{"slug": "shotcut", "name": "Shotcut", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.441, "rising": -0.64, "first": "2025-11-09", "latest": "2026-08-31", "why": "I used https://www.shotcut.org/ to edit a few videos, it has many effects.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I used https://www.shotcut.org/ to edit a few videos, it has many effects.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "shotcut.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://shotcut.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Shotcut"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 792137411, "item_id": 49508588, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508588", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Shotcut works everywhere", "excerpt": "In general, DaVinci Resolve on Linux desktops handles Dlog/HDR camera and drone LUTs like a champ (KDE plasma handles HDR10.) When they run the budget speed-editor promos you get the studio license card for free. If you needed gyroflow because your cameraman has a thorazine stomp, there are few completely FOSS options around. For old or no GPU, there are a few other options: OpenShot is simple, Shotcut works everywhe", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenShot 4.0 \u2013 Open-source video editor"}, {"id": 765119892, "item_id": 47819993, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47819993", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-04-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "simple to learn", "excerpt": "Other options for Mac/Win/Linux =3 Davinci Resolve * CorridorKey plugin (cutting edge green/blue screen \"AI\" masking) * Blender EXR workflows * Paid (unless buying a really expensive camera) https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve https://github.com/alexandremendoncaalvaro/CorridorKey-Runtime/tree/main Cinelerra GG * less popular, but had GPU cluster acceleration at one point * FOSS https://download.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "State of Kdenlive"}, {"id": 737638528, "item_id": 46102408, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102408", "by": "Katharsas", "date": "2025-11-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I highly recommend you give Shotcut a chance.", "excerpt": "I highly recommend you give Shotcut a chance. I am a total beginner with video editing but unlike kdenlive (sorry, still a cool project) it gave me much bigger \"professional product\" vibes. IMO it is more polished, built-in effects are better, runs stable on Windows for me (so you can try it anytime before switching to Linux) and it looks nice. I was editing video gameplay footage with kdenlive some time ago (on Wind", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows"}, {"id": 736471216, "item_id": 46029451, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46029451", "by": "gus_massa", "date": "2025-11-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used https://www.shotcut.org/ to edit a few videos, it has many effects.", "excerpt": "I used https://www.shotcut.org/ to edit a few videos, it has many effects. For live streaming https://obsproject.com/ but I don't remember too much.", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How do you teach a 7 year old visual editing on PC?"}, {"id": 734709824, "item_id": 45919364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45919364", "by": "dfxm12", "date": "2025-11-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've used Shotcut, it's simple and easy", "excerpt": "I've used Shotcut, it's simple and easy: https://github.com/mltframework/shotcut I've tried Kdenlive, but honestly, shotcut met my needs, so I didn't explore it too much: https://invent.kde.org/multimedia/kdenlive DaVinci Resolve is also available for linux. I've never used it though.", "context": "", "use_case": "Video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft confirms Windows 11 is about to change"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["video editing"], "compared": [{"slug": "kdenlive", "name": "Kdenlive", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "davinci-resolve", "name": "DaVinci Resolve", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "blender", "name": "Blender", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "openshot", "name": "OpenShot", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815118", "title": "State of Kdenlive", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49507822", "title": "OpenShot 4.0 \u2013 Open-source video editor", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46099985", "title": "People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46025790", "title": "Ask HN: How do you teach a 7 year old visual editing on PC?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45926791", "title": "Ask HN: What's a good app for recording YouTube tech videos?