Kdenlive vs Shotcut, which free open-source video editor is the better option for your clips? When it comes to free and open-source video editing software, there are lots of options available to install and use, such as Openshot, Shotcut, LiVES, Avidemux, Pitivi, Kdenlive, etc., these are some of the best open-source video editing software. But, in this post, I’m going to discuss only two video editors i.e. kdenlive vs shortcuts.
Both kdenlive and shotcut are very popular among YouTubers or vloggers, as they provide a smooth editing experience and have lots of advanced features and tools. To compare shotcut (22.04.25) vs kdenlive (22.04.0-1), I’m going to compare some important segments, then you can decide which one is best for you. I’ll focus mainly on the following areas –
- System requirements
- User Interface
- Key features
- Support formats
- Price
Kdenlive vs Shotcut system requirements –
What are the minimum system requirements to install and run these video editors? Below I have mentioned the configurations of both editors that you require to install these editors on your computer.
Kdenlive system requirements –
CPU – Intel or AMD; at least one 2 GHz core for SD-Video, 4 cores for HD-Video, and 8 cores for 4K-Video.
GPU – OpenGL 2.0 preferable, you can use a card with compatible DirectX 9 or 11 drivers on Windows
RAM – at least 4GB RAM for SD, 8GB Ram for HD, and 16GB for 4K video.
Operating System – Windows 7, 8, 8.1 10, 11 (64-bit), Linux, macOS 10.14 or later (64-bit).
Shotcut system requirements –
CPU – Intel or AMD, one 2 GHz core for SD, 4 cores for HD, and 8 cores for 4K.
GPU –OpenGL 2.0 preferable, you can use a card with compatible DirectX 9 or 11 drivers on Windows.
RAM – 4 GB for SD, 8 GB for HD, and 16 GB for 4K.
Operating System – Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, Apple macOS10.10-10.15, Linux.
Both kdenlive and shotcut video editor needs similar minimum system requirement to edit a video. A minimum of 4GB RAM and Windows 7 OS is the system requirement for editing a video.
User Interface –
It can be quite daunting to start editing in a completely new video editor, because every video editor has a different interface, timeline, location of particular tools, etc. So initially it can be hard for a new user to start a new editor. Or if you are using a video editor for the first time you will feel a little bit lost. So between kdenlive vs shotcut which one has a good user interface?
Well, I have used both these editors. For me, both kdenlive and shotcut are easy to use, straightforward layout video editors. Although anyone can easily access the tools they need by looking at the layout, however, I do prefer Kdenlive layout much easy to access different tools and features than the shotcut video editor.
Both kdenlive and shotcut have an important feature i.e. proxy editing, with help of this feature you can create low-resolution copies of your source clips to allow you to do the editing on any low-end editing PC and then render it on full resolution. In shotcut you can set your proxy editing into 540p resolution however in kdenlive video editor you can choose different resolutions such as 1:1, 720p, 540p, 360p, and 270p.
You can change the background color or theme of the layout in both editors. In shotcut, one can change the color theme into fusion dark and fusion light or system mood. However kdenlive video editor has much more options than the shotcut, you can change the theme into breeze classic, breeze dark, breeze light, breeze bronze, or in default mood.
Key Features of kdenlive and shotcut –
Apart from the basic features such as cut, trim, split, join, mix, merge, keyframes, crop, and resize which are some other key features that these two video editors included in their platform?
Kdenlive video editor key features –
1. Kdenlive allows you to perform multi-track video editing options. You can arrange multiple audio and video tracks, you can also lock the tracks or mute them as per your needs.
2. You can create 2D titles for your video, including you can align and distributing them, rotating and zoom them, letter-spacing and line spacing them, etc.
3. 450+ effects and compositions are available in this video editor. These effects are divided into Alpha manipulation, Analysis and Data, Artistic Effects, Audio channels, Audio Correction, Audio Effects, Blur and Hide, Color, Color Correction, Crop and Transform, Custom Effects, Distort, Enhancement, Fade, Misc Effects, Motion categories.
4. 3 types of transitions are available in the kdenlive video editing, namely clip-to-clip transition, dynamic compositing, and layer compositing.
5. You can make 4K resolution videos with the Kdenlive video editor. Apart from 4K resolution, you can make 2.5K, 1080p, 720p, and SD/DVD resolution videos with different fps.
6. One of the best features of kdenlive video editor is Proxy editing. With this feature, you can create low-resolution copies of your source clips to allow you to do the editing on any low-end editing PC and then render it on full resolution.
7. Another key feature of this video editor is that it automatically backup your project file every few minutes and also keeps the older version of your project.
8. Chroma key is available to remove the green-screen effect.
Shotcut video editor key features –
1. Multitrack timeline with thumbnail and waveforms is available in this editor.
2. 80+ video filters and 25+ audio filters are available in shotcut video editor including 360° Video filters.
3. 24 different transitions available on video editor shotcut, you can also customize your transition effect. Apart from that ‘crossfade and mix’ audio transitions are also available in this video editor.
4. This video editor supports 4K resolution videos.
5. You can record your own voice directly in this video editor.
6. Proxy editing feature is also available in this editor, which will improve your speed.
7. 3-way color wheels (shadows, mids, highlights) are available for color correction and grading.
8. Video scopes like ‘Histogram, RGB Parade, RGB Waveform, Waveform, Vectorscope, and Zoom’ are available in this editor.
9. Chroma key is available to remove the green-screen effect.
The key features of both kdenlive and shotccut are quite similar to each other. Both video editors provide basic tools for editing a video. Except for two noticeable differences, such as-
You cannot move a track upward and downward direction by dragging in kdenlive video editor but in shotcut you can, by simply moving your cursor to the left most of your timeline; a transparent ‘Move’ popup will appear by which you can move the track upward or downward. And also in shotcut video editor, you can add an extra system display by the ‘Blackmagic Decklink’ card on the NTSC monitor, but in Kdenlive this feature is not available.
Format supports –
Both the video editors support similar file formats.
Kdenlive video editor Files supported –
Audio –AC3, WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, ALAC.
Video – AVI, MP4, MPEG-1/MPEG-2, WMV, FLV, MKV.
Image- JPEG, BMP, DPX, GIF, PNG, PPM, TGA, TIFF, WebP.
Shotcut video editor Files supported –
Audio – AAC, AC3, WMA, WAV, MP3, FLAC.
Video – MPEG-4, AVI, MP4, MPEG-1/MPEG-2, WMV, FLV, MKV, DivX, XviD, AVCHD Video, AVC, WebP animation.
Image- JPEG, GIF, DPX, PPM, WebP, PNG, TGA, SVG, TIFF & BMP.
Pricing –
As I mentioned earlier in this post, both kdenlive and shotcut are free to use. You don’t have to buy any one of these editors to edit a video and they are watermark-free video editors.
Conclusion –
From the above discussion of kdenlive vs shotcut or from my own personal experience with both editors, it is safe to say that they are both great, easy-to-use open-source video editing software. By using these two or one of them you can make an amazing video. Almost they have common features and tools. Individual preferences may differ, some people will love kdenlive or some people will go for shotcut video editor. Personally, I will go for kdenlive video editor.
If you have any suggestions for kdenlive or shotcut, then feel free to comment down below.
