Reelary vs Scenelet
These two products make almost the same promise: find any shot by describing it, without your footage ever leaving the machine, for a single payment. The honest difference is what happens after the search results appear.
| Reelary | Scenelet | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $79 one-time (launch, normally $99) | $99.99 one-time |
| Cost over 3 years | $79 | $99.99 |
| Platforms | Windows 10/11 + macOS 12+ | Windows (Mac "coming soon") |
| Where processing happens | On device | On device |
| Search | Visual semantic search across every frame and 2-second clip | Visual semantic search |
| Produces a finished file | Yes - MP4, plus FCPXML / EDL if you want to finish in an NLE | No - drops clips on a timeline, no export |
Scenelet figures read from https://scenelet.monosma.com/ on 2026-08-01. Vendors change pricing - check theirs before deciding.
Where they agree
Scenelet's own page says "Search videos by meaning.", that footage "never leaves your PC", and that it "works without internet. No cloud, no API key, no telemetry." Reelary says the same things, and means them the same way: the vision model, the vector index and the video all live on your disk, and the app runs with the network unplugged.
Both are also sold the way software used to be sold - once. Scenelet is $99.99 one-time with future updates included; Reelary Pro is $79 one-time. If your decision is purely "which local semantic search engine do I buy", these are genuinely close, and you should try both: Reelary is free to download and free forever for unlimited indexing and search.
Where they part: Scenelet finds the shot, Reelary finishes the cut
Scenelet is a search tool. Its workflow ends with matching clips you drag into whatever editor you already use. As of 2026-08-01 its site describes no export, no timeline assembly and no delivery step.
Reelary treats the search result as the middle of the job, not the end. You write the film as a sentence or a short script; each line becomes a segment on a timeline populated with the shots that match it. You reorder, trim, swap a shot by re-searching that one line, add captions and a local AI voice-over, then export:
- MP4 - a finished, deliverable file, with captions burned in and the aspect ratio you chose.
- FCPXML / EDL - if you would rather grade and finish in Premiere, Final Cut or Resolve, referencing your original files on disk.
Platform and distribution
Scenelet ships on Windows through the Microsoft Store, with a Mac version listed as coming soon. Reelary ships today on both: a direct Windows installer, and the Mac App Store, where Pro is a one-time in-app purchase that unlocks every Mac on your Apple ID. One license covers both platforms.
Pick Scenelet if you only want to find shots faster and you are already happy with your editing setup.
Pick Reelary if the tedious part is not just finding the shots but assembling them - or if you want the option of delivering a file without opening a second application.
Try it against your own library
Neither vendor's copy will settle this; your footage will. Reelary is free to download, with unlimited libraries, unlimited indexing and full semantic search on the free tier (exports capped at 720p with a light watermark, up to 60s). Point it at a folder you know well and see whether it finds the shot you are thinking of.