There are three ways to use AI in Selects. They all do the same editing work, so the choice comes down to what you already pay for, how much setup you want, and how far beyond Selects your workflow reaches.

Every option splits your cost into two parts:

The work always uses Selects credits, on all three options. What changes is who pays for the thinking.

Analyzing your footage covers transcription, topics and subtopics, speaker detection, visual analysis, and shot quality. Learn more in How AI analysis works in Selects.

The models built into Selects are the quickest way to start, because there is nothing to set up and no second subscription to buy. Open the chat panel and start editing.

Selects uses a mix of models rather than one, and picks the right model for each task as it works. Finding the best cut, reading your footage, and matching a script are different jobs, so they do not all run on the same model.

This is also the most expensive option per edit. Selects reaches those models through paid API access, which costs more per message than a flat monthly plan does.

Best for: editors whose plan has enough monthly credits to cover both chatting and analyzing their footage.

Learn more in Edit with chat.

Connecting your own Claude subscription lets you chat in Selects without spending Selects credits on the conversation. Selects runs the model against your Claude plan instead, so your Selects credits go to analyzing footage and building drafts.

Setup takes about a minute and needs no technical knowledge. You sign in through your browser once, and the connection stays until you disconnect it.

This option needs a Claude Pro or Max subscription. It will not work on a free Claude account.

Best for: editors who already pay for Claude Pro or Max, and want their Selects credits to go further.

Learn more in Edit with chat.

The Selects MCP connects Selects to an AI app you already use, such as Claude, Codex, or OpenClaw. You prompt from that app, and Selects does the editing in the background. Chatting is billed through that provider's plan, so your Selects credits go to the editing work.

This is the option that reaches beyond Selects. Because your agent can use other tools alongside Selects, one prompt can pull footage from cloud storage, cut the edit in Selects, add captions and motion graphics on export, and publish the result, all without you switching apps.

It also takes the most setup. You do not need to code, but you do need to be comfortable connecting an MCP server in your AI app.

Best for: editors who have already built an editing workflow in their AI app, with their own instructions and guides, and want Selects to carry out the decisions.

Learn more in Connect Selects to your AI agent with the Selects MCP.

You are not locked in. You can switch between all three at any time, and connecting one does not disable the others.

Connecting your own Claude subscription and using the Selects MCP both cost less than using the models built into Selects. In both cases your own AI plan pays for the conversation instead of your Selects credits. The models built into Selects are billed through paid API access, which costs more per message than a flat monthly plan.

Exact savings depend on how you edit, since AI models count tokens differently depending on the task.

While chat to edit is in Beta, chatting with the models built into Selects is free, so this difference does not apply yet.

Yes. Selects credits cover analyzing your footage and building your drafts, and that work happens inside Selects on all three options. Connecting your Claude subscription or using the MCP only changes who pays for the conversation.

Yes. All three stay available in your account. In the chat panel you can move between the Selects models and your connected Claude subscription whenever you like, and the Selects MCP works alongside both.

No. A Claude subscription is optional. Selects includes its own models, so you can do everything without paying for a second subscription.

The models built into Selects need no setup at all. Connecting your Claude subscription takes about a minute. The Selects MCP takes a few minutes and asks for a little more comfort with connecting tools, though no coding is involved.

No. The editing quality is the same across all three. What changes is which model does the thinking, what it costs you, and how much of your wider workflow you can automate.