- The editing capabilities that this software has make it the best Mac video editing app. Extract photos from a video, trim any unwanted scenes and make the video look sharp and professional with just a few clicks.
- Best From Hobbyist to Pro: Final Cut Pro X at Apple.com, “A video editing software that you can use even if you don’t have much experience.” Most Accessible Apple Editor: Apple iMovie at Apple.com, “If you haven’t done video editing before, this is a good place to get started before moving on to more serious software.”.
HitFilm Express
Balancing creativity, ease of use and performance is a trade-off, but HitFilm remains an inspired software package brimming with features, and paired with a dynamic website offering an abundance of fun, funky training videos.
Best for Mac UsersApple iMovie 10.1.8
CyberLink PowerDirector 16 is the best video editing software for Windows, featuring a dazzling array of tricks and treats; plus, it's great for editing 360-degree videos, too. 10 Best Laptop for Video Editing 2018 (Black Friday) Last updated on November 6, 2018 By Jay Bokhiria 207 Comments Here I have listed best laptop for video editing 2018 under $1000, $800, $700, $600, and $500. If you’re looking for a useful video editing software for Mac, you’ve landed at the right place. So, without wasting any extra minute, let’s explore these 15 best software to edit videos on Mac you would like to sink your teeth into. 15 Best Video Editing Software for Mac in 2018 1. Yes, it surely had to be #1 on this list.
iMovie is the ultimate Mac video app for novice filmmakers, combining professional trailers and themes, abundant special effects, and an easy-to-learn interface.
Surely the best video editing software for Mac lovers and do read the review below for extra information on Final Cut Pro X. Read – Final Cut Pro Review. Corel VideoStudio Ultimate 2018 (For Beginners – easy & simple interface,Price: $98.38) Platform: Windows only. Make your most engaging movies ever with VideoStudio Pro X10. The best professional video editing software is compatible with whatever camera, media type and file format you happen to be working with. In our evaluation, we found that every program can import and export all popular video file types, including proprietary files found on cameras and in software.
Best for Beginners/Social MediaVideoPad
Beginners looking for a free app to quickly edit and output a movie to YouTube or other social networks should check out VideoPad.
Unless you're editing the next Star Wars trilogy, there's no reason to spend a fortune—or anything, for that matter—on video editing software for your Mac or PC. While there are many reasonably priced video-editing suites, going for less than $100, completely free or freemium editing packages can accomplish most or all of what some of the paid software packages can do.
After testing numerous suites, our favorite free video editing software is HitFilm Express for its lavish cinematic capabilities and high-powered interface. Our favorite video editor for Mac owners, Apple's iMovie, is a no-brainer choice, because of its macOS integration, top-notch output, professional themes and trailers, and support for professional shooting and editing techniques.
Best Overall
HitFilm Express
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
Hitfilm Express's high-energy style appeals to budding filmmakers who want to put a special touch on a personal event or get creative with a video blog, but it's still easy enough for the adventurous friends-and-family crowd. The one concession you have to make is that you have to give the software maker a shout out on social media in order to download the free app.
New features include animation keyframing in the editor, motion blur, enhanced preview options, a new layout panel, improved masking in composite shots, additional workspaces and new export features.
Other great features include the ability to create your own lightsaber battles, support for 4K video, as well as such features as 3D effects, 360-degree video editing and lens distortion correction from action cameras. Our one quibble is that some features, such as picture-in-picture and animated text require a $9.99 expansion pack.
As with previous versions, HitFilm wasn't the fastest at encoding videos, but that's a trade-off we're willing to make for such an expansive feature set.
Editor's Note: Since our initial review, HitFilm has been updated to version 12.3; improvements GPU-accelerated decoding on Nvidia and Intel graphics cards, changes to the interface, and native support for Dolby AC3 audio.
MORE: HitFilm Express Full Review
Best for Mac Users
Apple iMovie 10.1.8
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
iMovie is the Mac-based amateur filmmaker’s best friend, delivering themes, Hollywood-style trailers and video effects with minimalistic panache, a cinematic flair, and deep integration and optimization with the Mac OS. Recent updates tweaked the interface and added Touch Bar support for the latest MacBooks.
While you can now edit and share 4K videos, iMovie lacks features found in other free apps, such as the ability to edit 360-degree video, multicam editing and motion tracking. You also have limited control over output settings.
Because it's so deeply entwined with the macOS, iMovie was one of the fastest apps when it came to encoding video. Once that's finished, it also gives you plenty of sharing options: You can upload directly to YouTube and Vimeo, and share any video frame as an image. When you couple iMovie with iMovie Theater and iCloud, you can also view your creations on any Apple device or via Apple TV.
Editor's Note: Now on version 10.1.12, you can no longer share movies to iMovie Theater; you have to save your movies to iCloud Photos to watch them on other devices including Apple TV. On a previous update, Apple has removed the ability to share videos directly to Facebook, but has added an option to export Facebook-compatible videos, which you can then manually upload.
