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What does Sollestro do, and how does it compare?
Sollestro is a desktop app that uses a downloaded AI model to analyse video or photos on your computer. For video, it builds an editable first cut in DaVinci Resolve Studio. For photography, it marks photos to keep, reconsider or set aside, from a folder or a Resolve project. You give it the brief and make the final decisions.
One application. One-off licence. No Local AI charge each time you run a job. The table below compares the features, outputs and limits behind that offer.
How to read this table
“Other apps” brings together comparable features from several video and photo products. It does not describe one product that has all of them. “Not verified” means we found no clear match in the pages reviewed; it does not mean the feature exists nowhere. Product features can change.
Want to know how a Sollestro row works in practice? Ask the Sollestro assistant, the chat button at the bottom right of every page.
| What you get | Sollestro | Other apps |
|---|---|---|
| LICENCE, LOCAL AI AND SETUP | ||
| One app for video first cuts and photo selection | Both modes are included in Sollestro 3.1. | Video and photo products reviewed here generally specialise in one job. A like-for-like two-mode workflow was not verified in their published pages. |
| One-off licence | $199 one-off option, including all future major versions. | Pricing varies. Reviewed video tools use credits, usage allowances or subscriptions; photo tools mainly sell subscriptions with free trials. |
| No Local AI fee for another job | No per-clip, per-photo, per-edit or per-prompt Local AI credit charge after buying the one-off licence. Electricity and your own computer are still required. | Some tools charge credits for imports, prompts or exports; some offer unlimited photo processing within a subscription. |
| AI runs on your computer | The downloaded models examine the material and make edit or selection choices on your computer. | Some do: local video analysis and local photo selection both exist elsewhere. Other tools use cloud processing. |
| Media stays on your computer during AI work | In Local mode, the footage, photos, analysis and brief stay on the machine during AI processing. | Some keep media local. One reviewed cloud photo tool processes low-resolution derivatives and metadata remotely while keeping full-resolution originals local. |
| Download an AI model after installation | Model Packages gives a download and suitability route; choose installed analysis and editing/selection models. | Local tools supply or install their own models. Cloud tools handle models on their service. |
| Different models for looking and deciding | Choose one Local model to examine images and another to make the video edit or photo selection. | Model choices vary. An equivalent customer-facing split was not verified on the reviewed product pages. |
| No separate account with an AI provider | A Sollestro licence and downloaded compatible models are enough for Local AI work. | Most reviewed tools provide AI within their own account or plan; workflows and billing vary. |
| Windows and Apple Silicon Mac route | Sollestro 3.1 is available for Windows x64 and Apple Silicon Macs, with compatible hardware. | Platform support varies. One local video alternative is Apple Silicon only; photo alternatives support Windows and macOS. |
| VIDEO: FROM FOOTAGE TO A RESOLVE FIRST CUT | ||
| Choose the video material | Use the open Resolve Studio project or selected folders within that project. | Some import from an editing application or let you choose local footage for a project. |
| Analyse every readable clip you selected | Sollestro analyses sampled frames from each readable clip in scope and uses available transcript text. The Log identifies failures. | Some tools analyse footage visually and by speech; their sampling and selection rules differ. |
| Shoot-wide written summary | Sollestro builds and saves a Shoot Summary from clip analysis to inform later instructions and editing. | Logging and footage summaries exist in some video tools. An equivalent saved whole-shoot document is not verified in all reviewed tools. |
| Write the film brief in ordinary English | Say what the film should achieve, what to include, how to order it, approximate length and what to exclude. | Some video editors accept written directions or scripts. |
| Help turning rough notes into an edit prompt | Prompt Builder develops a draft from your notes and available shoot information; you can inspect and edit it. | Some video assistants accept and refine natural-language requests. The workflow varies. |
| Use a reusable brief template | AI Edit Template and B-roll Cutaways Template put a fill-in brief in the Prompt Builder; replace the hints with your own words for this job. | Some products provide repeatable workflows or recipes. |
