The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Product decision · 2026
Palmier Pro's AI-native Mac video editor draws 14.3k stars; binaries go proprietary
Palmier's Swift-native macOS editor puts AI generation and MCP agent editing in the timeline; open source drew 14.3k stars before binaries went proprietary.
Palmier
What the business is
Palmier, Inc. sells Palmier Pro, a Swift-native video editor for macOS 26 (Apple Silicon) in which AI models such as Seedance, Kling and Nano Banana Pro generate media directly in the timeline, and Claude Code, Codex or Cursor can drive the same project through a local MCP server.
How it started
Palmier, Inc. built Palmier Pro from scratch in Swift with Premiere Pro as the north star. Its thesis was that much of an editing workflow is mechanical - finding clips, cutting, masking, laying out a timeline - and that AI generation had outgrown the tools around it, so the editor itself should host state-of-the-art video and image models (Seedance, Kling, Nano Banana Pro) and let an in-app agent or an external coding agent work on the same project.
What happened
The company seeded adoption through open source: releases through v0.7.6 and the source on the last-gpl-source branch were published under GPLv3, and the repo grew to 14.3k stars with 1.1k forks. The Show HN on 2026-07-23 drew 191 points and 41 comments; in thread replies the founders said only AI generation and the built-in chat consume credits while the editor is free when users connect their own agents, and that support is macOS-only on Apple Silicon with .mov/.mp4 input.
How it ended up
Still live as of 2026-09-05, with a licensing change: binary releases after v0.7.6 are proprietary under a binary license and their source is not published; the repository now preserves the historical GPLv3 source, hosts current binary releases and update metadata, and no longer accepts code contributions.
Background
Palmier, Inc. builds Palmier Pro, a Swift-native macOS video editor whose bet is that editing's next phase is AI-native: generation happens inside the timeline, and agents edit the same project as the human. Its north star is Premiere Pro, with state-of-the-art video and image models (Seedance, Kling, Nano Banana Pro) built in, plus an MCP server so Claude Code, Codex or Cursor can drive the app over localhost.
The company started open: releases through v0.7.6 and the source on the last-gpl-source branch were published under GPLv3, and the Show HN on 2026-07-23 drew 191 points and 41 comments as the repo grew to 14.3k stars and 1.1k forks. In thread replies the founders said credits cover AI generation and the built-in chat, while the editor is free when users connect their own agents, and that support is macOS-only on Apple Silicon.
As of 2026-09-05 the product is live but no longer open: binary releases after v0.7.6 are proprietary, the repository preserves the GPLv3 history while hosting current binaries and update metadata, and it no longer accepts code contributions. The bet - that users will pay for an AI-native native editor on Apple Silicon - is still being tested; funding and revenue are not disclosed.
What has to be true
- Premiere and DaVinci set the professional bar but have a high learning curve; the founders said in the Show HN thread they want to make editing accessible by removing the mechanical parts with AI.
- Tying generation to the timeline avoids the common workflow of gluing outputs from several SOTA AI tools together in a separate editor.
- Exposing the project over MCP turns Claude Code, Codex and Cursor into editing collaborators, so an existing agent ecosystem brings users to the app.
- Open-sourcing first drew 14.3k stars and built distribution; keeping the historical source GPLv3 while closing new binaries preserves goodwill and enables a business.
What can be applied
Open source can prove demand and seed distribution; closing binaries works only when the historical source stays available and the paid product is plainly better.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-05 Palmier Pro is live and distributing current binary releases from the same GitHub repository under a proprietary binary license; the repository preserves the GPLv3 source through v0.7.6 (last-gpl-source branch) and no longer accepts code contributions. The app requires macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later on Apple Silicon; founders were still experimenting with credits-versus-subscription pricing in the Show HN thread. Funding, revenue and download numbers beyond the public repo are not disclosed in the cited material.
Sources
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