Top Free Video Editors 2023

Just to say a big thank you for this video, it helped me choose the best video editing software for my old laptop and my limited knowledge.
I went for Kdenlive and I am very happy with it.

Thank you good Sir for your excellent research and explanation, keep doing precise videos such as this one.

Hello. what are the computer parameters for DaVinci Resolve? This is the budget version. 4 cores, 16 gb ram, 4 Gb graphics. is it enough for 30 minutes of video?

Very useful, will try Kdenlive. As a non-pro who has been editing since the days of S-VHS videotape, I loved Serif Movieplus during the early 2000s (paid but cheap) and was sad when it went out of business. Still using the final version (X6) today. Have attempted DaVinci at least 4 times, but abandon it every time due to unpleasant user experience. Would like to know which of the reviewed programs has built-in stabilise - Movieplus does. Wonder who if anyone now owns Movieplus code, wish someone would continue development. Bemused by Microsoft Clipchamp, silly featureless program, unusable offline. Why on earth doesn't Microsoft, with all its resources, develop a decent video editor? They could ship it with Windows and gain a vast and increasing user base.

An excellent review Chris. I tend to watch your videos based on the theme in which my current interests lie. As I'm now constructing a home office/studio to begin content creation...here I am. Four months late but thoroughly enjoying another well-put-together production.

You said you use Kdenlive on your laptop, but what do you use on your main production machine? What is your personal favorite? Seeing that university professors are fabulously wealthy, I'm sure it's a top-shelf application. Yet this common man is still interested. 😅

Wait........is it Shortcut or Shotcut?

I love Flowblade. It handles like the older versions of Premiere with which I taught myself how to edit video and it's as reliable as a block of granite.

Dang Brits... there's no way of knowing if your saying Free or Three.

Thank you

Great suggestions. Unfortunately DaVinci Resolve and I did not start off on a good footing. It kept giving me the dreaded Media Offline warning as soon as I dragged any media into the program. How is that even possible? My computer is not very old and runs very smoothly. So, I started with Shotcut and now I am also using Capcut.

While Capcut has a lot of features, it does not have the two features I need on a regular basis: (1) a lens distortion corrector (fisheye and pincushion) and (2) a graphic equaliser for sound. These are the two drawbacks. Otherwise, Capcut is a pretty good software.

Thank you for the informative content

After watching this video a week ago, I have switched to Shotcut from the dreaded 2012 Windows Movie Maker. Still getting used to its interface but I really enjoy for its functionality, the features and my slow build up to a workflow from a "person who does video editing as a hobby" mindset. Other free video editors (to me, my own perspective) that mandates for an account, includes a watermark, self-plug with its own "upgrade to pro," and have an artificial limited time use before the free software ceases to function is a disqualifier. Regardless, I won't argue for more because its software is what keeps the creators / developers / programmers afloat which is important for them in a financial standpoint. If I were to use anything else instead of Shotcut, I will re-evaluate myself when I come back to this video or an updated one for 2024 and later.

P.S. Search engines are pretty wonky when they sponsor a websites, menacingly looking at Filmora/Wondershare for its terrible design.

I'm surprised Avidemux didn't make it on here, it's a very nice and simple open source editor able of keyframe cutting without re-encoding and nice fast workflow + basically a GUI frontend for FFmpeg for encoding tasks and filters. I use it for pre cutting even if i need to use more sophisticated software, it's so quick!

This requires a lot of effort. Very nice.❤️❤️❤️

big props to the folk who develop and offer widely available professional software without nickel-and-diming every user till the last drop. disappointed to see apple also continuing to head in that direction with ipad fcp. software for rent does not go well with the free spirit of artistry, culture and education. there are some things that no amount of money can ever buy. glad to see others understand that as well. thank you for the effort and hard work!

Kdenlive requires high hardware resources whereas Shotcut is lighter.

Nice video !

I can understand why you might've forgot to talk about it, but since I still do 4:3 video editing (DVD, VHS, etc), I would've liked to see how they do with that and how they fair with non square pixels.

Thank you.

Great video! I did some editing in KDEnlive on my ThinkPad T400 this last weekend, and I was surprised at how well it worked. I will try out the proxy clips tip for sure.

I'm sure that you've already told us this before somewhere, but what is your goto (free or paid) application for video editing? What are you using to create your own fabulous videos with?

Just viewed your video. You mention Video Pad from NCH but I don't see the review in the stream. Did I miss it?

Thank you very much sir!

Wonderful video, thank you so much! So, which one do you use on your day to day editing? 😊

You forgot to include CapCut. It's relatively new, so you might not know about it, but it's the new darling in the free editors space.

What would you guys say is the closest experience I'll get to Magix Vegas in one of these choices? Usually most of my edits are simple and doable on any old timeline, with some motion tracking occasionally etc. A lot of these confuse the hell out of me, but haven't tried all, and haven't tried to learn just because I'm so used to Vegas. But that's the issue, I'm so used to it it's hard to switch. But it's often unstable and hangs up a lot.

Kdenlive still reigns supreme

Thanks for great tutorial. I am trying the Kdenlive proxy setting but all my 4k videos are variable frame rate and will not proxy?
Any suggestions you could give?
NEW SUBSCRIBER

Chris, Have you had a closer look at the free video editor "Pitivi" ?
I ask as I have had it pre-installed on some of my Linux distro's. Haven't tried it myself but I am now wondering whether it is worth a punt in the future, as an alternative to Kdenlive.
Your thoughts....

DaVinci resolve does not support Sony's camera video format .mts which is a deal breaker

You didn't show CapCut for Windows! It's free and on many other OS platforms

Such a helpful video. It takes a lot of time to locate free video editing software that does not then turn out to have some restriction that makes it unusable for a persons use case. This is going to save so many people so much time that they would have spent trying to do this evaluation themselves.

I have encountered that too many times now, search for a particular software and the top hits on Google take me to sites to download fake software. Often they also lead to some "installer" which I presume is some kind of spamware. You have to be very, very careful.

Somehow, yet again, a video you uploaded is particularly prescient for me, thanks!

I have just realized i wasn't subscribed yet. Do it so he can get to the million mark.

Good review! I'm sure it won't be long before we see one comparing the effects of the advancing AI being incorporated into editing software.

I been subscribed to this channel for a long time now and Chris has provided so many great recommendation for FOSS(Free open source software) that can rival most paid equivalents. Zorin OS is my favorite OS to use and this video really helped me decide on what video editing software works best for me. I have been trying Kdenlive as a recommendation from this channel but will explore the other options on this list.

I didn't know there was anything besides Kden Live

Sir, My question is
“Can we use snapdragon or Qualcomm processors for SBC”..???

I wish i knew how to use 10 Video Editors, I only have experience in maybe 2 editors and totally confused how to use any others.

Thanks so much for this Chris. You obviously put a lot of time and energy in making this one. I've been looking for a way to get off of Pinnacle Studio, and just have to stop putting it off!

hello, thx for the great video as always.on another note, u have been reviewing riscv sbc's, i personally find riscv development super interesting, have you considered testing pine64's devices

I am surprised that you haven’t included CapCut PC edition video editors on your list saying
that love your videos

Can you show which do 4k video free? I haven't found anything. HD is out of business dude.