The best free video editing software can be surprisingly good. The choices vary widely and include include scaled-down, trial versions of professional suites, open-source alternatives with a plethora of features, and simple applications aimed at home video creators. Our top picks will be functional for many users, across many use cases.

If you’re willing to spend a little money, check out our reviews of paid consumer video editing software. Typically, those are easier to use than the free ones here thanks to great support and tutorial libraries and more refined interfaces, but they don’t necessarily have more features.

With free video editing software, you’re rewarded for your patience. If you can handle some steep learning curves, you’ll be surprised at what you can do with a budget of zero. Here are our top selections.

Best free consumer video editing software

Shotcut

Shotcut has been around for more than ten years, but it has been steadily updated by open source developers who have been dedicated to the mission of providing a prosumer-level video editing suite at no cost.

This program supports most audio and video formats you’d need, it allows you to carefully craft most aspects of your video with powerful filters, and it has a highly customizable user interface that can scale based on your needs from the basic to the advanced.

It doesn’t provide as much guidance as some other software, but curious editors can venture to YouTube and elsewhere on the web for support from a still-active community of enthusiasts.

If you’re willing to spend a few hours cracking the egg open, you’ll be rewarded with a video editing program that is every bit as useful as others for which you’d spend $100.

Runner-up

Avid Media Composer First

Maybe you recognize the name Avid; the paid, professional version of this software is the industry standard in Hollywood for editing major feature films and TV shows. Surprisingly, the relatively new free version, Avid Media Composer First, offers nearly all the same features as its established big brother.

How can that be? Well, the tradeoff is in exporting—you can’t export videos that are higher-quality than 1080p HD, which is required for a lot of professional use. Avid is extremely complex, and can be quite difficult to learn. But there are many resources available to teach you, and once you’ve learned it, you’ll know how to use the most established professional video editing program in the industry.

Free video editing software: Features to look for

Most of the free programs we’ve tested try to provide a prosumer or better package of features for free. That means total amateurs and first-timers who aren’t interested in investing time to learn sophisticated applications would actually do better to buy one of the paid alternatives.

That’s why we’re not talking much about family movies or other very basic applications, here. To that point, here’s what users who really want to learn should consider.

How easy is the program to learn?

Free software often doesn’t have the same level of support and documentation that paid programs offer. Programs that offer robust tooltips, or that have user interfaces that are intuitive, have the edge here. If professional development is one of your goals, it’s also important to consider how similar the program’s workflow is to the standards used in the industry.

What are the exporting options?

Are you making a video for YouTube, or a Blu-ray disc? Not every program supports every export platform or format. Make sure you have a clear vision for where your video will end up, and check to make sure that the program you’re going to use can actually export the video in the file format and resolution required for optimal viewing in that end point.

Is it a full-fledged program, or a very limited trial version?

A lot of free video editing software is free because it’s essentially meant as a trial version for something much more expensive. In these cases, the program has deliberately imposed limitations that make it inadequate for a lot of possible use cases.

But some programs don’t have that legacy, and some that do only cripple features that are required at the very highest end of professional use. Read the product information online and check user reviews and support forums for insight into the program's pros and cons.

How we tested

We installed each video editor on a Windows 10 PC running on an Intel Core i5 processor and an Nvidia dedicated graphics card. We used each suite to edit the same two videos: a 4K NASA video from inside the International Space Station, and a 1080p game capture video from Overwatch. We tested most of the filters and transitions in each suite, and cut the same edited versions of each video in each program. We then exported the videos to various file formats and media, as well as web services, to test output quality and speed. Where software offered a notable special feature not supported in the other products, we tested it when our hardware and software setup allowed it.

Free video editing software reviews

If you want to learn more about all of the video editing software we’ve reviewed, see the list below. We’ll continue to evaluate more as time goes on—as well as re-evaluate those we’ve already reviewed.

Using free video editing software is a convenient way to edit your videos. Plus, most of them are so easy to use that they're great for beginning editors.

You might want a video editing program if you need to extract audio from a video or add different audio, cut out parts of the video, add subtitles, build a DVD menu, merge video files, or fade a video in or out. Most vloggers need a video editor of some kind.

