Shotcut is a free, open source video editor for Windows and Mac, built by Meltytech and maintained as a community project rather than a company selling a product. What decides whether it suits you is whether community forum support and a project that keeps everything free are enough for your workflow, since there is no paid tier to compare against.
What is Shotcut?
Shotcut is developed by Meltytech, LLC, built on the open source MLT framework. It installs on Windows and Mac, and also runs on GNU/Linux. There is no browser version: editing happens in the desktop app, on your own machine.
Editing in Shotcut
Color grading runs on 3-way color wheels for shadows, midtones and highlights, alongside a histogram, RGB parade, RGB waveform, waveform and vectorscope for checking the image. Shotcut supports HDR10 (PQ) and HLG HDR, with tone mapping from HDR to SDR. A low-resolution proxy editing mode speeds up seeking and can eliminate or minimize scaling on demanding footage.
Object motion tracking runs through a dedicated Motion Tracker filter. Masking tools cover chroma key, simple shapes and masking from a file, applied manually rather than through automatic subject detection. Video compositing across tracks runs inside the same app, alongside chroma key and 3D LUT filters, and export supports resolutions up to 8K. OpenFX image effect plugins and VST2 and LV2 audio plugins extend Shotcut further, though the project marks this plugin support as a work in progress.
What the AI does
A Text to Speech dialog generates a voiceover with a voice preview, and Shotcut can convert spoken word on the timeline into subtitle text for auto-generated captions. A Reduce Noise audio filter built on RNNoise applies automatic noise reduction to a clip in one action.
Working with other people
Shotcut's interface has been translated by volunteers into many languages, though the project notes some translations are not yet complete. It installs on Windows, Mac and GNU/Linux. It has no stock media library, no shared-project feature and no public API.
Shotcut pricing: what you actually pay
Shotcut is free and open source under the GPLv3 licence, with no paid tier, no watermark and no restricted features. The FAQ states it is free for commercial use because of that licence. There is nothing to trial, since the whole application is available at no cost from the start.
Privacy and support
Shotcut edits on your own machine, and its FAQ states the software does not collect, store or share any personal information. Support runs through a community forum; there is no phone, email or live chat channel.
Who Shotcut suits
Shotcut suits editors who want a full free editor with scopes-based color grading, HDR support and export up to 8K, and who are comfortable relying on a community forum rather than a paid support line.
It suits less well anyone who needs a built-in stock media library, a shared-project workflow for editing with other people, or a vendor to reach by phone or email when something goes wrong.
How Shotcut compares
Shotcut scores 6.2 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.
Kdenlive
Shotcut and Kdenlive are both free, open source projects with no company selling them. Shotcut exports HDR video and cleans up dialogue automatically with its RNNoise filter, plus VST2 and LV2 audio plugin support. Kdenlive instead adds multicam editing and an Object Mask tool that runs a local AI model to mask a subject across a clip. Neither app translates captions, generates new footage or reframes to vertical by itself.
Pick Kdenlive if you want multicam editing and local AI object masking.
Pick Shotcut if you want HDR export and automatic dialogue clean up.
DaVinci Resolve
Shotcut is free, open source software with no company behind it, and it already exports HDR video with a full set of colour scopes. DaVinci Resolve's free edition is the whole editor too, with its Studio tier adding extras like Magic Mask as a one time purchase, no subscription. DaVinci Resolve goes further with camera raw import, a scripting API and support by email and phone, none of which Shotcut has, since Shotcut reaches you only through its community forum.
Pick DaVinci Resolve if you need camera raw import, a scripting API or direct support.
Pick Shotcut if you want a lighter free editor with HDR and colour scopes.
iMovie
Shotcut and iMovie are both free to use, but they reach that in different ways: Shotcut is an open source project with no company behind it, running on Windows and Mac, while iMovie is Apple's own app for Mac and iOS. Shotcut adds colour grading with a full scope set, HDR and proxy editing that iMovie does not have. iMovie instead bundles built in music and sound effects, and its support runs through Apple's phone and live chat channels rather than Shotcut's community forum alone.
Pick iMovie if you want Apple support channels and built in music.
Pick Shotcut if you want colour scopes, HDR and proxy editing on Windows too.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Shotcut cost?
Shotcut is free and open source under the GPLv3 licence, with no paid tier or watermark.
What machines does Shotcut run on?
Shotcut installs on Windows and Mac, and also runs on GNU/Linux.
Is Shotcut really free for commercial projects?
Yes. Its FAQ states it is free for commercial use because the software is made available under the GPLv3 licence.
Does Shotcut collect my data?
No. Its FAQ states the software does not collect, store or share any personal information, and editing happens on your own machine.
