OpenCut: the open-source alternative to CapCut, mid-rewrite

OpenCut is a free, open-source video editor for web, desktop, and mobile, pitched as “the open-source alternative to CapCut.” It imports video, edits on a multitrack timeline, applies effects, masks, and subtitles, and exports — all in the browser or self-hosted. As of August 31, 2026 it carries 88,094 stars on GitHub and is in the middle of a full core rewrite.

What OpenCut is

OpenCut is a web video-editing application built on TypeScript/React (Next.js), with a core that’s migrating to Rust (compiled to WASM). It isn’t an AI model or a library — it’s an end-user tool for cutting, arranging, and composing video, explicitly aiming to replicate CapCut’s simplicity without watermarks, subscriptions, or footage leaving your device.

The current README states that OpenCut is being rewritten from scratch. What’s coming: an editor API, first-class third-party plugins (“plugin-first” architecture), desktop/mobile/browser from a single codebase (Rust core), an MCP server for AI agents, a headless mode for automation and batch rendering, and an in-editor scripting tab.

Until the rewrite ships, the operational version is the classic one, still running at opencut.app; the new version lives provisionally at new.opencut.app.

From the stable classic version to the rewrite: a glowing portal shows the evolution toward a plugin-first architecture, with an editor API, Rust/WASM core, and a single codebase for desktop and mobile

Origin

The OpenCut-app/OpenCut repository was created on June 22, 2025 on GitHub; the organization is OpenCut-app and the official site is opencut.app.
The public launch happened in July 2025: the blog post “The OpenCut Alpha is here!” is dated July 19, 2025 and warns it’s “a very early alpha, about a month of work,” with video import, basic timeline editing, cuts and trims, and no watermark.
The classic README’s “Why?” section gives three verifiable reasons: privacy (your video stays on your device), free features (many of CapCut’s core features now sit behind a paywall), and simplicity (“people want editors that are easy to use — CapCut proved that”).

Narrative color (marked as not independently verified): the project is framed by the community as a response to CapCut’s terms and subscription model. Third parties describe it as a “protest repo,” and several YouTube videos use a first-person founder narrative (“CapCut owned your face, so he built OpenCut”); however, the official site and README don’t name a specific founder in the sources retrieved. The top contributor per the API is mazeincoding (account name “Maze,” company “OpenCut”), with 1,058 of the main branch’s 1,598 commits. Accordingly, no founder name or biographical anecdote is asserted here beyond what a retrieved primary source can verify.

Philosophy and principles

Verifiable principles from official sources:

Privacy-first: the privacy policy (opencut.app/privacy) states all editing and processing happens locally, that they never upload, store, or access video/audio files, that automatic subtitles run in-browser with on-device models, that there’s no account system or login, and that projects are saved locally in IndexedDB.
Free and watermark-free: the README and alpha post insist on “zero watermarks, completely free.”
Simplicity: replicating CapCut’s ease of use.
Open source (MIT): MIT license declared in the README and the API.
Analytics transparency: they use “Databuddy” for anonymized visit counts, without tracking clicks, interactions, or individual users (though this point drew community skepticism — see reception).

Privacy shield: a video file sealed inside a personal device, no cloud upload, on-device subtitle processing, and local IndexedDB storage

How it works

Architecture: the web app is Next.js; the compositing core (GPU rendering, effects, masks) is Rust compiled to WASM. The 0.3.0 changelog documents that the WebGL renderer was replaced by a Rust/wgpu compositor (compositor, effects, masks, gpu, time crates), consumed from TypeScript through rust/wasm/.

Rust core compiled to WASM: modular crates for compositor, effects, masks, GPU, and time, connected by a WASM bridge to the TypeScript/React web layer

Time model: time is represented as MediaTime, an integer tick count at 120,000 ticks/second (chosen because it evenly divides the denominators of every standard frame rate, including drop-frame); FrameRate is a rational {num,den} type, not a float. All time arithmetic, frame snapping, and timecode formatting live in Rust and are exposed via WASM.
Tracks: SceneTracks enforces three explicit fields (overlay, main — a singleton VideoTrack — and audio), which structurally rules out mixing track types.
Documented features (through 0.3.0): keyframe animation with a bezier curve editor, an effects system applicable per-clip or as a standalone element (with Blur), ripple editing built on interval-difference algorithms, masks (split, rectangle, ellipse, star, heart, diamond, cinematic bars) with JFA-style feathering, volume and speed control (with pitch-preservation option), preview zoom, canvas backgrounds (blur/solid/gradient), custom canvas size, stickers, automatic subtitles plus transcript-file import, RMS waveform display, MP4 export with audio, and deployment to Cloudflare Workers via OpenNext for self-hosting.

