Open-source video editors and screen recorders in 2026
30 open-source projects, ranked by GitHub stars and how recently each was worked on. OBS Studio leads with 79k stars, ahead of LosslessCut. 29 had code pushed in the last three months. Most common licenses: MIT (12), GPL-3.0 (11) and GPL-2.0 (3). Commercial video editors and screen recorders are listed separately.
New this season
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1
OpenFilm openfilm
The open source AI video agent: turns any coding agent into a video agent, with an editor to change anything it makes.
Developer tool Experimental You want an AI agent to produce motion graphics or explainer videos you can then edit.
★ 4.3k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today -
2
FilmCraft storytold
FilmCraft: An open-source, nonlinear video editor written by scratch in pure Rust
Complete system Experimental You want to try a new open-source NLE and do not depend on it for deadlines.
★ 17k Apache-2.0 Rust Active, pushed today -
3
Concat jub0t
The truly free, open-source, local-first, cross-platform CapCut replacement. Scriptable through a JSON-RPC API & MCP.
Complete system Experimental You make short-form social video and want a free editor that AI agents can drive.
★ 14k AGPL-3.0 Rust Active, pushed today -
4
Capptivo SECHAK-AG
Give your demos the spotlight they deserve ( Mac/Windows/Linux ).
Complete system Experimental You make product demo videos and want a free Screen Studio alternative on any OS.
★ 1.1k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed 21 days ago -
5
Pireel pireel
The open-source alternative to Capcut、ChatCut. Drivable by any AI agent over MCP.
Complete system Experimental You produce short talking-head or social videos and want AI to help with the first cut.
★ 1.3k AGPL-3.0 TypeScript Active, pushed 2 months ago -
6
OpenChatCut 0xsline
Open-source, local-first conversational AI video editor with a professional multi-track timeline, Agent Skills, MCP integration, and Remotion rendering.
Complete system Experimental You want an AI agent to make first cuts of videos that you then refine on a real timeline.
★ 2.9k AGPL-3.0 TypeScript Active, pushed 12 days ago -
7
AI Video Editor MartinDelophy
Open-source, local-first video editor where creators and AI agents edit the same real timeline.
Complete system Experimental You want AI-assisted editing, voiceover and captions without sending media to a cloud service.
★ 932 MIT JavaScript Active, pushed today -
8
FableCut ronak-create
Zero-dependency browser video editor that AI agents can drive — JSON timeline, MCP + REST, live-reloading UI
Complete system Experimental You want agents to assemble reels or explainers that you can then adjust by hand.
★ 775 MIT JavaScript Active, pushed 3 days ago
All open-source video editors and screen recorders, ranked
Complete systems you can adopt 27
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1
OBS Studio obsproject
OBS Studio - Free and open source software for live streaming and screen recording
Complete system Production-ready You record tutorials or stream to Twitch, YouTube and similar platforms.
★ 79k GPL-2.0 C Active, pushed today -
2
LosslessCut mifi
The swiss army knife of lossless video/audio editing
Complete system Production-ready You need to cut large recordings quickly without losing quality.
★ 46k GPL-2.0 TypeScript Active, pushed today -
3
ShareX ShareX
ShareX is a free and open-source application that enables users to capture or record any area of their screen with a single keystroke. It also supports uploading images, text, and various file types to a wide range of destinations.
Complete system Production-ready You capture and share screenshots constantly on Windows and want automation after each capture.
★ 41k GPL-3.0 C# Active, pushed today -
4
Screenity alyssaxuu
The free and privacy-friendly screen recorder with no limits 🎥
Complete system Production-ready You want Loom-style recordings without an account or watermark.
★ 19k GPL-3.0 JavaScript Active, pushed 8 days ago -
5
FilmCraft storytold
FilmCraft: An open-source, nonlinear video editor written by scratch in pure Rust
Complete system Experimental You want to try a new open-source NLE and do not depend on it for deadlines.
★ 17k Apache-2.0 Rust Active, pushed today -
6
Shotcut mltframework
cross-platform (Qt), open-source (GPLv3) video editor
Complete system Production-ready You need a capable free editor for YouTube, training or marketing videos on any OS.
★ 16k GPL-3.0 C++ Active, pushed today -
7
Palmier Pro palmier-io
macOS video editor built for AI
Complete system Usable You want an AI-centred Mac video editor and accept that current versions are proprietary.
★ 15k GPL-3.0 Swift Active, pushed today -
8
Concat jub0t
The truly free, open-source, local-first, cross-platform CapCut replacement. Scriptable through a JSON-RPC API & MCP.
Complete system Experimental You make short-form social video and want a free editor that AI agents can drive.
★ 14k AGPL-3.0 Rust Active, pushed today -
9
Kdenlive KDE
Free and open source video editor, based on MLT Framework and KDE Frameworks
Complete system Production-ready You edit videos on Linux or Windows and want a free, capable editor.
★ 6k GPL-3.0 C++ Active, pushed today -
10
OpenScreen getopenscreen
Record your screen, ship a demo. Free and open-source, GPU-accelerated, no watermarks, no subscriptions. Windows, macOS, Linux. Actively maintained.
Complete system Usable You make product demo videos and want a free Screen Studio alternative.
★ 5.9k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today -
11
Kooha SeaDve
Elegantly record your screen
Complete system Production-ready You need quick, settings-free screen recordings on a Linux desktop.
★ 3.6k GPL-3.0 Rust Active, pushed 31 days ago -
12
Clypra AIEraDev
A hardware-accelerated video editor built on Rust, Tauri v2, and React 19. Sub-10ms frame decoding, GPU-native rendering, and a frame-accurate timeline — all free and open source under MIT.
