Fake chat video generators compared: Text-2-Beluga, discordfakechat, iTextStories, CapCut and Dingcut

I built Dingcut because I tried every tool on this list first. This is what I found. I have a horse in the race, so read the Dingcut section with that in mind, but I have tried to be fair about what the others do well.

Text-2-Beluga

An open-source Python script. You write the conversation in a text file with a simple syntax, run the script, and it renders a video with Discord-style messages and the ding.

What it gets right: it is free, it runs offline, and it has the correct Discord look. For a programmer who wants to batch out videos, it works.

Where it falls short: timing is a number you set per line in the text file, and you cannot preview without rendering. Getting the pause right on a punchline means render, watch, edit, render, watch. No iMessage or WhatsApp. No reactions or joins. You need Python installed and you need to be comfortable in a terminal.

discordfakechat.com and similar screenshot generators

These generate a static image of a fake Discord conversation. You customize names, avatars, messages and timestamps, then download a PNG.

What they get right: the image is convincing and it takes thirty seconds.

Where they fall short: it is a screenshot, not a video. To make a Beluga-style video you still have to import each message as a separate image into a video editor, add the ding to each one, and time everything by hand. The generator saves you from opening Discord, and that is all.

iTextStories and iMessage story apps

Mobile apps aimed at the "texting story" format. You type a conversation, pick who sends each line, and the app plays it back with typing indicators and sends it as a video.

What they get right: iMessage look is good, and the workflow is phone-first which suits a lot of creators.

Where they fall short: they only do iMessage (or a generic look). Timing is fixed or has one global speed setting. Sound is usually a single send tone. There is no boom, no reactions, no per-message hold. The output is a text story, not a Beluga video, and the difference is the rhythm. Most also watermark heavily or charge $10 to $15 a month.

CapCut, by hand

The way most Beluga channels actually work. Screenshot the messages, import them as clips, drag each clip to the right length, drop the ding on each one, add the boom and zoom on the punchline.

What it gets right: total control. If you can imagine it, you can do it.

Where it falls short: forty minutes for a twenty-second video, and most of that is dragging clip edges. Changing the pace of the whole video means touching every clip. Changing the chat app means starting over. If you publish daily, this is a part-time job, which is why a lot of channels pay a Fiverr editor instead.

Dingcut

A browser app. You type the chat, pick a rhythm preset, and export an MP4. Each message has its own wait, hold, sound and punch which you override only when the joke needs it. Five chat styles, five layouts, 49 built-in sounds, custom sound and image uploads, reactions, typing indicators, joins and leaves.

What it gets right: the timing is the product. Presets are timed from real Beluga uploads, and per-line overrides take one click. Preview and export use the same renderer, so what you see is what you get. Rendering runs in the browser, so export takes seconds and there is no queue.

Where it falls short: it is not a general video editor. No free-form timeline, no layers, no B-roll. If you want to intercut real footage you take the MP4 into CapCut. Export needs a recent browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox 130+, Safari 26+). Free tier is three exports at twenty seconds with a watermark, then $2.99 a month.

Summary

If you make one video a month, CapCut is fine. If you make one a day, you want something that thinks in beats.