Multitrack timeline: overlay, main video, and audio tracks with clips, ripple-edit arrows, bezier keyframe curves, waveform bars, subtitles, and feathered-edge masks

Platforms: web (opencut.app/projects), Docker self-hosted (classic, port 3100), and a desktop app in Rust/GPUI that in 0.3.0 was still “early: main.rs and build setup, but no features yet.”

The ecosystem

Repositories under the `OpenCut-app` organization

OpenCut-app/OpenCut: the main repository; 88,094 stars, 8,684 forks.
OpenCut-app/opencut-classic: “original codebase,” archived (unmaintained); 238 stars, 275 forks; created May 16, 2026. This is the version opencut.app currently points to.
OpenCut-app/ffmpeg-rust: 42 stars, 3 forks (no description; appears to be an experiment packaging ffmpeg in Rust).
OpenCut-app/.github: the organization’s config repository.

Community ports, forks, and extensions

GitHub search for “opencut” (August 31, 2026); stars are as returned by search, not a quality audit:

jtydhr88/ComfyUI-OpenCut: 210 stars — a plugin integrating OpenCut into ComfyUI.
SysAdminDoc/OpenCut: 41 stars — “OpenCut for Premiere Pro,” local AI-driven editing automation for Adobe Premiere Pro.
bbylw/OpenCut-CN: 33 stars — a Chinese translation/description (“a free, open-source video editor for web, desktop, and mobile”).
miaom9897-pixel/opencut-zh-desktop: 22 stars — a Chinese-language Windows desktop build based on OpenCut (MIT), packaged with Electron, “no install, no watermark, no subscription.”
JXUE0/opencut-controller: 6 stars — a server that injects into the OpenCut editor via Playwright.
kenimo49/opencut-mcp: 3 stars — an MCP server for classic OpenCut (Claude controls the editor via Playwright).
clawnify/OpenCut: 3 stars — an “agent-friendly video editor,” composing video as HTML on a timeline.
TeamProhor/ProCut: 2 stars — “open-source CapCut clone, continued from opencut-app/opencut.”
qingchencloud/qingchen-cut: 2 stars — “an AI-operable video editing workbench based on OpenCut” (Chinese).
diwenne/opencut: 1 star — OpenCut packaged as a native macOS app with ProRes/HDR import.

Docker Hub images (self-hosted, community)

Several unofficial images: developer024/opencut (3,993 pulls), czyt/opencut (2,158), helmforge/opencut (1,702, “production-ready”), izetmolla/opencut (938), and admin233/opencut (701, “docker版opencut,” Chinese). No verifiable official image from the organization was found in retrieved sources.

Package registries (npm)

opencut-wasm (v0.2.10): the WASM-compiled core; 5,853 downloads/week and 20,603/month.
opencut-controller (v1.31.0): an MCP server for editing automation; 80 downloads/week.
opencut (v0.1.0): “a Remotion-based video production engine” (a distinct project from the organization, same package name); 11 downloads/week.

Curated lists

furudo-erika/awesome-capcut-alternatives (17 stars) ranks OpenCut #1, as “The True Open-Source CapCut Alternative.”

Expanding ecosystem: a central repository orb with 88,094 stars and 8,684 forks orbited by plugins, npm packages, Docker images, desktop ports, Chinese translations, ComfyUI integration, and MCP servers

Official / semi-official status

Vercel OSS: the classic version carries the Vercel OSS Program badge in its README, and Vercel appears as a partner/host (the site is served on Vercel). This is infrastructure/hosting backing, not a functional certification.
Sponsor: the current README lists fal.ai as a sponsor (generative image/video/audio models); the classic version also thanks Vercel.
De facto standard: there’s no formal designation. However, the combination of ~88,000 stars, the #1 spot on a curated CapCut-alternatives list, community Docker self-hosting images, and several community MCP servers make it function as a de facto reference for the “browser-based, CapCut-style open-source video editor” niche, without any authority formally designating it as such.
Trademark dispute (verified): issue #192, “Project name infringement” (open, filed July 11, 2025 by jacklei2000), claims “OpenCut” is a trademark registered July 28, 2024 by another team behind an online editing tool at opencut.net, and requests a rename. It remains unresolved in the sources consulted.