| Use your own production knowledge and rules | Load one of 61 Videography Knowledge genre files, or your own, and the standing rules Active Learning has kept from your briefs, to inform the edit. | Some let you attach guidelines, scripts, reference video or saved style instructions. |
| Build a first cut from selected footage | AI Edit chooses material and assembles a draft according to the brief. | Some competing editors also build rough cuts from raw footage. |
| Put the first cut in the open Resolve project | Sollestro creates a new, editable timeline directly in the open DaVinci Resolve Studio project. | Some competing desktop apps can also send a timeline straight into an open Resolve project, and Resolve Studio 21.1 can be operated by cloud AI assistants; other tools export project or interchange files. |
| Keep normal Resolve editing control | Change shots, cuts, audio, colour, titles and export in Resolve after the first cut. | Other exports to editing software also remain editable; tools differ in what carries across. |
| Work with interviews and spoken answers | Put interview clips in your Speech Bins. Sollestro reads what is said from Resolve's subtitles and cuts speech on whole sentences. | Some tools transcribe interviews and make transcript-led edits. |
| Add B-roll cutaways to an existing edit | B-roll Cutaways reads the timeline's subtitles, keeps the speaker on camera for the lines that matter and lays B-roll that fits what is said on the first empty track above V1. | Some tools add B-roll to cuts; sources may be original footage, stock or generated media. |
| Edit to music when appropriate | Beat Sync detects a track's tempo and first beat, or takes yours, and cuts every 1, 2, 4 or 8 beats. | Some tools add or generate music; exact beat-alignment workflows vary. |
| Make a new version without analysing all clips again | Keep suitable cached clip analysis and change the brief before AI Edit Only. | Some products keep footage analysis or version history; reuse rules vary. |
| Re-analyse footage when it changes | Re-Analyse refreshes clip descriptions when the earlier analysis is no longer suitable. | Some tools reprocess or retry source media; details vary. |
| Remix a finished edited video | Edited Video mode can detect separate shots inside a rendered film before a new cut. | Some tools can import an existing video for another cut; an identical shot-analysis route was not verified in the reviewed pages. |
| Learn from a reference edit | Learn My Style reads a reference timeline or edited video and saves an editorial style to use with later briefs. | Some tools follow reference videos or edits you supply, and some save a reusable style from them. |
| Read a review of the shoot | Judge Me gives a written appraisal of analysed material and saves it with project analysis. | Some video tools offer feedback on a cut; that is a related but different review. |
| See progress and failed files | The Log reports processing progress and files the app could not read. | Some tools identify import failures and expose project progress. |
| Stop or resume supported work | Stop, Pause and Resume are available for supported analysis/edit tasks; an in-flight model request can finish before stopping. | Some products let you cancel or retry work; exact resume behaviour varies. |
| PHOTO: FROM A SHOOT TO REVIEWABLE MARKS | ||
| Start from an ordinary photo folder | Choose a folder without opening Resolve or importing into a photo catalogue first. | Some dedicated photo selectors also start from folders or storage. |
| Select photos already in Resolve | Use photos in a Resolve Studio 21 project and choose the relevant folders within it. | The reviewed photo selectors export to Lightroom/Capture One or local storage; a comparable Resolve marking route was not verified on their official pages. |
| Analyse every readable photo in scope | Sollestro examines a preview of each readable RAW, JPEG, TIFF or PNG in the selection; failures appear in the Log. | Some photo selectors assess the whole imported shoot and flag quality issues. |
| Tell it which people and moments matter | Your brief can name people, events, scenes, exclusions and delivery needs for this specific shoot. | Some tools offer people, scene and genre controls, but the reviewed pages show different ways to direct them. |
| Give it a target gallery size | Put an approximate count in the brief; check the actual selection before delivery. | Several photo tools have exact-count controls, set as a number or a percentage. |
| Ask for variety across the job | The brief can require coverage of different people, moments or parts of the shoot. | Some photo tools explicitly weigh coverage and variety when selecting. |
| Get keep, maybe and reject marks | AI Selection produces three review levels for each readable photo. | Other tools offer keep/remove, ranked tiers, assessment indicators or scores with a written reason per photo. |
| Make a smaller highlights set | Highlights marks a smaller hero set in blue and five stars, alongside the main selection. | Some photo tools also offer highlights or sneak-peek workflows. |
