tondi vs Reelify AI
Last checked 12 September 2026. Reelify's prices and limits are theirs to change; if something below is out of date, tell support@tondi.app and it gets fixed.
Both are Mac apps that turn a long video into short captioned clips without uploading it. That makes this a closer comparison than tondi against a cloud service: the differences are in price structure, what each app needs the internet for, which Macs they run on, and how they frame a vertical clip.
The short version
Pick Reelify if you want to pay once ($59 lifetime), you want the crop to follow whoever is speaking, you also clip on an iPhone or Android phone, or you want a virality score per clip.
Pick tondi if your Mac is on macOS 13 or 14, you want nothing about your video — not even the transcript — to leave the machine, you want every aspect ratio without an upgrade, or you'd rather a 111 MB download than a 2 GB one.
Side by side
| tondi | Reelify | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | On your Mac. Nothing is uploaded. | On your Mac. Video and audio never leave it. |
| Needs the internet for | A one-time 460 MB speech-model download, and signing in. Clipping itself never touches the network. | “Only requires brief internet connection for AI analysis, then works offline.” Their site doesn't say what is sent. |
| Platform | macOS 13+, Apple Silicon (M1 or later). No Intel, no Windows. | macOS 15+, Apple Silicon (M1 or later). No Intel, no Windows. Also iPhone and Android apps. |
| Download | 111 MB; about 284 MB installed, plus the speech model. | About 2 GB. |
| Pricing | Free, or Pro at $10 / month or $100 / year. No lifetime option. | Free, Starter at $15 / month, or Creator at $59 one-time. |
| Free tier | 3 clips per video, unlimited videos, small watermark. No end date. | Up to 2 videos, watermarked exports. |
| Clips per video | Up to 10 on Pro (3 on Free). | Unlimited clipping on paid tiers; per-video count not stated. |
| Aspect ratios | Vertical 9:16, Square 1:1, Portrait 4:5, Horizontal 16:9 — every plan, several per run. | 9:16. “Auto-reframe for all platforms” is listed on the top tier. |
| Vertical reframing | The whole frame, over a blurred copy of itself. No speaker tracking. | Speaker detection; dual-crop layouts for interviews and podcasts. |
| Captions | Word-timed, six fonts, your colours, burned in — every plan. | Auto-generated captions; brand kit on paid tiers. |
| How clips are chosen | A scoring system — hook words, emphasis, numbers, speech rate, audio energy. Not a language model, and it says so. | “Viral hook detection”; a virality score on the top tier. |
| Speed | A ~10-minute video takes a few minutes. | Claims a 1-hour video analysed in under 90 seconds. |
| Works offline | Yes, once the model is downloaded. | Mostly — see “needs the internet for” above. |
| Signed by Apple | Yes — Developer ID team DHN5QUUM7B, notarized. | Yes — “Notarized by Apple”. |
| Beyond clipping | Nothing. It makes clips. | Brand kit, manual editing controls, phone apps. |
Reelify figures from reelifyclips.com, their Mac page and their local-processing page as of the date above. tondi figures are from tondi.app/pricing and tondi.app/requirements.
Where Reelify is better
- Pay once. $59 for Creator, for good. tondi is $100 a year and has no lifetime plan, so Reelify is cheaper from the first year and free after it.
- The crop follows the speaker. Reelify detects who is talking and frames them, with dual-crop layouts for two-person interviews. tondi keeps the whole widescreen frame over a blurred background — fine for a single presenter, less good for a wide two-shot.
- Phone apps. There is a Reelify app for iPhone and Android. tondi is Mac only.
- A number per clip. If a virality score helps you decide what to post, Reelify shows one on its top tier. tondi ranks clips internally and doesn't.
Where tondi is better
- Runs on macOS 13 and 14. Reelify needs macOS 15. If your Mac is a couple of years behind, that decides it.
- Nothing leaves your Mac — including the transcript. Reelify says video and audio never leave the Mac, and that AI analysis needs a brief internet connection; it doesn't say what goes over it. tondi's clipping never opens a connection. Transcription, scoring and rendering are all local, so there is nothing to send.
- 111 MB, not 2 GB. Plus a one-time 460 MB model. The whole thing is smaller than Reelify's download.
- Every shape, every plan. Square and 4:5 for feeds, 16:9 for the original cut, 9:16 for Shorts — from one run, on Free.
- A free plan without a video limit. Reelify's free tier stops after two videos. tondi Free clips as many as you like, three clips each, with a small watermark, for as long as you like.
- Cheaper month to month. $10 against $15 if you'd rather not commit to a year or a lifetime.
What it costs over a year
| If you'd rather… | tondi | Reelify |
|---|---|---|
| Pay nothing | $0 — 3 clips per video, unlimited videos, watermark | $0 — 2 videos total, watermark |
| Pay monthly | $10 / month ($120 / year) | $15 / month ($180 / year) |
| Pay yearly | $100 / year | Not offered on their homepage |
| Pay once | Not offered | $59, once |
Common questions
Which one is more private?
Both keep your video on your Mac. The difference is the transcript: tondi never sends it anywhere, because the highlight scoring runs locally too. Reelify's site says AI analysis needs a brief internet connection and doesn't say what is transmitted — for most people that is fine; for footage under an NDA, ask them before relying on it.
Does tondi track the speaker like Reelify?
No. tondi renders the full frame over a blurred background, so nobody is ever cropped out, but nobody is followed either. If your source is a single person facing the camera, the result is the same; if it is a wide two-shot, Reelify's crop will look tighter.
Is there a lifetime licence for tondi?
No. tondi is $10 a month or $100 a year, and the free plan has no end date. If paying once matters most, Reelify's $59 Creator plan is the better buy.
Can I run both?
Yes. Neither needs an account to try, and both work from a file on your Mac. Drop the same video into each and compare the clips they pick — that is the only comparison that settles it for your footage.