Quick-start guide

Installation and first run

Option A — Try the web app (how it’s actually used today): go to opencut.app/projects. The opencut.app homepage shows only the brand and an “early beta” call to action; the app itself lives at /projects. No account required. (Note: the classic version is the one in production; the rewrite lives at new.opencut.app.)

Option B — Self-host the classic version (Docker): prerequisites are Bun and Docker/Docker Compose. Steps from the classic README:

# 1) Clone and copy the config
cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env.local      # Windows: Copy-Item apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env.local

# 2) Bring up the database and Redis
docker compose up -d db redis serverless-redis-http

# 3) Install dependencies and start the dev server
bun install
bun dev:web

The app lands on http://localhost:3000 (dev) or http://localhost:3100 if you bring up the full production container with docker compose up -d. .env.example ships defaults consistent with Docker Compose.

Local self-hosting: a Docker Compose stack with database, Redis, and web server, localhost ports 3000 and 3100, and a Cloudflare Workers deployment path

Option C — Develop the rewrite (Rust core): requires MoonRepo’s proto:

# Linux/macOS/WSL
bash <(curl -fsSL https://moonrepo.dev/install/proto.sh)
# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://moonrepo.dev/install/proto.ps1 | iex

proto use                 # installs the tools pinned in .prototools
moon run web:dev          # → http://localhost:5173
moon run api:dev          # → http://localhost:8787
moon run desktop:dev      # see apps/desktop/README.md

Common workflows

To edit a video in the browser: go to opencut.app/projects → import the video → cut/arrange clips on the timeline → add text, audio, stickers, or masks → export to MP4 (with audio).
To animate a property: place keyframes on the element’s property (independent X/Y position, scale, etc.) → open the graph editor and drag the bezier handles to shape the easing → copy/paste keyframes between elements, or right-click a clip and choose “Expand keyframes” to see each property on its own row.
For subtitles without uploading anything: use the on-device automatic transcription, or import a transcript file to generate subtitles.
To automate via AI (community): the roadmap includes an official MCP server; in the meantime, forks like kenimo49/opencut-mcp and JXUE0/opencut-controller already enable it via Playwright.

AI-agent-friendly editor: an MCP server node connected to a headless editor instance, a batch render queue, and robotic agents injecting edits via API calls

Essential configuration

apps/web/.env.local (classic): environment configuration; .env.example is the template with defaults matching Docker Compose.
docker-compose.yml: brings up db, redis, and serverless-redis-http; the production container exposes port 3100.
App settings panel: canvas size (presets or custom), canvas background (blur/solid/gradient), editor preferences (persisted to localStorage).
.prototools / moon.yml (rewrite): tool pins and build tasks for proto/Moon-based development.
wrangler.jsonc + apps/web/open-next.config.ts (rewrite): for deploying the web app to Cloudflare Workers when self-hosting.

Common pitfalls and fixes

You don’t see the app on the homepage: opencut.app shows only the brand; the app itself lives at /projects. (Repeatedly mentioned in HN thread 44553752: “you have to go to opencut.app/projects.”)
Docker only opens a waitlist page: the classic build starts at localhost:3100, but if the waitlist flow is still active it can show the same screen as the marketing site; the complaint on HN (user Imustaskforhelp) was that running docker compose only showed the landing page. The documented fix is the /projects endpoint.
Projects can disappear: the 0.3.0 changelog warns that “your projects can disappear if disk space runs out,” and adds that it now asks the browser to protect them.
MP4 export with audio failed in Firefox: fixed in 0.3.0 (“export now completes successfully regardless of browser”).
Requires GPU rendering: “if your browser doesn’t support GPU-accelerated rendering, the editor shows a warning explaining why and suggests switching browsers.”
Not accepting contributions right now: the README and PR template are explicit about this (see “How to contribute”).

