10 Best Free Video Editing Software in 2023. The best free video editing software makes it easy to edit videos for sites such as Instagram, TikTok, Vimeo, and YouTube. As a content developer, you know that professional-looking videos are more appealing than static photos and may boost conversion rates.
You’ll find a list of the top 10 free video editing applications from across the web down below. Because each videographer has different requirements, this article provides some of the most helpful features of each video editor and the pros and disadvantages of each application.
What is video editing software?
You may use video editing software to change or adjust videos using different post-production tools. Video editing software may be used to reduce videos and add effects, sounds, or music. Many also offer tools for producing transitions and the ability to export your video in a variety of file formats.
Why should you pick free video editing software over paid video editing software?
Video editing software may be expensive, with some even charging a monthly subscription. This is typically not a good alternative for folks on a tight budget. Free video editing software, on the other hand, costs nothing and may generate excellent results, just like any other paid thing. There are, however, certain factors to consider while using free software. When selecting free video editing software, consider the following:
Compatibility
When determining which video editing software to use, the first thing to consider is compatibility. Is the software supported by your operating system? Whether you use Windows, Mac, Linux, or mobile operating systems like iOS or Android, you’ll need to discover software that works on your device.
Watermarks
Finally, bear in mind that some free video editing software will add watermarks to the finished product. Some also have export quality restrictions. If they are a concern, you may want to consider purchasing paid software instead.
Make use of the case
Your use case is the next thing to consider. Do you need simple functionality like adding audio or trimming videos? Do you need color correction, a realistic glow, or other lighting effects? Some tools have a plethora of intricate capabilities that are better suited for folks with greater expertise.
Overall best free video editing software
Riverside is the best overall free video editing software. It includes outstanding video recording capabilities in addition to easy-to-use editing tools that most beginners can utilise, making it an all-in-one video creation and editing tool.
The most effective free video editing software for Windows 10
ACDSee Luxea Free Video Editor is a fantastic piece of video editing software for Windows 10. You may utilise face recognition software and high-quality video editing software.
Mac’s best free video editing software
HitFilm Express and iMovie are two excellent free video editing software options for Mac. While HitFilm Express is perfect for advanced users, iMovie is better suited for beginners.
The best free mobile video editing app
KineMaster is a feature-rich app that works on iOS, Android, and Chromebook devices. In contrast to other mobile video editing applications, it offers chroma key and color grading features.
The best free video editing software without a watermark
Kdenlive is a strong open-source video editing software that does not include any watermarks. The cross-platform software is perfect for beginner to advanced users.
If you need another choice, Shotcut is a pretty nice free video editor with no watermarks.
The most effective free video editor for beginners
OpenShot is the best free video editor for beginners because of its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. Color editing may also be used to change color grading and contrast, as well as fundamental chores like cropping and clipping.
What free video editing software do the majority of YouTubers use?
Paid software like Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro are often used by YouTubers.Some YouTubers, however, utilise simpler software like iMovie and Windows Movie Editor. DaVinci Resolve is the best free YouTube video editor accessible, and it roughly matches the quality of commercial video editors.
Riverside is another software that is popular among well-known YouTubers like Gary Vee and Tim Ferris because it combines superb video recording features with an easy-to-use editor.
Is Adobe video editing software available for free?
Adobe offers trial versions of their video editing software for free. It presently offers Adobe Creative Cloud Express and Adobe Premiere Rush as completely free solutions.
Is there a free video editor available from Google?
Within Google Photos, Google offers a free video editor called Movie Maker. This works on Android devices. It is appropriate for slideshows and photo presentations.
Is Filmora editing software free?
Filmora’s editing tools, effects, and templates are all free to use. In the free version, however, the exported video will include a watermark.
10 Best Free Video Editing Software in 2023
1. Lightworks
Lightworks has a simple design that makes it easy to learn. Making it one of the most approachable and easy-to-use Linux video editing software solutions on our list, it also provides a library of comprehensive video lessons.
Lightworks features a suite of unique stock videos and audio clips that you can utilize in any video you edit in the application, allowing you to give any marketing video a professional appearance.
