head to head · open source
OpenCut vs Shotcut
OpenCut has 89,680 GitHub stars, 8,852 forks, 378 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Shotcut has 15,230 stars, 1,507 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenCut leads on adoption by 489% (89,680 vs 15,230 stars). OpenCut is written in TypeScript under MIT; Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. OpenCut has attracted 10% 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.
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Side by side
| OpenCut | Shotcut | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-08-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.9K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenCut if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 OpenCut
OpenCut is a free, MIT licensed video editor that runs in the browser and is being rebuilt to serve web, desktop, and mobile from a single codebase, aimed at creators who want an open source alternative to CapCut.
read the full OpenCut 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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenCut or Shotcut more popular?
OpenCut has 89,680 GitHub stars and Shotcut has 15,230. OpenCut has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenCut and Shotcut free?
Both are open source. OpenCut is licensed under MIT and Shotcut under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenCut and Shotcut?
OpenCut is written in TypeScript 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, OpenCut or Shotcut?
Choose OpenCut if you want the larger community (89,680 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Shotcut if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.