MORE: Apple iMovie 10.1.8 Full Review
Best for Beginners/Social Media
Best Mac For Video Production
VideoPad
Best Mac For Video Editing 2017
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
This free video editor makes it a cinch to export your creations to YouTube, Facebook, Dropbox, Flickr, Google Drive and an assortment of mobile devices through a simple pull-down menu. You have to sign in to these services first. And while YouTube uploaded directly to my channel without incident, you may have to save your video to your hard drive with social media specs and then upload to the social network yourself.
Compared to HitFilm's high-energy interface, VideoPad has a simple, soothing look which makes it more approachable for novices. It works with both Macs and PCs and still lets you edit 360-degree video with the same ease as you would traditional movies, though adding text to 360-degree clips can be a bit tricky. VideoPad also lacks some of the advanced features you'll find with HitFilm, like multicam editing, high-end special effects and motion tracking, but you can purchase a number of add-ons to expand VideoPad's feature set.
Our biggest issue with VideoPad was not knowing which features were disabled in the free version versus the trial and paid versions. We found VideoPad to be a bit slower on our transcoding tests than Hitfilm, too. But that may not matter for those looking for an app that they can use to quickly and easily edit video and then upload to the social media outlet of their choice.
MORE: VideoPad Full Review
DaVinci Resolve 15
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
A powerful pro-level app, cross platform you’ll want to use a system with discrete graphics to get the most out of this editor.
The latest version of DaVinci incorporates Fusion, previously a stand-alone application, which brings with it four high-end video-production modules for editing, color correction, audio production, and video effects and motion graphics. This video editor is quite powerful, but has a bit of a learning curve. If its 256-page manual doesn't intimidate you, high-level enthusiasts will find a lot of tools at their disposal.
Editor's Note: DaVinci Resolve 16 is now available, and includes such new features as facial recognition, fast export to YouTube and Vimeo, and 3D audio.
Also Reviewed
VSDC
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
VSDC is not bad for basic edits, but its interface has a learning curve, and it lacks some popular features.
Shotcut
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
Shotcut has a ton of features, but is not as intuitive to use as other programs.
Why You Should Trust Us
We have been testing the leading consumer video-editing suites, both free and paid, for several years. With such knowledge, we can compare things like performance, interfaces and features, and improvements in the various suites over time.
The reviewer, Jackie Dove, is an obsessive, insomniac freelance tech writer and editor in Northern California. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, photo-app fanatic and VR/AR/3D aficionado, her specialties include cross-platform hardware and software, art, design, photography, video, and a wide range of creative and productivity apps and systems.
What to Look for in a Free Video Editor
The Definition of Free: There's free and then there's freemium. Some software, like iMovie, is genuinely free. But just as some video-editing packages are sold in tiers — with more-expensive versions offering more and expanded features — a freemium video program may just be the lowest level of a paid version. Or it may be a trial version that hobbles the end product in various ways, like putting a huge watermark on your video or limiting output formats.
But there are variations on this theme. HitFilm, VideoPad, DaVinci Resolve and VSDC, for example, offer paid versions with high-end features that most consumers probably won't miss, but otherwise allow for full use of the basic program.
MORE: The Best Video Editing Software Under $100
Another hidden 'cost' is periodic or even constant in-line advertising or reminders that an upgrade is available. Our favorite program, HitFilm, never pushes an upgrade on you, but it makes you go through a social media and authorizing song and dance to download the product or switch computers. VideoPad (on the Mac) makes you verify at every launch that you are using the free version for noncommercial purposes.
Both DaVinci and VSDC mix paid features in their basic programs, but they do not explicitly mark these features as such. However, if you try to use them, you'll get an error message and an ad. We can't fault the software companies for trying to get users on board with paid versions, but just be warned that such annoyances are the hidden cost of otherwise-free video apps.
Those looking for a powerful editor with a huge variety of built-in resources and responsive technical support may be better off dropping some cash on a consumer video-editing program, like award winners Adobe Premiere Elements, CyberLink PowerDirector or Corel VideoStudio. However, first consider trying out software such as HitFilm Express 2017, VideoPad, DaVinci Resolve or VSDC, which offer all of the basics for free, and then purchasing additional features à la carte or simply upgrade as your experience and needs grow.
Basic Features: The watchword with free apps is often which one offers the best combination of technically complex software for which you would otherwise have to shell out the big bucks. All video editors should, at the very least, have some combination of familiar features like a viewer or playback window, library, timeline, and access to transitions and effects.
Tech support and documentation: One of the big distinctions between paid and free software is the level of documentation and tech support; paid software has more-explicit and -detailed documentation and guides than the free versions. That said, many software packages post instructional videos of the most popular features to YouTube, and more-complex free packages may offer extensive documentation.
