Apple's own video editor iMovie used to be free with new Macs and chargeable for everybody else, but these days it’s completely free for anyone who wants it (provided they have OS X 10.11.2. Free video editing software – Free Video Editor. Top 5 best free video editing software 2018 for Windows, Mac and Linux. Best free video editors you can use to edit video without any cost.

HitFilm Express

Balancing creativity, ease of use and performance is a trade-off, but HitFilm remains an inspired software package brimming with features, and paired with a dynamic website offering an abundance of fun, funky training videos.

Apple iMovie 10.1.8

iMovie is the ultimate Mac video app for novice filmmakers, combining professional trailers and themes, abundant special effects, and an easy-to-learn interface.

VideoPad

Beginners looking for a free app to quickly edit and output a movie to YouTube or other social networks should check out VideoPad.

Unless you're editing the next Star Wars trilogy, there's no reason to spend a fortune—or anything, for that matter—on video editing software for your Mac or PC. While there are many reasonably priced video-editing suites, going for less than $100, completely free or freemium editing packages can accomplish most or all of what some of the paid software packages can do.

After testing numerous suites, our favorite free video editing software is HitFilm Express for its lavish cinematic capabilities and high-powered interface. Our favorite video editor for Mac owners, Apple's iMovie, is a no-brainer choice, because of its macOS integration, top-notch output, professional themes and trailers, and support for professional shooting and editing techniques.

Best Overall

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Video Editor For Mac Free Download

Hitfilm Express's high-energy style appeals to budding filmmakers who want to put a special touch on a personal event or get creative with a video blog, but it's still easy enough for the adventurous friends-and-family crowd. The one concession you have to make is that you have to give the software maker a shout out on social media in order to download the free app.

New features include animation keyframing in the editor, motion blur, enhanced preview options, a new layout panel, improved masking in composite shots, additional workspaces and new export features.

Other great features include the ability to create your own lightsaber battles, support for 4K video, as well as such features as 3D effects, 360-degree video editing and lens distortion correction from action cameras. Our one quibble is that some features, such as picture-in-picture and animated text require a $9.99 expansion pack.

As with previous versions, HitFilm wasn't the fastest at encoding videos, but that's a trade-off we're willing to make for such an expansive feature set.
Editor's Note: Since our initial review, HitFilm has been updated to version 12.3; improvements GPU-accelerated decoding on Nvidia and Intel graphics cards, changes to the interface, and native support for Dolby AC3 audio.

MORE: HitFilm Express Full Review

Best for Mac Users

Reasons to Buy

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Best Completely Free Video Converter

iMovie is the Mac-based amateur filmmaker’s best friend, delivering themes, Hollywood-style trailers and video effects with minimalistic panache, a cinematic flair, and deep integration and optimization with the Mac OS. Recent updates tweaked the interface and added Touch Bar support for the latest MacBooks.

While you can now edit and share 4K videos, iMovie lacks features found in other free apps, such as the ability to edit 360-degree video, multicam editing and motion tracking. You also have limited control over output settings.

Because it's so deeply entwined with the macOS, iMovie was one of the fastest apps when it came to encoding video. Once that's finished, it also gives you plenty of sharing options: You can upload directly to YouTube and Vimeo, and share any video frame as an image. When you couple iMovie with iMovie Theater and iCloud, you can also view your creations on any Apple device or via Apple TV.
Editor's Note: Now on version 10.1.12, you can no longer share movies to iMovie Theater; you have to save your movies to iCloud Photos to watch them on other devices including Apple TV. On a previous update, Apple has removed the ability to share videos directly to Facebook, but has added an option to export Facebook-compatible videos, which you can then manually upload.

MORE: Apple iMovie 10.1.8 Full Review

Best for Beginners/Social Media

Reasons to Buy

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This free video editor makes it a cinch to export your creations to YouTube, Facebook, Dropbox, Flickr, Google Drive and an assortment of mobile devices through a simple pull-down menu. You have to sign in to these services first. And while YouTube uploaded directly to my channel without incident, you may have to save your video to your hard drive with social media specs and then upload to the social network yourself.

Compared to HitFilm's high-energy interface, VideoPad has a simple, soothing look which makes it more approachable for novices. It works with both Macs and PCs and still lets you edit 360-degree video with the same ease as you would traditional movies, though adding text to 360-degree clips can be a bit tricky. VideoPad also lacks some of the advanced features you'll find with HitFilm, like multicam editing, high-end special effects and motion tracking, but you can purchase a number of add-ons to expand VideoPad's feature set.

