Ten Best YouTube Video Editing Software 2023.
I have been doing YouTube for the last 7 years and have tried several video editing programs after going from 0-250k subscriptions. I started with a free movie editor for Windows, then tried a few intermediate ones like Power Director, Sony Vegas, and finally, as soon as I got a Mac, I settled on Final Cut Pro.
So, everything in this article is based on my many years of experience using all video editors without exception. However, if you are looking for a more detailed guide, skip this article. Here I will write more about the general work of a video editor – for example, which one to choose. If you want to know what format and codec the video editor supports, you can always check the specifications on their website.
If you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to read the entire article, watch the following video on the best video editing software for YouTube.
Related: 8 Places to Find Free Music for YouTube Videos
A grade video editing software
Now, when it comes to video editing, different people have different needs. Some people just want to combine multiple clips and finish. While others need complete control over the editing process such as advanced color grading, magnetic timeline, keyboard shortcuts, chroma, etc.
So, to keep things simple, I’ve divided this video into 3 parts.
An entry-level video editing software where all you can do is merge or split two clips, add background music, and some animation. This is for people who want to make simple slideshows. You can run this software on almost any entry-level computer or even a laptop.
Mid-range video editing software – where you can do a little more than just merge two clips; for example, text animations, cool transitions, and layer support. This is good for people looking for a decent YouTube video editor. Although, you will need a laptop or mid-range computer for this program to run smoothly.
Advanced Video Editing Software – These video editors are powerful and stable enough to create an entire movie. They have almost every feature you will ever need in a video editing program. But these perks are often expensive and require some training.
So let’s try to pick one of the best video editing software from each category.
Related: How to Connect USB Microphone to Smartphone to Record Video
Entry-level video editing software
Is Window Movie Maker still working?
Many tech blogs on the Internet still offer Windows Movie Maker as the best video editor for beginners. But, unfortunately, those days are over. As of 2017, Microsoft has not only added Movie Maker support but is no longer available for download. And yes, I tried downloading it from other sources and it doesn’t work.
1. Shotcut
It is the closest Windows Movie Maker alternative. But unlike Movie Maker, which only works for Windows, shortcut also works for Mac and Linux.
But how good is that?
Well, I tested this application on Windows, so I’m going to cover only that, but overall the application is not bad. The first time you open the app, only one large window appears. There is no timeline or library. But after watching some tutorial videos I was able to get it to work.
As with any traditional video editing software, in Shotcut, you first import your clips by dragging and dropping them into your library and then moving them to your timeline. Basic options are available such as trim and join two clips. You can also change the playback speed, add layers (not supported in Windows Movie Maker), background music or voiceover, and multiple text transitions.
Price – Free
Platform – Windows, Mac, Linux
2. iMovie
If you’re wealthy enough to own a MacBook or iMac, then look no further than iMovie. This is a free video editor that comes preinstalled on macOS. The best thing about iMovie is that it is so intuitive that even a computer savvy person can understand all of iMovie’s features in just 30 minutes.
When you first launch the application, it asks you if you want to create a movie from a ready-made template or to do everything from scratch. In the first option, you just have to drag and drop your files and iMovie will take care of everything from transitions to music, everything. But for the most part, you want to start with the second option, that is, without themes.
If you search for “ how to edit YouTube videos †on YouTube, you will find many popular YouTube channels with millions of subscribers who still use iMovie for all of their work. So, it’s safe to say that iMovie has all the basic features you can expect from a video editor. I can even include iMovie in my video editing program.
However, there are several drawbacks, one is that it is only available for Mac, there is no way to run it on Windows, and secondly, since it belongs to Mac, it does not work with all audio/video formats. For example, you cannot import a .avi file directly into iMovie.
Price – Free
Platform – Mac only
An average video editing program
3. Movavi
I think Movavi is a polished shot. I used the word polish because, unlike Shotcut, Movavi is more intuitive, has more features, and costs $ 40.
I made a detailed video about Movavi, so I will not explain its features in detail. But what I really like about this app is that it has a simple interface with some advanced features like modern text animations, transitions, chroma, playback speed, etc.
The only complaint about Movavi is that there is no way to import media files in the library. So, whatever you import goes straight into your timeline, making it difficult to work with larger projects.
Overall, if you want a decent video editor on a tight budget, Movavi is a good combination of simplicity and features.
Price – Free
Platform – Windows, Mac
Download Movavi ($ 40 / Free 7-Day Trial)
4. Filmora
If you want a more powerful video editor than Movavi, try FilmoraGo. In terms of features, it is pretty much the same as Movavi, but when used with software, it seemed more reliable than Movavi.
It comes with all the main features like – magnetic timeline, cut, trim, transitions and effects, etc. The best thing about Filmora 9 is that you can use all the software’s features for free, but the processed video has a watermark that can be removed with a $ 59 license.
