How it works
Ask once. Watch it edit.
This is the Tofucut editor, redrawn from the app. Scroll, and a short lesson gets recorded and then edited by the AI from a single request, with every step left there for you to check.
A video kitchen with an AI chef. You just bring the tofu.
Tofucut is a Mac app that records your screen and camera, then edits the video and animates what you explain.
For Macs with Apple Silicon. Read the guide
How Tofucut makes a video
1 · Record
Press Record and teach.
Screen, camera, microphone and your Mac's sound record as separate files on one clock. Your talking points float in a Notes window that is never in the video. When a sentence comes out wrong, say it again and keep going.
2 · Ask
Ask for the edit in your own words.
Type what you want in the AI panel, the way you'd brief an editor: cut the retakes and the ums, lay it out, zoom on what I show, animate the ideas I explain. Then lay back.
3 · The AI cuts
It reads every word you said.
The AI transcribes the take, marks the filler words, the long pauses and the sentence you started over, and removes them in one go. The timeline closes the gaps: 38 minutes became 24.
4 · The AI lays it out
A layout for each part.
Clicking through something: the screen, with you in the corner. A long walkthrough: side by side. Dense code: the screen alone. The AI picks from what you said.
5 · The AI zooms
Zooms on what you talk about.
Say “we call signInWithOtp” and the screen zooms to that line. The AI reads the transcript and finds the thing on the screen, then reports back in the chat.
6 · The AI animates
It animates what you explain.
You say how the one-time link works, and the AI draws it: a sketch that builds itself as you speak, placed at the sentence it belongs to. Hand-drawn here; it can also use your brand's colours, type and sounds.
7 · Watch
Press Space and watch the first cut.
Every change sits on the timeline where you can see it: cuts in red, and layouts, zooms and animations in their own lanes. Change anything by hand, or ask the AI again.
8 · Review
Every cut can come back.
Hover a red mark to see what was taken out and click Bring Back if you wanted it. Tofucut never changes your recording files, so nothing you said is lost.
9 · Export
Ready to post.
Export an MP4 in 1080p, 1440p or 4K with the settings YouTube recommends. It runs in the background while you start on the next one.
02:41The AI panel
Brief it like an editor.
Every project has an AI panel. Ask for the whole edit, or one thing at a time, in your own words. The AI works on the real project and each change shows up on the timeline, where you can keep it, change it or undo it.
The Tofucut plan, coming with the launch, will run the AI for you. Or connect the one you already pay for: Claude, ChatGPT or a custom model, local ones included.
Edit this for meClaude
Cut the retakes and the long pauses
Removed 7 retakes and 12 long pauses. It's 3:41 shorter; every cut is marked in red, so you can bring any of them back.
Ask for an edit...
Try one:
0:12
Okay, so the first thing you want to, no, wait, First, open your editor and make a new file called login.html. We need one field for the email and one button.
03:30A real project
88 minutes recorded. 8 minutes posted.
1:28:35 recorded8:24 posted
One real project, edited with Tofucut: 463 silences, 140 retakes and 89 long pauses came out; 18 layout switches and 12 zooms went in.
04:12Who it's for
For videos where you teach with your screen.
- Screen + camera
YouTube educators
A tutorial. A lesson every week without a Sunday spent cutting it.
- Side by side
Course creators
A course lesson. One take per lesson, mistakes included.
- Screen only, zoomed
DevRel teams
An API walkthrough. Demos and launch videos on a deadline.
- Screen + camera
Founders
A product update. The demo for your site, the changelog, the investor update.
Not for vlogs music videos effects and transitionsDescript and CapCut do those well.
05:05Your files
Your recordings stay on your Mac, in plain files.
Each recording is a folder in Movies. Tofucut never changes or deletes what it recorded. Your edit is a small file beside it, so the original is always there to go back to.
The AI steps you turn on send the voice audio and some still frames to the AI you chose. What exactly leaves your Mac
- screen.movyour screen758 MBRecorded
- camera.movyou4.0 GBRecorded
- mic.movyour voice219 MBRecorded
- system-audio.movyour Mac's sound438 MBRecorded
- events.jsonclicks and keys1.5 MBRecorded
- manifest.jsonone clock for all of it5 KBRecorded
- edit.jsonevery cut, layout and zoom380 KBYour edit
- export.mp4the video you post1.9 GBExport
05:48Where it fits
Next to what you already use
Made forWho makes the cutWhere your files live
Screen StudioPolished screen recordingsYouYour Mac
DescriptEditing any video through its textYou, with its AI toolsYour Mac and Descript's cloud
Premiere, Final CutProfessional editing of anythingYouYour Mac
TofucutLessons taught with your screen and cameraThe AI, from one request; you review itYour Mac
Finishing in Premiere or Final Cut? Tofucut exports every track as its own file with the cuts already made, so your editor starts from the first cut.
06:20Plans
Two plans. The only difference is who runs the AI.
