An open-source alternative to Autodesk Flow Production Tracking
Who Kitsu is for
Kitsu is used by animation and VFX studios from 10 to 500 users, on TV series, feature films, shorts, and video game productions. Productions often run with distributed teams, or with several studios collaborating on the same show.
Autodesk Flow (formerly ShotGrid) primarily targets very large VFX facilities such as ILM, Weta, or Disney. The two tools overlap, but with different centers of gravity. Picking the right one usually starts with this question.
What Kitsu covers
A production tracker covers a well-known set of needs: sequences, shots, assets, tasks, statuses, schedules, time tracking, reviews, casting, permissions, a documented API, and DCC integrations. Kitsu covers this scope, the same as ShotGrid does. The difference is in how the pieces are presented and how the studio interacts with them.
One exception is worth naming: ShotGrid Toolkit, the deep DCC pipeline layer that ships with ShotGrid. Kitsu takes a different approach: pipeline integration is delegated to dedicated open-source tools that integrate with Kitsu, such as Prism or Ayon. They focus exclusively on DCC pipeline work and typically go further than a tracker-bundled module would.
Approach to configuration
ShotGrid offers deep entity-level configuration: entities, workflows, fields, and UI can be tailored to each studio's pipeline. That depth fits very large facilities with dedicated pipeline engineers who can model and maintain a custom setup over years.
Kitsu takes the opposite bet. A production tracker is most useful when the whole studio shares one reading of the work, not when each team adapts the tool to its preferences. Standardization is the feature: the workflow model (sequences, shots, assets, tasks, statuses) is fixed, the UI is the same for every role, and the standard configuration works out of the box. Artists, supervisors, production, and IT all use the same interface from day one.
Variations between productions are handled at the project level: task types, statuses, asset categories, custom metadata, schedules. No UI rebuild, no consultants between the studio and the work.
Onboarding reflects this difference. With Kitsu, new artists are productive within a day. With ShotGrid, the customization phase typically precedes the productivity phase.
What it actually costs
License pricing is broadly similar between Kitsu Cloud and ShotGrid: around €30 per user per month for the base plan, around €50 with support included. What changes the total cost of ownership is the work needed to make the tool fit your studio.
Kitsu Cloud vs ShotGrid, item by item
| Item | Kitsu Cloud | ShotGrid |
|---|---|---|
| User license | €30 per user per month | €30 per user per month (€50 with support) |
| Initial setup and customization | Included, with onboarding support | Several consultant days, valued at market rate |
| Custom development maintenance | Not applicable (standard configuration) | Recurring, to budget yearly |
| Internal training on a customized version | Marginal (standard UI for everyone) | Significant |
| Hosting | Included cloud, or self-hosted for free | Cloud only since the end of standard on-premise |
License costs land in the same ballpark. The gap with ShotGrid widens as the studio grows, driven by setup, custom development, and ongoing maintenance rather than the license itself.
Where the two tools differ
A few areas where the two tools differ, item by item:
- Casting and breakdown: native and integrated in Kitsu, with dedicated views. ShotGrid typically handles breakdown through entity relationships and custom fields, which requires more setup.
- Quotas and timesheets: Kitsu ties them directly to schedules and task types, useful for studios planning charges per artist. ShotGrid offers time logs and reporting; quota planning typically requires custom configuration or third-party add-ons.
- API and integrations: Kitsu exposes a REST API with a documented Python client (gazu). ShotGrid uses a proprietary Python API, well known in the VFX world but tied to the Autodesk ecosystem. Both work, the integration path differs.
- Review engine: Kitsu offers shareable playlist links (send a single URL, the reviewer can comment without a Kitsu account). ShotGrid Review handles versions and notes inside the application; external review typically goes through related tools.
ShotGrid's footprint in very large facilities, including its event-driven architecture and deep customization layer, is a recognized strength. Kitsu's product stays focused on the everyday tracking workflow rather than full pipeline customization.
Hosting and data ownership
Autodesk has discontinued its standard on-premise option for ShotGrid. Self-hosted deployments still exist, but go through a long approval process and carry a significant additional cost. The codebase remains proprietary, so the future of features is decided inside Autodesk.
Kitsu is open source. The code can be audited line by line, deployed on your servers, and operated autonomously. Around 200 studios run their own Kitsu instance today, in parallel with our hosted offering.
For studios subject to GDPR, IP protection clauses, or data residency requirements (common on European or Japanese productions), keeping the full stack inside your own infrastructure is a regular deployment, not a special tier.
The cloud version stays available for studios that prefer managed hosting, with the same feature set as the open-source build.
Community and transparency
The codebase, roadmap, and changelog are public. Bug reports and feature requests are tracked on GitHub issues and on a public Canny board where studios vote on what to build next. Our Discord is active, with the CGWire team answering within the day on most threads.
The team is made of industry professionals (former pipeline and production roles), based in Paris. Support is handled by people who have worked on productions, not a generic tier-one queue.
CGWire is an independent company, five people based in Paris, with no external investors. The choices we make on Kitsu (open source, public roadmap, pricing) are ours to keep.
Common questions
Kitsu doesn't have entity-level customization like ShotGrid. Isn't that a limitation?
It is a deliberate choice. ShotGrid's customization layer fits very large facilities with dedicated pipeline engineers. For everyone else, it is a setup cost that delays getting the team productive. Standardization also pays off in everyday collaboration: a fixed structure means no 'where do I post the retake?' moments, the same shape applies everywhere, and a new artist or coordinator picks up where the last one left off. Kitsu's standard workflow is the result of years of iteration with studios and is flexible enough to cover 2D, 3D, shorts, feature films, series, video games, VR, AR, and stop motion. Most productions fit it without modification.
What about the DCC integrations we rely on?
Kitsu exposes a REST API and ships a documented Python client (gazu) that makes building integrations with Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Blender, and others straightforward. For deeper pipeline work, Prism and Ayon are dedicated open-source tools that integrate with Kitsu and cover the ground ShotGrid Toolkit covers, with a sharper focus.
Is Kitsu only for small studios?
Kitsu is used from 10 to 500 users per instance, on TV series, feature films, shorts, and games. Several customers run productions of hundreds of artists on Kitsu today, and larger studios often deploy one instance per project to scale comfortably to much higher company-wide headcounts.
We have years of ShotGrid data. Is migration realistic?
Yes. Moving a production database with thousands of shots, assets, versions, and notes is well within scope. We can support you on data export, schema mapping, and history preservation.
Open source means no commercial support, right?
No. Kitsu Cloud customers get direct support from the CGWire team, the same people who build the product. Studios on self-hosted can subscribe to the Partners program for a direct line to the team.
Migrating from ShotGrid
Moving from ShotGrid to Kitsu is a path we know well. We can support you on data export, schema mapping, history preservation, and running both tools in parallel during the transition. Get in touch and we'll walk through what your migration would look like.
Interested in using Kitsu?