Your videos stay on your computer. Period.
ClipCatalog is local-first video management software with AI-powered search — detected content, speech transcripts, face recognition — without uploading a single frame to the cloud. Everything runs on your Windows PC. Your footage is never sent anywhere, never analyzed by a third party, and never used to train AI models.
Try ClipCatalog free — up to 500 videos
No account required. Your footage stays on your computer.
ClipCatalog processing video locally — no cloud uploads involved.
Your video files are never uploaded, streamed, or transferred to any server. AI processing happens right on your PC.
Detected content, transcription, and face detection all run on your hardware. Models are downloaded once and work completely offline.
Your footage is never used to train, fine-tune, or improve any AI model. The models ship pre-trained with the app — your data stays yours.
Why local-first video management matters
Cloud-based video tools ask you to upload your most personal and professional footage to someone else's servers. That means trusting a third party with client work, personal memories, unreleased projects, and hours of raw footage. ClipCatalog takes a different approach.
Wedding footage, corporate projects, interviews — when you index them with ClipCatalog, the files never leave your disk. There's no server-side copy, no processing pipeline you can't see, and no terms-of-service clause granting access to your content.
Major tech companies have been caught training AI models on user-uploaded videos and photos — often buried in terms of service. ClipCatalog's AI models are pre-trained and ship with the installer. Your footage is never fed back into any model.
After the initial model download, ClipCatalog processes and searches your library completely offline. Take your laptop on location, work from a cabin, or just disconnect — your library keeps working.
Uploading terabytes of video to a cloud service takes days and eats bandwidth. Local processing starts immediately — no waiting for uploads, no storage fees, no transfer limits.
How local video processing works in ClipCatalog
Every AI feature in ClipCatalog runs as a local process on your computer. Here's what that looks like under the hood.
Detected content (RAM++), transcription (whisper.cpp), and face detection (YuNet + SFace) each run as local services bound to 127.0.0.1 for on-device inference.
All catalog data — detected content labels, transcripts, face embeddings, thumbnails — is stored in a SQLCipher-encrypted database on your local drive. The encryption key lives in your OS secure storage, not on any server.
A rolling backup service creates hourly snapshots of your database — stored locally alongside your catalog. If something goes wrong, you can restore from backup without contacting any server.
What stays local vs. what needs internet
ClipCatalog is transparent about what happens locally and what requires a connection. Here's the full picture — no fine print.
| Activity | Local or Online | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Video processing & indexing | 100% local | Tags, transcripts, faces, thumbnails — all on your PC |
| Searching your library | 100% local | All queries run against your local encrypted database |
| Catalog storage | 100% local | SQLCipher-encrypted database on your hard drive |
| AI model download | One-time download | Models downloaded on first run, then work offline forever |
| License validation | Periodic check | Brief check-in; your library keeps working offline between checks |
| Error reporting / telemetry | Opt-in only | Prompted on first launch; disabled unless you opt in. Never includes video content or file paths |
| App updates | Optional check | Auto-checks for updates; you choose when to install |
Telemetry and error reporting — your choice
On first launch, ClipCatalog asks if you'd like to send anonymous diagnostics — it's off unless you say yes. If you opt in, only application-level data is sent (never video content, file paths, or thumbnails). Change your mind? Toggle it off in Settings and all queued data is deleted instantly. Full details in our Privacy Policy.
Local processing vs. cloud-based video tools
Local-first tools like ClipCatalog keep your footage on your machine and avoid upload, AI training, and data breach risks entirely — cloud-based tools require uploads and introduce third-party data handling. Here's how the two approaches compare across the concerns that matter most.
| Concern | Cloud-based tools | ClipCatalog (local-first) |
|---|---|---|
| Video upload | Required — footage sent to remote servers | None — files stay on your drive |
| AI training risk | Often in terms of service | Zero — models are pre-trained |
| Data breach exposure | Server-side risk | No server-side copy of your footage for processing |
| Bandwidth cost | Large uploads required | None — instant local processing |
| Offline access | Limited or unavailable | Full library access offline |
| Storage fees | Monthly / per-GB | Your own drives — no fees |
Who benefits from local-first video management
Family & travel archivists
Personal memories deserve personal control.
Family videos and travel footage are irreplaceable — organize them with AI search without handing them to a tech company.
YouTubers & vloggers
Unreleased content stays unreleased.
Index your footage library locally — search by topic, dialogue, or scene without risking a leak or giving a platform early access.
