tondi vs Ascynd
Last checked 12 September 2026. Ascynd's prices and limits are theirs to change; if something below is out of date, tell support@tondi.app and it gets fixed.
Both do the whole job on your own machine — transcription, picking the moments, captions, export — with nothing uploaded and no minute meter. Ascynd runs on Windows, Linux and any Mac; tondi is a Mac app for Apple Silicon. The rest of the difference is price, captions, aspect ratios, and what happens when Ascynd's beta ends.
The short version
Pick Ascynd if you're on Windows, Linux or an Intel Mac, you want the lowest monthly price, or you want the crop to follow the speaker.
Pick tondi if you have an Apple Silicon Mac and want a free plan with no end date, word-timed captions and every aspect ratio without an upgrade, and an app signed and notarized by Apple.
Side by side
| tondi | Ascynd | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | On your Mac. Nothing is uploaded. | On your machine. Nothing is uploaded; their server sees licence checks, updates and anonymous crash reports. |
| Platform | macOS 13+, Apple Silicon (M1 or later). No Intel, no Windows. | Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux, one licence for all three. |
| Pricing | Free, or Pro at $10 / month or $100 / year. | Creator at $7.99 / month or $78 / year; Pro at $12.99 / month or $120 / year. |
| Free tier | 3 clips per video, unlimited videos, small watermark. No end date. | Everything is free during the open beta, no watermark. No free tier is listed for after it. |
| Clips per video | Up to 10 on Pro (3 on Free). | Unlimited clip detection. |
| Aspect ratios | Vertical 9:16, Square 1:1, Portrait 4:5, Horizontal 16:9 — every plan, several per run. | Landscape to 9:16 with speaker tracking. Exports “for TikTok, Reels, Shorts & LinkedIn”; other shapes not stated. |
| Vertical reframing | The whole frame, over a blurred copy of itself. No speaker tracking. | Auto-reframe that tracks the speaker. |
| Captions | Word-timed, six fonts, your colours, burned in — every plan including Free. | Static captions on Creator. Word-by-word subtitles, 5 styles and emphasis detection on Pro. |
| Pacing | Optional tightening cuts filler words and long pauses — every plan. | Automatic silence and filler removal — every plan. |
| How clips are chosen | A scoring system — hook words, emphasis, numbers, speech rate, audio energy. Not a language model. | Engagement scoring on every clip, shown as a score. |
| Works offline | Yes, once the 460 MB model is downloaded. | Yes, after the first sign-in. |
| Batch | Yes on Pro — queue several videos. | Not stated on their site. |
| Signed by Apple | Yes — Developer ID team DHN5QUUM7B, notarized. | Not stated on their site. |
Ascynd figures from ascynd.io/en/pricing, their Mac page and their on-device page as of the date above. tondi figures are from tondi.app/pricing and tondi.app/requirements.
Where Ascynd is better
- It runs on more machines. Windows, Linux, and Intel Macs, which tondi doesn't support at all. One licence covers all three.
- It's cheaper. Creator is $7.99 a month or $78 a year against tondi's $10 and $100 — and during the beta everything is free with no watermark.
- The crop follows the speaker. Ascynd's auto-reframe tracks whoever is talking. tondi keeps the whole widescreen frame over a blurred background.
- A score you can see. Ascynd shows an engagement score on every clip. tondi ranks clips internally and doesn't show a number.
Where tondi is better
- A free plan that doesn't end. Ascynd's free access is a beta period; their pricing page lists no free tier after it. tondi Free has no end date — 3 clips per video, unlimited videos, small watermark.
- Word-timed captions on every plan. On Ascynd, word-by-word subtitles and caption styles are Pro features at $12.99 a month. On tondi they are on Free.
- Every shape, every plan. Square, 4:5, 16:9 and 9:16 from one run. Ascynd's site describes landscape-to-9:16.
- Signed and notarized by Apple. macOS opens tondi without a warning, under a Developer ID you can check. Ascynd's site doesn't say either way.
- Batch mode. Queue several videos on tondi Pro. Ascynd's site doesn't mention it.
What it costs over a year
| Over a year | tondi | Ascynd |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 — 3 clips per video, watermark, no end date | $0 during the beta, no watermark; no free tier listed after it |
| With word-timed captions and caption styles | $100 / year (Pro) — or $0 on Free with 3 clips per video | $120 / year (Pro) |
| Cheapest paid plan | $100 / year | $78 / year (Creator, static captions) |
Common questions
Which one is more private?
They are close. Both transcribe and score on your own machine and never upload video. Ascynd contacts its server for licence checks, updates and anonymous crash reports; tondi contacts its server to sign in and check a Pro subscription, and for nothing else. Neither sends the transcript anywhere.
Does tondi track the speaker like Ascynd?
No. tondi renders the full frame over a blurred background, so nobody is cropped out but nobody is followed either. For a single presenter facing the camera the result is the same; for a wide two-shot, Ascynd's crop will look tighter.
What happens to Ascynd's price after the beta?
Their pricing page lists Creator at $7.99 a month and Pro at $12.99 a month once the beta ends, with no free tier shown. That may change — check the link under the table.
Can I run both?
Yes. Both work from a file on your machine and neither needs a card to try. Drop the same video into each and compare the clips — that is the only comparison that settles it for your footage.
Also compared: Opus Clip and Reelify AI.