head to head · open source
Shotcut vs velorn
Shotcut has 15,364 GitHub stars, 1,525 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. velorn has 500 stars, 69 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. Shotcut leads on adoption by 2,973% (15,364 vs 500 stars). Shotcut is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; velorn is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Shotcut has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, velorn 14%. 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 | velorn | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 500 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-06 | 2026-09-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 69 |
| 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 velorn if
- You want the velorn feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and velorn 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 velorn
Velorn is an open source, cross platform desktop video editor and AI video workstation for editors and creators who want to plan, generate, edit, and export media inside a single project based app, with more than 100 MCP tools exposed to a local agent.
read the full velorn overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shotcut or velorn more popular?
Shotcut has 15,364 GitHub stars and velorn has 500. Shotcut has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shotcut and velorn free?
Both are open source. Shotcut is licensed under GPL-3.0 and velorn under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shotcut and velorn?
Shotcut is written in C++ and velorn in JavaScript. 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 velorn?
Choose Shotcut if you want the larger community (15,364 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose velorn if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.