Our biggest issue with VideoPad was not knowing which features were disabled in the free version versus the trial and paid versions. We found VideoPad to be a bit slower on our transcoding tests than Hitfilm, too. But that may not matter for those looking for an app that they can use to quickly and easily edit video and then upload to the social media outlet of their choice.

MORE: VideoPad Full Review

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A powerful pro-level app, cross platform you’ll want to use a system with discrete graphics to get the most out of this editor.

The latest version of DaVinci incorporates Fusion, previously a stand-alone application, which brings with it four high-end video-production modules for editing, color correction, audio production, and video effects and motion graphics. This video editor is quite powerful, but has a bit of a learning curve. If its 256-page manual doesn't intimidate you, high-level enthusiasts will find a lot of tools at their disposal.

Editor's Note: DaVinci Resolve 16 is now available, and includes such new features as facial recognition, fast export to YouTube and Vimeo, and 3D audio.

Also Reviewed

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VSDC is not bad for basic edits, but its interface has a learning curve, and it lacks some popular features.

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

Shotcut has a ton of features, but is not as intuitive to use as other programs.

Why You Should Trust Us

We have been testing the leading consumer video-editing suites, both free and paid, for several years. With such knowledge, we can compare things like performance, interfaces and features, and improvements in the various suites over time.

The reviewer, Jackie Dove, is an obsessive, insomniac freelance tech writer and editor in Northern California. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, photo-app fanatic and VR/AR/3D aficionado, her specialties include cross-platform hardware and software, art, design, photography, video, and a wide range of creative and productivity apps and systems.

What to Look for in a Free Video Editor

The Definition of Free: There's free and then there's freemium. Some software, like iMovie, is genuinely free. But just as some video-editing packages are sold in tiers — with more-expensive versions offering more and expanded features — a freemium video program may just be the lowest level of a paid version. Or it may be a trial version that hobbles the end product in various ways, like putting a huge watermark on your video or limiting output formats.

But there are variations on this theme. HitFilm, VideoPad, DaVinci Resolve and VSDC, for example, offer paid versions with high-end features that most consumers probably won't miss, but otherwise allow for full use of the basic program.

MORE: The Best Video Editing Software Under $100

Another hidden 'cost' is periodic or even constant in-line advertising or reminders that an upgrade is available. Our favorite program, HitFilm, never pushes an upgrade on you, but it makes you go through a social media and authorizing song and dance to download the product or switch computers. VideoPad (on the Mac) makes you verify at every launch that you are using the free version for noncommercial purposes.

Both DaVinci and VSDC mix paid features in their basic programs, but they do not explicitly mark these features as such. However, if you try to use them, you'll get an error message and an ad. We can't fault the software companies for trying to get users on board with paid versions, but just be warned that such annoyances are the hidden cost of otherwise-free video apps.

Those looking for a powerful editor with a huge variety of built-in resources and responsive technical support may be better off dropping some cash on a consumer video-editing program, like award winners Adobe Premiere Elements, CyberLink PowerDirector or Corel VideoStudio. However, first consider trying out software such as HitFilm Express 2017, VideoPad, DaVinci Resolve or VSDC, which offer all of the basics for free, and then purchasing additional features à la carte or simply upgrade as your experience and needs grow.

Basic Features: The watchword with free apps is often which one offers the best combination of technically complex software for which you would otherwise have to shell out the big bucks. All video editors should, at the very least, have some combination of familiar features like a viewer or playback window, library, timeline, and access to transitions and effects.

Tech support and documentation: One of the big distinctions between paid and free software is the level of documentation and tech support; paid software has more-explicit and -detailed documentation and guides than the free versions. That said, many software packages post instructional videos of the most popular features to YouTube, and more-complex free packages may offer extensive documentation.

Many independent vendors, who are often sole proprietors in charge of the software, make themselves available to users via social media and email to assist with problems, troubleshoot, take suggestions and criticism, and otherwise oversee the software. Programs with intuitive interfaces and tool-tip hints, and even built-in tutorials to greet new users, make free software popular.

System requirements: Many free software packages technically serve most consumer hardware systems with integrated graphics, as opposed to more-powerful discrete graphics cards. If you have a consumer machine like a MacBook or a Windows laptop with integrated graphics, make sure your machine is powerful enough to run them efficiently.

Export options: Another area where free meets inconvenience may be at the tail end of the project, when you want to export your video, only to discover that the free version will not output to your desired format. Before you start using a free package, make sure that it will save your video to the platform and resolution you need, whether your video will eventually wind up on YouTube or on a Blu-ray disc.

