head to head · open source
Shotcut vs GIMP
Shotcut has 15,577 GitHub stars, 1,558 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GIMP has 6,560 stars, 915 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Shotcut leads on adoption by 137% (15,577 vs 6,560 stars). Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; GIMP is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence. Shotcut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, GIMP 14%. GIMP 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.
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Side by side
| Shotcut | GIMP | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 6.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | C++ | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 915 |
| 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 GIMP if
- You want the GIMP feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and GIMP 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 GIMP
GNU Image Manipulation Program 3.3 Development Branch This is an unstable development release in the GIMP 3.3 series. If you think you found a bug in this version, please make sure that it hasn't been reported earlier and report it! If you want to hack on GIMP, please read the file devel docs/README.md. For detailed installation instructions, see the file INSTALL. 1. Web Resources ================ GIMP's home page is at: Please be sure to visit this site for information, documentation, tutorials, news, etc. All things GIMP ish are available from there. The latest version of GIMP can be found at: We also have a…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or GIMP more popular?
Shotcut has 15,577 GitHub stars and GIMP has 6,560. Shotcut has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shotcut and GIMP free?
Both are open source. Shotcut is licensed under GPL-3.0, and GIMP has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Shotcut and GIMP?
Shotcut is written in C++ and GIMP 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 GIMP?
Choose Shotcut if you want the larger community (15,577 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose GIMP if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.