Complete system Experimental You want to try a new free cross-platform editor and can tolerate gaps.
★ 3.3k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed yesterday -
13
OpenChatCut 0xsline
Open-source, local-first conversational AI video editor with a professional multi-track timeline, Agent Skills, MCP integration, and Remotion rendering.
Complete system Experimental You want an AI agent to make first cuts of videos that you then refine on a real timeline.
★ 2.9k AGPL-3.0 TypeScript Active, pushed 12 days ago -
14
Captura MathewSachin
Capture Screen, Audio, Cursor, Mouse Clicks and Keystrokes
Complete system Usable Rarely; the author no longer maintains it and points to a browser-based successor.
★ 11k MIT C# Slowing, pushed 5 months ago -
15
FreeCut walterlow
FreeCut is a professional-grade video editor that runs entirely in your browser. Professional video editing, zero installation. Create stunning videos with multi-track editing, keyframe animations, real-time preview, and high-quality exports.
Complete system Experimental You need to edit videos on a machine where you cannot install software, with nothing uploaded.
★ 2.3k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed 4 days ago -
16
VidCutter ozmartian
A modern yet simple multi-platform video cutter and joiner.
Complete system Usable You just need to trim and join recordings without learning a full editor.
★ 2k GPL-3.0 Python Active, pushed 11 days ago -
17
BetterCapture jsattler
The macOS screen recorder for the rest of us - always free and open source with a native look and feel 📺
Complete system Usable You want a free, native Mac recorder with high-quality codecs.
★ 1.7k MIT Swift Active, pushed 2 months ago -
18
vokoscreenNG vkohaupt
vokoscreenNG is a powerful screencast creator in many languages to record the screen, an area or a window. Recording of audio from multiple sources is supported. With the built-in camera support, you can make your video more personal. Other tools such as systray, magnifying glass, countdown, timer, Showclick and Halo support will help
Complete system Production-ready You produce tutorials on Linux or Windows and want webcam and click effects built in.
★ 1.5k GPL-2.0 C++ Active, pushed yesterday -
19
ffmpeg-webCLI tejaswigowda
A browser-based video editor powered by ffmpeg.wasm. No uploads, no servers -- all processing happens locally in your browser using WebAssembly.
Complete system Experimental You want quick FFmpeg operations in a browser without uploading media.
★ 1.5k GPL-3.0 JavaScript Active, pushed 6 days ago -
20
Pireel pireel
The open-source alternative to Capcut、ChatCut. Drivable by any AI agent over MCP.
Complete system Experimental You produce short talking-head or social videos and want AI to help with the first cut.
★ 1.3k AGPL-3.0 TypeScript Active, pushed 2 months ago -
21
Beutl b-editor
Cross-platform video editing (compositing) software.
Complete system Usable You make motion graphics or composited videos and want a free tool with node-based effects.
★ 1.2k MIT C# Active, pushed today -
22
Capptivo SECHAK-AG
Give your demos the spotlight they deserve ( Mac/Windows/Linux ).
Complete system Experimental You make product demo videos and want a free Screen Studio alternative on any OS.
★ 1.1k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed 21 days ago -
23
VisoMaster Fusion VisoMasterFusion
Powerful & Easy-to-Use Video Face Swapping and Editing Software
Complete system Usable You do consented film, VFX or research work that needs face replacement on your own GPU.
★ 988 GPL-3.0 Python Active, pushed 9 days ago -
24
AI Video Editor MartinDelophy
Open-source, local-first video editor where creators and AI agents edit the same real timeline.
Complete system Experimental You want AI-assisted editing, voiceover and captions without sending media to a cloud service.
★ 932 MIT JavaScript Active, pushed today -
25
Gif123 aardio
Record an area of your desktop to a GIF, easily copy and paste it wherever you want.
Complete system Usable You often paste short GIF demos into documents or posts on Windows.
★ 893 MIT Active, pushed 3 months ago -
26
Cartcut cartesiancs
Video Editor for AI agents, built on the belief that open source can beat commercial tools
Complete system Usable You make motion-heavy short videos and want an editor agents can operate.
★ 821 MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today -
27
FableCut ronak-create
Zero-dependency browser video editor that AI agents can drive — JSON timeline, MCP + REST, live-reloading UI
Complete system Experimental You want agents to assemble reels or explainers that you can then adjust by hand.
★ 775 MIT JavaScript Active, pushed 3 days ago
Developer tools 3
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1
OpenFilm openfilm
The open source AI video agent: turns any coding agent into a video agent, with an editor to change anything it makes.
Developer tool Experimental You want an AI agent to produce motion graphics or explainer videos you can then edit.
★ 4.3k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today -
2
T-rec-rs sassman
Blazingly fast terminal recorder that generates animated gif images for the web written in rust
Developer tool Usable You want terminal demos for READMEs and docs on macOS or Linux.
★ 1.3k GPL-3.0 Rust Active, pushed 21 days ago -
3
Menyoki orhun
Screen{shot,cast} and perform ImageOps on the command line 🌱 🏞️
Developer tool Usable You want scriptable screen capture and image operations from a Linux terminal.
★ 675 GPL-3.0 Rust Active, pushed 9 days ago
Compared head to head
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Open-source licenses
- Strong copyleft: 14. If you distribute the program or anything built on it, you must release the whole source under the same license.
- Permissive: 13. Use it anywhere, including in closed products. You keep the copyright notice; Apache-2.0 also grants patent rights.
- Network copyleft: 3. Like GPL, and running a changed version as a web service counts as distributing it, so its users get the source too.
Languages
TypeScript 9, Rust 5, JavaScript 4, C# 3, C++ 3, Swift 2, Python 2 and C 1.
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