Video editing software is the cornerstone of modern multimedia creation, empowering creators to transform raw footage into polished masterpieces. Whether you’re a professional filmmaker, a content creator, or a social media enthusiast, the right video editing software can elevate your content to new heights. And, about 85 percent of all internet users in the U.S. watched online video content monthly on any of their devices.
Fortunately, with increased demand comes an evolution of technology where it is easier than ever before to shoot, edit and publish video from your smartphone. Video editing is important to embrace, even in the simplest ways.
Below are the top 19 video editing software options that you should know about and consider experimenting with. Some are designed exclusively for iOS, some for Android, and some for both platforms.
iMovie
iMovie is a video-editing app developed by Apple. It features the ability to create Hollywood-style trailers with more than a dozen trailer templates, as well as movies with more than a half dozen unique themes (complete with credit rolls and studio logos).
The app features the ability to fix shaky videos as well as instantly remove the background of clips shot in front of a green or blue screen. It also has:
- Built-in special effects
- Automated video editing
- Cropping
- Rotation
- Dozens of soundtracks that automatically adjust to the length of your movie
iMovie also supports 4K video resolution and easily transfers videos among iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. Videos also can be exported to any social media platform and beyond.
It’s already installed for free on new Apple devices, and Apple is constantly updating it.
A downside of the app is that it can be difficult to import and use your own music in iMovie.
Platform(s): iOS and MacOS
Cost: Free
Clipchamp
Clipchamp touts its ease of use, especially for beginners. It doesn’t hurt that you can edit clips of all sizes directly in-browser without the hassle of inconvenient uploads.
It also features a Facebook Video Ad Maker that enables users to simply add your text and contact information on top of stock footage and audio to create engaging video ads on Facebook. The tool includes video templates to get you inspired and started.
YouTube and Instagram video-specific tools also are available.
Platform(s): iOS and in-browser
Cost: Free; upgrade options range from $9 per month to $39
Veed
Veed stands out as an incredibly versatile and user-friendly online video editing software. It provides a seamless and efficient editing experience with features such as splitting, cropping, rotating, looping, and trimming videos making the entire process swift and easy. With just a single click, you can optimize your videos for various platforms, allowing you to repurpose your content across different channels and reach a wider audience to gain more subscribers.
Moreover, VEED goes beyond editing by offering a convenient converter. Effortlessly transform your content into various formats, ensuring versatility and compatibility across different platforms. Experience a comprehensive suite of tools that not only simplifies the editing process but also enables you to adapt and share your creations effortlessly.
Platform(s): IOS and Web
Cost: Free with watermark. Subscription plans start from $12 per month. Business Plan: Custom pricing for enterprises
Movavi Video Editor
Video Editor by Movavi is a versatile tool that fits right into the toolkit of novice videographers and seasoned professionals.
With a plethora of intuitive features, users can seamlessly trim and merge clips, incorporate stylish transitions, and even dabble with special effects to elevate their content. Its user-friendly interface ensures that even those new to video editing can craft polished videos without a steep learning curve.
Notably, Movavi has an expansive library of audio tracks and has optimized export settings for various social media platforms, ensuring your content always looks its best. A potential downside might be the watermark on exported videos in the free version, but upgrade options are available for those wanting to unlock their full potential.
Platform(s): iOS, Android, MacOS, and Windows
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases and a watermark on exports); upgrade options available.
Quik
Quik prides itself on its fast editing process. While designed largely for Instagram videos, the app can still be used for any type of video.
It includes more than two dozen video styles and an automatic editing feature. It searches your footage to find key moments, can automatically trim and edit your clips, as well as add transitions.
A challenge with Quik is the limited editing control, although manual edits are possible.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free
invideo
Another video-editing platform, invideo, simplifies video creation with ready-made templates that you can quickly customize, even if you’ve never done it before. The platform features more than 5,000 professionally created templates that can be searched by platform, industry, or content type. You also can customize a template for your brand using simple drag-drop-replace actions.
The available single-click shortcuts also enable you to remove the background of your product images to make them pop and apply your brand’s colors and fonts.
Platform(s): In-browser
Cost: Free, with upgrades available.