Gone are the days of Windows Movie Maker and Final Cut. Although you may mourn the discontinuation of Final Cut Express, you're probably not weeping over Windows Movie Maker. Great video editing software usually comes with a steep price. That price tag typically includes professional tools and features you simply cannot find in free versions. How true is that, though?

Free video editing software may not have decades of development behind it, but the groundwork was laid by others, and now there are so many titles out there, it can be hard to pick one. Several free programs, whether you download them or use web-based apps, are worth your time.

First, you need to decide why you need video editing software. Are you splicing together shots of you trying to perform a kickflip and uploading it on YouTube? You're likely not going to need the full-featured software that's out there. Are you producing a music video, or a new food television show for your website? You'll need something more robust that's capable of handling several cuts, music, fades, special effects, and more.

iMovie

This entry almost goes without saying. If you're a Mac user, you're probably already familiar with iMovie – even if you don't use Macs, you've at least heard of this famous software. Although professional editors turn their nose up at iMovie, it's an excellent free option for amateur filmmakers.

Although you won't find many feature films edited entirely in iMovie (a documentary titled Tarnation that premiered in 2004 at Sundance is an exception), you will find plenty of videos on YouTube, Vimeo and other websites.

The reason this is one of the best video editing options for Macs is that it's 100 percent free and comes bundled with your Mac. It's also easy to use with its intuitive interface and keyboard shortcuts. The obvious features are there, of course, like importing and exporting video, a timeline that shows you the video you want to edit, and the ability to move bits of your film here and there.

What's in the Toolbox?

• Enhance: Automatically enhance your video with a click of this magic wand that changes your video and audio slightly to make it a bit better (color correction, balance, etc.); you can make manual changes by heading over to Adjust.
• Adjust: This is where you'll find familiar editing features such as volume, noise reduction, equalizer, color correction, color balance, cropping, stabilization, video effects and sound effects.
• Slow Motion: You can find this option right in the timeline for easy access.
• Auto Upload to iCloud: This feature makes it quick and easy to get your clips hosted online, but you're limited to 15-minute videos.
• Multilayer Editing: Drag and drop a clip on top of another to quickly create a straightaway cut to the next clip, green or blue screen, split screen or create picture-in-picture edits.
• Speed Control: Slow clips down by 50 percent, or speed them up to 20 times their original speed; you can also create instant replays.
• Sharing: You can share directly via Facebook, YouTube, email, iMovie Theater or other options.

Lightworks

Whether you've heard of Lightworks or not shouldn't concern you. This video editing software has been developed over decades and has been used to edit feature-length films you've probably seen, unless you hate good movies like 'Pulp Fiction,' 'Moulin Rouge' and 'The King's Speech.' To be fair, that was the pro version of Lightworks. However, there's a free version meant for home users that's, yes, limited, but still has powerful features.

Originally, Lightworks was only available for Windows users, but it's been made available for Mac and Linux users, too. The biggest downside of the free version of Lightworks is debatable. Some editors claim it's the lack of audio editing tools, while others complain about the lack of support. Either way, you should remind yourself that this is free software. It's safe to assume you get the basic editing tools of any video editing software.

What's in the Toolbox?

• Titling Effects: You get basic titling effects such as fade and typewriter effects for your video titles.
• All Imports: All of the supported formats in Pro are also supported in the free version, and there's a long list, including DVCAM, MPEG formats, Avid, XDCAM HD, Apple Pro Res.
• Exports: Exporting is more limited; you can export to MPEG4 with a max resolution of 1280 x 720, and you can upload directly to YouTube.
• Video Effects: Color correction, blurs, masks and others – you get more than 100 presets of effects you can apply to your video in real time.
• Autosaving: There's no need to hit Ctrl + S over and over — Lightworks autosaves your work often.
• Multicam Editing: You can easily sync edits from multicam footage and see everything in the viewer for flawless syncing.
• Mark & Park: You can apply a mark and play the clip, and when you stop playing, an end mark is automatically added wherever you left off.
• Multiple Keyboard Layouts: If you're coming from professional video editors such as Final Cut Pro or Avid, you can choose these keyboard shortcut layouts until you're ready to use Lightworks' style.

Avidemux

There's free, and then there's free. What we're talking about is open source software, and Avidemux is the super free version. This means you can use the free software on any operating system, including Windows, Mac and Linux. What this also means is that you can add your own code and modify the program, but let's focus on the editing functions of this program.

The developers constantly update Avidemux with bug fixes and new features, so if you choose this software for video editing, be sure to check for updates frequently. The biggest benefit of using this free software is that there is no paid version, so you aren't losing out on features you could have if you paid for a heftier version. Also, the developers take suggestions from users often, so you could see future features you're longing for. For all the features and tools, though, this is still free software and it lacks what many professional video editors offer.

