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Like many users, I started feeling like my Adobe subscriptions weren’t worth it anymore and eventually canceled all of them. One of the apps I lost by doing this was Premiere Pro, so I set out to find free video editing alternatives. I had already been using DaVinci Resolve for a couple of years at that point, just not as my primary editor. But it quickly stepped up as my go-to for anything video and motion.
DaVinci Resolve is a highly esteemed video editor, and I’m still surprised that the free version is so fully stocked. But it does have its drawbacks. One of its biggest pros is also its biggest con – there’s just too much to navigate. Then there’s also the strain on your hardware. So I set out to find a couple more options, and eventually settled on Shotcut as my primary editor.
Leaving Adobe Premiere for DaVinci Resolve
It was a no-brainer
Given DaVinci Resolve was already part of my editing kit at the time, it wasn’t that hard to let go of Premiere. I was mainly hanging on to my Adobe subscriptions out of convenience and familiarity. The software is top tier, nobody’s denying that, but it’s just not worth that much, at least not when industry giants like Blackmagic Design make the bulk of their offerings free.
So Resolve stepped in as my primary editor – it was the best option I was aware of at the time. It handles basic editing, animation, motion graphics, audio editing, and pro-level color grading. It’s the perfect free video editor – but not for all of my projects. The problem with Resolve is that it can easily become overkill. The sheer number of features you need to navigate just to create a simple transition is a bit of a drag.
Then there’s performance. For reference, I have an Intel Core i7-13700F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, and 16GB RAM. Hardware isn’t my specialty, but I got this PC just a few years ago, specifically for gaming, so I know it’s not underpowered. And Resolve still manages to slow it down and ramp up the fans. Since I don’t plan on making upgrades any time soon, I wanted to find a lighter video editor, at least for the simpler, everyday stuff.
Enter Shotcut
The perfect lightweight editing app
Shotcut is a free, open-source, layer-based video editing app that’s been around for years but doesn’t get the spotlight it deserves. It doesn’t have flashy branding like CapCut or the reputation of industry tools like Resolve, but it’s more capable than you’d expect. It’s developed by a small team and supported by an open-source community, so updates come from people who actually use it.
Shotcut is cross-platform, so you can run it on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS. And it runs smoothly on lower-end computers, while still being capable of handling more serious projects. It’s only around 500MB compared to Resolve’s almost 5GB, so it’s designed to be more resource-efficient. And it still offers proxy editing if you want to maximize its energy efficiency.
It supports a massive range of video, audio, and image formats. Listing them all would have us here all day, but it’s got you covered on all the standard formats and more, including M4A, MP4, AVI, MOV, MPG, WEBM, BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, SVG, TIFF, WAVE, ALAC, AC-3, AAC, and MP3. As for encoding, Shotcut supports ProRes, DNxHR, H.264 (via libx264), HEVC (H.265), and more.
Why I reach for Shotcut over Resolve these days
It’s simpler and faster
I’m not saying Shotcut outranks Resolve – Resolve is clearly the more powerful option. But, as I’ve mentioned before, that’s also its biggest downside. I’m not a professional video editor and therefore don’t work on a major project every other day. I just run a couple of editing accounts on social media where I post videos for fun. So running Resolve and overwhelming my hardware on a daily basis isn’t necessary. Which is why I love Shotcut so much – it’s the perfect balance of simplicity and functionality.
I started using Shotcut this year on my journey to finding open-source Adobe alternatives. The interface is a tad plain at first glance, but that’s the point. It’s built around a modular layout so you can completely customize where all your tools are positioned. And it has all your basics for splitting, cutting, trimming, and merging clips, which is what I use the app for most of the time. But it does also have advanced functionality…
You can edit with keyframes, so it’s possible to create animations and motion graphics. There’s also a huge selection of color editing tools, filters, effects, and it even has a chroma key tool for editing green screens. One of my favorite tools to play with is the Time Remap – it’s for creating slo-mo effects. Furthermore, there’s motion tracking, which I didn’t expect to find here at all, to be honest, but I’m not complaining.
Less is more
As you can see, Shotcut is quite a diverse editor. I mainly use it to edit my simpler footage, but it is capable of creating dynamic, even cinematic, videos. What keeps me coming back is how easy it feels to just start. Too often, Resolve would have me putting off projects because I didn’t want to deal with the load time and mental friction of navigation. Shotcut loads in seconds and doesn’t make my fans spin louder. It’s the perfect editor for hobbyists, casual editors, and those working with modest hardware.
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