head to head · open source
Shotcut vs lightcraft
Shotcut has 15,577 GitHub stars, 1,558 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lightcraft has 15,318 stars, 5,886 forks, 347 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Shotcut leads on adoption by 2% (15,577 vs 15,318 stars). Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; lightcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Shotcut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, lightcraft 38%. Shotcut 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
| Shotcut | lightcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 15K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 5.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Shotcut if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lightcraft if
- You want the lightcraft feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and lightcraft fits your workflow better
About Shotcut
Shotcut a free, open source, cross platform video editor Features: Roadmap: Install Binaries are regularly built and are available at Contributors Dan Dennedy : main author Brian Matherly : contributor Dependencies Shotcut's direct (linked or hard runtime) dependencies are: MLT: multimedia authoring framework Qt 6 (6.4 minimum): application and UI framework FFTW FFmpeg: multimedia format and codec libraries Frei0r: video plugins SDL: cross platform audio playback See for a more complete list including indirect and bundled dependencies. License GPLv3. See COPYING. How to build Warning : building Shotcut should…
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About lightcraft
LightCraft Your photos. Your pixels. Your machine. English · 简体中文 Photo library and raw development; an open source, clean room reimplementation of Adobe Lightroom, rebuilt in pure Rust. Native on macOS, Windows and Linux. In the browser via WebAssembly. Drivable end to end by AI agents over MCP. LightCraft on getartcraft.com · ArtCraft · All Crafting Apps Ansel Adams, "The Tetons and the Snake River" (1942). Public domain, U.S. National Archives. Developed in LightCraft. [!NOTE] ArtCraft is a community of artists from all walks of life. Digital, generative, music, games — if you make things, you're one of…
read the full lightcraft overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or lightcraft more popular?
Shotcut has 15,577 GitHub stars and lightcraft has 15,318. Shotcut has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shotcut and lightcraft free?
Both are open source. Shotcut is licensed under GPL-3.0 and lightcraft under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shotcut and lightcraft?
Shotcut is written in C++ and lightcraft in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Shotcut or lightcraft?
Choose Shotcut if you want the larger community (15,577 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose lightcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.