VerseCut is a full video editor that never shows you an ad, never uploads your media and never updates itself behind your back. Transcribe, add titles and captions, drop in overlays exactly on cue, and export for YouTube in 1080p or 4K. No account needed.
Free to start. VerseCut 3.0, released September 2026 · Windows 10 & 11 · macOS 12 Monterey or later · works offline after a one-time setup
Built from a real production routine: a long teaching video, dozens of on-screen verses, two logos, captions for YouTube, and a deadline every week.
A multi-track timeline for video, overlays, titles, captions, voice and music. Split with S, ripple-delete to close gaps, and keep every track in sync while you trim. Clips land exactly where you drop them. Undo reaches back 200 steps, and projects save every few seconds.
Speech-to-text runs on your own processor using the open Whisper small.en model, tuned for Bible names and King James wording. Export SRT for YouTube's auto-translate, ITT for Final Cut Pro or WebVTT. Nothing uploaded
Drop in a ZIP of scripture cards or lower thirds with its timing sheet (FCPXML, CSV, or timecodes in the file names). Every card lands on its exact frame, and there's nothing to place by hand.
Two dedicated logo tracks with one-click top-right and bottom-right placement. Drag anything in the picture to move it, pull a corner to resize, and snap to safe margins. Title styles cover a lower third, centred title, name tag and scripture card.
Cross-dissolve, dip to black or dip to white at any cut, with the audio crossfading automatically. Press T at the playhead.
Music automatically ducks under the voice. Loudness is normalised to YouTube's −14 LUFS, and optional voice cleanup removes rumble and hiss.
H.264 MP4 for YouTube and Facebook, 720p for quick sharing, or MP3 for podcasts. Titles and captions are drawn natively at 4K. Exports use the H.264 encoder built into your operating system — Media Foundation, Quick Sync, NVENC or AMD on Windows, Apple VideoToolbox on a Mac — so long videos finish faster.
If your show puts text on screen every time a passage is read, a lyric starts or a speaker changes, you know the drill: scrub, drag, nudge, repeat. VerseCut reads the timing that comes with your graphics and does it for you.
3.0 is the release to buy. It makes installing on a Mac as simple as any other app, and it tidies up how VerseCut is built so that everything it contains is properly licensed.
On a Mac, VerseCut installs as one self-contained app in Applications and opens from Launchpad or Spotlight. It brings everything it needs, so you do not have to install Python, Xcode tools or Homebrew first.
VerseCut now ships its own LGPL build of FFmpeg, checked before it is installed, instead of fetching one from a third-party site. Its source is published on this site.
H.264 video and AAC audio are made by the encoders built into Windows and macOS: Media Foundation, Quick Sync, NVENC or AMD on Windows, Apple VideoToolbox on a Mac.
Burned-in captions are drawn by VerseCut itself, in the same navy-and-white style, on both platforms.
Offline licence activation, small project files, two logo tracks, drag-and-drop placement, exact scripture card timing, transitions and 4K export. 1.2 and 2.0 projects open unchanged.
No ads, no account, no telemetry and no silent updates. Your media never leaves your computer, and everything — editing, transcription and export — runs locally.
Filmora asks you to sign in and shows promotions while you work; CapCut keeps an account and sends much of the clever work to its own servers; Premiere Pro is a monthly subscription that checks in with Adobe. VerseCut has no ads, needs no account, and does everything on your computer. The trade-off is real: VerseCut does not do cloud collaboration or generative effects. It is a focused editor that works for you, on your machine.
| VerseCut | Wondershare Filmora | CapCut Pro | Adobe Premiere Pro | DaVinci Resolve | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (US list) | Free · Creator $59/yr · $89 once | $49.99–$59.99/yr, or $79.99 perpetual (one platform) | About $179.99/yr | $22.99/mo on an annual plan | Free · Studio $295 one-time |
| Account needed | No | Wondershare ID to activate | CapCut or TikTok account | Adobe ID | Free version no; Studio uses an activation key |
| Online check | Never — the licence is verified on your computer | Activation online | Sign-in, and paid features are checked online | Licence check every 30 days (99-day grace on annual plans) | Key activation |
| In-app promotions | None | Pop-ups “cannot be completely disabled” (Wondershare support) | Upsells to Pro throughout the free version | — | — |
| Works with no internet at all | Yes, after the one-time setup | Activation and AI features need a connection | Many features run in CapCut's cloud | Yes between licence checks | Yes |
| Offline speech-to-text | Yes, included | AI features use credits | Runs on CapCut's servers | Yes | Studio |
| Timed overlays from a ZIP | Yes, automatic | Manual | Manual | Via XML import | Via XML import |
| One-time purchase option | Yes — $89 for the 3.0 line | $79.99 perpetual (one platform) | No | No | Yes — Studio $295 |
Competitor details come from each vendor's public pricing and support pages, checked 22 September 2026: Filmora plans, Wondershare support on pop-ups, CapCut, Premiere Pro plans, Adobe licence checks, DaVinci Resolve Studio. “—” means we couldn't confirm it; prices and terms change, so check with the vendor before you buy. Other product names are the trademarks of their owners and appear here only for factual comparison.
