Final Cut Pro vs Shotcut Comparison 2026
Both cover video editing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Apple's editor, bought once or monthly
A free desktop video editor, open source
At a glance
- Only Shotcut has a free tier.
Side by side
Final Cut Pro | Shotcut | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $12.99 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free trial, then paid | Free |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | 30 days | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | None |
| Runs on (they differ) | macOS, iOS |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Final Cut Pro
Apple's editor, bought once or monthly
Final Cut Pro cuts video on Mac and iPad with the magnetic timeline that people either move to it for or bounce off, and it is tuned hard for Apple silicon, which is why it renders quickly on machines that struggle elsewhere. Apple now sells it two ways: inside a subscription bundle alongside Motion, Compressor and Logic Pro, or as the one-time purchase it has always been. The subscription is where new premium content lands. Nothing here runs on Windows, and no project opens anywhere else.
Our note
Buy it outright if you only want the editor, because $299.99 pays for itself against $129 a year inside three years and the app keeps updating. Take the subscription if Motion and Logic Pro are things you would otherwise buy separately, since that is where the bundle stops being a worse deal and starts being a better one.
Shotcut
A free desktop video editor, open source
Shotcut is a free desktop video editor that has been maintained for well over a decade and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows alike. It reads a wide range of formats because FFmpeg is doing the work underneath, and it asks for no account at any point. The interface takes a session to settle into. Nothing is upsold later.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.