Reasons to use
- High-quality simple trim functions for fast and precise video editing
- Speed optimization, letting you continue to edit while importing new content
- Multicam editing for syncing clips from multiple cameras
- Real-time team project sharing with full control over which user has editing access
- Easy sharing of videos, with fast export to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Facebook
- Support for a wide range of video formats
Reasons to avoid
- Free version doesn’t support 4K exports
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 3.5/5
Available for: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Price: Free; $23.99 per month for Pro version
Watermark: No
2. iMovie
Apple’s popular staple, iMovie, is included with Mac OS. iMovie, like many native Apple software, is straightforward and employs a simple drag-and-drop interface to transfer files from your storage to your computer. It’s a quick and easy approach to create compelling videos to help your YouTube marketing efforts.
The fact that iMovie files are kept in Apple’s cloud means you can work on your movie on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. iMovie is continually updated so that you can expect new features and enhancements.
Reasons to use
- Support for 4K resolution, allowing users to create cinema-quality films
- Cloud-storage functionality that allows you to work on the same project from your iPad, iPhone, and Mac
- Dozens of studio-quality title animations for professional-looking credits
- Stylish, contemporary video filters built for specific film genres, such as Western and sci-fi
- Built-in music, sound effects, and voiceover recording so your sound and picture editing are always consolidated
- Speed controls that let you make high-octane action scenes faster and sports highlights slower
Reasons to avoid
- Designed for Mac users
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 4.3/5
Available for: Mac, iOS
Price: Free
Watermark: No
3. HitFilm
If you haven’t worked with other video editing software before, HitFilm may seem intimidating at first. It’s used to create Hollywood-style films, but the learning curve is worthwhile since it’s one of the most amazing all-in-one free video editors accessible. (When you download the software, HitFilm will invite you to post a social network status update, but it’s a tiny price to pay.)
HitFilm features animation capabilities for creating and editing audio and video transitions without the demand for composite shots, which holds a significant amount of time while editing. It also includes fascinating 3D effects for films, music videos, and even YouTube videos, as well as features in commercial video editing software, including 360-degree editing and a library of special effects.
Reasons to use
- Professional video editing with motion tracking, color pickers, and cropping tools
- Composite shot enhancements that allow you to animate two separate shots together for surreal video effects
- An auto-stabilizer to make shaky footage look smooth
- Unlimited video and audio timeline track creation
- An adaptive trimmer that lets you re-trim your clips after adding them to the timeline
- Ability to copy a group of attributes from one clip and apply them directly to another or to a whole project
- Audio mixer for fine-tuning sound for professional quality output
- Various transition options, such as push, zoom, and dissolve
Reasons to avoid
- May require a learning curve for beginners
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: n/a
Available for: Mac and Windows
Price: Free; $23.99 per month for the Pro version
Watermark: No
4. VideoPad
VideoPad is an excellent choice for anybody looking to make high-quality videos without paying a thing. You’ll find all types of simple and easy-to-use features in VideoPad, such as 3D video editing and a sound effects library, to experiment with various video compositions and styles.
You may use special effects, fonts, overlays and transitions to edit your videos, as well as color correction and sound effects. Then, quickly and effortlessly, export your final video to YouTube, Google Drive, Facebook, and other mobile devices.
The main disadvantage is that skilled video editors may find it too simple. It doesn’t have as many complex features as some of the other top free video editing software on our list, but with the power to add light effects, fine-tune colors, and overlay text and pictures, it’s worth the free download.
Reasons to use
- Double built-in screen (one to preview selected clips, one to preview complete sequences) for easy and intuitive editing
- Pre-made customizable transitions for polished professionalism
- Exporting presets to easily create video files optimized for specific platforms—such as Facebook and YouTube—and post them directly from within the software
- Social media sharing and publishing tools to share videos online instantly
- A large library of video transitions and visual effects to customize videos
- Video optimization tools, such as stabilization
Reasons to avoid
- Lacks advanced editing tools
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 4/5
Available for: Mac, Windows, Android, iOS
Price: Free
Watermark: No
5. DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve is the software of choice for many professional editors of movies, tv shows, and commercials because it combines quality 8K editing, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production in a single production package.
