We’ll include a mix of software for desktop as well as mobile apps you can use to edit and share your videos. Some of these platforms also work on multiple devices and operating systems, providing truly omnichannel video-editing convenience.
Best Free Video Editing Software for 2023:
We’re going to start things off by taking a look at two different types of video editing software: standard video editing software and promo video editing software. From there, we’ll share 38 additional free video editing software tools that you can use to create awesome, visually appealing messages for your business.
Final Verdict
All the video editors mentioned on this list have amazing features and are free to use. They all have their good and bad points and you really have to make a decision based on your needs and usage. OpenShot is one of the best open-source free video editing software solutions in the market. It’s a powerful video editor packed with numerous useful features and has a simple-to-use, drag-and-drop interface that even beginners can use easily. It provides advanced features like unlimited layers, video transitions with real-time previews, and has lots of options for video effects, animation, and keyframes. Moreover, it is extremely easy to cut and slice any video using this tool. 💡 Features
Cross-platform video editor, with support for Linux, Mac, and Windows Add as many layers as you need for watermarks, background videos, audio tracks, and more Drag and drop video, audio, or images right into the editor
👶 Ease of Use OpenShot is easy to use and has an intuitive user interface. You can import your own videos, photos, or music via drag-and-drop or right-clicking on the Project Files tab and choosing Import. Setting up your assets on the timeline is also really easy and you can also trim the music and videos by simply dragging the right slider to the time you want. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras OpenShot offers tons of features from basic to advanced editing. There’s also a great selection of effects like transitions, transforms, titles, and animations easily accessible from the Effects tab. Plus, the developers are super engaged in their work on the platform so new features are always rolling out. 💸 Pricing OpenShot is free and open-source. Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy-to-use interface 🤩 Unlimited layers 😞 It lags sometimes, which is inconvenient
This is an open-source, free video editor available only on Windows. It’s a good video editing software solution that supports almost all video formats and codecs. VSDC has both free and paid versions. The free version is good enough for almost all of your routine video editing needs. For professionals, the paid version offers more advanced features. It’s relatively simple to use and has features like color correction, visual and audio effects, blending modes and filters, etc. 💡 Features
Visual and audio effects Blending modes and Instagram-like filters Masking Motion tracking Support of popular formats
👶 Ease of Use VSDC has a modern and intuitive interface that makes use of different wizards so video creation and editing are simple and hassle-free. Despite the simplicity of the interface, the program offers plenty of features that allow users to create long and complex videos. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras VSDC is a full-featured video editing tool with visual and audio effects, blending modes, filters, and more. While the Pro version gives you access to even more tools, the free version is by no means lacking. 💸 Pricing VSDC Free is the free plan. You can get more advanced features with VSDC Pro for $19.99. Pros & Cons
🤩 Simple to use tool for day-to-day video editing 😞 Available only for Windows users 😞 The free version lags sometimes
This is another powerful video editing software solution power-packed with useful features. It has a free as well as a paid version. However, the free version is more than enough for non-professional use. Some of its best features include high precision video trimming, multi-cam support, and the ability to export to 720p for YouTube. The tool supports a wide variety of video formats and has a lot of video and audio editing options. The paid version of this tool supports 4K videos, but the free version does not. It’s easy to start using this tool because it comes with many video tutorials to help you understand and work on it. 💡 Features
Universal projects Social media templates Easy timeline editing and trimming Royalty-free audio and video content
👶 Ease of Use All the tools you need are accessible right from the video timeline. Plus, Lightworks has a ton of tutorial videos that show you how to do just about everything you’d ever need to do. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras Even the free version of Lightworks has all the video editing tools you need. This includes access to more than 100 effects, original production music, and stock video from Audio Network and Pond5. 💸 Pricing Lightworks is free to use. You can get access to more features with one of the three Lightworks plans:
Lightworks Create Monthly: $9.99 Lightworks Create Perpetual: $154.99 Lightworks Pro Monthly: $23.99 Lightworks Pro Yearly: $239.99 Lightworks Pro Perpetual: $389.59