Filmmakers & editors
NDA-safe by architecture, not just by policy.
Embargoed footage, client projects, pre-release content — local-first processing means no third-party data handler in your pipeline.
Built-in security features
Privacy isn't just about avoiding cloud uploads. ClipCatalog protects your catalog data at rest, too.
Your entire catalog database is encrypted with a random 256-bit key
Encryption key stored in Windows DPAPI — not in a plain file
Recover your database key after reinstalls using your license key
Automatic rolling backups of your catalog — stored on your drive
Frequently asked questions
No. Your video files never leave your computer. All AI processing — detected content, transcription, and face detection — runs locally on your own hardware. ClipCatalog does not upload, stream, or transfer your footage anywhere.
No. ClipCatalog uses pre-trained AI models that run locally on your machine. Your footage is never sent to a server for AI analysis, and it is never used to train or improve any AI model. The models are stored locally (downloaded on first run) and work offline after setup.
Only briefly. On first startup, the app downloads AI models and supporting files. After that, license validation checks in periodically. All video processing and searching is fully offline — your library works without internet.
By default, crash reports and analytics are off. On first launch, ClipCatalog asks if you'd like to enable error reporting and telemetry — it's disabled unless you say yes. If you enable it, only application diagnostics are sent — never video content, thumbnails, or transcripts. You can change your decision at any time in Settings.
ClipCatalog stores everything locally in an encrypted SQLite database (SQLCipher) on your computer, typically in your Documents folder. The encryption key is generated per installation and stored in your operating system's secure storage (Windows DPAPI). Only you can access your catalog.
The AI models running on your machine analyze frames and audio to generate tags, transcripts, and face data. But this analysis happens entirely on your PC — the results are stored in your local encrypted database and are never transmitted externally.
Your original video files are never modified. The catalog database, thumbnails, and face data are stored separately and can be deleted. ClipCatalog does not upload or store your video content on our servers; online services are used for licensing/updates (and optional diagnostics if you opt in).
Yes. ClipCatalog uses SQLCipher to encrypt your entire catalog database with a random 256-bit key. The key is stored in your OS secure storage and can be escrowed (encrypted with your license key) for recovery after reinstalls.
What to expect
- On first startup, the app downloads AI models and supporting files (requires internet once).
- License validation checks in periodically — your library keeps working between checks.
- Processing and searching your library happens 100% locally on your PC.
- Your original video files are never modified, moved, or touched by ClipCatalog.
- Windows only — available on Windows 10 and 11.
Try it yourself — see what stays local
The best way to verify ClipCatalog's privacy claims: install the free trial, index a few folders, and check your network traffic. You'll see that video processing generates zero outbound data.
Explore what ClipCatalog can do — all locally
Every feature below runs on your machine with the same local-first, no-upload approach.
Search clips by what's on screen — detected content generated locally by the RAM++ model on your GPU or CPU.
Find clips by what was said — speech-to-text runs locally via whisper.cpp, no audio uploads.
Find every appearance of a person — face data stays in your local encrypted FAISS index.
Index footage on external SSDs and archive drives — everything processed locally, even offline.
Understanding local-first video privacy
Whether you're evaluating ClipCatalog for professional use, comparing it to cloud alternatives, or just want to understand how local AI processing works — here's more context.
Local-first means the app is designed to work without a network connection as the default state. Your data lives on your device, processing happens on your hardware, and the app doesn't depend on a cloud service to function. Internet is only needed for initial setup (model download) and periodic license checks — never for core features.
ClipCatalog bundles pre-trained AI models (RAM++ for detected content, whisper.cpp for transcription, YuNet + SFace for faces) that are downloaded once during initial setup. These models run as local services on your PC — they don't phone home, don't send telemetry, and don't receive updates from a remote server during processing.
Cloud-based AI tools often process your content on remote servers — and many include terms that allow using uploaded content for model improvement. This is how large AI companies build better models: by training on user data. ClipCatalog avoids this entirely by keeping all processing local and using models that are already trained before they reach your machine.
Local processing means your own hardware does the work — so processing speed depends on your CPU and GPU. A dedicated GPU speeds things up significantly. The trade-off is worth it: you get the same AI features with complete privacy, and once your library is indexed, search is instant regardless of hardware. Learn about GPU acceleration →
Try ClipCatalog free — up to 500 videos
No account required. Your footage stays on your computer.