Integrations and migration

MCP (AI agents): this is a rewrite goal (“MCP server, for AI agents”). Communities already emulate it with kenimo49/opencut-mcp and opencut-controller (npm, 80 downloads/week) on top of classic OpenCut.
ComfyUI: jtydhr88/ComfyUI-OpenCut integrates OpenCut into ComfyUI workflows.
Premiere Pro: SysAdminDoc/OpenCut targets local AI-driven editing automation for Adobe Premiere Pro.
Self-hosted / CI: deployment to Cloudflare Workers (OpenNext) and Docker containers for corporate/self-hosted use.
Migration: since there’s no publicly documented project format or conversion tool, migrating OpenCut projects to CapCut/DaVinci/Shotcut/Kdenlive would mean re-exporting the finished video; no formal “migration” path is documented in the sources consulted.

Current metrics

Measured: August 31, 2026, GitHub API.

Metric	Value
Stars	88,094
Forks	8,684
Real subscribers (`subscribers_count`)	396
Commits on `main` (pagination exhausted)	1,598
Open issues	276
Open pull requests	102
API `open_issues_count` (issues + PRs)	378
Primary language	TypeScript
License	MIT
Repository created	June 22, 2025
Last push	August 10, 2026
Latest release	`v0.3.0`, April 15, 2026

Top contributors (API, by contributions): mazeincoding (1,058), izadoesdev (71), anwarulislam (53), khanguyen74 (26), DevloperAmanSingh (24), Zaid-maker (21), mezotv (17), enkei64 (17), aashishparuvada (15), SimonOrzel26 (12). The website states 97 contributors and 1,540 contributions.

Caveats:

The API’s watchers_count mirrors the star count (88,094); that’s why subscribers_count (396) is reported separately as real subscribers.
open_issues_count (378) blends issues and PRs; the verified breakdown is 276 issues + 102 PRs.
The 1,598-commit count comes from paginating the main branch’s commits endpoint until empty; it is not the project’s full historical total if branches/force-pushes exist.

How to contribute

The process is deliberately closed while the rewrite is underway:

README (main repository): “We’re not set up to accept outside contributions yet while the architecture is being designed. If you want to follow along, ask questions, or just hang out, join the Discord or open an issue.”
PR template (.github/pull_request_template.md): “⚠️ Read before submitting ⚠️ — We are not currently accepting PRs except for critical bugs. If it’s a bug fix: open an issue first and it must be approved by a maintainer. If it’s a feature: this PR will be closed. Open an issue to discuss first.”
Classic version (archived): its README did document a workflow (fork, feature branch, PR) and focus areas (timeline, project management, performance, bugs, UI outside the preview panel), but that repository is no longer maintained.

In practice, today contributing means opening an issue or joining Discord, not submitting code.

Community reception

The retrieved evidence shows massive star adoption alongside strong skepticism about whether those stars and the product’s real state are legitimate.

Hacker News

Main thread 44553752 — “OpenCut: The open-source CapCut alternative,” submitted by nateb2022, 447 points and 151 comments (July 13, 2025).
- greatgib: “smells fishy to me… that many GitHub stars and not a single screenshot anywhere” — criticizing the lack of screenshots and the waitlist-only site.
- lpln3452: “Promotion without a single screenshot… the ‘Project Structure’ section that’s just a directory listing feels LLM-generated.”
- arnaudsm: “why a waitlist for an open-source project? and why brag about having Databuddy analytics baked in? Is this a startup ‘building in public’ using open source as a marketing trick before monetizing?”
- bityard: “if it’s open source, why is there a waitlist?… Despite that it’s fishy (or phishy).”
- Imustaskforhelp: “I ran the docker compose and when I tried to open it, it opens on localhost:3100 and it’s the same as the website, asking for the waitlist… it feels so AI-generated, so ragebait-y… and I feel the stars are fraudulent.”
- montakaoh: “I tried it before and it barely worked — how does it get stars?”
- darajava (more balanced): “…there’s actually a live version linked in this comment[0]. It’s pretty good! I wish the authors put more time into polishing the README… but it’s missing a lot of basic features, right now it only makes sense for developers.”
- jchw: “played with it for a few seconds… most features are still TODO, but you can at least overlay text on video. The UI seems reasonable, it basically works like any other NLE.”
- tobi_bsf: “I don’t know if they have the feel of what makes CapCut work. It’s mostly the remote AI features… You don’t need to build a good free video editor. We already have DaVinci for that.”
- oefrha: “the overlap between CapCut enthusiasts and GitHub users isn’t that big… it doesn’t make sense for TikTok/Instagram influencers to go to GitHub and star it”; in another comment, compares the star-growth velocity to DeepSeek R1’s.
- alexfromapex: “does a waitlist mean it’ll be monetized?”
- icemelt8: “I like how open-source software gets gate-kept behind complex processes.”
Thread 44729461 — “Someone made a 128k line PR to OpenCut,” 109 points and 92 comments (July 29, 2025). References PR #479 by donghaozhang, titled “Try to help but need some help”: 221 files, 29,041 additions, 2,314 deletions, 387 comments, closed unmerged.
- RGBCube: “Holy slop. This mirrors my experience with Claude Code. It writes too much code… for grunt work it’s fine.”
- stephenlf: “100% AI slop. 20 commits with the message ‘Update documentation and project organization’.”
- delecti: “that this wasn’t immediately rejected with a stern ‘GTFO’ tells me the maintainers have far more patience than I do.”
- soraminazuki: “this is a new kind of spam with serious consequences for open source; LLMs have made it possible to produce plausible-looking garbage at scale.”
- maxbond: “we shouldn’t mock someone for saying ‘I have no idea what I’m doing and need help.’ I don’t think this belongs on HN.”
Scattered comments in other threads: robinroy03 (comment 44793546): “Opencut can’t even export a video. It’s very hyped but barely functional.” (August 2025).
The original submitter of the main thread, nateb2022 (comment 44554013), defended the resubmission: “since previous posts didn’t get more than 2 points, I didn’t think reposting would be an issue. I’m not a fraudulent actor.”

