head to head · open source
OpenShot vs cartcut
OpenShot has 6,546 GitHub stars, 813 forks, 418 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cartcut has 755 stars, 70 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenShot leads on adoption by 767% (6,546 vs 755 stars). OpenShot is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; cartcut is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenShot has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, cartcut 9%. cartcut was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ffmpeg), 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
| OpenShot | cartcut | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.5K | ★ 755 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 813 | ⑂ 70 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenShot if
- You weight community size — 6.5K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cartcut if
- You want the cartcut feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and cartcut fits your workflow better
About OpenShot
OpenShot Video Editor is a free, cross platform, open source video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows, built for hobbyists, educators, and small production teams who want timeline based editing and animation without a commercial subscription.
read the full OpenShot overview →
About cartcut
CartCut is an MIT licensed, TypeScript and Electron desktop video editor for AI agents, built on the belief that open source can beat commercial tools, and aimed at creators who want layer based motion graphics editing on their own machine.
read the full cartcut overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenShot or cartcut more popular?
OpenShot has 6,546 GitHub stars and cartcut has 755. OpenShot has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenShot and cartcut free?
Both are open source. OpenShot has no licence declared in this registry, and cartcut is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenShot and cartcut?
OpenShot is written in Python and cartcut 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, OpenShot or cartcut?
Choose OpenShot if you want the larger community (6,546 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose cartcut if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.