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45918203", "title": "Microsoft confirms Windows 11 is about to change", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 792137411, "item_id": 49508588, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49508588", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Shotcut works everywhere", "excerpt": "In general, DaVinci Resolve on Linux desktops handles Dlog/HDR camera and drone LUTs like a champ (KDE plasma handles HDR10.) When they run the budget speed-editor promos you get the studio license card for free. If you needed gyroflow because your cameraman has a thorazine stomp, there are few completely FOSS options around. For old or no GPU, there are a few other options: OpenShot is simple, Shotcut works everywhe", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenShot 4.0 \u2013 Open-source video editor"}, {"id": 765208800, "item_id": 47825550, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47825550", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-04-19", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "For our use-case, a $50 course package sale for getting Blender -> Fusion workflow just made sense. https://www.udemy.com/course/davinci-resolve-training-course/ https://www.udemy.com/course/fusion_blender_vfx/ (needs the paid studio version) Compared to other options, the one-time cost was our best tradeoff for the project. It was a much better value than adobe subscriptions water-marking everything. A low bar to cl", "context": "", "use_case": "Video editing", "switched_from": "PowerDirector", "story": "State of Kdenlive"}, {"id": 765196000, "item_id": 47824750, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47824750", "by": "72deluxe", "date": "2026-04-19", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I have been using Shotcut for a while", "excerpt": "Very informative, thank you. I have been using Shotcut for a while and wrote a frei0r plugin but it needs migrating to the new 10 bit MLT framework. I have been using Shotcut with 4K footage and it is indeed very slow so I have been using proxy files. I did have PowerDirector but have been very disappointed with it so wrote a converter to convert their format to Shotcut's XML format so I can move my projects to Shotc", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "PowerDirector", "story": "State of Kdenlive"}, {"id": 765119892, "item_id": 47819993, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47819993", "by": "Joel_Mckay", "date": "2026-04-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "simple to learn", "excerpt": "Other options for Mac/Win/Linux =3 Davinci Resolve * CorridorKey plugin (cutting edge green/blue screen \"AI\" masking) * Blender EXR workflows * Paid (unless buying a really expensive camera) https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve https://github.com/alexandremendoncaalvaro/CorridorKey-Runtime/tree/main Cinelerra GG * less popular, but had GPU cluster acceleration at one point * FOSS https://download.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "State of Kdenlive"}, {"id": 737638528, "item_id": 46102408, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102408", "by": "Katharsas", "date": "2025-11-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I highly recommend you give Shotcut a chance.", "excerpt": "I highly recommend you give Shotcut a chance. I am a total beginner with video editing but unlike kdenlive (sorry, still a cool project) it gave me much bigger \"professional product\" vibes. IMO it is more polished, built-in effects are better, runs stable on Windows for me (so you can try it anytime before switching to Linux) and it looks nice. I was editing video gameplay footage with kdenlive some time ago (on Wind", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows"}, {"id": 736471216, "item_id": 46029451, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46029451", "by": "gus_massa", "date": "2025-11-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used https://www.shotcut.org/ to edit a few videos, it has many effects.", "excerpt": "I used https://www.shotcut.org/ to edit a few videos, it has many effects. For live streaming https://obsproject.com/ but I don't remember too much.", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How do you teach a 7 year old visual editing on PC?"}, {"id": 734957680, "item_id": 45934855, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45934855", "by": "gus_massa", "date": "2025-11-14", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "For editing I used https://www.shotcut.org/ , not easy, but there are just too many things to configure.", "excerpt": "For editing I used https://www.shotcut.org/ , not easy, but there are just too many things to configure.", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What's a good app for recording YouTube tech videos?"}, {"id": 734709824, "item_id": 45919364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45919364", "by": "dfxm12", "date": "2025-11-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've used Shotcut, it's simple and easy", "excerpt": "I've used Shotcut, it's simple and easy: https://github.com/mltframework/shotcut I've tried Kdenlive, but honestly, shotcut met my needs, so I didn't explore it too much: https://invent.kde.org/multimedia/kdenlive DaVinci Resolve is also available for linux. I've never used it though.", "context": "", "use_case": "Video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft confirms Windows 11 is about to change"}, {"id": 733841412, "item_id": 45865088, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45865088", "by": "haunter", "date": "2025-11-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "FOSS options (KDEnlive, Openshot, Shotcut, Avidemux etc)", "excerpt": "An immutable distro, probably Fedora Kinoite https://www.fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/kinoite/ >In windows when a child goes searching the web for a \u201cmovie maker for windows\u201d they are going to be in a world of hurt either finding expensive commercial options or super scammy sites promising the world. It's funny that you use that example because the state of video editors on Windows have never been better from in", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How would you set up a child\u2019s first Linux computer?"}]}