Pros & Cons
🤩 A good tool with numerous video editing features 🤩 Perfect tool for YouTube video creators who often want to produce nice-looking movies to share online directly 😞 A bit advanced for beginners, but the video tutorials can help 😞 Only 1 option to save the project to MP4
This is a new app launched by Adobe that can meet all your video editing and sharing needs. It’s a mobile app that you can use to edit videos anytime and anywhere. It also has a desktop version that’s compatible with both Mac and Windows PCs. It has a very easy-to-use interface and color, audio, motion graphics, and other editing options. You can also create a video right from the app itself, making it even more convenient. The features are a bit limited for the free version, but the paid version has a lot more to offer. Overall. If you’re someone who wants an all-in-one app that you can use to create and share videos on social media, this is the solution for you. 💡 Features
Click and drag to add transitions Preset and manual color correction Wide range of built-in templates Export to any social channel in the right aspect ratio
👶 Ease of Use It takes just a few minutes to get comfortable with the Adobe Premiere Rush user interface because it’s streamlined to include only the features you really need. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras This tool is designed to be simple and easy to use on desktop and mobile, so it doesn’t have a ton of advanced editing features. However, you’ll be able to use timeline editing, add and adjust audio (including ducking and voiceovers), change the speed, manipulate colors, and more. 💸 Pricing Adobe Premiere Rush Starter is free. If you want more exports and more storage, you can upgrade to Adobe Express for $9.99/month. Pros & Cons
🤩 A very convenient tool to create, edit, and share videos on social media 🤩 Multi-channel accessibility lets you make videos on one device and edit on another 😞 There are limited features in the free version, but a lot more in the paid one
💡 Features
Media library with millions of photos, video clips, and audio files Voiceover Brand presets Text to video Automated workflows
👶 Ease of Use Lumen5 is really simple. You upload your text or input a link to the content you want to turn into a video and Lumen5’s AI will automatically convert the text into a video for you. It even creates a storyboard based on the text and chooses what it thinks would be best to include in the video. While you may have to put your own spin on things, it’s pretty accurate. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras Lumen5 offers up standard video editing tools like zoom and pan, and you can add music and effects. It doesn’t have much in the way of advanced editing tools, but it’s pretty cool to be able to turn a blog post into a video! 💸 Pricing Lumen5 has a free plan as well as four paid options:
Basic: $19/month Starter: $59/month Professional: $149/month Enterprise: Custom pricing
Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-pack and has just enough to help marketers develop video content fast 🤩 Can export videos with 720p video resolution on the free plan 😞 The free version includes a watermark 😞 Limit of five videos per month
Top Promo Video Editing Software
Video is one of the favorite types of content for consumers. In fact, 53% of consumers say they want more video content and 54% would love more content from the brands they love. But to create the best videos to promote your business, you need the best promo video tools. Here are our picks for the top 5! 💡 Features
Studio-quality animations 800,000 stock clips, 1 million images, and royalty-free music Custom uploads Chat and email support
👶 Ease of Use Biteable’s signup is super easy. After completing the survey, you’ll be given an option of five templates to choose from and can create a stellar promo video for your brand in a couple of minutes. The ease of use comes with a bit of a trade-off in limited customization options. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras Aside from changing fonts and adding an image, there aren’t many advanced editing tools that come with Biteable. However, if you want a quick way to create eye-catching video content for your brand, Biteable has you covered. 💸 Pricing Biteable has one free plan and two paid plans:
Pro: $49/month Teams: $99/month
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use 🤩 Beautiful video ad templates 😞 Slow response 😞 Watermark on free videos
💡 Features
Videos using standard media are free from watermarks 3500+ templates iStock library of 8M+ and 1M+ premium media (with watermark) as well as 3M+ standard media library 60+ video exports per month at 720p+ resolution Automated text to speech 1G+ cloud storage
👶 Ease of Use InVideo includes quite a few tools that make it easy to quickly create an awesome video. There’s a collection of templates to choose from, as well as millions of stock media. You also get access to things like vector shapes, masks, and stickers. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras InVideo lets you create any type of video content you need. The templates are searchable so you can find something that works, fast. The builder has a drag-and-drop interface with a timeline view. You can also use the advanced timeline view and work in layers. InVideo’s Intelligent Video Assistant provides AI-generated suggestions to improve your video. 💸 Pricing InVideo offers a free plan and two paid plans:
Business: $15/month (when billed annually) Unlimited: $30/month (when billed annually)
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy-to-use for beginners and marketers who need to produce tons of videos to feed their funnels 🤩 Create up to 60 videos a month on the free plan 😞 Limited features make this a tool pros may not use 😞 The free plan comes with a watermark
💡 Features
Unlimited video downloads 720p+ resolution 50+ music tracks, 3+ standard fonts, and 30+ color swatches included
👶 Ease of Use When you sign up for Animoto, you’ll be offered two tutorials that are both in-depth and easy to follow. This makes creating your first project on the platform really easy. After that, you’ll be a pro. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras Animoto gives you the ability to trim your footage, crop your photos, and adjust the timing of your media inside the platform as well as customize your text and background colors on every video to match your branding or the colors in one of your ad campaigns. Animoto also makes it easy to share your videos on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more or share links to your videos with family and friends. 💸 Pricing Animoto has a free plan and three paid plans:
Basic: $19/month Professional: $39/month Professional Plus: $59/month
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use 🤩 Perfect for marketing teams 😞 Free offering includes Animoto branding on your videos
Templates make it easy to create a video instantly with its simple video maker dashboard. Its realistic lip-syncing is really awesome that makes videos professional. 💡 Features
720p+ resolution Color changeable props Automatic character lip sync Character and object animation
👶 Ease of Use Vyond is easy to use even if you don’t have experience with animation. The platform provides an introduction to the interface layout and that’s about all you need to get started. Overall, it’s intuitive and user-friendly. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras Vyond is a robust animation video tool with masking, character rear view, multiple expressions, action vs. motion path editing, and a lot more. 💸 Pricing Vyond has four pricing plans:
Essential: $299/year Premium: $649/year Professional: $999/year Enterprise: Contact Animoto for a quote
Pros & Cons
🤩 Library of thousands of clothing options, hairstyles, and facial features 😞 Essential plan includes Vyond watermark
Blender is one of the best, advanced video editing software solutions available on all platforms. It’s an open-source tool that is available for everyone to use. And, it packs some powerful punches in terms of features. Some key features include live preview, chroma vectorscope, luma waveform, audio mixing, syncing, scrubbing, waveform visualization, and histogram displays. It doesn’t have unlimited layers like OpenShot but has 32 slots for adding videos, images, audio, and effects. It also has a 3D animation suite for professional users. Pros & Cons
🤩 Good enough to be used by professionals 🤩 Almost limitless customization 😞 Not as easy to use as other tools on this list 😞 Buggy format support
You can use Promo to make all types of videos, too. Horizontal videos, vertical videos, square videos, and even banner videos. The videos you create are ideal for social media use, and you can post, publish, upload, and share your videos on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social networks, websites, or blogs. 💡 Features
High-quality video library with over 100M clips plus professionally edited music Customizable ready-made videos by award-winning designers including copy and matching music A team of tech and video experts for high-quality support Lifetime license on videos to post online anywhere, anytime
👶 Ease of Use Promo.com offers a simple and effective promo video maker that lets users of all skill levels create gorgeous videos in minutes. You start by picking a video from the creative hub (or upload your own). Then, use the editor to add your brand’s flair. Once your video’s ready for the world you can download it in MP4 format to publish wherever you want, or post directly to social media. There’s even a media calendar that automatically suggests a schedule for your content. 📹 Advanced Editing Tools & Extras Promo.com has all the advanced editing tools and fun extras you’ll need and want to make your promo videos really your own. You can resize your photos to fit whichever social media platform or channel you’d like and even create powerful videos for your Facebook Page cover. 💸 Pricing Promo.com has three pricing plans:
Basic: $49/month Standard: $99/month Pro: $359/month
Pros & Cons
🤩 Ease of use 🤩 Supportive customer service 🤩 Manage up to 10 brands on one account 😞 Does not offer text to video capabilities 😞 No video capture
