head to head · open source
OpenCut vs freecut
OpenCut has 97,269 GitHub stars, 9,679 forks, 378 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. freecut has 2,306 stars, 362 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. OpenCut leads on adoption by 4,118% (97,269 vs 2,306 stars). OpenCut is written in TypeScript under MIT; freecut is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenCut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, freecut 16%. freecut was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (videoeditor), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| OpenCut | freecut | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.7K | ⑂ 362 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenCut if
- You weight community size — 97K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick freecut if
- You want the freecut feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and freecut fits your workflow better
About OpenCut
OpenCut A free and open source video editor for web, desktop, and mobile. Status OpenCut is being rewritten from the ground up. What's coming: An Editor API First class third party plugins (made possible by a plugin first architecture) Desktop, mobile, and browser from one codebase (Rust core) MCP server (for AI agents) Headless mode (automation, batch rendering) A scripting tab directly in the editor You can still find the previous version at opencut app/opencut classic, which is the one to reach for today. opencut.app still runs the classic version. The rewrite will live at new.opencut.app until it's ready to…
read the full OpenCut overview →
About freecut
FreeCut freecut.net Edit videos. In your browser. FreeCut is a browser based, multi track video editor. No install, no uploads: projects and media stay local, while editing, preview, analysis, transcription, AI generation, and export run in the browser through WebGPU, WebCodecs, Web Workers, OPFS, and the File System Access API. FreeCut writes projects, linked media metadata, thumbnails, waveforms, generated AI assets, transcripts, scene cuts, and caches as plain files inside a workspace folder you choose on disk. User Guide New to FreeCut? Start with the user guide. Community Join the FreeCut Discord to share…
read the full freecut overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenCut or freecut more popular?
OpenCut has 97,269 GitHub stars and freecut has 2,306. OpenCut has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenCut and freecut free?
Both are open source. OpenCut is licensed under MIT and freecut under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenCut and freecut?
OpenCut is written in TypeScript and freecut in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenCut or freecut?
Choose OpenCut if you want the larger community (97,269 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose freecut if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.