head to head · open source
filepond vs Shotcut
filepond has 16,393 GitHub stars, 848 forks, 142 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Shotcut has 15,242 stars, 1,510 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. filepond leads on adoption by 8% (16,393 vs 15,242 stars). filepond is written in JavaScript under MIT; Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. filepond has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Shotcut 10%. Shotcut 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| filepond | Shotcut | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 848 | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick filepond if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Shotcut if
- You want the Shotcut 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 Shotcut fits your workflow better
About filepond
FilePond is an MIT licensed JavaScript file upload library for front end developers who need drag and drop, clipboard paste, API driven uploads, and automatic image optimization in one dependency.
read the full filepond overview →
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 →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Photo & Video Editors projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Photo & Video Editors field.
Frequently asked questions
Is filepond or Shotcut more popular?
filepond has 16,393 GitHub stars and Shotcut has 15,242. filepond has the larger community by that measure.
Are filepond and Shotcut free?
Both are open source. filepond is licensed under MIT and Shotcut under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between filepond and Shotcut?
filepond is written in JavaScript and Shotcut 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, filepond or Shotcut?
Choose filepond if you want the larger community (16,393 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Shotcut if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.