This is another open-source, free, cross-platform video editing software solution with decent features. You can simply download it and start using it. It supports all video formats and platforms, though it was originally designed for Linux. One of its best features is that you don’t need to import your video into the editor, and that saves a lot of time. It provides 4K resolution support, which is another great feature. Other cool features include audio and video effects, interlacing, color correction, and grading, wipe transitions, etc. Pros & Cons
🤩 4K resolution support and other useful features 🤩 Feature-packed 😞 The interface is not as easy-to-use as for some other tools on this list
This is a sophisticated video-editing tool available only for Mac and iOS users. It also comes in the form of an app and can be used on mobile devices as well. And, it also supports 4K resolution, which is a useful feature for professionals. It has a clean and minimal drag-and-drop interface that you can use to add titles, music, and effects, etc. to your video clips. You can slow down or speed up the videos and add filters to make them more interesting. Another interesting feature is that you can change the background location in your videos and place your characters anywhere. Overall, it’s a good video editing software to start with and later you can move on to a more professional software solution. Pros & Cons
🤩 Good as basic video editing software 🤩 Simple drag-and-drop interface 😞 Limited features for professional use
This is a video editor and movie maker that works only on Windows PCs and is not available for Mac and Linux. However, if you’re a Windows user, this is an amazing tool for you to check out. This is good for a starter tool that you can use to learn the basics of video editing, without too much hassle. It comes with a whole library of pre-made transitions and sound effects that you can play around with. It also supports 3D video editing, which is a feature that not all video editors provide for free. And, you can directly export your edited videos to YouTube and other social media platforms. 💸 Pricing A free video editor version is available for non-commercial use. Buy VideoPad Master’s Edition for $69.95 Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to edit videos and export directly to social media platforms 🤩 Offers 3D video editing 🤩 Comprehensive media library 😞 Not suitable for professional use as it does not have many advanced features 😞 No audio tools
This is a mobile video-editing tool that you can use to create engaging videos on the go. It has a simple interface and lots of useful features, thanks to the expertise of GoPro. This app by the camera makers GoPro is essentially meant to provide an easy way to edit the videos shot on the camera. That’s because it can interface directly with a GoPro camera and lets you control things directly from your phone. However, you can edit all types of videos with this. It has a lot of automatic editing features that let you edit your videos and make them more engaging. There are a lot of presets and you don’t really need to do much to edit your videos with this app. However, this is only meant for beginners and does not offer much for professionals. 💸 Pricing Free app. Get access to more features for $1.99/month or $9.99/year. You can get a subscription to GoPro (formerly Plus) for $49.99/year. Pros & Cons
🤩 Lots of options to play around with, especially if you don’t know the basics of video editing 🤩 A really good option for editing and posting social media videos on the go 😞 Does not offer many advanced editing options or control to users
💸 Pricing Filmora is free to use. You can pay for additional features and functionality:
Month plan: $29.99
Annual plan: $69.99 Perpetual plan: $109.99 Students get 20% off on all plans
Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-packed 🤩 Easy-to-use for experienced video editors 😞 Not available for Linux users 😞 May be challenging to use for new video editors 😞 May not pack all the pro features you need for advanced editing
💸 Pricing DaVinci Resolve is free. DaVinci Resolve Studio gives you access to DaVinci Neural Engine, stereoscopic 3D tools, dozens of extra Resolve FX filters, and Fairlight FX audio plugins plus advanced HDR grading and HDR scopes for $295. Pros & Cons
🤩 Built for pros 🤩 Feature-packed 😞 Not suitable for beginners
Pros & Cons
🤩 Free and easy-to-use 😞 Doesn’t include features advanced users may need 😞 Limited functionality make this tool less attractive compared to other free options
💸 Pricing HitFilm Express has a free plan and three paid plans:
Creator: €7.5/month Pro: €12.5/month Enterprise: Custom pricing
Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-packed 🤩 Ideal for pros 😞 Overwhelming for beginners 😞 Not available or Linux users
💸 Pricing Machete Video Editor Lite is free, but they also offer a full version for $19.95. Pros & Cons
🤩 Simple and easy to use 😞 Limited functionality make this tool less attractive compared to other free options 😞 Not available on Mac or Linux
💸 Pricing Free app. The Premium version can be yours for $1.99. Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use mobile app 🤩 Allow for quick editing on the go 😞 Not designed for in-depth editing projects
💸 Pricing VideoStudio has a free 30-day trial. There are two versions of the software you can buy:
VideoStudio Pro: $79.99 VideoStudio Ultimate: $99.99 Photo Video Bundle Ultimate: $199.99
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use 🤩 Feature-packed for beginners 😞 30-Day trial 😞 Limited features for pros
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use and intuitive 🤩 Syncs with other Apple devices you own 🤩 Sharing video phone apps 😞 Limited to iOS 😞 Can’t add sound clips
Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-packed 🤩 Ideal for pros 😞 Complex for beginners 😞 Not available for Windows users (at the time of this writing)
💸 Pricing
Free Essentials: $11.99/mo
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use 🤩 Perfect for marketers 🤩 Unlimited video exports 🤩 Free (no trial required) 😞 Exports in 480p (SD)
💸 Pricing Kapwing has a free plan. You can get Kapwing Pro for $16/month. Pros & Cons
🤩 No watermarks on free plan videos 🤩 No limit on free plan lifespan 😞 Content you save expires after seven days 😞 Video duration is limited to 10 minutes
💸 Pricing Free with in-app purchases. Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use 🤩 Free for Windows users 😞 Not available for Mac and Linux users
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy to use 🤩 Ideal for beginners 😞 Limited features 😞 Not available for Mac and Linux users
Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-packed 😞 Possibly advanced for beginners 😞 Only available on Windows and for Windows 10 or higher
💸 Pricing Free app. Get full access for $69.99/year. Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-packed 😞 Features for the free version are limited
💸 Pricing Free app. Get an annual subscription to the full app for $39.99/year. Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-packed 😞 Possibly too many features to manage on a mobile device
Pros & Cons
🤩 Feature-packed 🤩 Produce videos in 8K resolution 😞 Too advanced for beginners 😞 Dated UI design 😞 Built for Linux
💸 Pricing Free with in-app purchases. Pros & Cons
🤩 Perfect for beginners 😞 Only available on Windows 10 or higher and Xbox One
💸 Pricing Headliner offers one free plan and two paid plans:
Basic: $7.99/month Pro: $19.99/month
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy-to-use 🤩 Perfect for marketing teams that need to churn out content fast 😞 Videos are watermarked
💸 Pricing Moovly has one free plan and three paid plans:
Pro: $33.25/month Max: $49.92/month Enterprise: Custom pricing
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy-to-use 🤩 Perfect for marketing teams 😞 Can only publish videos in SD 480p and with a maximum length of 2 minutes
While Typito offers many of the same features that other online video tools come with, their UI appears to be one the most simplistic available. And while some may look at it and feel that it may offer far less, it doesn’t. Its minimalist nature makes it a breath of fresh air for beginners who just need to produce something engaging for their audience and continue to do so on a tight budget. 💸 Pricing Typito’s free plan includes four videos per month. There are two paid plans:
Solo: $15/month Pro: $29/month
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easy-to-use 🤩 Perfect for marketing teams 🤩 Free plan videos are published in HD 😞 Can only publish four videos a month 😞 All free plan videos include Typito branding
Powtoon includes a vast video template gallery, and you can instantly edit your preferred templates to say just what you need to get the word out. You can use their templates to make your message unforgettable. You will find many templates in categories such as Marketing, Sales, Training, Learning & Development, Internal Comms, HR, Industries, and more. As you can tell from Powtoon’s mission, “So everyone can animate,” the app has a real emphasis on animation. 💸 Pricing Powtoon has a free plan and three paid plans:
Pro: $89/month (when billed annually) Pro+: $197/month (when billed annually) Agency: $1188/year
Pros & Cons
🤩 Different plans to choose from 🤩 Simple, easy-to-use interface 🤩 Customizable animation templates to help user finish presentation faster 😞 Creating characters is limited 😞 Small selection of background music to choose from 😞 Requires some animation knowledge and patience to achieve property animation
AVS Video Editor supports all key video formats. Edit and save video files in AVI, VOB, MP4, and many more formats. You can process video with different frame sizes: HD, Full HD, 2K Quad HD, 4K Ultra HD, and DCI 4K. 💸 Pricing
1 year: $149 Unlimited: $279
Pros & Cons
🤩 Easily choose where to place the date and time on the video, the format, and the font 🤩 Works fairly quickly 🤩 Easy to edit 😞 Unable to choose a time zone for video editing purposes
As much as we would like to say that Quik is great for mobile users and Shotcut and OpenShot are great for desktops, we really can’t. You need to select the right tool for you, depending on what you want out of it. Are you going to use it for professional work? Are you looking for a free trial but willing to invest in a paid version later? Do you want the best free tool available for personal use? Whatever your requirements may be, this list of best free video editing software will have what you’re looking for. Just select the one that you like best and start editing.
