Shotcut

Free, open source, cross-platform video editor for Windows, Mac and Linux

Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor for Windows, Mac and Linux, built on MLT and FFmpeg. It handles native timeline editing without an import step, supports multi-format timelines that mix resolutions and frame rates within a single project, and works with resolutions up to 4K and 8K.

The editor includes a multitrack timeline with thumbnails and waveforms, video and audio filters, keyframes, subtitles, color correction tools, audio scopes, and a playlist with custom and smart bins. It supports Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI input and monitoring, network stream playback, screen, webcam and audio capture, batch encoding with job control, and export to a variety of formats. It also offers hardware acceleration for encoding and decoding, OpenGL GPU-based image processing, and can run as a portable app from an external drive.

Shotcut is aimed at editors working across Windows, Linux and macOS who need codec-independent editing without relying on system codecs. It is distributed as free, open source software with no paid editions or seat-based plans.

12 alternatives to Shotcut

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Key facts

Starts at: Contact sales
Free plan: Yes
Free trial: No
Open source: Yes
Founded: 2004

What it does

Wide format support for hundreds of audio and video formats via ffmpeg
No import required native timeline editing
Multi format timelines mixing resolutions and frame rates within a project
Frame accurate seeking for many formats
Support for 4k and 8k resolutions
Network stream playback http hls rtmp rtsp mms udp
Webcam screen and audio capture
Blackmagic design sdi and hdmi input and preview monitoring
Subtitle creation import srt vtt ass ssa and export
Hdr10 pq and hlg support with hdr tone mapping
10 bit video end to end and linear color processing
Batch conversion and batch encoding with job control
Audio scopes loudness peak meter waveform spectrum analyzer surround vector
Extensive audio filters including equalizers compressor limiter reverb and noise reduction
Vst2 and lv2 audio plugin support work in progress openfx image effect plugins work in progress frei0r video generator plugins jack transport sync and audio mixing across tracks fade in out audio and video with fader controls on the timeline cross fade audio and video by overlapping shots on the same track stereo mono 5 1 surround quad surround and ambisonic spatial audio configurations pitch compensation for speed changes automatic audio ducking and text to speech convert spoken word to subtitle text 3 way color wheels for color correction and grading white balance eye dropper tool deinterlacing and auto rotate video wipe transitions bar barn door box clock diagonal iris matrix custom gradient track compositing and blending modes over add multiply screen overlay etc extensive video filter library including blur chroma key color grading crop distortion glow lut mask motion tracker noise reduction stabilize speed ramping time remap vignette and white balance 360 video filters equirectangular stereographic rectilinear transforms and stabilization speed ramping reverse a clip freeze frame object motion tracking generate image or video from html adjustment clip trimming with ripple option cut copy paste append insert overwrite lift and ripple delete editing 3 point editing multitrack timeline with thumbnails and waveforms undo and redo mlt xml project save load with auto save keyframes for filter parameters with easing functions detach audio from video clip filter presets for most filters and export custom and smart bins for media organization in the playlist search sort and filter the playlist batch export from playlist generate slideshow or montage from clips multi select items in the timeline grouping clips on the timeline split and rejoin clips align or synchronize clips based on audio low resolution proxy editing timeline markers and ranges with chapter export notes panel for project notes and voiceover scripts edit lottie and rawr json animations with included glaxnimate tool configurable time format smpte timecode time clock frame count integrated file system browser with custom thumbnailer bundled assets emojis sounds text transitions graphics cross platform support for windows linux and macos codec independent does not rely on system codecs can run as a portable app from an external drive ui translations in 35 plus languages encode transcode to a variety of formats and codecs stream encode to ip files and capture sources video quality measurement psnr and ssim integrity check and detailed file information external monitoring via blackmagic decklink and extra system display ui themes native os look custom dark and light multiple ui layouts that can be saved and switched video scopes histogram rgb parade rgb waveform vectorscope on screen grid and safe areas with snapping low resolution preview scaling for realtime effects quick search for actions editable keyboard shortcuts hardware acceleration for encoding and decoding opengl gpu based image processing with 16 bit floating point linear color multi core parallel image processing

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