Imaginario AI is a cloud platform that ingests your video library, runs multimodal AI analysis (visual, audio, and speech), and lets you search scenes, faces, and objects or auto-generate curated clips. Pricing was previously per-user from $34/month but is now unlisted (contact sales). FrameQuery is a local-first search tool that indexes footage with AI (scenes, faces, objects, and speaker-separated transcripts) from $19/month, with film-theory optimization that keeps processing costs dramatically lower. Choose Imaginario AI for cloud-native clip generation and multimodal search; choose FrameQuery for affordable, offline-capable search with professional format support.
| Feature | FrameQuery | Imaginario AI |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Local-first desktop | Cloud platform |
| Pricing model | From $19/mo flat | Per-user from $34/mo (pricing now unlisted) |
| AI search | Faces, objects, scenes, transcripts | Multimodal (visual, audio, speech) |
| Format support | 50+ native formats (R3D, BRAW, ProRes) | Standard web formats |
| Offline capable | ||
| Face recognition | ||
| Speaker-separated transcription | ||
| NLE export | FCPXML, EDL, LosslessCut | Premiere Pro export |
| Auto-generated clips | ||
| Index sharing (free) | ||
| Data stays local | ||
| Ongoing storage costs |
Imaginario AI runs multimodal analysis across your entire library, understanding scenes, objects, faces, actions, audio, and speech. You can search for specific moments visually or by dialogue, and it auto-generates curated clips (“Magic Clips”) for social media. It also exports to Premiere Pro for further editing. Both platforms offer face-based search.
FrameQuery searches across visual scenes, spoken words, detected faces, and objects simultaneously. Where it differs is speaker-separated transcription (who said what, and when), offline search after indexing, and broader NLE export (FCPXML, EDL, and LosslessCut markers alongside Premiere-compatible output).
Imaginario AI previously listed per-user pricing: a free Starter tier (30 min of analysis), Creator at $34/user/month (600 min, 100 GB storage), Pro at $69/user/month (1,200 min, 250 GB storage), and Premium at $199/user/month (1,800 min, 2 TB storage). Their pricing page has since been removed, suggesting a move to contact-based sales. For teams with multiple editors, per-user costs add up quickly, and footage must remain on their cloud infrastructure to stay searchable.
FrameQuery uses film-theory optimization to reduce the amount of AI processing needed, making indexing dramatically cheaper. Plans start with a free tier (search only), Starter at $19/month (10 hours of indexing), Pro at $54/month (50 hours), and Max at $228/month (300 hours). Once footage is indexed, there are no ongoing costs. Your search index lives locally, and sharing it with your team is free on every plan.
Imaginario AI requires you to connect storage systems or upload video files to their cloud platform for analysis. Your footage lives on their infrastructure while it is being processed and searched, which may raise concerns for teams working with sensitive or pre-release content.
FrameQuery takes a local-first approach. Only lightweight proxy files are sent for AI processing, and proxies are deleted immediately afterward. Your original footage never leaves your machine. The search index stays on your local drive, so you can search entirely offline with no data leaving your network.
Imaginario AI is aimed at media companies and creative teams, but it works primarily with standard web video formats. Production teams shooting on cinema cameras would need to transcode R3D, BRAW, or CinemaDNG files before importing, adding a manual step and extra storage overhead.
FrameQuery natively supports 50+ professional formats including R3D, BRAW, ProRes, and CinemaDNG with no transcoding required. It exports to FCPXML, EDL, and LosslessCut markers, fitting directly into post-production workflows. You can point it at your raw camera drives and start searching immediately.
They solve overlapping problems differently. Imaginario AI is a cloud platform with multimodal AI analysis (visual, audio, speech), face search, and auto-generated clip compilations. FrameQuery is a local-first desktop tool that indexes footage with AI (scenes, faces, objects, and speaker-separated transcripts) and keeps the search index on your machine. If you need auto-generated clips and a fully cloud-hosted workflow, Imaginario AI may suit you. If you want affordable, offline-capable search with professional format support and no ongoing storage costs, FrameQuery is the better fit.
FrameQuery ranges from free (search only) to $228/month for the Max plan with 300 hours of indexing. Imaginario AI previously listed per-user pricing: free (30 min), Creator at $34/user/month (600 min), Pro at $69/user/month (1,200 min), and Premium at $199/user/month (1,800 min). Their pricing is now unlisted. FrameQuery uses film-theory optimization to dramatically reduce AI processing costs, and once your footage is indexed there are no ongoing fees. Your search index lives locally with no cloud storage charges.
Yes. FrameQuery uploads only lightweight proxy files for AI processing. Proxies are deleted immediately after, and your original footage is never uploaded. The search index lives locally on your machine, so once indexed, search works entirely offline with no internet needed. Imaginario AI is a cloud-based platform that requires an internet connection for uploading, searching, and generating clips.
FrameQuery natively supports 50+ professional formats including R3D, BRAW, ProRes, and CinemaDNG without transcoding. Imaginario AI works primarily with standard web video formats. Production teams shooting on cinema cameras would need to transcode their footage before importing it into Imaginario AI, adding time and storage overhead.