Because most free video editors limit their features to advertise their professional versions, you may find roadblocks that stop you from making advanced edits. For editors with more-advanced features but that aren't free, check out mid-level digital video software or these top professional video editing programs.

If you need to convert your video files to different file formats such as MP4, MKV, and MOV, this list of free video converters has some great options.

OpenShot (Windows, Mac, and Linux)

What We Like

• The easy-to-use interface.

• It's open source.

• Great user forum.

What We Don't Like

• The application has multiple layers of setup.

• Occasional lag.

Editing videos with OpenShot is extraordinary when you see everything you can do with it. You can download it free for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

The supported features in this free editor include desktop integration for drag-and-drop, image and audio support, curve-based key frame animations, unlimited tracks and layers, and 3D animated tiles and effects.

OpenShot is also good for clip resizing, scaling, trimming, snapping, and rotation, plus motion picture credit scrolling, frame-stepping, time-mapping, audio mixing, and real-time previews.

The fact that you get all of this for free is reason enough to download it yourself and try it out before you purchase a video editor.

VideoPad (Windows and Mac)

What We Like

• Supports a wide range of video formats.

• Easy to install and use.

Another video editing software program for both Windows and Mac is VideoPad, from NCH Software. It's free for non-commercial use.

It supports drag-and-drop, effects, transitions, 3D video editing, text and caption overlay, video stabilization, easy narration, free built-in sound effects, and color control.

VideoPad can also change the video speed, reverse the video, burn DVDs, import music, and export movies to YouTube and other similar sites and a variety of resolutions including 2K and 4K.

Freemake Video Converter (Windows)

What We Like

• Supports many input formats.

• Burn files directly to a disc.

• Easy-to-use editing features.

What We Don't Like

• May require purchase of needed features.

• Can be slow to make conversions.

• Limited number of output formats.

Freemake Video Converter is a free video converter with simple and easy-to-use editing features that set it apart from some of the more complex and confusing editors.

Being able to do light editing to your videos with the same tool you use to convert the file to a variety of other formats, or even burn the files directly to a disc, is convenient.

Some of the video editing features of this program include adding subtitles, clipping out sections you don't want in the video, removing or adding audio, and merging or joining videos. Latest tamil full movies 2018 2019.

VSDC Free Video Editor (Windows)

What We Like

• Features you won't find elsewhere.

• Exports to a variety of file formats.

• Includes optional screen recorder.

What We Don't Like

• Not super user-friendly.

• Some video lag with free version.

VSDC is a full-featured free video editing tool that you can install on Windows. A fair warning though: This program might be a little hard to use for beginners because of the sheer number of features and menus.

However, if you poke around for while and play with your videos within the editor, you'll find that it's not quite as daunting as it seemed when you first opened it.

There's even a wizard you can run to make things easier. Use it to do add lines, text, and shapes, as well as charts, animations, images, audio, and subtitles. Plus, as any good video editor should, VSDC can export videos to a variety of file formats.

The VSDC Video Editor setup lets you easily install the company's video capture program and screen recorder. These are optional, but they may come in handy in certain projects.

iMovie (Mac)

What We Like

• Easy-to-use interface.

• Plenty of tools to improve video and audio quality.

• Supports 4K.

What We Don't Like

• Limited features available.

• Output controls not robust.

IMovie is free for macOS users. It offers many options for editing video and audio plus adding photos, music, and narration to your videos.

One of the best features of iMovie is its ability to make 4K-resolution movies. You can even start doing so from your iPhone or iPad and then finish on your Mac. That's pretty cool!

Movie Maker (Windows)

What We Like

• User-friendly with a classic Microsoft feel.

• Great for beginning video editors.

Movie Maker was Windows' pre-installed free video editing software. While it is no longer pre-installed, you can still download this application from some third-parties and use it to create and share high-quality movies.

It's included in this list because it's already on lots of Windows computers, which means you might not even need to download anything in order to start using it.

Online-Only Options

If you've tried out these video editing programs but prefer some other options or you're more interested in editing videos online for free than downloading software, there are several online editors that function in the same way as these downloadable tools:

These services are great for re-editing and remixing web videos, and some even let you produce DVDs of your videos. Concurrent engineering pdf.