| Find photos matching a specific request | A targeted instruction can find and mark matching photos without rerunning the whole selection. | Some tools provide people filters or visual search, but outputs and search scope differ. |
| Keep RAW source files unchanged | Folder mode keeps RAW originals unchanged and puts ratings and colour labels in small XMP files beside them. | Other local selectors also use non-destructive ratings/XMP workflows. |
| Mark supported JPEG, TIFF and PNG files | Folder mode can write ratings and colour labels into those image files. | Other apps can export or pass ratings/labels, subject to format and workflow. |
| Review folder results in familiar photo software | Ratings and colour labels can be inspected in compatible Lightroom, Capture One or Bridge workflows. | Dedicated photo tools commonly hand off ratings to Lightroom/Capture One and other software. |
| Review Resolve results as flags and a Keepers bin | Resolve route adds coloured flags and gathers keeper items into a Keepers Media Pool bin. | A like-for-like Resolve photo-selection hand-off was not verified in the reviewed photo-product pages. |
| Correct every mark yourself | Change keep/maybe/reject marks before delivery; the app does not make the final gallery decision. | Other photo tools also allow manual override and review. |
| Undo a Sollestro marking run | Undo Marks restores the previous flags or ratings/labels for photos touched by a run, while leaving later hand edits alone. | Other tools offer manual reversal and non-destructive review; this precise history behaviour was not verified in their published pages. |
| Learn from corrections you choose to submit | After you change marks, run Learn from my corrections to update the saved selection style. It is an explicit action. | Some photo tools learn from user choices or style; learning and control differ. |
| Learn from past keepers | Learn My Selection Style studies your selected past work and saves a style file for later jobs. | Some photo tools learn from historical choices or personalised profiles. |
| Get a written shoot appraisal | Photo Judge Me reviews the analysed shoot and saves a written judgement. | Photo tools offer technical/scene assessments, and one writes a reason for each photo; a comparable written whole-shoot appraisal was not verified in the reviewed pages. |
| Make another selection from saved analysis | Change the prompt and run AI Selection Only against suitable cached analysis. | Some photo tools let you change selection strictness or target and review again; reuse mechanics vary. |
| Keep all photos, including rejected ones | Sollestro marks choices; it does not delete source files. | Other reviewed photo tools are also non-destructive. |
When does Sollestro make sense?
Sollestro makes the most sense when you work in DaVinci Resolve Studio for video, also select photographs, want to write a brief for each job and want Local AI use without per-job credits. The one-off licence and the combination of both modes are the clear reasons to consider it. You still need suitable hardware, an initial model download and time to review its decisions.
Not sure it fits your work? Ask the Sollestro assistant.
Where other tools may suit you better
Other tools have real strengths. Some work with more editing applications, support team collaboration or add generated captions, graphics and music. Dedicated photo selectors can offer detailed side-by-side review and exact-count controls. Some also keep photos entirely local. If those matter more to your work, compare them directly rather than treating this table as a quality ranking.
Official provider pages checked 26 October 2026. This is a published-feature comparison, not a controlled test of edit quality, selection accuracy or speed. We will update it when products change.
Questions about the comparison
Does Sollestro upload my footage or photos for Local AI work?
No. Local mode runs the analysis and decisions on your computer. Downloading a model, activating/checking a licence and visiting the website still use the internet.
Do other AI photo selectors also work locally?
Yes. Some others publish local photo processing. Sollestro's main difference is the combination of a brief-led photo route, an editable Resolve video first cut, and its one-off Local licence.
Can other AI video editors also send an editable cut to Resolve?
Yes. Some others can send a timeline straight into Resolve or export a Resolve project, and Resolve Studio 21.1 can itself be operated by cloud AI assistants. Compare the specific route, price and workflow you need.
Will Sollestro deliver a finished video or final gallery without review?
It creates a first cut or selection marks. You should check the story, chosen material, technical quality and delivery requirements yourself.
Questions about how Sollestro itself works? Ask the Sollestro assistant. It knows every button and setting in 3.1 Beta.
Get the free 30-day betaSee the one-off licenceRead the Local AI setup guide
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