head to head · open source
OpenCut vs Kdenlive
OpenCut has 89,680 GitHub stars, 8,852 forks, 378 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Kdenlive has 5,701 stars, 513 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenCut leads on adoption by 1,473% (89,680 vs 5,701 stars). OpenCut is written in TypeScript under MIT; Kdenlive is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. OpenCut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Kdenlive 9%. Kdenlive 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
| OpenCut | Kdenlive | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 5.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-08-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 513 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenCut if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 OpenCut
OpenCut is a free, MIT licensed video editor that runs in the browser and is being rebuilt to serve web, desktop, and mobile from a single codebase, aimed at creators who want an open source alternative to CapCut.
read the full OpenCut overview →
About Kdenlive
Kdenlive is a free and open source video editor written in C++, released under the GPL 3.0 license, and developed as part of the KDE ecosystem. It builds on the MLT framework for its editing and playback engine, uses Qt and KDE Frameworks 6 for its graphical interface, and draws on frei0r for video effects and LADSPA for audio effects. The project lives within KDE's development infrastructure, with its primary repository hosted on KDE Invent and a GitHub mirror maintained for visibility, and it is distributed through the official kdenlive.org website.
read the full Kdenlive overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenCut or Kdenlive more popular?
OpenCut has 89,680 GitHub stars and Kdenlive has 5,701. OpenCut has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenCut and Kdenlive free?
Both are open source. OpenCut is licensed under MIT and Kdenlive under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenCut and Kdenlive?
OpenCut is written in TypeScript 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, OpenCut or Kdenlive?
Choose OpenCut if you want the larger community (89,680 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Kdenlive if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.