[opensourcedex]

Concat is a free, open source photo & video editors project written in Rust and released under AGPL-3.0. It has 3,750 GitHub stars, 342 forks and 44 open issues, and was last pushed 8 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #28 of 47 tracked projects in Photo & Video Editors, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available.

What is Concat?

Concat is a free, open-source, cross-platform video editor for macOS, Windows, Linux and Android, built as a CapCut replacement for people making TikTok, Reels, Shorts and YouTube videos, and also usable by scripts and AI agents through its API.

What it is

Concat is a native video editor written in Rust and released under the AGPL-3.0 licence. It runs on macOS, Windows, Linux and Android, with iOS and iPadOS builds that are sideloaded and still to be tested, and it ships in 14 languages while keeping the same app and the same project files across platforms. Editing happens on a native Rust engine with a GPU compositor, proxies and hardware decode, and the feature set matches what people open CapCut for: auto-captions, text-to-speech, background removal, keyframe animation, effects and titles, multi-track cutting and 4K export.

The problem it solves is the set of conditions attached to mainstream consumer editing tools. Concat has no watermark, no account, no subscription and no upload: everything runs locally, the application works offline, and footage never leaves the disk. The AI models for captions, voices and cutout download once from Settings and then work without a network connection. Alongside the graphical editor it exposes a JSON-RPC, gRPC and MCP API plus a CLI, so the same engine can be driven by automation rather than by hand.

Key capabilities

  • Auto-captions are generated by a local Whisper model: the user picks a model size, and styled captions land on the timeline.
  • Text-to-speech and voice cloning provide free local voices, or a voice cloned from a few seconds of a recording.
  • Background removal handles people and objects, or accepts a mask painted by hand.
  • Keyframes cover position, scale, rotation, opacity, volume and effect parameters, with a curve editor built in.
  • The editor ships with more than 170 GPU-rendered effects, filters, transitions and text animations that preview live.
  • Cutting covers split, trim, ripple, merge, freeze frame and speed, with an optional magnetic timeline, and projects support multiple tracks and multiple timelines with blend modes, crop and flips.
  • Export covers H.264, HEVC and AV1 at up to 4K 60 in 10-bit colour, and scripting is available through JSON-RPC, gRPC, an MCP API and a CLI.

Who uses it and how

  • It suits creators working in short-form video: TikTok, Reels and Shorts, as well as YouTube videos, tutorials and screen recordings, podcast clips and memes.
  • Editors cutting 4K timelines should meet the recommended specification of six cores or more, a GPU with Metal, DirectX 12 or Vulkan, and 16 GB of RAM.
  • Privacy-conscious users can keep the editor offline, with no account created and footage staying on local disk.
  • Developers and AI agents can drive the editor through the JSON-RPC, gRPC or MCP API, or through the CLI.
  • Multi-platform users get the same app and the same project files across macOS, Windows, Linux and Android.

Getting started

The website at concatenate.pages.dev hands out the right build for a given machine, and GitHub Releases carries every build for every platform with installers, packages and checksums. Linux users can pick a .deb, .rpm, .AppImage or Arch package, and macOS users must clear the quarantine flag on the unsigned binary with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Concat.app.

How it compares

Concat is positioned as a CapCut alternative, and the contrast it draws is about the terms of use rather than the editing feature list. It is the open-source entry among the tools named in its own materials, compared on licence (AGPL-3.0), self-hosting on local hardware, local ownership of footage and project files, and the absence of a subscription.

When to use it — and when not to

Concat is in beta and still has edges, so pipelines that cannot tolerate rough spots, and anyone unwilling to run everything locally, should look elsewhere. A self-hoster supplies the hardware the work needs: a 64-bit processor, 4 GB of RAM and 500 MB of storage at minimum, 16 GB recommended for 4K timelines and the larger caption models, and AI models downloaded once before captions, voices and cutout work offline. The unsigned macOS binaries need a manual workaround, and the iOS and iPadOS builds are sideloaded and untested.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline
Concat

Concat

The truly free, and open-source cross-platform CapCut replacement.
Concat editor
Your logo here
Sponsor Concat and your name, logo and link take this slot 		Your logo here
Sponsor Concat and your name, logo and link take this slot 		Your logo here
Sponsor Concat and your name, logo and link take this slot
Your logo here
Sponsor Concat and your name, logo and link take this slot 		Your logo here
Sponsor Concat and your name, logo and link take this slot 		Your logo here
Sponsor Concat and your name, logo and link take this slot

Total Downloads Build Status Concat Version 0.2.4 Join Concat Discord License: AGPL-3.0-or-later Sponsor Concat on Patreon

About

Concat is a free, open-source video editor and a CapCut alternative for macOS, Windows, Linux and Android. It covers what people actually open CapCut for: auto-captions, text-to-speech, background removal, keyframe animation, effects and titles, multi-track cutting, 4K export. With none of the catches: no watermark, no account, no subscription, no upload.

Everything runs locally on a native Rust engine with a GPU compositor. Install it, drop in footage, cut. The AI models for captions, voices and cutout download once from Settings and work offline after that. Your footage never leaves your disk.

Good for: TikTok, Reels and Shorts, YouTube videos, tutorials and screen recordings, podcast clips, memes.

Also for machines: a JSON-RPC, gRPC and MCP API, so scripts and AI agents can cut video with it too.

