head to head · open source
LosslessCut vs nomacs
LosslessCut has 43,864 GitHub stars, 2,174 forks, 300 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. nomacs has 3,174 stars, 203 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. LosslessCut leads on adoption by 1,282% (43,864 vs 3,174 stars). LosslessCut is written in TypeScript under GPL-2.0; nomacs is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. LosslessCut has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, nomacs 6%. LosslessCut 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
| LosslessCut | nomacs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 3.2K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 203 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LosslessCut if
- You weight community size — 44K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nomacs if
- You want the nomacs 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 nomacs fits your workflow better
About LosslessCut
LosslessCut is a cross platform desktop application for lossless editing of video, audio, and subtitle files. Built with Electron and TypeScript, it serves as a graphical interface to FFmpeg, enabling users to perform precise cuts, trims, merges, and track manipulations without re encoding, thus preserving original quality. It targets users who need to rapidly process media files—such as raw footage from cameras, drones, or smartphones—where re encoding would be time consuming and degrade fidelity.
read the full LosslessCut overview →
About nomacs
nomacs is a free, open source image viewer written in C++ and released under the GPL 3.0, built for anyone on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Mac, Haiku, or OS/2 who needs to open and inspect common images as well as RAW and PSD files on the desktop.
read the full nomacs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LosslessCut or nomacs more popular?
LosslessCut has 43,864 GitHub stars and nomacs has 3,174. LosslessCut has the larger community by that measure.
Are LosslessCut and nomacs free?
Both are open source. LosslessCut is licensed under GPL-2.0 and nomacs under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LosslessCut and nomacs?
LosslessCut is written in TypeScript and nomacs 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, LosslessCut or nomacs?
Choose LosslessCut if you want the larger community (43,864 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose nomacs if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.