Price – Free check with watermark
Platform – Windows only
Download Filmora ($ 59 / Free Trial)
5. PowerDirector
If you want a more powerful video editor than Movavi, try PowerDirector. It’s only available for Windows (sorry Mac users) and costs around $ 70 with discounts.
I used PowerDirector for a full 2 ​​years before switching to macOS, and if I remember correctly, many popular YouTube users like Tim Scholfield still use PowerDirector today.
PowerDirector has all the advanced features you will ever need. For example – trim, cut, join, layer supports, animation, video effect, etc. You name it and PowerDirector has it. They also recently added support for 360-degree video and 4K, although most of the video editors in this category don’t.
All in all, if you’re looking forward to investing in some long-term video editor, it’s easy to learn, has all the basic features, and doesn’t require an extremely powerful system, t then PowerDirector makes sense.
Price – Free
Platform – Windows only
Download PowerDirector ($ 70/30-Day Free Trial)
6. Da Vinci Black Magic 12.5 solution
To be honest, I didn’t use DaVinci Resolve very well as it was released after I finally settled for Final Cut Pro on Mac, but I tested it with a few of my YouTube videos and they turned out to be good.
Da Vinci’s determination is like a dream come true for video editors looking for powerful video editing software for free. This program is much more powerful and feature-rich than PowerDirector and is still available for both Windows and macOS for free.
So what is the play here?
Well, for example, Da Vinci Resolve is built for professional video editing, so it requires a powerful system to work. Even my fairly powerful Windows PC (with 8GB of RAM, i5, and dedicated graphics) was not powerful enough for DaVinci Resolve. The program crashed several times and the rendering took a long time.
In terms of features, Da Vinci resolve has all the additional features you will ever need in a video editor. They are quite tough in terms of color correction, as they have a separate option for that.
But then how can we get professional video editing software for free? What’s the catch?
Well, first of all, the app is free. The latest version is Da Vinci Resolve 14, which is a paid version, however, Da Vince decides that 12 is free and has almost all the features that the paid version has.
The reason they offer reliable video editing software for free is that they want to compete with the big players like After Effects and Final Cut Pro. And before they do that, they first need a good user base. Especially for students who want to study this program. Something like why Adobe tolerates Photoshop piracy. Submit it now for free and earn money for organizations later.
But anyway, I want to say that if you are looking for a reliable video editor for free, then Da Vinci Resolve is your best choice, although remember, you need a powerful system to run this program.
Price – Free
Platform – Windows, Mac, Linux
How to download Da Vinci Resolve for free?
As I said, only Da Vinci Resolve 12 is free and it’s not easy to find them. If you have a Mac, you get DaVinci Resolve 12.5.6 from iTunes (it’s free) or for Windows and Linux, go to their official site, scroll down and find DaVinci Resolve 12.5, it should be free. You may have to fill in your email address before downloading it, which is perfectly fair in my opinion.
Advanced video editing software
7. Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere is the de facto video editing standard. Almost every advanced video editor on Windows uses Adobe Premiere Pro for their editing needs.
Although the program is available for both Windows and Mac, I do not consider it to be optimized for the Mac version. It is also quite expensive. Adobe Premiere Pro with Creative Pack is around $ 240 / year (yes, the price is too high)
Premiere Pro now has thousands of features, and it doesn’t make sense to talk about it, because if such a thing exists, it may already be present in Premiere Pro. But I personally find Adobe Premiere Pro not intuitive.
I personally think Final Cut is better than Adobe Premiere Pro, however, both of these video editing programs target 2 whole separate markets. We’ll move on to FCP in a little while, but for Premiere Pro, there are two main reasons you want to learn it.
- This gives you more control over each frame, as we see in the in-game theory channel.
- If you plan to stay in the Adobe ecosystem like Illustrator, After Effects, etc., because then you can directly import the project file from After Effects to Premiere Pro.
Price – 240 $ / year.
Platform – Windows, Mac
Download Adobe Premiere Pro (30-day free trial)
8. Final Cut Pro X
A lot of people ask my video editing system in YouTube comments. And well, this is Final Cut Pro. I have been using FCP for the past 2 years and have no plans to switch to it anytime soon. I can go on and talk about its features. But the real reason the creator prefers FCP is the render times. The hardware/software optimization is so good that everything works like butter. There is not even an option to save the project, as it automatically saves everything.
That said, if you have macOS and are looking for a long-term video editor, then FCP is the best program for crisp yet simple video editing. It’s also a lot less expensive than Premiere Pro and only costs $ 300 for life.
Price – one-time fee 300 $
Platform – Mac only
Download Final Cut Pro (30-day free trial)
Conclusion: the best video editing software
If you want a simple video editor that gets the job done quickly, then go for shortcut (Windows) or iMovie (if you have a Mac). For a more balanced video editing program, I would recommend PowerDirector
And if you need more control over every aspect of editing, choose Adobe Premiere Pro. Or FCP, if you have a Mac and need something that just works. I personally use FCP on my iMac and have no plans to upgrade to anything else anytime soon.
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