State of Kdenlive

In 2025, Kdenlive prioritized stability while also adding features, fixing bugs, cleaning up the UI, and improving performance.

Release Highlights

• 25.04.0: Added automatic masking, enabling removal of selected objects from the background via a SAM2-based object separation plugin.
• Reimplemented OpenTimelineIO import/export as a C++ library, improving project exchange with other editing apps.
• Improved audio waveform generation speed by 300%, providing more accurate sampling and high-resolution waveforms.
• 25.08.0: A stabilization-focused release with over 300 commits, including 15+ crash fixes.
• Redesigned the audio mixer for better readability, and improved HiDPI / fractional scaling issues.
• Overhauled markers and guides significantly; also improved the Titler with SVG/image support, item move/resize, and template cleanup.
• 25.12.0: Added a Welcome Screen for first launch, a Welcome Screen to help access recent projects, a more flexible docking system, and a redesigned Project Monitor audio waveform UI and minimap.

Upcoming Features

• 26.04 is planned to include monitor mirroring, animated transition previews, and automatic length adjustment when dropping transitions.
• Also includes batch playback speed changes for multiple clips, direct clip import from the timeline context menu, zoom centered on mouse position, and sequence audio thumbnail generation.

Roadmap

• Continuing to adopt new MLT features, pursuing 10/12-bit color support, playback optimization, and OpenFX support.
• Subtitle system refactoring and development of Advanced Trimming Tools continue.
• Rebuilding the keyframe system and introducing a Dopesheet to view keyframes of multiple effects at once.
• Also planning per-parameter keyframing for each effect, removing the current constraint where one keyframe applies to all parameters.
• This work is being carried out with support from an NGI Zero Commons grant via NLnet.

Deployment and Platforms

• For Microsoft Store distribution, several MLT modules are being modified to build with MSVC, which will also enable unit testing on Windows CI.

Community and Scale

• In 2025, Kdenlive was downloaded 11,500,714 times based on the downloads page.
• The Flathub package saw 41,499 downloads per month.
• There were 38 code contributors, about half of whom were first-time contributors.
• The current core team size is 8 members, 2 of whom are developers.
• Ateliers/sprints and events were also active. At the Amsterdam sprint, there was exchange with the Blender Foundation; at the Berlin sprint, work included Titler and Glaxnimate integration, menu structure reorganization, a KDDockWidgets PoC, and a redesign of the Clip Monitor audio clip view.

Funding

• Total donations in 2025 were €9,344.80, down from €11,526.61 in 2024.
• The average donation was about €25, with a minimum of €10 and a maximum of €500.
• 20% of donations go toward KDE e.V.'s infrastructure, administration, legal, and travel expenses.
• The project is asking for small donations as well as translation, bug reports, triage, and local community outreach to support further maintenance and stabilization.