Videos have become a staple in daily online media consumption. If you’re looking to gather a following in social media, you should be making videos. However, most people get intimidated by video editing as they see it as technically-challenging and time-consuming. Video editing can be a lot of work, especially when making longer videos.
It doesn’t help that there are way too many video editing programs to choose from. Some are professional grade, making them too complex for regular users. Some are too basic, lacking features that may add more to the videos one can make. You want something that’s both easy to use and has a good number of bells and whistles, and few can hit the sweet spot.
Everyone’s needs are different, so you never know which one will work best for you. Let’s take a look at the best editor for videos that are available right now.
Best Video Editing Software for Beginners
We looked at various video editor reviews to find out which one most people tout to be the best editor for beginners. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, but all of them can be used to create your own video content. What is the number 1 video editor for you will depend on your specific needs and the platform you use to make your videos with.
Apple iMovie
Yes, we’re starting out with a video editor for the Mac. If you own a Mac, you likely already have this installed. You can’t really go wrong with the Apple iMovie as a beginner-friendly video editor. Its simplicity and elegance belies its functionality, and there’s a lot of it to be had here. You get many of the bells and whistles you expect from a fully-featured video editor, but put together in an easy-to-use interface.
It’s also seamlessly integrated with iTunes and GarageBand, so you can add music to your video project easily. Of course, if you end up really getting into video editing and would like to get something more substantial, you can always upgrade to Final Cut Pro. You’ll find the transition fairly pain-free thanks to how Apple designs its software within its ecosystem.
OpenShot
First up is a solid option for beginners to learn the basics of video editing with. In OpenShot, you can do resizing, trimming, scaling, snapping, and rotation. You can adjust how the video looks through its brightness, gamma, greyscale, and hue.
It also has some more advanced features like scrolling credits, time mapping, audio editing, frame stepping, greenscreen, and so on that you can try out once you get more comfortable with video editing. It allows for unlimited layers for audio, backgrounds, watermarks, and so on.
You can just drag and drop your footage and other media into the timeline and create your video for vlogs, presentations, video essays, or so on. OpenShot is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Movavi Video Editor Plus
This one tends to play second fiddle to other more popular video editors, and it doesn’t have to since the Movavi Video Editor Plus is a solid piece of kit. You can drag and drop your footage in to trim and add transitions, filters, effects, add customized title cards, and so on. You can then export your finished video to various popular formats or even share directly from the program.
It also has built-in intros, videos, backgrounds, music, and sounds to get you started. You can then dig into keyframe animation for added production value once you become more comfortable with video editing. The Movavi Video Editor Plus is compatible with Windows and Mac.
Lumen5
This video editor lets you edit videos even when you don’t have much technical ability. Lumen5 is more of a video editing “tool” instead of a full video editing program, but that gives people like social media marketers a way to create video content for their pages.
That’s what Lumen5 is designed for, and it makes for a lightweight video editor that can be used for quick videos that are short and sweet. You can drop in some GIFs, screengrabs, short clips, and music to create videos that are perfect for social media.
The best thing about it is that it’s entirely online, so you don’t have to install anything at all. The free version can make 480p videos, while the premium version can make 1080p Full HD videos for $50 per month.
VSDC
For those who like action, VSDC is the video editor for you. You can create videos of any length and complexity with VSDC while also processing images and video transformations with subpixel resolution, as well as over 10 mask types to hide, blur, or highlight elements. VSDC helps you learn advanced video editing techniques easily in one place with HD or 4K resolution.
Or if you’re just looking to make some simple and engaging videos to post online, VSDC is great for that as well. It’s also great for vloggers who can make use of filters, video stabilization, and color correction to make your video recorded with your phone a lot more presentable. There’s even a YouTube uploader feature that lets you post it straight to the platform once you’re done editing. VSDC is compatible with only Windows.
Lightworks
This is one of the best video editors for beginners who are looking to post content on YouTube. While intuitive and easy to use, the interface gives you access to a lot of powerful features that may seem more fitting for advanced professional-grade video editors. For instance, Lightworks is renowned for multicam editing, so you can create shows and high production videos with it.
