LosslessCut is a free, open-source desktop video editor for macOS (and Windows/Linux) that trims, splits, and merges video files without re-encoding, preserving the original quality in a fraction of the time a full transcode would take.
What is LosslessCut?
LosslessCut is an FFmpeg-powered GUI tool that performs frame-accurate cuts on video and audio files by copying the compressed stream directly, rather than decoding and re-encoding every frame. The result is that a two-hour raw recording can be split into chapters in seconds instead of the twenty minutes a standard export would demand.
Developed and maintained by Mikael Finstad, the app is free to download from GitHub and carries no subscription, no watermark, and no artificial limits on file length or resolution. It handles an enormous range of container formats — MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, and many more — because under the hood it delegates the heavy lifting to FFmpeg, the same engine that powers half the video tools on the planet.
What does LosslessCut do best?
LosslessCut excels at one discipline: getting footage from your drive to the right length, fast, without touching quality. I use it weekly to strip the rambling preamble from screen recordings and the dead silence off podcast video exports before they go to a client — tasks that would cost me fifteen minutes in Final Cut Pro but take about ninety seconds here.
- Lossless trim and split: drag the handles, hit export. The file is ready before you can switch windows.
- Multi-segment export: mark several keep-zones across a single file and export them as separate clips or a merged output in one pass.
- Stream selection: pick which audio tracks, subtitle streams, or video streams make it into the output — handy for multicam footage with eight audio channels you didn't ask for.
- Chapter and keyframe awareness: the timeline snaps to keyframes, which is what makes lossless cutting possible; the app shows you exactly where clean cut points live.
- Merge / concatenate: drop a folder of sequentially numbered clips and LosslessCut will join them into one file without a re-encode.
Who should use LosslessCut?
LosslessCut is built for anyone who needs to trim, split, or assemble footage without a quality penalty and without waiting. That means videographers culling drone footage, podcasters removing false starts, developers trimming bug-reproduction recordings, and archivists splitting broadcast captures into individual episodes.
It is not a color grader, a title compositor, or a multi-track timeline editor. If you need transitions, music beds, or motion graphics, you want Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or even iMovie. LosslessCut knows its lane and stays in it with admirable focus.
Is LosslessCut free?
Yes — LosslessCut is completely free. The source code lives on GitHub under an open-source license, and pre-built macOS app bundles are available from the releases page (Apple Silicon and Intel both supported). There is no Pro tier, no in-app purchase, and no usage cap. Mikael Finstad accepts sponsorship through GitHub Sponsors if you want to say thank you, but it is entirely optional.
How does LosslessCut compare to HandBrake?
HandBrake and LosslessCut solve different problems. HandBrake is a transcoder — it re-encodes your video into a target format and bitrate, which takes time proportional to the file length and always involves a quality trade-off. LosslessCut never re-encodes (by default), so it is vastly faster and produces a bit-for-bit identical stream, but it cannot change codecs, resize frames, or apply filters.
Think of HandBrake as the tool you reach for when you need to compress a 4K MKV into an H.264 MP4 for a streaming service, and LosslessCut as the tool you reach for when you just need to cut twenty seconds of dead air from the front of that same MKV without touching anything else. I keep both in my dock.
What are the best LosslessCut alternatives?
For lossless trimming, Avidemux covers similar ground with a slightly busier interface. FFmpeg on the command line can do everything LosslessCut does, but requires memorizing the syntax. WWDC Sample Player and QuickTime Player's rudimentary trim handle simple MP4 cuts on the Mac, but they re-encode on save and offer no keyframe awareness. For full non-linear editing, DaVinci Resolve (free tier) and Final Cut Pro (paid) are the obvious alternatives — but again, those are different tools for a different job.