What's in the Toolbox?

• Transform: Add a logo, rotate your clips, crop, fade in and out.
• Adjustment: Change brightness, contrast and color correctness, alter hue and saturation, eliminate 'color ghosting.'
• Sharpen/Blur: Just like in everyone's favorite photo editing software, you can sharpen, blur, add a Gaussian blur, adjust high frequency video noise.
• Subtitles: Add hardcoded subtitles to your video (they cannot be turned off) and choose the color, font, size and position.

Blender

This is another big name in the open source video editing software game. This software is touted as one of the best free video editing programs because it lends itself well to video, animation and even video game creation. Blender is one of the more robust free applications and allows for much more than just film editing.

Compare Blender's video editing tools to the other software out there and you'll see that it holds up. Although video editing isn't its focus, it doesn't seem to lack the features that others have. You can use Blender on a PC that's running Windows or Linux, or you can use it on a Mac. It's also worth mentioning that many filmmakers and animators have created original, full-length films and animated movies using Blender.

What's in the Toolbox?

• Masking: Remove parts of a video or replace those bits with another piece of video.
• Audio Mixing: Add the tracks you want, see their waveforms in the timeline with your video, and mix away.
• Adjustments: Change the saturation and hue, brightness and contrast, and more.
• Filters: Fade in/out, flip, cross and gamma cross, glow, transform, wipe.
• Speed Control: Change speed of video for slow motion, or speed it up for comedic effect.

BlackMagic DaVinci Resolve

Best Code Editor For Mac

Hollywood editors love BlackMagic DaVinci Resolve. Colorists used DaVinci Resolve to grade films like 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' and 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.' Professionals likely snap up the paid version, but the free version is almost as feature-rich and powerful as the pro version. What's different about DaVinci Resolve is its developers' willingness to include features and tools from other video editing software, but with their own spin.

If you're editing a feature-length film, you're looking at many hours of editing, so any shortcuts to save you time are welcome, and DaVinci Resolve has them. The free version of DaVinci Resolve is packed with nearly the same number of features as the studio version that costs about $1,000 for a single license.

Best Free Video Editing Mac

What's in the Toolbox?

• Audio Sync: You can add up to 16 audio tracks per clip, and DaVinci Resolve offers a feature to auto-sync audio with video.
• Color Grading: Desaturation, white balance, color correction, brightness, contrast, etc.; you can also save settings you like and apply them to other clips.
• Split View: Displays both clips when you're edit trimming.
• Auto Tool Selection: DaVinci Resolve predicts editing tools you need based on where you hover your cursor over a clip in your timeline.
• Simultaneous Multiple Edits: Select several clips and apply the same edit across the board.

When Free Just Won't Cut It

As powerful as these free video editing programs are, there are situations in which you need the bigger, more feature-filled, faster software that's available. When you're color grading and editing a full-length feature film, you may need collaborative workflow options, specific noise reduction or effects that you just can't get in the free versions.

Students: Read This First
If the free versions aren't enough, and you need access to tools and features to help you with your burgeoning film editing career, be sure to check for student prices. Many software companies offer deep discounts. For example, Avid offers students a single license for only $299, with annual upgrade option at only $99 – a fraction of the retail price.

The best video editing software that's trusted by the professionals who create music videos, Hollywood films, television programs and commercials include:

Best Video Editor For Mac

Avid: This is the gold standard. More pro editors than ever use this suite of software. It comes at a hefty price, though. An individual license (with a $299 upgrade plan every year) is $1,299.

Video Editor For Mac Review

Final Cut Pro: The film 'Focus,' starring Will Smith, was edited on Apple's film editing software. It includes powerful tools and features, and it's more affordable than you'd think. The cost for a single license is $299.

Adobe Premiere Pro: Indie studios can't afford what the major Hollywood studios can, so they typically opt for this popular video editing software. The big benefit to using this software is that you can integrate other Adobe software, such as After Effects, Photoshop, Story and Prelude. The cost isn't prohibitive either, but Adobe is pushing its cloud version, so you'll pay $19.99 per month for the single app or $49.99 per month for the whole suite.

Video Editor For Mac Free

Video editing software doesn't have to be expensive to be feature-filled and high quality. These programs we've highlighted are excellent options that can help you on your way to becoming a YouTube sensation, the favorite uncle at your next holiday gathering (video is just so much better than a photo slideshow) or the next It Editor in Hollywood.