Synthesis: enthusiasm (447 points, dozens of third-party videos, the #1 spot on a curated list) coexists with real, repeated criticism about (a) the lack of screenshots/evidence at launch, (b) a waitlist + analytics on an “open source” project, (c) the gap between stars and actual functionality, and (d) suspicion of startup marketing.

No high-activity Reddit thread specific to OpenCut was retrieved in the queries performed (searches mostly returned unrelated “opencut” mining results and r/CapCut discussions about CapCut itself, not OpenCut). Accordingly, no Reddit opinions are inferred beyond a concretely retrieved thread.

YouTube

Third-party tutorials, demos, and reviews (approximate view counts as visible at query time, August 31, 2026):

“OpenCut: The FREE CapCut Alternative 67,000 Developers Starred (I Tested It)” — channel Hyperautomation Labs, ~8,624 views, 12:38.
“I Tested OpenCut Again After 1 Year - Here’s What Shocked Me” — channel Compute For Humans, ~1,512 views, 33:25 (one-year revisit).
“¿Vale la pena OPENCUT? Probando el nuevo editor gratis de GitHub” — channel Manifestiax (Spanish), ~3,269 views.
“OPENCUT La alternativa real a CapCut en PC LA VERDAD” — channel Ed4r (Spanish), ~388 views.
“OpenCut: The FREE CapCut Alternative — LIVE DEMO!” — channel USA TV, ~352 views.
“CapCut se adueñó de tu cara. Así que él creó OpenCut (74 mil estrellas)” — channel Indie Hacker News (Spanish), ~532 views (reinforces the founder narrative).
“OpenCut vs Capcut: How to Download OpenCut Video Editor App…” — channel GuideGrid, ~786 views.
“Mirip Capcut Tapi Gratis | Opencut” — channel rizki maliki (Indonesian), ~582 views.

X / Twitter

The README links the official account @opencutapp (x.com/opencutapp). No specific launch thread or verifiable X reactions were retrieved in the sources consulted; no X opinions are asserted without a retrieved source.

Product Hunt

No verifiable Product Hunt launch page was retrieved in the sources consulted (the search returned a redirect). No upvotes or comments from Product Hunt are inferred.

OpenCut vs. other approaches

Only real competitors retrieved (GitHub search “capcut alternative open source,” August 31, 2026):

Project	Verifiable overlap	Verifiable difference
`Augani/openreel-video` (4,954 ★)	“Professional browser-based video editor. Open source alternative to CapCut. 100% browser.”	A “professional” browser editor; OpenCut adds a Rust/WASM core, keyframes, masks, and an MCP roadmap.
`pireel/pireel` (1,098 ★)	“Open source alternative to CapCut/ChatCut. Operable by any AI agent via MCP.”	Its verifiable differentiator is MCP/agent control; OpenCut declares MCP as a rewrite goal.
`msgbyte/cutia` (846 ★)	“Open source browser-based alternative to CapCut.”	Browser-based; OpenCut has more surface area (keyframes, masks, self-hosting, desktop).
`ter-9001/WannaCut` (294 ★)	“Open source alternative to CapCut for Linux and Windows.”	Desktop-focused for Linux/Windows; OpenCut is web/self-hosted with desktop in progress.
`DonkeyCut/Donkey` (229 ★)	“Open source alternative to CapCut.”	—
`fancyboi999/Loomic` (199 ★)	“Canvas design agent — alternative to Lovart / CapCut Video Studio / Canva AI.”	Positions itself as a chat-driven design agent, not just an NLE.

