head to head · open source
OpenCut vs nomacs
OpenCut has 89,763 GitHub stars, 8,865 forks, 378 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. nomacs has 3,174 stars, 203 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. OpenCut leads on adoption by 2,728% (89,763 vs 3,174 stars). OpenCut is written in TypeScript under MIT; nomacs is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. OpenCut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, nomacs 6%. nomacs 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 | nomacs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 3.2K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-08-10 | 2026-09-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 203 |
| 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 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 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 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 OpenCut or nomacs more popular?
OpenCut has 89,763 GitHub stars and nomacs has 3,174. OpenCut has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenCut and nomacs free?
Both are open source. OpenCut is licensed under MIT and nomacs under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenCut and nomacs?
OpenCut 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, OpenCut or nomacs?
Choose OpenCut if you want the larger community (89,763 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nomacs if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.