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The Best Free YouTube Video Editor

If you want to post some great videos on YouTube to attract more viewers or become a more professional YouTuber, then picking a great editing tool to create brilliant YouTube videos is essential.

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Alice Estelle
Updated on Apr 21, 2023

Pick the one you are most satisfied with from this list of the best free YouTube video editor and start creating your work!

A good video editor can help you create or produce professional YouTube videos by providing the tools necessary for editing video content. The ability to edit and enhance video content is essential for creating professional YouTube videos. Using a video editor, you may add special effects, color correction, and other aspects to the video that will make it stand out and attract viewers' attention. With a wide variety of editing tools, users can customize the video's visuals to match their vision.

The option to add captions and subtitles to YouTube videos is another advantage of utilizing a video editor, as doing so enables viewers to comprehend the video's content in their own language. In conclusion, an excellent video editor can empower its customers with all the tools they need to produce professional-quality movies rapidly, all while saving them time and money by doing away with the need for additional, more expensive software and hardware.

Now we will give a glimpse of some best free YouTube video editors and try to figure out which one suits the best for you.

1. iMovies

G2 User Rating: 4.3/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Mac

iMovie is a powerful, yet easy-to-use, free video editing software for Mac users. It comes with all the tools you need to create stunning, professional-looking videos, from editing tools such as cut and split to audio and video effects, titles and transitions. It also includes tools for sharing and exporting your work to YouTube, Facebook, and other popular platforms.

With iMovie, you can create videos from photos and videos stored on your Mac, or from a library of free stock footage, music, and sound effects. You can even add voice-overs and background music. The downside is that it is only available for Mac users, so if you are using a Windows PC, you will need to look elsewhere.

Pros:

  • Supports a variety of media formats, including 4K and HD
  • Includes a library of music and sound effects
  • Compatible with other Apple products such as iCloud, Airplay, and iTunes

Cons:

  • Limited to Mac computers, so Windows users are excluded
  • No automatic backup or cloud storage for projects

2. Lightworks

G2 User Rating: 3.5/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Mac, Linux, Windows

Lightworks is a free-to-use video editor designed for professionals and amateurs alike. It is available for Windows, Linux and MacOS, and has been used to edit movies like The Wolf of Wall Street and Mission Impossible. It provides users with a wide range of advanced tools, such as multi-track editing, a wide range of effects, timeline-based editing, color grading, and advanced media management.

It also supports various popular file formats, such as AVI, MP4 and MOV. With Lightworks, you can also share your edited videos directly to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, making it an ideal choice for creating high quality social media content. Lightworks can be used to create professional-looking videos in no time and requires no advanced editing knowledge.

Pros:

  • Multi-track timeline to easily rearrange clips
  • Supports 4K resolution video editing
  • Supports multi-cam editing

Cons:

  • Its interface and workflow can be a bit complex for beginners
  • Does not support 360° video editing
  • No real-time previews

3. HitFilm Express

G2 User Rating: 4.5/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Mac, Windows

Hitfilm (previously known as Hitfilm Express) Video Editor is available free on both Windows and Mac OS. With its robust timeline editing capabilities, you can easily edit and combine footage from multiple sources. Plus, its array of powerful and unique features, such as the Action Cam Tool, 4K support, and 3D compositing, make it a great choice for YouTubers.

Its timeline-based interface makes it easy to splice and layer clips and create stunning visuals, and its export options ensure that your videos are ready for any platform or audience. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced video editor, Hitfilm Video Editor has something to offer everyone.

Pros:

  • Offer Auto-stabilizer for smoothness
  • Supports Chroma Key feature
  • Includes layers and masking features
  • Available motion tracking features

Cons:

  • More advanced features require significant learning curve
  • Rendering can be slow and unreliable
  • Requires powerful computer

4. VideoPad

G2 User Rating: 4.1/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Windows, Mac

VideoPad features a drag-and-drop interface that makes editing easier and faster. It also includes a timeline editor that allows users to edit and preview their videos in real-time. Other features of VideoPad include a library of royalty-free music and sound effects, support for a variety of video and audio formats, and the ability to export videos in a range of popular formats.