Splice
Splice is an all-purpose video-editing app, similar to iMovie. Created by the makers of GoPro, the app is great for editing your videos quickly (on an iPhone).
It features the ability to add text, filters and transitions. Users also can add documentary-style effects and adjust the speed of video clips.
In addition, you can use either provided audio tracks, effects and songs for free or sync with iTunes. Just be aware that using the music for a video intended for monetization could run into some legal copyright issues.
Platform(s): iOS
Cost: Free
Adobe Premiere Rush
Adobe Premiere Rush is considered easy to learn with its simple interface. It includes motion graphics templates, audio features, as well as syncing with the Creative Cloud library and Adobe Stock.
The app allows users to capture, trim, color correct, add color filters and text overlays, record voiceovers, automatic audio mixing and more. It has been designed for those with limited video-editing skills who want to quickly edit and upload videos to social media. Take note that there is a one-minute tutorial when you first open the app, which can be helpful for video-editing beginners.
The exporting options are optimized for various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitter and more. Adobe Premiere Rush automatically takes care of the aspect ratios and quality required for each platform as well.
On the flip side, there is no copy-and-paste option or the ability to roughly trim clips down before dragging them into the timeline. There also are limited transition effects.
Platform(s): iOS, Android, MacOS and Windows
Cost: Starting at $9.99 per month
inShot
inShot does a bit more than edit videos since it’s largely used and intended for Instagram. The app allows for editing photos and creating collages.
In addition, users can trim and merge video clips, adjust video speed, flip or rotate images and videos, add filters and more. It also comes with pre-built canvas sizes for everything from IGTV to TikTok.
inShot can export across multiple social media platforms as well. Just be aware that the free version of the app includes ads and a watermark on all exports.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with in-app ads and a watermark added to videos); $2.99 upgrade available
StoriesStudio
StoriesStudio is ideal for brands looking to split a long video across multiple stories in separate clips that can then be uploaded to Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, TikTok and more.
By uploading your longer video into the app, you can choose how many seconds and pieces you want the video cut into, which could be (for example) a 30-second video split into three 10-second snippets.
Platform(s): iOS
Cost: $1.99
WeVideo
WeVideo is a great example of a cloud-based video editor, featuring multi-device cloud storage (which means you can start your video project on one device and continue it on another device).
The app also allows clip trimming, adding filters, available music from its built-in library, speed adjusting, 4K HD resolution support, overlaying text and more.
Know that the free version is pretty limited, with only 10 GB of cloud storage, among other limitations.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Free: Free (with in-app purchases); $4.99-per-month upgrade available
KineMaster
KineMaster is considered easy to use. The app enables you to add effects, text and music to your video. Speaking of music, it also has a large music library on the KineMaster Asset Store.
You also can record audio or video in real-time, with layers of images, texts, animations and more. Other editing options include adjusting the brightness, colors and saturation of the video.
KineMaster can easily export across social media platforms but does include a watermark on its free version.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases and a watermark on exports); $4.99-per-month upgrade available
Clips
When thinking of Clips, think “next-generation iMovie.” The video-editing app is all about making and sharing fun videos that are interesting to watch. It’s primarily aimed at children and families, but increasingly more updates have pushed the app into a more serious level of video editing.
Features include:
- Built-in filters
- Stickers
- Transitions
- Text overly
- Effects
- Graphics
One highlight is the ability to create animated captions and titles that appear automatically as you speak. In addition, Clips has what it calls a TrueDepth camera that places you in a full 360-degree scene in your selfie, and the app can recognize people in your video and offers them as suggestions for sharing.
Music-wise, songs you create in GarageBand can be added in addition to music already available in the Clips app.
Exporting can be done across social media platforms, including TikTok.
Platform(s): iOS
Cost: Free
Videoshop
Videoshop prides itself on being user friendly. You’re able to trim videos easily, merge clips of slow the clips down.
The app also includes sound effects, like explosions and animal noises. Text overlays, animated titles, enhanced transitions and soundtrack additions can be done as well.
In addition, Videoshop will walk you through the steps of basic video editing for anyone without experience. Just be aware that it only allows for one audio recording at a time.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases)
VivaVideo
VivaVideo is a popular and powerful video-editing app. It features a storyboard style of editing, where clips can be uploaded, edited, trimmed, cropped, duplicated and merged.
