team collaboration and AI tools paid for in credits. Yapwing is a Mac app: you cut a video by deleting words from its transcript, everything is processed on the Mac, nothing is uploaded and there are no credits. Choose Kapwing to start free on any computer or to edit with a team. Choose Yapwing to keep footage on your own disk and work offline.
First, the names
Kapwing is a different product, at kapwing.com, from a different company. Yapwing is not connected to it. We do not share accounts, files or plans, and a Kapwing subscription does nothing in Yapwing.
The facts, side by side
| Yapwing | Kapwing | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 a month or $79 a year. The first export is free, and editing is never withheld. | Free $0. With annual billing selected, the page’s default, Pro is $16 and Business $50 a month. Monthly billing costs more. [1] |
| Where the work happens | On your Mac. | In the browser and Kapwing’s cloud. The free plan includes 5 GB of cloud storage. [1] [3] |
| Uploads | None. | Footage is uploaded to a Kapwing workspace. That is also how its MCP server receives video. [2] |
| Working offline | Yes, once the models have been downloaded. | Not something we could confirm on Kapwing’s pages. |
| AI metering | None. No credits, no minutes. | Credits: 10 on Free, 1,000 a month on Pro, 4,000 a month on Business. Free also caps auto-subtitles at 10 minutes. [1] |
| Free plan | Editing is free. So is the first export, at full quality. | Exports carry a watermark, at 720p, up to 4 minutes long and 30 minutes a month. [1] |
| Platforms | Mac only: Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later. | A web browser. [3] |
| Editing by transcript | Yes. English speech only. | Yes. “Edit videos by editing text.” [3] |
| Coding agents | A command line and a local MCP server. Agents edit the project open on your Mac. | A hosted MCP server that signs in with a Kapwing account. Kapwing also publishes a separate Claude Code skill that runs locally with FFmpeg, HyperFrames and Whisper. [2] |
Kapwing’s pricing page opens on annual billing, marked “Save 33%”. The prices above are those annual rates.
When Yapwing is the better choice
- You would rather not upload. Long recordings never leave the Mac, so there is no wait for an upload and no copy on someone else’s server.
- You want a clean export without a plan. The first export is free, with no watermark and at full resolution.
- Your connection is slow or absent. Yapwing does not need one to edit.
- You do not want to track credits. One flat price, no allowance.
- You want Claude Code or Codex to edit a real project that you can then open, check and fix by hand, with each request as one undo step.
When Kapwing is the better choice
- You are not on an Apple Silicon Mac. Kapwing works in a browser; Yapwing needs macOS 26.
- You want to keep using a free plan. Kapwing’s free plan keeps exporting, within its limits. [1] Yapwing’s free exports stop after the first.
- You edit as a team. Kapwing describes “a collaborative interface” for teammates. [3] Yapwing has no sharing at all.
- You need a broad toolbox. Kapwing offers many separate tools and AI features. Yapwing does one thing: cut and caption talking video.
- You want a ready-made Claude Code pipeline without an editor. Kapwing’s free skill assembles shorts with FFmpeg from the terminal. [2]
Questions
Is Yapwing made by Kapwing?
No. The two are unrelated, and Yapwing is not a Kapwing product, plan or desktop app.
Does Yapwing do what Kapwing does, offline?
On a Mac, Yapwing covers the transcript-editing and captioning part offline. It does not replace Kapwing’s templates, team workspaces or its other tools.
Does Yapwing put a watermark on exports?
No. The first export is free and complete. Later exports need a subscription.
Do both work with Claude?
Yes, differently. Kapwing’s MCP server works on footage uploaded to your Kapwing workspace. [2] Yapwing’s runs on your Mac and edits the project open in the app.
Yapwing is not affiliated with Kapwing. Kapwing is a trademark of its owner, named here only to identify the product. If something on this page is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Try Yapwing
Download it, open a recording and cut it by its words. Editing needs no account, and your first export is free. After that, exporting is $9.99 a month or $79 a year.
Sources
- Kapwing pricing: plans, credits, free-plan limits, storage.
- Kapwing: How to edit videos with Claude Code (November 4, 2026): the MCP server and the local skill.
- Kapwing home page: browser tools, collaboration, editing by text.