It helps both offline and online editing, and its high-performance playback engine keeps time when editing and trimming—even when working with processor-intensive file varieties like H.264 and RAW. The intricate features of DaVinci Resolve may be too much for some users, but the free version is perfect for more advanced jobs.
Reasons to use
- Dual timeline for quick navigation, cutting, and trimming
- A dedicated trim interface that gives you the ability to edit in minute detail
- Intelligent auto-editing that syncs audio and video clips for you
- Built-in tools for picture-in-picture effects, retiming, stabilization, dynamic zoom, text, and audio
- Facial recognition that detects faces in your clips and automatically creates bins based on the people in each shot
- High-quality motion estimation speed changes and frame rate conversions to easily and realistically speed up or slow down clips
Reasons to avoid
- Complex video editing software features may be overkill for simple use cases
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 4.7/5
Available for: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Price: Free; $295 for the full Studio version
Watermark: No
6. OpenShot
The user interface of OpenShot is easy to use, making it an excellent video editing application for intermediate editors. While more complicated programs may have more edit features, OpenShot’s simple interface and simplistic style are perfect for simple editing.
OpenShot is a good choice for small companies since it is good for clip resizing, scaling, trimming, snapping, and rotation. Credit scrolling, frame stepping, audio editing, time mapping, and real-time preview are all available.
Reasons to use
- Unlimited layers for watermarks, background videos, and audio tracks
- Customizable title-card templates
- Drag-and-drop functionality for easily adding video, audio, or image files
- Digital video effects, including brightness, gamma, hue, greyscale, and chroma key compositing for green-screen effects
- Powerful key-frame animation capabilities for creating animated videos
Reasons to avoid
- Lacks advanced editing tools
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 4.4/5
Available for: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Price: Free
Watermark: No
7. VSDC Free Video Editor
The desktop video editing software from VSDC is available in both free and premium versions. Despite having fewer features, the free edition includes VSDC’s entire video editing suite, including a mask tool and chroma key capability for green-screen video effects. VSDC is a well-known free video editing software for GoPro footage.
If you upgrade to the full edition, the suite of tools increases to include video stabilization, powerful post-production effects, slideshow/presentation capabilities, 3D diagram templates, and direct social media distribution.
Reasons to use
- Color-correction tools for a more professional look
- A full suite of transitional effects
- Easy-to-use image filters, similar to what you’d find on Instagram
- Mask tools for hiding, blurring, or highlighting specific elements
- Social media link for sharing videos on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Vimeo
- HEVC/H.265 (an advanced video-compression standard), for maintaining the highest quality at the minimum file size—essential for processing 4K and HD files
Reasons to avoid
- Free version is for Windows only and has limited features compared to paid version
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 4/5
Available for: Windows
Price: Free; $19.99 for Pro version
Watermark: No
8. Shotcut
Shotcut is a cross-platform, open-source video editor with a large library of instructional videos. It also helps various formats, such as FFmpeg, 4K, ProRes, and DNxHD. A word of caution, yet: Shotcut was initially built for Linux, so some users may see the interface odd. Regardless, it’s a fantastic editor.
Shotcut also offers a broad range of audio editing capabilities, making it excellent for audiophiles. Users may modify the bass and treble, apply dynamic compression, construct bandpass filters, alter gain, and much more with its host of audio fine-tuning options.
Reasons to use
- Support for the latest audio and video formats via FFmpeg, the leading multimedia framework
- Native timeline editing, which allows users to import video files directly into their project file rather than a media library
- Multiformat timeline for mixing and matching resolutions and frame rates within a project
- Advanced audio filters like balance, bass and treble, bandpass filters, compressor, and more
- Support for AV1 decoding and encoding
Reasons to Avoid
- Unintuitive interface
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 4.2/5
Available for: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Price: Free
Watermark: No
9. Clipchamp
Microsoft Clipchamp is included with Windows 11. It’s one of the most user-friendly video editors on our list, with time-saving features like batch editing, auto-captioning, and text-to-speech.
Clipchamp allows you to edit videos from screen recordings and uploaded video files. There are drag-and-drop editing capabilities, as well as a variety of professionally designed templates and audio tracks to use in your compositions.
