Pitivi review

Pitivi is a tidy, Linux-native editor that fits naturally on a GNOME desktop. It is built on GStreamer and GStreamer Editing Services and follows the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines, which gives it a clean, uncluttered look. It accepts any format GStreamer supports well and does not require all footage in a project to share a frame rate. Editing tools include ripple and roll edits, grouping, snapping and realtime trimming previews, and more than 70 transitions and over a hundred effects can be animated with keyframes. Accurate waveforms help with cutting to music and syncing claps. Automatic checkpoints are a highlight: Pitivi offers to restore your project even after a crash or power cut, and proxies and thumbnails build in the background. The concern is pace. The newest release on the project's site is 2023.03, published in August 2023, so it trails the other open source editors here on features and updates.

Who it is for

GNOME desktop users who want a clean, simple editor for short projects.

Price

Free and open source under LGPL; no paid plan.

It will never require licensing fees or use DRM to prevent you from using it whenever, wherever and however you like.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Accepts any format well supported by GStreamer, with mixed frame rates in one project
• More than 70 transitions and more than a hundred video and audio effects, all keyframeable
• Ripple and roll editing, grouping, snapping and realtime trimming previews
• Accurate audio waveforms for beat matching and clap sync
• Automatic project backups and background proxy, thumbnail and waveform generation

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Clean interface that follows GNOME design guidelines
• Strength: Automatic checkpoints let you recover a project after a crash or power cut
• Strength: Thumbnails, waveforms and proxies are generated in the background
• Weakness: The latest release listed on the site is 2023.03, from August 2023
• Weakness: Fewer color and advanced editing tools than Kdenlive or Shotcut
• Weakness: Format support depends on the GStreamer plugins installed on your system

Key facts

• Latest listed release: 2023.03 (August 2023)
• License: LGPL
• Framework: GStreamer and GES
• Transitions: More than 70

Where it ranks

Pitivi is No. 9 in our Best Video Editors for Linux verdict.