Partly, with limits. Editing and export usually without a watermark. Exporting with a Pro feature needs the subscription, and premium AI costs credits. Beyond that, the Standard plan costs €11.99 a month. OpenCut does the same thing for free, in open source.

Is OpenCut really free?

Yes. OpenCut is open source: the code is public and installing it costs nothing. At most you pay for hosting if you put it on a server, often a few euros a month. CapCut Pro, on the other hand, costs €24 a month.

Do I need to code to install OpenCut?

No. The level is beginner and the install takes about 5 minutes with the prompt from the page: Claude does the work, you answer its questions.

How is it different from CapCut Pro?

OpenCut does most of what CapCut Pro does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point by point comparison is on the page.

Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

Free alternative

Free alternative to CapCut Pro

CapCut Pro costs €24 a month. Here are the 2 open source tools that replace it for free, best one first.

Public entry price, taken from CapCut Pro’s website (capcut.com). Over a year, that is €288 that stays in your pocket.

How much does CapCut cost in 2026?

CapCut’s public plans, checked on 7 October 2026 on apps.apple.com.

Free
€0
Editing and export usually without a watermark. Exporting with a Pro feature needs the subscription, and premium AI costs credits.
Standard
€11.99 a month
Subscription perks on the mobile app only.
Pro
€23.99 a month
Pro features on mobile, desktop and web, with 100 GB of cloud storage.

No public price list on capcut.com: French App Store prices, which can vary by platform and promotion. See the official pricing page ↗

What replaces CapCut Pro

The main alternative

OpenCut

🟢 Beginner⏱️ ~5 min to installSave €24/mo

OpenCut is an open source alternative to CapCut, with one promise: an editor that stays simple, without basic features moved behind a subscription. It runs in your browser, on opencut.app, without an account: multitrack timeline, text, stickers, masks, keyframes with a curve editor, speed and volume, automatic or imported captions, MP4 export. Your files stay on your machine, and the code is MIT-licensed. Two things to know before you drop CapCut. It is a beta (version 0.3, April 2026): no effects library or templates, no mobile app yet. And the team is rewriting the whole engine: the old code is archived, the new version is not out yet. Meanwhile, the online editor is enough for a simple edit.

Loucash’s verdict on OpenCut

6/10

It is the card you asked for the most, and I get why: CapCut moved its basic features behind a subscription, and OpenCut brings them back for free, in the browser, without an account and without uploading your videos anywhere. For a Reel, a Short or a simple video it does the job, and version 0.3 added what was missing most: masks, keyframe curves, speed, captions. What keeps me from rating it higher: it is a beta, and the project sits between two versions. The team is rewriting the whole engine in Rust to ship a real desktop and mobile app; meanwhile the old code is archived, the main repository barely moves, and the online editor has no effects library, no templates, no AI. If you live off CapCut for its templates and effects, you will miss them. If you want to cut, caption and export without paying €24 a month, go for it, and watch for the new release.

Who it is for: You edit short or simple videos, you pay CapCut Pro mostly to lift the limits, and you want your footage to stay home. If your edits rely on CapCut's templates and effects, wait for the new version.

See the full page →See the tool ↗

Also in the library
Diffusion Studio
🟡 Intermediate⏱️ ~10 min to installSave €24/mo
Diffusion Studio is an open source video editor (MPL 2.0 licence) built to be driven by your coding agent. It replaces CapCut Pro for editing and export. You drop your footage in a folder and ask Claude Code: cut the silences, build a vertical edit, make a promo video from your website, animate titles, cut out a person. Every change is written as code, and you take over on the timeline. The desktop app is free (Apple Silicon Mac or Windows), with a mandatory account, and exports up to 4K without a watermark. The limit: as soon as the AI has to listen to or watch your video (transcription, automatic captions, best moments), it uses credits: 50 free once, then the Pro plan, about €22 a month.
See the full page →See the tool ↗

OpenCut versus CapCut Pro: the match

Price
OpenCut
€0, in your browser
CapCut Pro
€24/month on a monthly subscription
Where your videos live
OpenCut
On your machine, never uploaded
CapCut Pro
On CapCut's servers for online features
Automatic captions
OpenCut
Yes, generated in the browser, or imported
CapCut Pro
Yes

CapCut Pro ↗

VS	OpenCut	CapCut Pro ↗
Price	€0, in your browser	€24/month on a monthly subscription
Where your videos live	On your machine, never uploaded	On CapCut's servers for online features
Automatic captions	Yes, generated in the browser, or imported	Yes
Masks, keyframes, speed	Yes, since version 0.3	Yes
Effects, templates, AI	Few for now, it is a beta	Huge library, AI on Pro
Mobile app	Not yet, rewrite in progress	iOS and Android
Code	Open, MIT licence	Closed, ByteDance

The prompt that installs OpenCut

Paste this prompt into Claude: it checks the repository, asks you its questions and installs the tool step by step.

Je veux monter ma première vidéo avec OpenCut (l'éditeur vidéo open source dans le navigateur, dépôt GitHub OpenCut-app/OpenCut, site opencut.app) à la place de CapCut Pro. Explique-moi pas à pas, en me posant des questions au fur et à mesure : ouvrir opencut.app dans Chrome ou Edge (les navigateurs sans rendu GPU affichent un avertissement), créer un projet au format vertical 9:16 pour un Reel ou un Short, importer mes vidéos et ma musique, couper et ordonner les clips sur la timeline, ajouter un texte et des sous-titres automatiques, régler la vitesse et le volume, puis exporter en MP4. Rappelle-moi que mes fichiers restent dans mon navigateur et que je dois exporter avant de vider les données du site. Si je préfère héberger l'éditeur moi-même, explique-moi que le code de la version actuelle est archivé (dépôt OpenCut-app/opencut-classic, Docker Compose) et que la réécriture du dépôt principal n'est pas encore publiée.

Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.

Frequently asked questions

How much does CapCut cost?: Free: €0; Standard: €11.99 a month; Pro: €23.99 a month. Prices checked on 7 October 2026 on apps.apple.com.
Is CapCut free?: Partly, with limits. Editing and export usually without a watermark. Exporting with a Pro feature needs the subscription, and premium AI costs credits. Beyond that, the Standard plan costs €11.99 a month. OpenCut does the same thing for free, in open source.
Is OpenCut really free?: Yes. OpenCut is open source: the code is public and installing it costs nothing. At most you pay for hosting if you put it on a server, often a few euros a month. CapCut Pro, on the other hand, costs €24 a month.
Do I need to code to install OpenCut?: No. The level is beginner and the install takes about 5 minutes with the prompt from the page: Claude does the work, you answer its questions.
How is it different from CapCut Pro?: OpenCut does most of what CapCut Pro does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point by point comparison is on the page.
Do I own my data?: Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

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