Overview

FrameQuery makes footage searchable by dialogue, on-screen content, and people. Indexing identifies scene context, objects, faces, voices, and speech, including transcripts with speaker separation. After indexing, searches run on the device and work offline without a per-query charge—a useful distinction for teams that search archives often or need to work without a connection.

Analysis has a different privacy boundary from search: original footage is read from the user's storage, while selected frames and extracted audio go to cloud services for visual analysis and transcription. Face and voice recognition run on-device, require explicit consent, and keep biometric embeddings out of shared indexes. Production connections use HTTPS, face and voice templates are encrypted on-device, and FrameQuery says it does not use footage to train its own AI models. Teams with strict rules about sending media-derived data to cloud services should weigh that processing requirement before indexing.

Key features

Archive search and media coverage

More than 50 supported formats include R3D, BRAW, ProRes, H.264, H.265, MKV, and MXF, making the product relevant to teams with mixed camera and post-production files. It ingests local folders, S3, SMB, Dropbox, and Google Drive; sharing or backup can use Drive, Dropbox, or NAS. The Free plan provides metadata search, but finding faces, voices, and AI tags requires indexed video.

Review and editing handoff

The web review page combines frame-accurate comments and drawing annotations with approvals and side-by-side version comparison. Search results can be exported to Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Avid, and other NLE workflows using FCPXML, Premiere XML, EDL, and LosslessCut formats. That makes FrameQuery more useful than a search-only archive index when review and editorial handoff are part of the same workflow.

API status

The API is not currently available, and live requests are disabled. Planned documentation describes a 20 GB maximum upload, a 12-hour maximum video duration per job, and 100 clips per batch request; those limits do not make the API usable today. Teams that need programmatic indexing now should choose a service with active API access.

Pricing

The Free plan costs 0.00 USD per free and has no monthly indexing hours. It includes metadata search plus local, Drive, and NAS sharing and backup, but AI-tag, face, and voice search require indexed video. It is useful for metadata-based discovery and sharing, not for a monthly AI-indexing workflow.

Starter costs 19.00 USD per month, with monthly billing only. Its 10 hours of video per month, full AI analysis, local index and search, and Drive or NAS sharing suit an individual or small team with limited indexing needs. Pro costs 45.00 USD per month, billed $540/yr, with 50 hours of video per month, cloud-hosted sharing, 100 GB of cloud proxy storage, collaboration, and review. It is the more appropriate step for teams that need hosted sharing and review rather than just local search.

Max costs 190.00 USD per month, billed $2280/yr, and includes 300 hours of video per month, cloud-hosted sharing, 600 GB of cloud proxy storage, collaboration, and review. It fits higher-volume teams that can use that indexing and storage capacity. Studio has custom pricing and is described as 300+ hours of video, with unlimited video hours, one-time archive processing, dedicated onboarding, and priority support; its capacity description makes it the enterprise option for large archives.

Developer API has custom pricing billed pay per request with usage-based billing, plus REST API access, programmatic indexing, and webhook notifications. Since API access is not yet available, that plan is not a current option for a team choosing a working integration. The published plans do not state seat limits or trial terms.

Platforms

FrameQuery supports macOS, Windows, and web. API is also a platform category, but the FrameQuery API is not currently available.

Who it's for

Production and post-production teams are the clearest fit: FrameQuery pairs broad footage ingestion and archive search with review tools and exports into established editing workflows. Marketing teams, documentary filmmakers, corporate video groups, and news and broadcast users can also benefit when they need to search substantial footage collections. It is a weaker choice for teams that need current API automation or cannot send selected frames and extracted audio to cloud services for analysis.

Pros and cons

Pro: Offline, local search after indexing avoids per-query charges and supports archive work without a network connection.
Pro: Support for more than 50 formats, several storage sources, and common NLE export formats can reduce friction across mixed media workflows.
Pro: Frame-accurate comments, annotations, approvals, and version comparison bring review into the same product as search.
Con: AI analysis sends selected frames and extracted audio to cloud services, which may not suit every media-handling policy.
Con: The Free plan has no monthly indexing hours, so AI-powered search requires a paid plan.
Con: The API remains unavailable, ruling it out for teams that need programmatic indexing today.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison, see AI Video Search Tools and Video Annotation Software.

ViSearch is worth considering if API access or self-hosting is a priority; it has a free tier for up to 20 minutes of video processing and a paid per-minute option.
Twelve Labs is an alternative for teams seeking API access, with a free tier that includes 600 minutes of video and 90-day index access.
Vivu offers a web app and connector with a free monthly allowance of 20 indexing minutes and 50 search credits.
MomentSearch is another option to compare for video search.
Deepgrip may suit teams prioritizing a higher-volume paid plan: its Starter plan is 399.00 USD per month for 200 indexed hours, 450 searches, and 5 seats.
Video Moment Finder is another option to compare for video search.
Nomad Media is another paid platform to consider.
DISKO is an alternative for teams that want screenwriting and shot-list tools alongside review links; its free cloud plan includes 2 GB.

Verdict

Choose FrameQuery if your production or post-production team needs to search diverse footage locally after indexing, then carry results into editing and collaborative review. Its combination of offline querying, broad format support, and editorial handoff is the strongest reason to choose it. Look elsewhere if active API access is essential or cloud processing of selected frames and audio is outside your requirements.

	ELAN	FrameQuery
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	—	$19/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Linux, macOS, Windows	api, macOS, Web, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Frame-accurate marking	Yes	Yes
Drawing annotations	No	Yes
Custom labels or fields	Yes	—
Review workflow	No	Yes
Dataset export	Yes	—

ELAN vs FrameQuery

ELAN

FrameQuery