On the Free plan you connect the AI you already pay for. The Tofucut plan is coming: we'll run the AI and the transcription for you, with nothing to connect and no second bill. Tofucut is in closed beta; the waitlist gets it first.
Tofucut plan
Coming after the beta
We'll run the AI for you. Nothing to connect, no second bill.
Who bills you
TofucutOne bill, once the plan opensThe AITranscription
- A monthly allowance of AI, renewed every month
- Nothing to connect, no keys
Free
In the closed beta now
Connect the AI you already pay for. You pay only what your AI costs you.
Who bills you
TofucutNothing
Your AIYour Claude or ChatGPT plan, or an API key
ElevenLabsYour key, billed for the audio you transcribe
- No hour limit from Tofucut
- Claude Code, Codex, OpenRouter, Ollama or LM Studio
Both plans have the whole app
- Recording
- AI panel
- Transcript
- Layouts
- Zooms
- Lower thirds
- Animations
- Camera touch-up
- Clean voice
- Brands
- 9:16 and 1:1
- Export up to 4K
07:02Questions
Questions people ask
Do my recordings leave my Mac?
Your recordings stay on your Mac. The AI steps you turn on send the voice audio and some still frames to the AI you chose. Your screen and camera recordings stay in your Movies folder, and Tofucut never modifies or deletes them. An AI step sends only what it needs: transcript text, and for zooms, highlights and the camera touch-up, still pictures taken from the recording. Transcription sends the voice track's audio to ElevenLabs. The app asks before the first upload to each service. On the free plan it goes straight to your own accounts; on the Tofucut plan, once it opens, it will go through Tofucut's server. Tofucut has no telemetry or analytics.
What is Tofucut?
Tofucut is a Mac app that records your screen and camera, then edits the video and animates what you explain. It removes retakes, silences, long pauses and filler words, picks a layout for each part (your face, the screen with you in the corner, or both side by side), adds zooms on what you talk about, builds short animations of your ideas in your brand, and lets you check all of it in a real timeline before you export an MP4.
Which AI does it use?
It depends on your plan. The Tofucut plan is coming with the launch: Tofucut will run the AI and the transcription for you, so there will be nothing to connect. On the free plan, you connect the AI you already pay for: Claude (through Claude Code, on your Claude plan or API key), ChatGPT (through OpenAI's Codex, on your ChatGPT plan or API key), or a custom server such as OpenRouter, Ollama or LM Studio, local models included. Transcription then uses ElevenLabs Scribe v2 with your own key, about US$0.22 per hour of audio.
What's the difference between the two plans?
Who runs and pays for the AI. The Free plan costs nothing: you connect your own AI and an ElevenLabs key, and those companies bill you for what you use. The Tofucut plan is coming after the closed beta. It will include the AI and the transcription, up to an allowance that renews every month. Both plans have the whole app.
Do I need an account?
Yes, a free one. The first time you open Tofucut, you sign in with Google in your browser, and the app carries on by itself. From Google, Tofucut learns your name and email address and nothing else. Your recordings stay on your Mac whether you are signed in or not, and once you have signed in the app works without a connection.
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 or later) running macOS 26 or later. There is no Windows or Intel version.
Why does macOS ask me about screen recording every month?
macOS asks you to confirm screen recording permission for apps that capture the screen, about once a month. It's an Apple setting that applies to every screen recorder; it takes one click, and Tofucut can't turn it off.
Can I undo what the AI cut?
Yes. Every cut shows as a mark in the transcript and on the timeline. Hover a mark to see what was taken out and click Bring Back to restore it, or use Back to Original to undo the whole first cut at once.
Can I use videos I recorded with another app?
Yes. Bring your screen video and your camera video, or one video with you already in it, and Tofucut lines them up by their sound and makes a project you edit like a recording. Click zooms and the smooth cursor need a recording made in Tofucut.
Is it a full video editor?
It has a real timeline with tracks, so you can trim, split, move clips and fix anything the AI got wrong, and it adds lower thirds and short animations. It is built for one kind of video, so there are no music libraries or effects packs. To finish somewhere else, export each track as its own file with the cuts already made.
What do I get at the end?
An MP4 in 1080p, 1440p or 4K, encoded with the settings YouTube recommends. From the same recording you can also make a 9:16 version for Shorts and Reels and a 1:1 version.
How is it different from Screen Studio or Descript?
Screen Studio makes a recording look polished and leaves the editing to you. Descript is a general video editor where you choose and run each tool. Tofucut records and then makes the whole first cut from one request in its AI panel or one click on Edit for Me, on your Mac, for videos where you teach with your screen and camera.
When can I get it?
It's in closed beta now, used on real videos by a small group. Join the waitlist by signing in with Google: your download opens when your account is let in.
Is this the same Tofucut as the YouTube research tool?
Same maker, different product. Tofucut started as a web tool for YouTube research and packaging. That tool is no longer developed, and Tofucut is now this Mac app for editing your videos.
Every feature, explained with the app on screen: the Tofucut guide.
Record the next one here.
For Macs with Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.