Professional editors love the keyboard controls and cutting tools that are specifically designed to wrangle large volumes of footage. It’s a little more complex to get started than iMovie, but watch the orientation video and you’ll be flying in no time. The pro version is a Hollywood favorite: The King’s Speech was edited using Lightworks, in case the Colin Firth factor is a decision maker for you. Lightworks has been around for 30-plus years, so expect plenty of polish from this top-notch free video editor. (Not a Mac user? Windows has its own house video editor that offers most of the same features, a solid choice of free video editing software for PC users.) What you see is what you get: no upselling.

One of the best things about iMovie is that it never bugs you to upgrade to a premium version.

No time to craft the perfect vid? Use the Magic Movie feature in the latest version to let AI make all those decisions for you. Integration with iTunes means you can import songs from your music library, or layer in sounds from the royalty-free audio and SFX selection. The editing toolset is basic, but it’s got everything you need, really: cutting and trimming, color correction, background noise removal, and stabilization for shaky footage. Explore the app’s decent selection of pre-set filters, transitions, and title options to quickly get your video looking professional. Though there are only two video tracks you can use, there’s a beauty to its simplicity: it’s super intuitive and easy to hit the ground running. This is the default video editing software for Mac users since it comes pre-installed on all Apple devices. While all of the tools on our free video editing software list below are great for crafting content for social media, there are of course limitations to any free program - whether that’s limited features, watermarks, or in-app ads.īut we’ve done our best to put together a list of the most helpful, least-annoying options here, and honestly, these 10 winners make it tough to see why anyone would pay for a full-cost video editing program at all.

Best free video editing software for 2023 Bonus: Download the free 10-Day Reels Challenge, a daily workbook of creative prompts that will help you get started with Instagram Reels, track your growth, and see results across your entire Instagram profile.

Best free video editing app for iphone