The app also features the ability to turn regular images into a video slideshow, with text art, animated text and photo effects. Other video-editing options are:
- Video speed adjustment
- Background blur
- GIFs
- Animated texts and fonts
- Giphy video stickers
- Music editor
- About 200 video filters
Videos can be exported across multiple social media platforms. Keep in mind that the free version will export your video with a watermark.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases and a watermark on exports); $0.99-per-month upgrade available
Magisto
One of Magisto’s biggest features is its AI (artificial intelligence), which means that Magisto will automatically edit and create your video. Talk about a time saver. You also get:
- Templates
- The ability to drag and drop
- Text overlay
- Media library
- Customizable branding
- Privacy options
On the flip side, the ease of video editing in this app comes at the expense of having total creative control over your video. Plus, the free version of the app is more like a trial, and you’ll want to have a story in mind before uploading because small edits on top of what is largely done can be a little difficult within the app itself.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases); $4.99-per-month upgrade available
PicPlayPost
A top feature of PicPlayPost is that you can create 30-minute-long videos by combining up to 365 videos, live photos, regular photos and GIFs. In addition, you can create up to a 9-frame photo and video collage for Instagram Stories.
PicPlayPost includes:
- Free patterns and backgrounds for collages
- Split-screen transitions for slideshows
- Giphy stickers
- The ability to add multiple soundtracks
- The ability to add multiple text boxes
- Video speed adjustment
- 4K video resolution
Most of the best features require some sort of subscription
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases); monthly and annual subscriptions available
GoPro App
Listen up if you’re shooting action videos. The GoPro App is the obvious best video-editing option for GoPro footage. It has a clear and simple user interface. You can:
- Automatically have your video imported
- Sync clips to music
- Add photos, titles and time-lapse sequences
- Use the horizontal leveling (which tweaks the angle of your scene if your camera wasn’t mounted in line with the horizon)
- Choose the frame for your video thumbnail
The GoPro App exports directly to multiple social media platforms, as well as through text or email. Be aware that you can’t edit templates.
Platform(s): iOS, Android, MacOS and Windows
Cost: Free; GoPro Plus subscription offers extra soundtracks and auto upload of photos and videos to the cloud
LumaFusion
LumaFusion is used by mobile journalists, filmmakers and video producers, but don’t let that intimidate you. It is intended to capture and edit video on the fly.
You get six video/audio tracks for photos, videos, titles and graphics in addition to an extra six audio tracks for narration, music and sound effects. Similar to Final Cut Pro, other features include:
- Magnetic timeline
- Insert/overwrite capability
- Keyframing
- Color correction
- Audio mixer
- Vertical video support
- Video speed adjustment
- Advanced title creation
LumaFusion has several powerful exporting options, where you can export at different resolutions, qualities and framerates (as well as audio and video separately). In addition, its XML option allows you to export to Apple Final Cut Pro X.
However, there is no cloud syncing yet where you can edit across multiple devices.
Platform(s): iOS
Cost: $29.99 (one-time cost)
FilmoraGo
FilmoraGo is totally free with no watermarks or time limits on your exported videos. It’s also very easy to use.
The app has a range of themed filters and effects, but songs and other effects require a purchase.
Platform(s): Android
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases)
Power Director
Power Director has been called the Android-equivalent to iMovie, even though it’s also available on iOS.
For video editing, the app features:
- Multi-tracking editing timeline
- Effects
- The ability to add background music
- Photo collage maker
- Slow-motion capabilities
- The ability to add voiceovers
Know that there are watermarks on video exports in the free version, as well as advertisements. The upgrade also allows for exporting in 1080p instead of just 720p.
Platform(s): iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with in-app purchases); $4.33-per-month upgrade available
Before downloading a bunch of video-editing apps to figure out which will be best for you and your needs, narrow down the above list by platform first. (If you have an Android device, not all apps are available, for example.) Then, decide on your budget. Do you want to try free first, or are some of the upgraded subscription prices within your budget? Then, narrow down the features that are non-negotiable. From there, you should have a small handful of apps that you can experiment with.
For inspiration, check out these 10 types of videos you can use in your marketing strategy.
