head to head · open source
Shotcut vs beutl
Shotcut has 15,615 GitHub stars, 1,561 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. beutl has 1,246 stars, 63 forks, 61 open issues and last shipped today. Shotcut leads on adoption by 1,153% (15,615 vs 1,246 stars). Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; beutl is written in C# under MIT. Shotcut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, beutl 5%. beutl was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (video-editor), 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
| Shotcut | beutl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 63 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Shotcut if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick beutl if
- You want the beutl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and beutl fits your workflow better
About Shotcut
Shotcut a free, open source, cross platform video editor Features: Roadmap: Install Binaries are regularly built and are available at Contributors Dan Dennedy : main author Brian Matherly : contributor Dependencies Shotcut's direct (linked or hard runtime) dependencies are: MLT: multimedia authoring framework Qt 6 (6.4 minimum): application and UI framework FFTW FFmpeg: multimedia format and codec libraries Frei0r: video plugins SDL: cross platform audio playback See for a more complete list including indirect and bundled dependencies. License GPLv3. See COPYING. How to build Warning : building Shotcut should…
read the full Shotcut overview →
About beutl
🎬 Beutl English / Japanese Beutl (pronounced /bjútəl/) is a cross platform video editing (compositing) software. Source code of the old version (BEditor) The image is from a development version. 📖 Features 💻 Cross Platform Beutl uses the latest .NET, enabling it to run on various operating systems. It supports Windows, Linux, and macOS. ⏳ Keyframes Using keyframes, you can create basic animations such as fade ins and slide ins, as well as animate various objects. 🔌 Extensions Create a Beutl account to acquire extensions or publish your own developed extensions. Extensions can add effects, objects, codecs…
read the full beutl overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or beutl more popular?
Shotcut has 15,615 GitHub stars and beutl has 1,246. Shotcut has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shotcut and beutl free?
Both are open source. Shotcut is licensed under GPL-3.0 and beutl under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shotcut and beutl?
Shotcut is written in C++ and beutl 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, Shotcut or beutl?
Choose Shotcut if you want the larger community (15,615 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose beutl if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.