Whether you hire a freelance video editor or use Macreto depends mostly on the kind of videos you make. An editor brings judgment and creative experience to any footage. Macreto offers a set workflow for explainer videos, from script to publishing package, where you review and approve.
This comparison describes general differences between two ways of working (as of September 29, 2026). Editors work very differently: services, rates and workflows always depend on the individual and what you agree on.
What a good editor brings
An experienced editor does much more than cut out pauses:
- Judgment: They see which scene works and which doesn’t, and can tell you when a video falls flat.
- Creativity: Their own storytelling, distinctive transitions, a look that stands out from templates.
- Flexibility: Vlogs, interviews, brand films, multi-camera shoots – depending on their specialty, almost anything goes.
- Conversation: You can talk through ideas, ask questions and develop things together.
For elaborate or unusual projects, that’s a real advantage.
Where collaboration often gets stuck
With regular explainer videos, the friction tends to be organizational:
- Handoffs: Uploading raw footage, writing instructions, waiting for the first cut.
- Revision rounds: Feedback by email or voice memo, often with timestamps that have to be looked up first.
- Availability: Vacations, illness or a full schedule push back your publishing plan.
- Everything around the edit: Script, titles, thumbnails, chapters and Shorts aren’t automatically part of the job.
How Macreto works
Macreto is an AI video studio for creators who explain things:
- Upload tutorials and approve the research with sources.
- Read your facecam script in your voice. More on the facecam script.
- Record the facecam with a teleprompter – in your real voice; Macreto doesn’t use AI voices.
- Build: editing, slides, animations, AI images, music, audio mix. Details in video production.
- Review: In the video editor, pause, draw on the frame and leave comments. “Adjust video” applies them all.
- Publish with a package of titles, thumbnails, a description with chapters, tags and a community post.
You keep your style and rules in a brand kit. Corrections that apply generally are saved by the learning book as rules for future videos.
Macreto has limits: it’s built for explainer videos from screen recordings and facecam. It won’t build a brand film or a vlog full of outdoor footage.
How costs add up
With an editor, the price depends on the person, the scope and the number of revision rounds. Ask for a quote that clearly states what’s included.
With Macreto, you pay a monthly plan with credits and can cancel monthly. A video costs 10 credits, an extra version 6 and a Short 1 credit. The Starter plan is €49 per month and includes 40 credits, or about 4 videos. There are one-time credits for a test video. Current prices are always on the pricing page.
Which option fits whom?
A freelance editor is the better fit if you …
- have elaborate, creative or one-off projects,
- want footage edited that has no screen recording,
- want a person as a creative sparring partner,
- need formats that don’t fit a set workflow.
Macreto is the better fit if you …
- regularly publish tutorials, course lessons or explainer videos,
- want script, editing and package in one place,
- want to give feedback as comments right in the video,
- need a consistent style across many videos.
You can also combine both. For more background, read video editor vs. AI. See the pricing page for Macreto’s plans.