Side by side
Cinestar vs FrameQuery
Both stand on ai video search tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+2
Cinestar pairs local multimodal media search with an open-source core and an API for custom plugins. Using its AI services requires Ollama and downloading the listed models.
Visit Cinestar
Free plan APIMacWeb+1
FrameQuery connects video indexing and local search with review and editing workflows. Note that the free plan has no indexing hours and the documented API is not yet available.
Visit FrameQueryThe facts
| Cinestar | FrameQuery | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows | API, Mac, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Starter: $19 a month |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | cinestar.sourceforge.io | framequery.com |
| On ai video search tools | #1 of 24 | #4 of 24 |
Cinestar: what it does well
- Natural-language searches return timecodes and thumbnails
- AI processing runs locally, according to the maker
- Open-source core is listed as free
- An open API supports custom plugins
What to know first
- Local AI services require Ollama
- Listed model downloads total about 2–4 GB
- Available for Linux and macOS
FrameQuery: what it does well
- Searches dialogue, on-screen content, and people
- Works with more than 50 video formats
- Local searches can work offline after indexing
- Exports results to several editing workflows
- Web review supports comments and annotations
What to know first
- Free plan includes no monthly indexing hours
- Selected frames and audio go to cloud services
- API is not yet available
Alternatives to Cinestar Alternatives to FrameQuery The whole list