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.

What it is

OpenCut is an open-source video editor written in TypeScript and published under the MIT licence, positioned by its authors as "The open-source CapCut alternative". It exists primarily as a browser application at opencut.app, with desktop and mobile targets planned as part of an ongoing rewrite. The repository carries the topics editor, oss, and videoeditor, and has drawn roughly 89,000 stars and 8,800 forks, which places it firmly inside the web tooling and creator-software corner of the open-source ecosystem rather than in traditional native post-production software.

The concrete problem it addresses is the absence of a free, self-controllable editing tool in a category dominated by proprietary products. It replaces CapCut as the editing surface for users who would otherwise depend on closed-source software. The current release line lives in a separate repository, opencut-app/opencut-classic, and opencut.app still runs that classic version; the ground-up rewrite is being staged at new.opencut.app until it is ready to take over. The rewrite is described in the README as "being rewritten from the ground up", which means the main repository today is an architecture and tooling project as much as a shipping editor.

Key capabilities

• Browser-based video editing delivered through opencut.app, with no local installation required for the classic version.
• An MIT licence, stated in the repository and surfaced in the README badge, permitting commercial and derivative use.
• A planned plugin-first architecture with an Editor API, enabling first-class third-party plugins.
• A planned Rust core intended to drive desktop, mobile, and browser from one codebase instead of separate ports.
• A planned MCP server so AI agents can operate the editor programmatically.
• A planned headless mode for automation and batch rendering outside the interactive UI.
• A planned scripting tab embedded directly in the editor, alongside the existing development commands moon run web:dev on localhost:5173, moon run api:dev on localhost:8787, and moon run desktop:dev documented in apps/desktop/README.md.

Who uses it and how

• Individual creators and small teams seeking a CapCut alternative without proprietary licensing, using the hosted classic editor at opencut.app.
• Developers evaluating the rewrite locally, installing the pinned toolchain with proto use and running the web and API targets on ports 5173 and 8787 respectively.
• Desktop-focused evaluators following moon run desktop:dev and the instructions under apps/desktop/README.md.
• Pipeline and automation users waiting on the announced headless mode, which targets batch rendering rather than manual editing.
• AI-tooling builders waiting on the announced MCP server, which would let agents drive editing operations.
• Community members tracking progress through the Discord server and the issue tracker, since outside contributions are not yet open.

Getting started

The README documents a local development setup: install proto, run proto use from the repository root to install the tools pinned in .prototools, then moon run web:dev for the web app on localhost:5173, moon run api:dev for the API on localhost:8787, or moon run desktop:dev for the desktop build. Users who simply want to edit video today are directed to opencut.app, which continues to serve the classic version, and to the opencut-app/opencut-classic repository.

How it compares

CapCut is the product the README explicitly names, and it is proprietary and closed source, whereas OpenCut is MIT-licensed and its source is fully available. OpenCut can be self-hosted and its hosted deployment at opencut.app is offered as a free open-source service, giving users control over where their editing happens; a closed product offers no equivalent self-hosting path. On cost model, OpenCut imposes no licence fee, though the README notes it is supported by sponsors such as fal.ai rather than by paid tiers.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster must operate the full toolchain pinned by proto, run the Moon tasks for the web and API services, and track a project that is mid-rewrite, so anyone needing a stable public API or a finished plugin system should wait or use opencut-app/opencut-classic instead. The repository explicitly states it is not set up to accept outside contributions while the architecture is being designed, and it carries 378 open issues, which signals an actively churning codebase rather than a settled one. Teams that need vendor support, guaranteed release cadence, or turnkey desktop installers should look elsewhere for now, because several headline capabilities — the Rust core, MCP server, headless mode, and scripting tab — are announced as coming rather than shipped.