VideoPad is also available on Android, making it a truly cross-platform compatible video editor. The downside of VideoPad is its lack of advanced features, such as motion tracking and motion graphics. However, for most users, these drawbacks are minor and easily outweighed by the ease of use and the abundance of features available.

Pros:

  • Very simple and basic editing features
  • Simple split screen editing feature
  • Optimize camera shaking

Cons:

  • No motion tracking capability
  • No support for Green Screen Effect
  • No advance editing features

5. OpenShot

G2 User Rating: 4.4/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Mac, Linux, Windows

OpenShot Video Editor is an open-source, non-linear video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows. It is a free video editing tool with a wide range of features and capabilities, including 3D animations, audio mixing, video effects, and support for a variety of file formats. OpenShot's special features include timeline editing, keyframe animation, unlimited tracks/layers, clip resizing/scaling, trimming and slicing, video transitions, and a wide range of video effects.

The biggest drawback of OpenShot Video Editor is that it is not as powerful as some of its competitors, such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. Additionally, the user interface can be a bit clunky and unintuitive at times.

Pros:

  • Very easy drag and drop feature
  • Very light software
  • Abundance of watermark free layers

Cons:

  • Crushing and lagging is very common
  • Slow to render larger projects

6. Shotcut

G2 User Rating: 4.4/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Mac, Linux, Windows

Shotcut is a free, open-source video editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is a non-linear video editor that features a wide range of tools and features, including support for various audio and video formats, various color grading tools, support for transition effects, and much more. It also supports batch processing, allowing you to edit multiple files at once.

However, one of the drawbacks of Shotcut is that it lacks some features that professional video editors have, such as support for complex effects, advanced audio editing capabilities, and support for 3D video.

Pros:

  • Fully open-source platform
  • Simple drag and drop feature
  • Supports a wide range of formats, including 4K and 3D videos

Cons:

  • Not effective for advanced editing
  • No third-party sharing options available

7. Windows Video Editor

G2 User Rating: 2.5/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Windows

Windows Video Editor is a free video editing tool for Windows 10 users. It is easy to use and has a simple user interface. It includes features such as timeline-based video editing, drag and drop capabilities, image and video effects, and simple audio editing tools. It also supports a variety of file types, including MP4, AVI, WMV, and more.

The downside of this software is that it is limited in its capabilities and does not have any advanced editing tools. Additionally, there is no support for 3D editing or video stabilization.

Pros:

  • Easy to use and accessible for users who are not familiar with editing programs
  • Free to use and can be accessed with a Windows computer
  • Integrated with other Windows programs, such as Photos and Movies & TV

Cons:

  • Lacks advanced features such as multi-track editing, transitions, and animation
  • Limited support for non-Windows video formats
  • Can be unreliable and crash unexpectedly

8. DaVinci Resolve

G2 User Rating: 4.7/5

Watermark: No

Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac

DaVinci Resolve is professional-level video editing software used by filmmakers and editors around the world. It features a modern, intuitive user interface, powerful editing tools, and advanced color grading capabilities. It offers robust support for multiple video formats, wide-ranging audio capabilities, and extensive 3D integration.

Its biggest advantage is its ability to grade footage in real-time, as well as its ability to collaborate with other editors and colorists remotely. The only drawback is its steep learning curve, but with a little practice, users can become proficient in no time.

Pros:

  • Offers multi-cam editing and advanced color correction
  • Supports a wide range of video formats, including popular ones like H.264, ProRes, AVCHD, etc.
  • Offers facial recognition and picture-in-picture features

Cons:

  • Need a powerful computer to run smoothly
  • Requires a learning curve that can be quite steep for beginners
About Alice Estelle
Alice Estelle has been a newspaper editor and a book editor with extensive writing experience. She also has deep research in the field of mobile software and is keen on exploring and solving various problems of iOS and Android systems.
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