Many independent vendors, who are often sole proprietors in charge of the software, make themselves available to users via social media and email to assist with problems, troubleshoot, take suggestions and criticism, and otherwise oversee the software. Programs with intuitive interfaces and tool-tip hints, and even built-in tutorials to greet new users, make free software popular.
System requirements: Many free software packages technically serve most consumer hardware systems with integrated graphics, as opposed to more-powerful discrete graphics cards. If you have a consumer machine like a MacBook or a Windows laptop with integrated graphics, make sure your machine is powerful enough to run them efficiently.
Export options: Another area where free meets inconvenience may be at the tail end of the project, when you want to export your video, only to discover that the free version will not output to your desired format. Before you start using a free package, make sure that it will save your video to the platform and resolution you need, whether your video will eventually wind up on YouTube or on a Blu-ray disc.
iPhones are steadily becoming more powerful, and capable of highly intensive tasks. With that, the camera in these smartphones has also improved to an extent that we can even shoot 4K videos. All these capabilities make iPhones highly capable of handling both shooting videos, and editing them. In fact, the latest iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are powered by Apple A12 Bionic chip which is rivaling the performance prowess of Intel chips used in our laptops. Today, you can not only shoot but edit and publish your videos directly from your iPhone. Keeping that in mind, we are listing out 10 best video editing apps for iPhone which you an use to produce your own professional videos in 2019.
Best Video Editing Apps for iPhone in 2019
1. LumaFusion
When it comes to video editing on iPhone, no other app comes even close to the feature set that is packed inside LumaFusion. It is the only outright paid app on this list and it deserve every cent. The app is not only used by YouTubers but even mobile journalists and professional video producers who don’t want to carry heavy camera gear and editing rig where they go.
One of the unique selling points of LumaFusion is its UI. The app looks really clean with no ads or annoying popups to hamper your experience. What I love most about LumaFusion is that it not only allows users to edit videos in landscape mode but also portrait mode. Not only that, you can easily switch between the two modes without any hiccup. This comes helpful as the app supports a variety of video aspect ratios including landscape, portrait, square, film, and more.
Talking about features, LumaFusion supports up to 6 video and audio tracks for for photos, videos, audio, titles and graphics with an additional 6 audio tracks narration, music and sound effects. You also get a magnetic timeline which makes it really easy to manipulate clips once they are imported. There’s dozens of transitions and effects with the ability to layer effects. Finally, it also comes with dozens of royalty free music, sound effects, and more. If you really need a professional grade video editing app for your iPhone, you should definitely buy LumaFusion.
Download LumaFusion from the App Store ($14.99)
2. iMovie
iMovie is a part of Apple’s own suite of products for iOS (and macOS), and is a great video editor app for iPhone that you can try. While you may want to use a more powerful editing software on your Mac, iMovie is more than capable of handling video editing on the iPhone. The app is included with the newer generations of iPhones, and you can use it right out of the box to make some awesome videos directly on your iPhone.
With iMovie, you can import your videos, and photos into projects, and edit them in a highly intuitive environment. You can slice videos, arrange them around on the timeline, and even add transitions (basic ones) to the video. Scrubbing through a project in iMovie is highly intuitive as well: you just drag your finger across the screen.
You can even add filters, and themes to the project. iMovie will also let you add text overlays, and filters to individual clips in the project.
All in all, the app is definitely one of the best ways to edit videos on your iPhone, and you should definitely check it out.
Download iMovie from the App Store (Free)
3. Videoshop
Videoshop is a powerful video editor for iPhone, that will let you perform a plethora of operations on your videos. You can record clips directly from within the app, or import them from your camera roll. Once you have done that, you can add text to the clip, add narration, merge multiple clips into one, and a lot more. You can also add tilt shift to the video, and add transitions between multiple clips. The tool is definitely very powerful, and you can perform a lot of manipulations on your videos using Videoshop.
Once you’re done with the editing, the app compiles the video, and you can add themes, and filters to the finished video, as well as add a title, author name, and much more. The app also offers the ability to export the completed video to Dropbox, Photos, or share on platforms like Vimeo, Instagram, YouTube, and many more.
Download Videoshop from App Store (Free, with in-app purchases)
Best Mac Video Editor 2018
4. Splice
Splice is a video editor from GoPro, the company behind some of the world’s best action cameras. You can import your photos and videos into the app, to edit them into a movie. The way the app works is simple: you just import the videos that you want to edit, and mark the important parts (Hilights, as the app calls them) of the video. You can then add music to the video, and then the app automatically clips the entire video according to the Hilights that you marked.
You can then crop, add effects and text to the video. You can also change the transitions between two Hilights. Once you’re done with the edits, you can share the video with links, or directly to popular services such as YouTube, Facebook, etc. You can even save the video to your camera roll. The app is a simple, yet powerful video editor that you should definitely try out on your iPhone.
