Kdenlive is a free, open source video editor for Windows and Mac, developed by the KDE community rather than a company selling a product. What decides whether it suits you is whether its optional local AI plugins and community support cover what you need, since there is no paid tier to compare against.
What is Kdenlive?
Kdenlive, short for KDE Non-Linear Video Editor, is built on the open source MLT framework by the KDE community. It installs on Windows and Mac, and also runs on GNU/Linux and BSD. There is no browser version: editing happens in the desktop app, on your own machine.
Editing in Kdenlive
A multicam tool lets you cut between several cameras while playback is running. Color grading covers LUTs, basic color correction and detailed creative grading, with 3-Point Balance and Bezier Curves among its color effects, checked against a histogram, vectorscope, RGB parade and waveform. Kdenlive does not support HDR10, HLG or another HDR workflow. A proxy setting automatically creates reduced-resolution versions of source clips for editing, switching back to full resolution for export.
Motion tracking runs through a Motion Tracker effect built on OpenCV. Compositing combines several visual elements from different sources using alpha channels and blending modes, alongside chroma key and masking, all inside the same app. It has no third-party plugin support such as OpenFX or VST; the project's own AI plugins for speech-to-text and object detection install separately through a Python virtual environment, and its supported codecs do not include a camera raw video format.
What the AI does
An Object Mask effect uses Meta's Segment Anything Model 2 to isolate an object across a clip after a single click, similar to rotoscoping, and runs locally through the plugin's own Python environment rather than a vendor cloud. Local speech recognition, using either the VOSK or Whisper model, creates subtitles from a clip's dialogue.
Working with other people
Kdenlive installs on Windows, Mac, GNU/Linux and BSD. It has no stock media library, no shared-project collaboration feature and no public API.
Kdenlive pricing: what you actually pay
Kdenlive is free software under the GNU General Public License, with no licence fees, no registrations or subscriptions, and no premium features that require payment to unlock. There is nothing to trial, since the whole application is available at no cost from the start.
Privacy and support
Kdenlive edits on your own machine, and its local AI plugins for speech-to-text and object detection run through your own Python environment rather than a vendor cloud service. Support runs through the project's official forum, a Telegram chat and an unofficial Reddit community; there is no vendor email, phone or live chat channel.
Who Kdenlive suits
Kdenlive suits editors who want multicam cutting, LUT-based and creative color grading with scopes, and optional local AI tools such as SAM2 object masking, without paying anything for any of it.
It suits less well anyone who needs an HDR workflow, third-party plugin support such as OpenFX or VST, a shared-project workflow for editing with other people, or a vendor support line rather than community channels.
How Kdenlive compares
Kdenlive scores 6.1 out of 10 among the professional video editors we rate. These three do the same job and are the closest to it, compared on what each vendor publishes.
Shotcut
Kdenlive and Shotcut are both free, open source projects with no company selling them. Kdenlive adds multicam editing and an Object Mask tool that runs a local AI model to mask a subject across a clip. Shotcut instead exports HDR video and cleans up dialogue automatically with its RNNoise filter, plus VST2 and LV2 audio plugin support. Neither app translates captions, generates new footage or reframes to vertical by itself.
Pick Shotcut if you want HDR export and automatic dialogue clean up.
Pick Kdenlive if you want multicam editing and local AI object masking.
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve's free edition is the whole editor and never expires, and its Studio tier adds extras like Magic Mask as a one time purchase, no subscription. Kdenlive is free, open source software with no company behind it, and it lacks HDR export, camera raw import and a scripting API that DaVinci Resolve has. Kdenlive still masks a subject locally with its own Object Mask tool, and reaches you only through its community forum, while DaVinci Resolve also answers by email and phone.
Pick DaVinci Resolve if you need HDR export, camera raw import or a scripting API.
Pick Kdenlive if you want open source software with local AI masking.
Adobe Premiere
Kdenlive is free, open source software with no company behind it, while Adobe Premiere is a subscription at $22.99 a month on the annual plan, with a 7 day trial and no free tier for the desktop app. Premiere adds HDR export, camera raw import, Frame.io collaboration and AI tools that generate new footage, translate captions and reframe to vertical by themselves, none of which Kdenlive has. Kdenlive answers with multicam editing and its own local Object Mask AI tool, all for free.
Pick Adobe Premiere if you need camera raw, team collaboration or AI footage generation.
Pick Kdenlive if you want free multicam editing with local AI masking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Kdenlive cost?
Kdenlive is free software under the GNU General Public License, with no licence fees, subscriptions or premium feature gate.
What machines does Kdenlive run on?
Kdenlive installs on Windows and Mac, and also runs on GNU/Linux and BSD.
Does Kdenlive's AI object masking run in the cloud?
No. Its Object Mask effect runs Meta's Segment Anything Model 2 locally through the plugin's own Python environment on your machine.
Does Kdenlive keep my footage private?
Yes, editing and its local AI plugins for speech-to-text and object detection all run on your own machine rather than a vendor's cloud service.
