head to head · open source
Shotcut vs FableCut
Shotcut has 15,661 GitHub stars, 1,565 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped yesterday. FableCut has 791 stars, 104 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. Shotcut leads on adoption by 1,880% (15,661 vs 791 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 13%. 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 | ★ 16K | ★ 791 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 104 |
| 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 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 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 FableCut
A browser video editor that AI agents can drive. English · 简体中文 · 日本語 · Español · Português (BR) FableCut is a Premiere style non linear video editor that runs entirely in your browser — and exposes its whole timeline as one JSON document. Edit it by hand, from the UI, or let an AI agent (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or anything that speaks MCP/REST) cut your video for you while you watch the timeline update live. Zero npm dependencies. One node server.js . That's it. Why it's interesting Most "AI video" tools hide the edit behind an API. FableCut flips that: the project file is the interface . project.json…
read the full FableCut overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or FableCut more popular?
Shotcut has 15,661 GitHub stars and FableCut has 791. 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 (15,661 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose FableCut if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.