head to head · open source
OpenCut vs RawTherapee
OpenCut has 97,156 GitHub stars, 9,671 forks, 378 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. RawTherapee has 4,265 stars, 428 forks, 1,028 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. OpenCut leads on adoption by 2,178% (97,156 vs 4,265 stars). OpenCut is written in TypeScript under MIT; RawTherapee is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. OpenCut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, RawTherapee 10%. RawTherapee 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 | RawTherapee | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 4.3K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.7K | ⑂ 428 |
| 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 RawTherapee if
- You want the RawTherapee 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 RawTherapee 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 RawTherapee
RawTherapee is a powerful, cross platform raw photo processing program, released as libre software under the GNU General Public License Version 3. It is written mostly in C++ using a GTK+ front end. It uses a patched version of dcraw for reading raw files, with an in house solution which adds the highest quality support for certain camera models unsupported by dcraw and enhances the accuracy of certain raw files already supported by dcraw. It is notable for the advanced control it gives the user over the demosaicing and development process. Target Audience RawTherapee is designed for developing raw files from a…
read the full RawTherapee overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenCut or RawTherapee more popular?
OpenCut has 97,156 GitHub stars and RawTherapee has 4,265. OpenCut has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenCut and RawTherapee free?
Both are open source. OpenCut is licensed under MIT and RawTherapee under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenCut and RawTherapee?
OpenCut is written in TypeScript and RawTherapee 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 RawTherapee?
Choose OpenCut if you want the larger community (97,156 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose RawTherapee if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.