Among traditional open-source video editors (Shotcut, OpenShot, Kdenlive, DaVinci Resolve) — cited by HN users as “probably better” alternatives today — OpenCut stands out for its web-first, local-privacy, CapCut-style (simplicity) approach, not a professional desktop-NLE workflow.

Use cases

Content creators who want to avoid CapCut’s subscription and watermark: free web editing (import, cut, text, audio, stickers, masks, on-device subtitles, MP4 export) without sending footage to the cloud. Fits the stated motivation of “CapCut’s core features now behind a paywall.”
Teams that prioritize footage privacy: the policy guarantees 100% local processing, no accounts, and projects in IndexedDB — useful for organizations that can’t upload video to a SaaS.
Self-hosters / DevOps: deployment via Docker (classic) or Cloudflare Workers via OpenNext (rewrite), with community Docker Hub images and a public opencut-wasm package.
AI agent / video automation developers: the MCP server + headless mode roadmap, plus the opencut-controller/opencut-mcp forks, point toward controlling editing programmatically; also ComfyUI workflows (ComfyUI-OpenCut).
Frontend/Rust engineers interested in the technical pattern: the Rust→WASM core (wgpu compositor, MediaTime at 120,000 ticks/s, typed SceneTracks) is a case study in moving render logic to WASM from TypeScript.
Who doesn’t need it today: editors requiring a professional desktop NLE workflow (DaVinci, Kdenlive) or CapCut features based on remote services (background removal, templates, cloud sync) — the community itself notes those capabilities aren’t the current focus.

Resources

Repository: https://github.com/OpenCut-app/OpenCut
Classic version (archived): https://github.com/OpenCut-app/opencut-classic
Site / app (web): https://opencut.app — editor at https://opencut.app/projects ; rewrite at https://new.opencut.app
Documentation (README and setup): https://github.com/OpenCut-app/OpenCut#development
Privacy policy: https://opencut.app/privacy
Official changelog: https://opencut.app/changelog (and changelog/ in the repo: 0.1.0, 0.2.0, 0.3.0)
Official blog: https://opencut.app/blog (post: “The OpenCut Alpha is here!”)
Community / Discord: https://discord.gg/zmR9N35cjK (README) / https://discord.com/invite/Mu3acKZvCp (site)
X / Twitter: https://x.com/opencutapp
Package registries (npm): opencut-wasm https://www.npmjs.com/package/opencut-wasm · opencut-controller https://www.npmjs.com/package/opencut-controller
Docker Hub (community): https://hub.docker.com/search?q=opencut
Curated list: https://github.com/furudo-erika/awesome-capcut-alternatives
HN threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44553752 (447 pts) · https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44729461 (109 pts)
Trademark issue: https://github.com/OpenCut-app/OpenCut/issues/192
Controversial 128k-line PR: https://github.com/OpenCut-app/OpenCut/pull/479
Videos / demos: Hyperautomation Labs “…67,000 Developers Starred (I Tested It)” · Compute For Humans “I Tested OpenCut Again After 1 Year” · Manifestiax “¿Vale la pena OPENCUT? (es)” · Ed4r “OPENCUT La alternativa real a CapCut (es)” · Indie Hacker News “CapCut se adueñó de tu cara… (es)”

Note: this article draws on the README, changelog notes (0.1.0–0.3.0), the privacy policy and blog at opencut.app, the GitHub API (repo, releases, contributors, commits, issues, repo search), npm, Docker Hub, the awesome-capcut-alternatives list, and the Hacker News threads consulted on August 31, 2026. Stars, video views, and downloads change over time. Where a claim (e.g., the founder narrative) couldn’t be verified with a primary source, it has been explicitly flagged as not independently verified.