OpenCut A free, open-source video editor for web, desktop, and mobile.

Sponsors

Thanks to Vercel and fal.ai for their support of open-source software.

Why?

• Privacy: Your videos stay on your device
• Free features: Most basic CapCut features are now paywalled
• Simple: People want editors that are easy to use - CapCut proved that

Features

• Timeline-based editing
• Multi-track support
• Real-time preview
• No watermarks or subscriptions
• Analytics provided by Databuddy, 100% Anonymized & Non-invasive.
• Blog powered by Marble, Headless CMS.

Project Structure

• apps/web/ – Main Next.js web application
• src/components/ – UI and editor components
• src/hooks/ – Custom React hooks
• src/lib/ – Utility and API logic
• src/stores/ – State management (Zustand, etc.)
• src/types/ – TypeScript types

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Bun
• Docker and Docker Compose

Note: Docker is optional but recommended for running the local database and Redis. If you only want to work on frontend features, you can skip it.

Setup

1. Fork and clone the repository

2. Copy the environment file:

   # Unix/Linux/Mac
   cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env.local
   
   # Windows PowerShell
   Copy-Item apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env.local

3. Start the database and Redis:

   docker compose up -d db redis serverless-redis-http

4. Install dependencies and start the dev server:

   bun install
   bun dev:web

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000.

The .env.example has sensible defaults that match the Docker Compose config — it should work out of the box.

Self-Hosting with Docker

To run everything (including a production build of the app) in Docker:

docker compose up -d

The app will be available at http://localhost:3100.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! While we’re actively developing and refactoring certain areas, there are plenty of opportunities to contribute effectively.

🎯 Focus areas: Timeline functionality, project management, performance, bug fixes, and UI improvements outside the preview panel.

⚠️ Avoid for now: Preview panel enhancements (fonts, stickers, effects) and export functionality - we’re refactoring these with a new binary rendering approach.

See our Contributing Guide for detailed setup instructions, development guidelines, and complete focus area guidance.

Quick start for contributors:

• Fork the repo and clone locally
• Follow the setup instructions in CONTRIBUTING.md
• Create a feature branch and submit a PR

License

MIT LICENSE

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