# Alternatives to Kdenlive

KDE's open source NLE.

Kdenlive ranks #9 of 18 in Video editing, with an Alt Score of 78. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 10 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kdenlive/
Category: Video editing

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Video editors and hobbyists who want a full-featured, no-cost video editor for Linux, Windows, macOS, or BSD without vendor lock-in or subscription fees.
- **What you get**: A multi-track, non-linear video editor with a timeline-based interface, keyframeable effects and transitions, a titler for text overlays, an audio mixer, and proxy-clip support for editing large footage smoothly. It's built on the open-source MLT framework and FFmpeg, so it handles a wide range of video and audio formats. Kdenlive is free software (GPL-licensed) developed by the KDE community.
- **How it works**: Import clips into the project bin, arrange them across multiple video and audio tracks on the timeline, then apply effects, transitions, and titles before rendering the final output with FFmpeg-backed export presets.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-12)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-12)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-12)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Filmora](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/filmora.md) | 93 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [Premiere Pro](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/premiere-pro.md) | 93 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 3 | [DaVinci Resolve](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/davinci-resolve.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 4 | [Final Cut Pro](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/final-cut-pro.md) | 85 | Proprietary | macOS |
| 5 | [Lightworks](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lightworks.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 6 | [VSDC](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/vsdc.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Windows |
| 7 | [Shotcut](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/shotcut.md) | 81 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 8 | [CapCut](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/capcut.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 9 | [VEGAS Pro](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/vegas-pro.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Windows |
| 10 | [LumaFusion](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lumafusion.md) | 66 | Proprietary | iOS, Android |
| 11 | [Kapwing](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kapwing.md) | 62 | Proprietary | Web |
| 12 | [OpenShot](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/openshot.md) | 62 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 13 | [Clipchamp](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/clipchamp.md) | 59 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, iOS |
| 14 | [VEED](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/veed.md) | 55 | Proprietary | Web |
| 15 | [iMovie](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/imovie.md) | 48 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS |
| 16 | [Descript](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/descript.md) | 44 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Web |
| 17 | [HitFilm](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/hitfilm.md) | building | ? | ? |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Video editing checklist | Kdenlive | Filmora | Premiere Pro | DaVinci Resolve | Final Cut Pro | Lightworks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Subscription | Freemium | One-time | Freemium |
| Starts at | ? | $19.99/month | ? | $295 one-time | $299.99 one-time | ? |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Timeline tracks (limit) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4K/8K export | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Watermark on free tier | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No |
| Proxy editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Color grading (scopes, LUTs) | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Motion graphics / keyframing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Audio mixing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Speed ramping | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plugins ecosystem | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware encoding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Collaboration | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Direct publish to platforms | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Kdenlive. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://github.com/KDE/kdenlive/blob/master/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://kdenlive.org/about/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “There are no license fees to pay, no registrations or subscriptions, and no premium features that require payment to be unlocked.”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://docs.kdenlive.org/en/getting_started/installation.html> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “64-bit Windows 10 (1809 or later) or newer / Apple macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer and on Silicon M-Series / 64-bit Linux”
- **Status**: active — <https://kdenlive.org/news/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Kdenlive 26.04.3 released”
- **Timeline tracks (limit)**: Yes — <https://kdenlive.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Unlimited number of video and audio tracks that can be hidden and muted individually”
- **4K/8K export**: Yes — <https://docs.kdenlive.org/en/exporting/render.html> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Ultra-High Definition (4K): MP4-H265 (HEVC), WebM-AV1/Opus (libre), WebM-VP9/Opus (libre)”
- **Watermark on free tier**: No — <https://kdenlive.org/about/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “There are no license fees to pay, no registrations or subscriptions, and no premium features that require payment to be unlocked.”
- **Proxy editing**: Yes — <https://kdenlive.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Kdenlive can automatically create low resolution copies of your source clips for a smooth editing performance”
- **Color grading (scopes, LUTs)**: Yes — <https://kdenlive.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Kdenlive has powerful analysis tools to monitor audio levels and check the color grading (Histogram, Waveform, Vectorscope, RGB Parade)”
- **Motion graphics / keyframing**: Yes — <https://kdenlive.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Most effects can be keyframed allowing you to change parameters over time”
- **Audio mixing**: Yes — <https://docs.kdenlive.org/en/more_information/earlier_versions/restoring_audio_mixing.html> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “automatic audio mixing across all timeline tracks should work again normally”
- **Speed ramping**: Yes — <https://docs.kdenlive.org/en/glossary.html> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “A special widget allowing to keyframe the speed of a clip to achieve effects like speed ramping.”
- **Plugins ecosystem**: Yes — <https://kdenlive.org/features/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Effects are supplied by the MLT Framework, avfilter, frei0r, and ladspa”
- **Hardware encoding**: Yes — <https://docs.kdenlive.org/en/exporting/render.html> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Hardware Accelerated (experimental): NVENC AV1 VR, NVENC H264 ABR, NVENC H264 VBR, NVENC H265 ABR, NVENC H265 ABR 10 bit”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/