Reasons to use
- Speaker coach that helps you improve your communication skills,
- Unlimited 1080p exports
- AI editing features
- Templates and royalty-free music
- Easy to use for novice users working in Windows
Reasons to avoid
- Only free with Microsoft 365 subscription
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: n/a
Available for: Windows
Price: Free
Watermark: No
10. Vimeo Create
Vimeo Create, a free editing software that can be linked straight to your Shopify shop, converts your current product photos and text into beautiful e-commerce videos. No prior video experience is required.
Answer a occasional questions about your product, upload your video and logo, and choose style modifications. Vimeo Create then edits your video automatically in minutes (but you may also pick your styles or start from blank). The AI software also suggests colors, themes, music, and typefaces.
It’s very handy for making videos at scale (for example, if you want to start a channel for your company on YouTube to generate money and want to speed up the production process). With over 200 million users, Vimeo is a famous video software solution. Because Vimeo is a one-stop shop, you can manage, host, and distribute your videos from one location, optimizing your process.
Reasons to use
- More than 1,000 templates to choose from
- Facial recognition, filters, effects, and auto-cropping
- Professional auto-editing ability
- Ability to share videos across marketing channels
- Unlimited high-quality stock images with iStock integration
- Library of commercially licensed music to choose from
Reasons to avoid
- Better for batch editing videos
Specifications
G2 ⭐ rating: 4.2/5
Available for: iOS and Android
Price: Free; Plus subscriptions start at $7 per month
Watermark: No
How to Pick the Best Free Video Editing Software
You don’t want to waste time learning how to edit videos on software that isn’t a good match for you or your projects. Before deciding on which free video editing software is best for you, examine the following aspects.
Your Experience Level
Our collection of free video editing software caters to everyone from novice editors to seasoned experts. If you are a newbie, make sure you edit videos using software that is user-friendly for beginners, with lots of templates and guided modifications. Choose a video edit software for PC with more professional tools and manual controls for more accurate edits if you are a more expert user.
Minimum System Requirements
Obviously, you need a video editor for PC that works with your operating system, but you need also check the system requirements to make sure your PC has enough RAM and CPU to not only download the software but also edit video without lag or freezing. Don’t worry if you have an outdated PC; there are several free video editing software on our list with extremely minimal system requirements.
Format Compatibility and Video Resolution
Is the format that your camera shoots supported by your free video editing software? Is it compatible with your camera, external microphone, or video capture card? Check the maximum resolution that your video edit tool for PC will handle as well. You won’t want to submit a video that has been lowered to 780p if you spend significant money on a 4K camera.
Tools and Features
The feature sets of free video editing software vary greatly. Perhaps you record a lot of action and need a video stabilizer. Perhaps you are a gamer looking for green screen effects, an animator looking for visual effects tools, or an influencer who enjoys editing videos with creative filters and stickers. Whatever your precise need is, make certain that it is included in the free edition of the video editor for PC you choose.
How We Put the Free Video Editing Software on This List to the Test
You may be asking why you should rely on our advice to find the best free video editing software. We describe how we test and rank our products in the sections below.
Product Evaluation
First, we put the products through rigorous testing. To compare apples with apples, we edit films using the same basic editing tools on every free video editing software. Then we examine the software’s primary features and tools.
Version Comparison
If there are premium versions of the free video editing software, we compare them to determine what is included at each price range.
Publisher Evaluations
We study reviews produced by the industry’s best critics to ensure that our results provide an authentic picture of the product. To eliminate prejudice, we rank our products using the most frequent rating out of 5 from publisher reviews. When numerous products have the same rating, we utilise testing to determine the order.
User Feedback
It might be difficult for experienced editors to understand the mindset of a first-time user. We read user reviews to find out what customers think about the products and what the most prevalent positives and drawbacks are.
Free Download of the Best Video Editing Software
There are plenty of free video editing software solutions available today, but not all of them provide the same capabilities or high-quality output. With the assistance of this tutorial, you should have been able to narrow down your search for a video editor for PC. And since these software are free, you may test all of them to see which ones best fit your interests and degree of competence.
If you’re still undecided about which software to use, download PowerDirector, our top selection for the best overall editor. It is the only free video editing software on our list that is suitable for both beginner and intermediate editors. It’s an excellent software for honing your talents.
