Shotcut
Drop-in replacementFreeThe same editor, installed from the app store or run from a single downloaded file.
Your files: Opens your existing .mlt projects, though you may need to point them at the new location of your video files.
Does Shotcut run on Linux?
Verdict: Yes
Yes. Shotcut is free, open source and cross-platform, and the project publishes official Linux builds as an AppImage, a Snap and a Flatpak. Your existing projects and clips open unchanged.
Shotcut's download page describes it as a free, open source, cross-platform video editor for Windows, Mac and Linux, and offers four ways to get it on Linux: an AppImage you download and run, a Snap, a Flathub entry and a portable archive. Most people should take whichever one their app store offers.
The program is identical. Same timeline, same filters, same keyboard shortcuts, same export presets. Shotcut is built from one set of code for all three systems, so Linux is not a second-class version.
Your .mlt project files open straight away, which is unusual and worth saying plainly. The one thing to watch is file paths. A project that points at clips on D:\Videos will not find them on Linux, so copy your media across first and, if a project opens with blank clips, point it at the new folder.
Performance depends on your machine rather than the system. Shotcut can use hardware video encoding on Linux, though which options appear depends on your graphics card, so check the export settings after you install.
Shotcut on Linux, and alternatives
Kdenlive
Close matchFreeThe other free Linux editor, with more tracks and a larger effects list if you outgrow Shotcut.
Your files: Cannot open .mlt files saved by Shotcut in every case. Imports the same source clips.
Last checked . Sources: