Drift README

The project's README from github.com/CutWire-Studios/Drift. As one markdown file: README.md.

Drift icon

Drift

The free desktop editor that makes your videos look finished — not “good enough.”

Latest release License: GPL-3.0 Platform: Linux | Windows | macOS | Android

GitHub · Download · Issues · License

Drift is a desktop video editor from CutWire Studios. Drop in clips, add effects, captions, stickers, and music, then export a polished video — with no subscription, no watermark, and no account.

It is built for the edits people actually make: Reels and Shorts, game clips, school projects, tutorials, product demos, memes, and anything you want to look sharp without living in a browser or paying a monthly fee.

What you see in the preview is what you export. One compositor, one look, no surprises.

Download

Get it on Flathub Get it from Microsoft Get it on Google Play (closed testing)

Google Play is closed testing — how to join.

Linux — install from Flathub:

flatpak install flathub org.cutwire.Drift
flatpak run org.cutwire.Drift

macOS — install via Homebrew:

brew install --cask cutwire-studios/tap/drift

First launch on macOS: Drift is signed ad-hoc. If Gatekeeper blocks opening it, run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Drift.app

Or grab a build for your platform from the latest release:

Platform Package
Linux Flathub · AppImage
Windows Microsoft Store · Installer (.exe) · Portable zip
macOS Homebrew Tap · Disk image (.dmg, Apple Silicon)
Android Google Play (closed testing) · APK (arm64-v8a) · APK (armeabi-v7a) · APK (x86_64)

On a phone, join closed testing on Google Play, or grab Drift-*-arm64-v8a.apk from the latest release and install it (or adb install Drift-*-arm64-v8a.apk). Use x86_64 for emulators.

See all releases for previous versions and full changelogs.

Screenshot

The Drift editor: media bin on the left, 3D camera in the preview, text inspector on the right, multi-track timeline below

Features

An agent can edit the open project. Import, cut, grade, and export in the project you have open. The same editor can run with no window.

3D on the timeline. Tilt clips in space, light them, and park a title behind the subject. Drop in a 3D model and it plays in the same cut.

Lottie animations. Motion graphics and vector art stay sharp at any size. Recolour or reword them in place.

Advanced keyframing. Animate position, scale, rotation, opacity, and effect parameters over time. Draw the curve yourself.

150+ transitions and 40+ effects. Every look previews on your footage. One click can drop a whole stack — Beat Drop, Glitch Cut, Neon Cutout. Trails of earlier frames, and grades that stick to one clip.

On this machine. Click a subject and lift it off the shot. Add depth of field and lights that belong to the clip. Automatic captions, video upscale, and live face retouch — all on your computer.

Edit the words. Speech becomes text on the clip. Cut phrases, drop fillers, strip silence, pick the best takes, label speakers, and build captions from those times.

Titles with a real look. Thirty-three packs — karaoke, Hormozi-style, neon, chrome, holographic, handwritten. Copy one style onto every subtitle on the track.

Move a whole stack at once. One layer can drag, scale, rotate, tilt, and fade everything under it. Nest layers, or open a composite when the stack needs its own timeline.

Cut to the music. The timeline snaps to the beat. Clips split and land on the bar. Music ducks under speech and comes back to its own level. Reframe a landscape take into a vertical video that follows the face.

A timeline that behaves. Multi-track filmstrips, ripple, snap, masks, freeze frame, bookmarks, a mixer. Split a clip and the grade stays. A crash leaves the last save intact.

Audio that sounds finished. Clean up speech, meter loudness, EQ and compress, keep pitch when you change speed, record a voiceover.

Find shots. Switch cameras. Search footage for what’s on screen. Watch every angle at once and punch the cut.

Stabilise, export, take the project with you. Smooth shaky clips, upscale, play heavy files smoothly. MP4, GIF, audio-only, or just a range. Pack the media with the edit so paths stay whole.

Android is the same editor. Timeline, effects, and export on the phone. Share straight from the app.

Stock, voices, and a small install. Search stock into the bin. Generate voiceover and sound effects. Fonts, stickers, and extra models download when you use them. UI in Arabic, Spanish (Spain and Colombia), French (Canada), Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian, Sinhala, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Simplified Chinese.

Why people pick Drift

Most “free” editors want an account, a watermark, or a subscription the moment the video starts looking good. Drift is the opposite: yours, on your computer, GPLv3, no login wall.

It is fast enough for a 30-second social cut and deep enough for a real project — an agent on the timeline, 3D and Lottie, captions, effects, audio, cutouts, and multicam.

Help us translate Drift

Translation status

For developers

Build, packaging, architecture, and agent protocol live in docs/:

Help and feedback

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue on GitHub.

License

GPLv3 — see LICENSE.

Star History

Star History Chart

Drift (CutWire-Studios/Drift)

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2K ·GitHub
Drift
What is this?Drift is a free, open-source desktop video editor from CutWire Studios, built with Qt 6 and FFmpeg, for cutting clips, adding effects, captions, stickers and music, then exporting without subscriptions, watermarks, or accounts.
Is Drift a simple trimmer or a full editor?It is a full nonlinear editor with multi-track timelines, advanced keyframing, color grading, 3D compositing, Lottie motion graphics, multicam switching, and audio mixing — not just basic trimming.
How do I install Drift?Install from Flathub or AppImage on Linux, via Homebrew or a signed .dmg on macOS, from the Microsoft Store or an .exe/portable zip on Windows, or grab the matching APK from the latest GitHub release on Android.
Do I need an account or subscription to use it?No — Drift runs with no subscription, no watermark, and no account; everything it does happens locally on your own computer.
Is the Android version ready to use?Android is still in closed testing on Google Play; in the meantime you can join the test or install the APK (arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, or x86_64 for emulators) straight from the latest GitHub release.
Does my footage get uploaded anywhere for effects like cutouts or captions?No — features like automatic captions, video upscale, and live face retouch all run locally on your own machine rather than in the cloud.
Can an AI agent control Drift directly?Yes — Drift exposes an MCP-based agent protocol so an agent can edit the open project (import, cut, grade, export), and the same editor can also run headless with no window.
What languages is the UI translated into?The interface ships in Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Sinhala, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Simplified Chinese, alongside English.
How many effects and transitions does it include?Drift ships with 150+ transitions and 40+ effects, including one-click preset stacks like Beat Drop, Glitch Cut, and Neon Cutout.
What makes Drift different from other free editors?Unlike many 'free' editors that gate quality behind an account, watermark, or subscription, Drift is GPLv3, has none of those gates, and runs entirely on your own computer.
What are similar projects?Concat, autoclip, ffmpeg-skill, filmcraft, herk-edit-kit, open-edit, openscreen, video-use
Which topics is it in?qt6, motion-design, video-production, upscaling, audio-generation, subtitles, video-editing, speech-to-text, content-creation, video-processing, android-app, gpu-acceleration
Creator
CutWire-Studios
Size
55.1 MB
Stars
2K
Updated
CommitOct 16Releasev0.8.0Oct 13
Age
3mo
Commits · 90 Days