It also has real-time team project sharing with full control over editing access for each user. That means you can start with Lightworks, and then continue to scale up with it as you get better in video editing. It also lets you share videos to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Instagram easily from the program. Lightworks is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
CyberLink PowerDirector
If you’re looking for something that’s very straightforward and lacks any sort of fluff, then the CyberLink PowerDirector is excellent as your choice of video editor for making videos quickly. It’s also one of the fastest on the market when it comes to rendering videos, being able to churn out even 4K videos in a flash compared to most other video editors.
The CyberLink PowerDirector is also one of the first video editors out there to get support for 360-degree virtual reality footage. While plenty of people who don’t have advanced video editing knowledge tend to use this program, it’s something that can actually be used for professional-grade video editing. The CyberLink PowerDirector is compatible with Windows, and it has mobile apps for iOS and Android as well.
Adobe Premiere Elements
The more basic version of Adobe’s professional video editor is a great way to get into video editing that is close to the industry standard. Adobe Premiere Elements is the stripped down version of Adobe Premiere Pro. At around $80, it’s a bit more expensive compared to other programs, but it’s built on the same foundation as one of the most popular professional-grade video editors in the world.
The Guided Edits feature makes this a great option for beginners as it helps you with your video editing, making small jobs a lot faster. While it doesn’t have the speed, 3D editing, multicam editing, and other advanced features like many on this list, perhaps you want to leave them out anyway if you’re a beginner who’s just splicing some footage together. Adobe Premiere Elements is compatible with Windows and Mac.
Windows Movie Maker 10
Since we have Apple iMovie on this list, it wouldn’t be fair to not include Windows’ own video editor. Movie Maker 10 is actually a pretty good video editor for beginners, so you may not even have to look elsewhere if all you want to do is splice some footage together.
It has all the basic functions you expect from a basic video editor, and you can do some transition effects and pan-tilt-zoom effects as well. The reason why you should go for this is simply because it comes with Windows, so you don’t have to install anything else if it does the job adequately for you.
Magisto
Magisto is a company under Vimeo, the online video website. Their video editing software is designed for mobile devices, letting you edit videos right on your phone. It’s powered by artificial intelligence to help you create videos quickly. You just choose your editing style, add your footage, and pick the music you want on it, and the app does most of the work for you.
By streamlining the video editing process, it allows you to create quick videos that are presentable and engaging easily. It has integration with iStock, so you get a library of high-quality stock images to work with. It also has facial recognition, filters, effects, and auto-cropping to better create your own videos. Magisto is compatible with Android and iOS.
Digiarty VideoProc
While not meant to be a video editor, Digiarty VideoProc is a media converter that has basic video editing capabilities. It’s mostly used to convert video and audio into different formats, which makes it handy for anyone who deals with a lot of video in some way. If you need to make some edits with a video you’re looking to convert, you can do just that within Digiarty VideoProc.
It lets you trim, mirror, flip merge, and add subtitles. While it doesn’t have more advanced video editing features like overlays and fancy fonts, it does have a small effects library that lets you add vignettes and do lens correction. Digiarty VideoProc is compatible with Windows and Mac.
Wondershare Filmora
Perhaps the fastest-growing video editor on the market right now, Wondershare Filmora is very underrated when it comes to both its ease of use and set of features. Not only is it inexpensive, but the user interface is also friendly and sleek, making it quite welcoming for beginners.
It has tons of effects and overlays, as well as solid title and text tools, so it stays useful once you get better with video editing. It’s also performed well in rendering tests, so you can crank out videos with this editor easily. If you’re editing on a computer, the Wondershare Filmora is great.
However, if you’re on mobile platforms, you’ll find the interface to not be fit for touchscreens. Also, compared to its rivals, its effect-tweaking tools are lacking. The software itself also tends to crash quite a bit. Finally, if you’re still into DVD authoring, those features are absent in this program.