head to head · open source
Shotcut vs freecut
Shotcut has 15,242 GitHub stars, 1,510 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. freecut has 2,186 stars, 341 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. Shotcut leads on adoption by 597% (15,242 vs 2,186 stars). Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; freecut is written in TypeScript under MIT. Shotcut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, freecut 16%. 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 | freecut | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 341 |
| 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 freecut if
- You want the freecut feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and freecut 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 freecut
FreeCut is an MIT licensed, browser based multi track video editor written in TypeScript for editors who want professional timeline, compositing, and export tools without installing desktop software or uploading media to a server.
read the full freecut overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or freecut more popular?
Shotcut has 15,242 GitHub stars and freecut has 2,186. Shotcut has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shotcut and freecut free?
Both are open source. Shotcut is licensed under GPL-3.0 and freecut under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shotcut and freecut?
Shotcut is written in C++ and freecut 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, Shotcut or freecut?
Choose Shotcut if you want the larger community (15,242 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose freecut if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.