Lightworks vs Shotcut (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Shotcut grades higher than Lightworks: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Shotcut grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Lightworks
Pro video editor with a free tier and paid Create and Pro plans
Which one is for you
Pick Lightworks if
- Fits if you want a desktop editor with 1080p export for nothing
- Works for people who need AAF, XML or EDL exchange formats
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need 4K, which starts at Create, $20 a month
- Tight if you upload anywhere but YouTube and Vimeo on the free plan
- Watch out: advanced transitions, titles and TotalFX aren't on Linux
- Not for you if you want a phone or browser editor, since it's desktop only
- Watch out: we couldn't read yearly or one-time prices, only monthly
Pick Shotcut if
- Fits if you want a no-cost editor for Windows, Mac or Linux and don't mind learning a timeline
- Works for people who edit offline and don't want a subscription
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want templates, AI captions or one-click social videos, as the features page lists no AI tools
- Not for you if you work in a team on the same project, since there's no cloud collaboration
- Too light for people who rely on VST2 or LV2 audio plugins, which are still work in progress
- Watch out: Windows 7 and 8 stop at version 22.12.21 and macOS 11 and earlier get older builds
How we grade them
| 2.4GPALightworksFair | 2.8GPAShotcutGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BThe free plan covers editing, color and 1080p export, and paid Create starts at $20 a month, which is where the dearer quarter begins. Yearly and one-time prices weren't readable. | AFree to download, with no paid tier. A program anyone can download and run counts as free. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with timeline editing, effects, color correction and 1080p export, with no watermarks. Upload goes only to YouTube and Vimeo. | ANothing is locked: no trial, no watermark and no paid tier on the page. |
| Features | CTimeline, trimming, color, audio, exchange formats and quality checks. The listing shows gaps: 4K and 8K need paid plans and advanced titles aren't on Linux. | CTimeline editing, 4K, capture, audio filters and subtitles, but the features page lists no AI tools or cloud collaboration, and VST2 and LV2 plugin support is still work in progress. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and a timeline editor has a learning curve. | CNo store rating on record. A full timeline editor has a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | CDesktop only: Windows, Mac and Linux, with Google Drive, Dropbox and stock links. | CWindows, Mac and Linux, which counts as computers only. No web or phone version. |
| Best for | a free editor with 1080p export | a free desktop video editor |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Lightworks and Shotcut. How we grade
Price against what you get
Lightworks starts at $20 a month for each person and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shotcut has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
They score the same, and Shotcut starts $20 a month lower. Of the other screen recording and video tools on the chart, 43 score higher than Lightworks for less, and none scores higher than Shotcut for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Lightworks can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Shotcut is open source, according to its own site.
- Shotcut also covers screen recording.
At a glance
| Lightworks | Shotcut | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $20 per user / month on Create, paid monthly | Free |
| Free plan | Free plan with timeline editing, effects, color correction, multitrack audio, 1080p export and YouTube and Vimeo upload, with no watermarks. | Free and open source, with downloads offered at no charge and no paid tier listed. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | LWKS | Meltytech, LLC |
| Price read from | lwks.com | shotcut.org |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Lightworks
- The Free plan exports up to 1080p and uploads only to YouTube and Vimeo; 4K needs Create and 8K needs Pro.
- The yearly and one-time license prices sit behind toggles on the pricing page and were not read, so only monthly prices are recorded.
- Some Linux functionality is restricted, and the advanced transitions, advanced titles and TotalFX are not available on Linux.
- The pricing page showed the Free plan as £0 and the paid plans in dollars, and says prices are offered in USD, GBP and EUR.
Shotcut
- Windows 7 and 8 users are limited to version 22.12.21, and macOS 11 and earlier to older builds.
- VST2 and LV2 audio plugin support is listed as work in progress.
- Versions are numbered by date and new releases arrive about every two months.
- The features page lists no built-in AI tools or cloud collaboration.
Key features
Lightworks
- Timeline and trim tools
- Multiple video, audio and FX tracks with simple and advanced trimming and audio track sync, plus bins, tags and search for organizing footage.
- Background processing
- Import, rendering of complex effects and export can run in the background while you keep editing.
- Color and audio
- Color correction and grading with scopes on every plan. Native audio effects such as compressor, limiter and noise reducer come with the paid plans.
- Exchange formats
- The pricing page lists AAF, XML, OMF and EDL interchange, and sequence exchange with Premiere, Media Composer, DaVinci Resolve, Pro Tools and Reaper.
- Cloud and stock media
- Connects to Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, pulls stock footage from Pexels and Pond5, and publishes to YouTube and Vimeo.
- In-edit quality control
- QScan checks for issues such as video levels, missing audio and loudness and shows markers on the timeline. This is listed among the paid features.
Shotcut
- Wide format support
- Edits hundreds of audio and video formats through FFmpeg without importing, and mixes resolutions and frame rates on one timeline.
- Capture
- Records screen, webcam and audio, and takes input from Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI devices, JACK and Pulse audio and network streams.
- High-end video
- Handles 4K and 8K, 10-bit end to end, HDR10 and HLG, alpha-channel files and tone mapping from HDR to SDR.
- Audio filters
- Includes scopes, volume control and filters such as compressor, equalizers, noise gate, limiter and RNNoise noise reduction.
- Subtitles and export
- Creates and imports SRT, VTT, ASS and SSA subtitles, and exports EDL, single frames and image sequences.
- Dockable interface
- Panels for playlist, filters, history, encoding and jobs can be docked or undocked, with drag-and-drop from the file manager.
Plans
Lightworks
Free$0
Timeline editing, effects and transitions, color correction, multitrack audio and export up to 1080p.
Create$20
per user / month, paid monthly
Adds 4K export, BRAW and ProRes decode, NewBlue Titler Pro, audio effects and noise reduction, and cloud storage integration.
Pro$35
per user / month, paid monthly
Adds up to 8K and 10-bit video, HDR editing and full scopes, Apple ProRes encoding, and AU, VST3 and LADSPA plugin support.
Shotcut
Shotcut$0
The full editor, free to download for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Ways to pay less
Lightworks
- Lifetime license
One-time license
The pricing page offers a Once option beside Monthly and Yearly, described as a perpetual license. The price was not readable in this check.
Shotcut
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Lightworks or Shotcut?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Shotcut is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $20 a month for each person for Lightworks. Lightworks starts at $20 per user / month on Create, paid monthly, and Shotcut is free.
Which has a free plan, Lightworks or Shotcut?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Lightworks and Shotcut have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.