Open OpenCut in your browser, cut a clip and export it for $0. Which version to use today, what's coming (AI agents, batch renders), and what breaks.
Swipe or tap Next · checked on 2026-10-31
There's nothing to install, so the easy way is to have ChatGPT or Claude sit next to you while you click. Paste this prompt into either one. It goes one step at a time, explains every word, and stops before anything that costs money, reaches a customer or deletes something. Rather do it yourself? Everything it does is under “The manual way” below.
The setup prompt (copy all of it) · lines 1-1 of 25. Copy all copies the whole prompt; read it in full on the page.
Hi. Please be my patient setup helper. I run a business and I'm not technical, so go one step at a time, tell me exactly what to click or press, and wait for me to say done before the next step.This is the manual way: every click and every key. The part I care about is where your video goes, which is nowhere: OpenCut's privacy page says all editing happens on your device and they never upload, store or have access to your video or audio files.
This is the part that trips people up. There are two OpenCuts right now. The team is rewriting it from the ground up, and their README says the classic version is the one to reach for today. So use opencut.app.
Checked 2026-10-31 on the two GitHub repos and new.opencut.app.
The homepage says “70k+ stars.” The main GitHub repo showed 96.9k stars on October 31, 2026. The homepage just hasn't caught up. Stars mean people are watching it, not that it's finished.
Click Try early beta. That opens your projects page. Click New project (on your very first visit the button says Create your first project). The editor opens on a project called New project.
On a phone or an iPad you'll get Desktop only (for now) instead. There's a Take a look anyway button, but OpenCut's own warning says things will break.
If a box called Don't lose your projects shows up, it's telling you the truth: your browser can delete your projects when storage runs low. I'd click Allow. Not now closes it.
Under Aspect ratio, pick 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, or 16:9 for regular YouTube. There's also 1:1, 4:3 and Custom (you type the canvas width and height). You can rename the project here too, under Name.
Click Import and pick your files, or drag them onto the panel where it says Drag and drop videos, photos, and audio files here. Videos, photos and audio all work. Then drag the clip from the panel down onto the timeline.
The pop-up will say your clip “has been uploaded.” It hasn't gone anywhere: that's just the word it uses. The privacy page says they never upload your files.
These are OpenCut's own keys. Click on the timeline first, because the one-letter keys don't work while you're typing in a box.
The cutting keys
Space (or K) play / pause
J / L back / forward 1 second
Left / Right arrow one frame back / forward
S split at the playhead
Q split and remove the left side
W split and remove the right side
Delete / Backspace delete what's selected
Ctrl+D duplicate what's selected
Ctrl+Z undo
Ctrl+Shift+Z redo
N snapping on / off
On a Mac, Ctrl means Cmd (Cmd+Z, Cmd+D).The Export project box has three settings. Format: MP4 (H.264), marked better compatibility, or WebM (VP9), marked smaller file size. Quality: Low, Medium, High (recommended) or Very high. Audio: Include audio in export. The defaults are already MP4, High and audio on, so for most posts you just click Export. You'll see a percentage while it works, and then the file downloads and the box closes.
Past the basic cut, the editor has tabs for Sounds, Text, Stickers, Effects, Transitions, Captions and Adjustment. OpenCut's changelog lists captions (auto or from a transcript file you import), masks, keyframe animation, volume and speed control, and over 1,000 fonts. I'd get the plain cut and export working first, then poke around.
Before you edit something that matters, do a throwaway run. It costs nothing and takes a few minutes.
Good: a vertical video, about 7 seconds long, with the first 3 seconds gone and the sound in sync. Bad: no sound (check Include audio in export was ticked), the wrong shape (fix the aspect ratio and export again), or the export fails (see “When it breaks”).
This is the one I'm watching. The rewrite's README lists what they're building, and none of it is something you can click yet:
That's a plan, not a release. I'm not gonna tell you when it ships, because they don't say.
Click Star or Watch at the top of the repo page (both need a free GitHub account), and check the roadmap in the README and the changelog at opencut.app/changelog every so often. The README also says they aren't taking outside code contributions yet, but issues and discussion are open.
You don't need this to edit videos. It's for when you've got a developer and you want OpenCut running on your own machine instead of their site. These are the classic repo's own steps. It needs Git and Docker (a free tool that runs apps in a sealed box) installed first. Remember the classic code is archived, so this copy won't get updates.
Run OpenCut classic on your own computer
git clone https://github.com/OpenCut-app/opencut-classic.git
cd opencut-classic
docker compose up -d
# then open http://localhost:3100 in your browserChecked 2026-10-31 on OpenCut's GitHub repos and privacy page and on CapCut's pricing page (USD; CapCut says its displayed pricing is for reference only). Prices change: check before you buy.
OpenCut shows this on any screen narrower than 1024 pixels. Use a desktop or laptop. Take a look anyway lets you in, but OpenCut's own warning says the layout will be a mess.
They live in that one browser on that one computer, so they won't show up in a different browser, on another computer, or after you clear your browsing data. Click Allow on “Don't lose your projects” so the browser doesn't clear them when storage runs low, and export anything you care about as an MP4 the day you finish it.
The one-letter keys are turned off while a text box has your cursor. Click on the timeline and try again.
Click Retry. If it fails again, try the other format (WebM instead of MP4, or the other way around) or a lower quality. The classic code is archived, so a bug in it won't get fixed; a long or heavy project is the first thing I'd shorten.
Open Export again and tick Include audio in export.
That's the rewrite, and it isn't ready. Use opencut.app; the README says the classic version is the one to use today.
They're on the rewrite's roadmap, not out yet. Star or watch the GitHub repo and check the changelog.
Try the file again, or one file at a time. Import takes video, photo and audio files; anything else won't come in.
What each page backs up is listed at the end of the full guide.
Open the site, drop your clip in, press S, export. You just cut a clip without paying anybody, and when the AI agents and batch renders show up, you'll already know the editor.
Want help setting this up? Receipts Group builds these systems.
Open the full guide as a page (every file in full, plus the table of contents).