head to head · open source
Audacity vs Kdenlive
Audacity has 18,928 GitHub stars, 2,712 forks, 1,781 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kdenlive has 6,038 stars, 556 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Audacity leads on adoption by 213% (18,928 vs 6,038 stars). Audacity is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; Kdenlive is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Audacity has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Kdenlive 9%. Audacity was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Audacity | Kdenlive | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 556 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Audacity if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Kdenlive if
- You want the Kdenlive feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Kdenlive fits your workflow better
About Audacity
Audacity Audacity is an easy to use, multi track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. More info can be found on This repository is currently undergoing major structural change. We're currently working on Audacity 4, which means an entirely new UI and also refactorings aplenty. As such, the master branch is currently not particularly friendly to new contributors. It is still possible to submit patches to Audacity 3.x; make sure you branch off audacity3 if you choose to do so. Build instructions for 3.x can be found here; build instructions for Audacity 4 can be…
read the full Audacity overview →
About Kdenlive
Kdenlive Kdenlive is a powerful, free and open source video editor that brings professional grade video editing capabilities to everyone. Whether you're creating a simple family video or working on a complex project, Kdenlive provides the tools you need to bring your vision to life. For more information about Kdenlive's features, tutorials, and community, please visit our official website. There you can also find downloads for both stable releases and experimental daily builds for Kdenlive. Contributing to Kdenlive Kdenlive is a community driven project, and we welcome contributions from everyone! There are many…
read the full Kdenlive overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Audacity or Kdenlive more popular?
Audacity has 18,928 GitHub stars and Kdenlive has 6,038. Audacity has the larger community by that measure.
Are Audacity and Kdenlive free?
Both are open source. Audacity has no licence declared in this registry, and Kdenlive is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Audacity and Kdenlive?
Audacity is written in C++ and Kdenlive in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Audacity or Kdenlive?
Choose Audacity if you want the larger community (18,928 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Kdenlive if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.