Every plan is the same offline editor. Paid plans unlock the production tools and come with a licence file that works without the internet. Pay monthly, pay yearly, or pay once — the choice is on each card.
We take payment from customers worldwide. Paddle is our merchant of record, which means it takes the payment and collects and remits VAT and sales tax in your country. We accept credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover), Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal; business customers on Studio plans can pay by wire transfer against an invoice. Prices are shown in your local currency wherever Paddle supports it.
There is no activation server, no account and no online check — not at the start, and not later. That is why VerseCut activates on a machine that has never been connected to the internet.
VerseCut verifies the licence's Ed25519 signature on the computer itself, against a public key built into the application. No part of the licence, and nothing about your machine, is sent to us.
An annual subscription keeps working for 14 days past its renewal date before features step down to Free, so a payment that arrives late never interrupts a deadline.
The first 14 days include every Creator feature. There is no account to make, no card to enter and nothing to cancel. When the trial ends VerseCut carries on as Free — your projects are still there and still open.
VerseCut 3.0 is out for Windows and macOS. The video engine is included in the download. Setup takes about ten minutes and needs the internet once, to fetch Python components and the speech model. After that VerseCut works with no connection at all.
64-bit. Unzip to C:\VerseCut, double-click Install-VerseCut.bat, then open VerseCut from the desktop icon.
What you need: Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit · 8 GB RAM (16 GB for 4K) · 4 CPU cores · about 3 GB free disk
~66 MB download, ~2 GB installed
Download for WindowsApple silicon and Intel. Unzip, open the VerseCut folder and double-click Install VerseCut.command. VerseCut installs as an app in Applications; open it from Launchpad or Spotlight. Mac install steps
What you need: macOS 12 Monterey or later · Apple silicon or Intel · 8 GB RAM (16 GB for 4K) · about 3 GB free disk
~44 MB download, ~2 GB installed
Download for macOSStep-by-step installation for both platforms, a first episode in eight steps, and every keyboard shortcut.
Also installed alongside the application, so it is there when you are offline.
Installation guide Read the user guideVerseCut 3.0 replaces 2.0; projects from 1.2 and 2.0 open unchanged. Installation guide · Source code for open-source components
Yes, entirely. The installer needs the internet once, to fetch Python components and the speech model; the video engine comes in the download. After that the application makes no network connection at all: editing, transcription, export and licence activation all happen on your computer.
No. There is no sign-in, no cloud library and no profile to create. You download VerseCut, install it and edit. A paid licence is a file you keep, not an account you log in to.
VerseCut carries on running on the Free plan. Nothing is locked away: your projects are still there, they still open, and you can still edit and export at 1080p without a watermark. The Creator features simply stop until you buy a plan.
Yes. Install VerseCut on the new machine and enter the same licence. A Creator licence covers 2 computers and a Studio licence covers one seat per person, so if you are retiring an old machine, email bjohn@gostateam.com and we will free the seat. If you would rather your licence only worked on specific machines, we can lock it to them on request — send us the Machine ID that VerseCut shows under Licence.
VerseCut steps down to the Free plan — after a further 14 days of grace, so a late renewal never catches you out mid-edit. Your files and projects remain yours and remain openable. Nothing is deleted, held hostage or moved, and exports you have already made are unaffected.
Yes, for the 3.0 release line. A one-time licence never expires and includes every 3.0.x update. It does not include 3.1 or later; moving to a later release costs the upgrade price set for that release. Creator is $89 and Studio is $179 per seat.
Yes — within 14 days of your payment, for any reason. Email bjohn@gostateam.com with your order number and we will refund it in full.
No. There is no analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting and no cloud storage. Your projects live in your Documents folder and your media stays where it is. The only information that leaves your computer is what you give to our payment provider at checkout.
No. It was born in a weekly Bible-teaching production, which is why the overlay automation is so good, but it is a general editor for YouTubers, podcasters, teachers and small businesses.
Not directly. Import the original media and captions (SRT, ITT or VTT). Timed overlays can come in from FCPXML.
Creator and Studio export 3840×2160. Titles and captions are drawn natively in 4K. Footage recorded in 1080p is upscaled, so record in 4K for true 4K detail.
No. 3.0 opens projects from 1.2 and 2.0 unchanged. Install 3.0 and carry on.