head to head · open source
OpenCut vs nomacs
OpenCut has 97,156 GitHub stars, 9,671 forks, 378 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. nomacs has 3,288 stars, 212 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. OpenCut leads on adoption by 2,855% (97,156 vs 3,288 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 | ★ 97K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.7K | ⑂ 212 |
| 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 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 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 nomacs
nomacs Image Lounge 🍸 nomacs is a free, open source image viewer, which supports multiple platforms. You can use it for viewing all common image formats including RAW and psd images. nomacs is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3 and available for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Mac, Haiku, and OS/2. Downloads Latest stable release Latest beta release Continuous builds (Windows) Continuous builds (Linux,macOS) Get the Source Build nomacs (Windows) We assume you have an IDE (i.e. Visual Studio), python, git, and Qt installed. Get all dependencies: Project folders in 3rd party will not be empty anymore. Now…
read the full nomacs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenCut or nomacs more popular?
OpenCut has 97,156 GitHub stars and nomacs has 3,288. 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 (97,156 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nomacs if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.