AI Assistant · Mac and iPhone
An AI video editor for Mac and iPhone that edits when you type
Every editor has the button you cannot find. The Assistant skips the hunt: describe the result in plain English and it drives the same tools you would have clicked, one after another, on the same timeline.
It is at its best with chains. One sentence can trim the silences, caption the take, reframe it for TikTok and put a whoosh on a cut, which would otherwise be four trips through four panels.
- Mac and iPhone
- Free on every tier
Quick answer
Zella's AI Assistant is an AI video editor for Mac and iPhone that edits for you: it is a chat box inside the editor, so you type something like remove the dead air, add captions and make it vertical, and it runs the edits. It covers 102 editing actions on the Mac and 72 on iPhone, it is free on every tier, and it uses your own key from a free provider such as Groq, Gemini or Cerebras. Your video is never uploaded; only your typed prompt and a short project summary, including caption text, go to the provider you pick.
How to do it in Zella
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Step 1: Open the Assistant tab
Open any project and click the Assistant tab. It is in the editor on both the Mac and iPhone.
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Step 2: Add a free key once
On the Mac, click the gear, pick a provider and click Get free key: Groq, Google Gemini and Cerebras need no card, and Ollama runs a model locally. Paste the key, click Save Key, then Test Connection. iPhone has the same one-time setup.
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Step 3: Type what you want
Write it the way you would ask a person: cut the part where I fumble the intro, use the Word Pop caption style, put a vine boom at 3 seconds. Type what can you do? if you are stuck.
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Step 4: Confirm the big ones
Large actions, such as deleting every silence or exporting, ask for confirmation first. Everything else applies straight away and shows in the chat.
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Step 5: Undo anything
Each step it took is listed in the chat. On the Mac, Command-Z undoes it; you can mix typing and clicking freely, since both work on the same timeline.
Why do it this way
Free, with no per-edit cost
The Assistant is never part of Zella Pro, on either platform. You bring a key from a free provider, so Zella bills you nothing for it.
Your footage stays put
Only your sentence and a short text summary of the project leave the device. On the Mac, pick Ollama and nothing leaves at all.
It can check the frame
On the Mac, ask is my face centered? or is it too dark? and it looks at the frame on your device before suggesting a fix.
What you need
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later (Apple Silicon or Intel), or iPhone on iOS 18 or later
- Your own API key from a provider such as Groq, Gemini or Cerebras (free), or Ollama running locally on the Mac
- An internet connection for cloud providers; Ollama needs none
- Free on every tier: no watermark, exports up to 2 minutes at 1080p
Questions
Is the AI Assistant free?
Yes, on every tier and on both platforms. It is never part of Zella Pro. You use your own key, and Groq, Gemini and Cerebras offer free keys with no card, so there is no cost per edit.
Does it upload my video?
No. Your video never leaves the device. The provider you chose receives your typed prompt and a short project summary, such as clip count, durations and caption text.
Why 102 actions on the Mac and 72 on iPhone?
The Mac editor exposes more panels for the Assistant to drive, such as window capture, cursor settings and the Library, which have no touch equivalent. Everything you shoot, cut, caption, grade, reframe and export on the phone is covered.
Do I need to learn special commands?
No. Describe the result in your own words and the Assistant works out which tools to use and in what order.
Related tools
Read the manual