head to head · open source
Shotcut vs FableCut
Shotcut has 15,286 GitHub stars, 1,517 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped yesterday. FableCut has 694 stars, 73 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Shotcut leads on adoption by 2,103% (15,286 vs 694 stars). Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; FableCut is written in JavaScript under MIT. Shotcut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, FableCut 11%. Shotcut 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 | FableCut | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 694 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-27 | 2026-09-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 73 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Shotcut if
- You weight community size — 15K 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 FableCut if
- You want the FableCut feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and FableCut fits your workflow better
About Shotcut
Shotcut is a free, open source, cross platform video editor written in C++ and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It lives in the Qt and MLT ecosystem, using Qt for its application and user interface and MLT as its multimedia authoring framework. It provides regularly built binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and is positioned as an open alternative to Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve (Studio).
read the full Shotcut overview →
About FableCut
FableCut is a zero dependency, MIT licensed browser video editor that runs as a Premiere style non linear editor in the browser and exposes its entire timeline as a single JSON document that AI agents can edit over MCP or REST.
read the full FableCut overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or FableCut more popular?
Shotcut has 15,286 GitHub stars and FableCut has 694. Shotcut has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shotcut and FableCut free?
Both are open source. Shotcut is licensed under GPL-3.0 and FableCut under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shotcut and FableCut?
Shotcut is written in C++ and FableCut in JavaScript. 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 FableCut?
Choose Shotcut if you want the larger community (15,286 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose FableCut if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.