Download Splice from the App Store (Free with in-app purchases)
5. InShot Video Editor
InShot is an easy to use video editor for your iPhone which brings tons of features. The app allows you to edit both photos and videos and also create video collages. When it comes to editing, you will find all the basic editing tools here such as cut, trim, delete, merge, adjust video, and more. You can also add your own music or select from its own free music options. The app is also good for Instagram users as it allows you to edit square videos perfect for Instagram.
The app also comes with lots of sound effects and supports voice over layering. There’s also support for stickers, emojis, filters, effects, transitions, color correction, and more. One important feature of Inshot Video Editor is that it also allows you to rotate and flip videos which comes in really handy in certain specific scenarios. Overall, this is a really good video editing app. The only flaw of the app that I find annoying is that the free version runs ads. If you can handle that, you are going to enjoy using this one.
Download from the App Store (Free, with in-app purchases)
6. Cameo
Cameo is another really good video editor app for iPhone, developed by the folks over at Vimeo. The app offers very basic video editing capabilities, but works really well. The interface is clean, and intuitive, and if you just want to perform a couple of basic edits on your video, Cameo is the perfect option. The app can import photos and videos from the camera roll, and you can easily trim them, add music, themes, and more. You can even adjust the intensity of the theme applied to the video, to get the perfect effect.
Once you’re done with the editing, you can share the video to Vimeo (if you’re logged in to the app), or you can save it to your camera roll. The app supports exporting videos in 720p, 1080p, and 4K resolutions, as well.
Download Cameo from the App Store (Free)
7. Quik
Quik is another iPhone video editor app from GoPro. With Quik, you can quickly create good looking videos with just a few taps. The app has the option to import photos and videos from the photo library, or your Facebook, or Instagram account. Once you’ve selected the photos and videos you want to edit, you get the option to add Hilights to the video clips (just like in Splice). However, you get the options to change the format between cinema, and square. Also, you can change the background music for the video, as well add a plethora of filters to the video. Quik also has the option to add a title to the video.
Once you’re done, you can simply save the video, and upload it to Instagram, Facebook, etc. You can even directly share it on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc. Obviously, you can add the edited video to your photos library, as well.
Download Quik from the App Store (Free)
8. KineMaster Video Editor
KineMaster Video Editor is one of the best iPhone Video editing apps that you can use. The app offers professional level editing tools and yet makes it easy to start your video editing journey. One of the good things about this app is that it supports landscape, portrait, and square video formats. So whether you are editing your family video, a video for YouTube or for Instagram, you can edit your videos using KineMaster. Another good thing about this app is that even the free version doesn’t show any ads.
Talking about the editing features, it sports a multi-track timeline which means you can add more than one video and audio tracks. You can add background music or record voice-over right there in the app itself. There’s a built-in asset store where you can both free and paid music, clip graphics, fonts, stickers, transitions, and more to enhance your video. Other features include auto audio ducking, speed control for time lapse, and keyframe animation among other things. This is a feature rich video editing app for iPhone and one of the best ones you can find on the App Store.
Download from the App Store (Free, with in-app purchases)
9. Video Crop
Video Crop is a video editor app for iPhone that performs only one task – cropping videos. If you have a video that you want to crop, and you want an app that can do it quickly and smoothly, you should definitely check out Video Crop. The interface is very intuitive. You simply choose the video you want to crop, and then you can select the area you want to crop.
You can crop in free ratio, or you can select a fixed ratio from the top menu. The app also supports custom ratios, so no matter what ratio you want the video to be in, Video Crop has you covered.
Download Video Crop from the App Store (Free, in app purchases)
10. Magisto
Magisto is a very simple video editor app. With this app, you don’t get any features such as adding text overlays, tilt shifts, etc to your video. However, the charm of this app lies in its simplicity. Within the app, you can import your photos and videos, and choose a theme for the video. There are a number of themes available, such as dance, among many others. Once you’ve done that, you get the option to add music to the video, as well as options to decide how long you want the video to be.
You can even add a title to the video at this point. Once you’re done, the app automatically starts making the video, and sends a notification when it’s done. You don’t have any extra level of control over the video, but that’s exactly what you may need at times.
Download Magisto from the App Store (Free, with in-app purchases)
SEE ALSO: 10 Best iPhone Camera Apps You Should Use in 2019
Easily Edit Videos with these Video Editor Apps for iPhone
The latest iPhones are quite capable of handling video editing, even if you’re editing 4K videos shot with your phone. You can easily use any of these apps to edit your videos, and get the perfect movie to share with the world. So, have you ever wanted to edit videos on your iPhone? If so, what app did you use to do it. Also, if you know of any other app that deserves to be on this list, do let us know about it in the comments section below.