Wavemaker vs CapCut
CapCut compared with Wavemaker: ByteDance's editor with Seedance and Seedream built in against conversation-directed production, with prices checked 2026-10-26.
Checked . Prices and features change often; each fact links to its source, so check there before you decide.
What CapCut is
CapCut is ByteDance's video and photo editor for desktop, web and mobile, with templates, auto captions, voice tools and AI image and video generation from ByteDance's Seedance and Seedream models.
Video Studio builds a video from a chat prompt, and a CapCut plugin for ChatGPT's Codex edits the timeline from a conversation.
Side by side
| Topic | CapCut | Wavemaker |
|---|---|---|
| How you direct it | Edit on the timeline by hand, start from a template, or prompt Video Studio. | A conversation with Wavemaker's agent in the web app, or your own agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and others) over MCP, the CLI or the HTTP API. The agent chooses the models and the method for each piece and keeps that method so you can run it again. |
| What it makes | Edited social videos, generated images and clips, captions, voiceover. | Stills, video with sound, voiceover, music, sound effects and HTML5 display ads, assembled into ads, UGC-style spots, short films, music videos and explainers. |
| Models | ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 and 2.5 and Seedream 5.0, plus Nano Banana Pro. | Self-hosted MiniMax H3 is the default for video, alongside LTX and SeedVR2 upscaling. Partner models include Kling, Seedance, Runway, Luma, Gemini image and video, OpenAI image, xAI image and video, Ideogram, and ElevenLabs voice and music. |
| Editing | A full timeline editor on desktop, web and mobile, with templates and effects. | The agent trims, crops, reframes, upscales, retimes, grades, mixes and captions, and can watch and listen to the result to check it. A simple timeline editor lets you trim and reorder clips yourself. There is no full multitrack editor. |
| Ads and UGC | Templates for marketing videos; ByteDance sells a separate ad agent, Pippit. | Product ads, UGC-style creator spots, presenter ads and display sets from a brief, with placement specs for YouTube, TikTok, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit and CTV. Characters are made for each piece; there is no stock library of AI actors. Wavemaker does not publish ads or track their performance. |
| API, MCP and CLI | No official public API or MCP server found; a Codex plugin works from ChatGPT desktop. | Twelve tools over MCP with OAuth, the same tools over HTTP, a CLI and SDKs. Every surface spends the same credits. |
| Pricing | Pro $19.99 a month for 1,200 AI credits, Ultra $79 for 8,645; Teams from $12.49 a seat. | Credit packs from $19.99 for 300 credits, with no subscription needed, and a Pro plan in four sizes from $49 a month. Pack credits never expire. Work on Wavemaker's own GPUs and servers is charged at twice its cost, and partner models and services at cost plus 10%. A fully animated, finished 1-minute video typically costs about $31 at pack prices. |
| Free use | Free plan; premium content carries a watermark. | 300 starter credits once, valid for 14 days. A video made before the workspace's first payment carries a small Wavemaker badge. |
Where CapCut is stronger
- A full hand editor on every device, with a large template library.
- First-party access to ByteDance's Seedance video models.
- A free plan and a very large user base.
Where Wavemaker is different
- The agent plans and makes the whole piece; you don't assemble it by hand.
- MCP, HTTP API, CLI and SDKs let your own tools drive the same work.
- Each piece's method is saved as a graph you can run again with new inputs.
Which to choose
Choose CapCut if you want to edit footage yourself on your phone or desktop, with templates and captions.
Choose Wavemaker if you want to describe the piece and get it made, or drive production from your own agent or code.
Made with Wavemaker
Sip or Swig, in widescreen
A vertical video widened to 16:9 by generating moving picture into the new space, not by cropping or stretching.
A Little Light
A 12.5-second vertical lyric video: an original two-line song with word-by-word karaoke captions over three calm, symbolic scenes.
Two Steps to Softer Hands
A 15-second vertical how-to ad: a creator introduces a real hand balm, two hands-only steps, a result close-up and an end card.
Try it
Make a 30-second vertical video for TikTok about [topic], with word-by-word captions kept clear of the app's buttons.