Is a browser tool more private than desktop software?

No. An offline desktop application keeps your files on your machine exactly as this does. Privacy is the reason to prefer either of them over an upload-based website; it is not a reason to prefer one of them over the other.

So what is the actual advantage?

Availability. No install, no licence, no administrator, no thirty-day trial. On a locked-down work laptop, a borrowed machine, or a one-off job that does not justify buying software, a URL is the whole setup.

When should I just use the desktop app?

Whenever you already own it and the job needs depth — colour management, masks, non-destructive history, timeline editing — or whenever the file is large enough that native speed and native memory matter. Nothing here is trying to replace a professional editor.

Can I automate anything?

There is a batch runner that applies one recipe to many files, and a hand-off pipe between tools. For anything genuinely scriptable, a shell script over a native binary still wins — it can run on a schedule, and a web page cannot.

Browser Tools vs Installed Desktop Software

Desktop software is already private and already offline. Here is the honest case for a browser tool anyway — and when to just open the app you own.