Highlights

  • 🚫 No watermarks. No account. No paywall. Ever.
  • 🔒 100% local. Nothing uploads. Works offline.
  • 💬 Auto-captions. Local Whisper. Pick a model size, get styled captions on the timeline.
  • 🗣️ Text-to-speech + voice cloning. Free local voices, or any voice from a few seconds of a recording.
  • 🧍 Background removal. People, objects, or paint the mask yourself.
  • 🎞️ Keyframes. Position, scale, rotation, opacity, volume, effect parameters. Curve editor built in.
  • ✨ 170+ effects, filters, transitions and text animations. GPU-rendered, live in the preview.
  • ✂️ Cut fast. Split, trim, ripple, merge, freeze frame, speed. Magnetic timeline if you want it.
  • 🎚️ Multi-track, multi-timeline. Several cuts in one project. Blend modes, crop, flips.
  • 📝 Titles. Fonts, stroke, shadow, background plate. Presets to start from.
  • 🎙️ One-switch voice cleanup. Denoise, enhance voice, level the loudness. Plus chipmunk, robot, telephone and friends.
  • 📤 Export. H.264, HEVC, AV1. Up to 4K 60, 10-bit colour.
  • 🦀 Native Rust engine. GPU compositor, proxies, hardware decode. 4K scrubs smoothly.
  • 🤖 Scriptable. JSON-RPC, gRPC and MCP API, plus a CLI. AI agents can cut video with it.
  • 🖥️ macOS, Windows, Linux, Android. 14 languages. Same app, same project files.

Download

Two ways in:

  1. The website hands you the right build for your machine. Start here.
  2. GitHub Releases has every build for every platform, with installers, packages and checksums. For when you want to pick.

Concat is in beta: it works, and it still has edges. Say so when you find one.

Platforms

  • ✅ Windows · x86_64
  • ✅ macOS · Intel and Apple silicon. The binaries are unsigned, so if macOS refuses to open it: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Concat.app
  • ✅ Linux · x86_64 and ARM. .deb, .rpm, .AppImage and an Arch package
  • ✅ Android · phones and tablets
  • 🧪 iOS / iPadOS · iPhone and iPad, sideloaded

✅ Supported · 🚧 Work in progress · 🧪 To be tested

System requirements

Concat runs everything on your machine, so the hardware sets the ceiling. Minimum is what a build runs on at all; recommended is what makes 1080p editing feel smooth and keeps 4K exports and captions from being a wait.

Minimum Recommended
CPU Any 64-bit processor from 2013 or later 6 cores or more
GPU None. Without a usable GPU the window and monitor fall back to the CPU Any GPU with Metal (macOS), DirectX 12 (Windows) or Vulkan (Linux)
RAM 4 GB 16 GB for 4K timelines and the larger caption models
Storage 500 MB for the app and the smallest caption model 2 GB for every optional model, plus room for projects and exports

Optional models download from Settings on first use and then never need the network again: auto-captions 78 MB to 488 MB depending on the whisper size you pick, text-to-speech 132 MB or 349 MB, person cutout 15 MB, object cutout 179 MB, and the cutout brush 40 MB.

Get started

Download it, open it, drop footage in, cut. No account, no setup.

Reporting something: every run writes a log, and Settings › About has the button that opens it along with the one that copies your system information. Attach both to an issue and the report arrives with everything it needs. The last ten runs are kept, so yesterday's is still there; nothing is ever sent anywhere on its own.

How to Contribute

[!IMPORTANT] The best way to contribute is to grab a build from the Releases page and use it: find where it breaks, and say where it could be better.

Ready to write code? CONTRIBUTING.md covers setup, the layout of the tree, the checks to run, and how contributions are licensed. Driving Concat from a script, a service or an agent? docs/ is the developer reference for the Concat API and its transports: JSON-RPC, gRPC and MCP. This Discussion is where the project was announced.

Contributors are free to claim a @Contributor role in the Discord server, just ask for it.

Contributors

Contributors

Star History

Star History Chart

Sponsoring

Concat has no paywall and never will: no watermark, no account, no paid tier. Sponsoring is what stands in for one. If Concat has taken the place of a subscription for you, a fraction of that keeps it going.

Where it goes

The ROADMAP lays out what sponsorship pays for, and what each piece costs.

Payment Methods

Monthly through Patreon, or straight to a wallet.

Method Address
🧡 Patreon Become a patron of Concat
₿ Bitcoin (BTC) bc1qm83zxguthu0swkl0kw4wdna9j8qegkekzxcf6s
ɱ Monero (XMR) 46vFjD41NbNdf7yfdm2WYmJidaaExYpA1RaDnayjFyp7KCtCeMfjNKudKbSt52rHvLLuowwpeoNpFUkAtSca3L6TSXfAzcf
Ł Litecoin (LTC) LbaYr9JEiUUJB5S9rEgriseMoPoUZzAaZS

[!IMPORTANT] Donated in crypto? A wallet transfer carries no name, so do say hello: reach out through any of the socials on the maintainer's GitHub profile, or in the Concat Discord server.

Not in a position to chip in? A star, a bug report, or a word to someone who edits video counts for a lot too.

Frequently asked questions

Is Concat free to use?

Concat is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does Concat do?

The truly free, and open-source cross-platform CapCut replacement (supports MCPs).

What is Concat written in?

Concat is primarily written in Rust. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/jub0t/Concat, and it has 3,750 GitHub stars.