head to head · open source
Shotcut vs openfilm
Shotcut has 15,455 GitHub stars, 1,543 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped today. openfilm has 1,377 stars, 141 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped today. Shotcut leads on adoption by 1,022% (15,455 vs 1,377 stars). Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; openfilm is written in TypeScript under MIT. Shotcut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, openfilm 10%. openfilm 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 | openfilm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-20 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 141 |
| 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 openfilm if
- You want the openfilm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and openfilm 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 openfilm
The open source AI video agent. One HTML file, one function, one real editor. English · 简体中文 About OpenFilm lets your coding agent make videos, and lets you edit them. Ask Codex, Claude Code or any coding agent to make a film. It writes the film as web pages, and Studio, a local editor that runs in your browser, shows it taking shape. Then change anything you like, by hand or by asking. One HTML file. film.html cuts animated web pages, footage, pictures and sound together on tracks, styled with CSS. Nothing new to learn: your agent already knows the web. One function. Each shot is a web page that draws any…
read the full openfilm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or openfilm more popular?
Shotcut has 15,455 GitHub stars and openfilm has 1,377. Shotcut has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shotcut and openfilm free?
Both are open source. Shotcut is licensed under GPL-3.0 and openfilm under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shotcut and openfilm?
Shotcut is written in C++ and openfilm 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 openfilm?
Choose Shotcut if you want the larger community (15,455 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose openfilm if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.