# VidStudio

15 Hacker News commenters recommended VidStudio and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Runs in the browser with no account or uploads, so files stay local, though browser codec limits cause some decode failures.

## Why people recommend it

- No account or uploads needed (4 comments): "The best thing about it imo is that you do not need an account you just start editing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49657188)) "privacy-friendly editing without uploads is compelling" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47848252)) "I love no accounts and no cloud a lot!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47850616))
- Enthusiastic first impressions (4 comments): "Wow this is really cool thanks a lot for sharing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47862103)) "This is so cool - will try it out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47852071)) "Looks good. Good work on shipping!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47859407))

## What people warn about

- Limited by browser codec support (3 comments): "The editor mostly relies on the browser Audio/Video codecs which I learned after trying FFmpeg out. They have wide support but also a bunch of limitations." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47848386)) "Audio decode failed: your browser cannot decode the audio" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47853668)) "I could not import 10-bit video on Windows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47848212))
- Performance and size limits (2 comments): "the last one was blocked at 75%, and it was an 30 seconds of 5 mb video" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47861448)) "leading to abysmal performance as you lose decoder state" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47848158))
- FFmpeg license compliance questioned (2 comments): "OP doesn't do most of the things FFmpeg lists under their "License Compliance Checklist"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47848172)) "I think you're in breach of the terms of the LGPL." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47847898))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Kdenlive](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kdenlive.md): 56 recommend
- [Final Cut Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/final-cut-pro.md): 25 recommend
- [Mosaic agentic video editing](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mosaic-agentic-video-editing.md): 25 recommend
- [OpenShot Video Editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openshot.md): 25 recommend
- [Cardboard video editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cardboard-agentic-video-editor.md): 22 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "VidStudio", https://hackerapproved.com/p/vidstudio/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).