You may create polished promos for sites like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other places you post brand videos with the use of excellent video editing tools. You can differentiate yourself from the competition by using one of the many user-friendly free video editing apps that are available.

The uncertainty of a buyer to make a purchase can be decreased by professionally created product films, which are a more compelling kind of content marketing than images alone. In fact, 78% of video marketers claim that video has directly boosted sales, according to animated explainer video maker Wyzowl.

We’ve assembled a list of the top free video editing programs from across the internet below, along with a handful that have reasonably priced paid versions. Since every entrepreneur has unique requirements, we’ve listed some of each tool’s most helpful attributes.

1. HitFilm Express

HitFilm is one of the greatest all-in-one free video editors out there, so even while it may seem a little complicated at first if you don’t have much expertise with video editing—used it’s to create Hollywood-style films—the learning curve is well worth it. (HitFilm does request that you post a social network status update in order to download the software, but that’s a minor price to pay.)

To save time when editing, HitFilm has animation capabilities that enable you to make and edit audio and video transitions without needing to make composite shots. Additionally, it provides engaging 3D effects for movies, music videos, and even YouTube videos, along with capabilities you’d find in a more expensive video editing program, such as 4K footage, 360-degree editing, and a special effects library.

Features include:

• Professional video editing with motion tracking, colour pickers, and cropping tools
• Composite shot enhancements that allow you to animate two separate shots together for surreal video effects
• An auto-stabiliser to make shaky footage look smooth
• Unlimited video and audio timeline track creation
• An adaptive trimmer that lets you re-trim your clips after adding them to the timeline
• Ability to copy a group of attributes from one clip and apply them directly to another or to a whole project
• Audio mixer for fine-tuning sound for professional quality output
• Various transition options, such as push, zoom, and dissolve

2. Lightworks

Lightworks has an easy-to-use interface that makes it straightforward to learn. It is one of the more approachable and simple to learn Linux video editing software solutions on this list because it also provides a selection of comprehensive video tutorials.

Lightworks features a library of unique stock movies and audio clips that are authorised for use in any videos you edit using the platform, enabling you to give any marketing video a professional appearance.

Features include:

• High-quality simple trim functions for fast and precise video editing
• Speed optimization, letting you continue to edit while importing new content
• Multicam editing for syncing clips from multiple cameras
• Real-time team project sharing with full control over which user has editing access
• Easy sharing of videos, with fast export to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Instagram
• Support for a wide range of video formats

3. iMovie

Mac OS includes iMovie, a well-known staple. iMovie is straightforward and offers a straightforward drag-and-drop interface to transfer files from your drive to your workstation, like many native Apple products do. It’s a simple approach to create effective films that can help your YouTube marketing efforts.

The fact that iMovie files are saved in Apple’s cloud allows you to work on your movie interchangeably on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, which is a major benefit. Additionally, iMovie is regularly updated, so you can anticipate fresh additions and enhancements at all times.

Features include:

• Support for 4K resolution, allowing users to create cinema-quality films
• Cloud-storage functionality that allows you to work on the same project from your iPad, iPhone, and Mac
• Dozens of studio-quality title animations for professional-looking credits
• Stylish, contemporary video filters built for specific film genres, such as Western and sci-fi
• Built-in music, sound effects, and voiceover recording so your sound and picture editing are always consolidated
• Speed controls that let you make high-octane action scenes faster and sports highlights slower

4. VideoPad

Anyone who wants to make high-quality videos without paying any money should consider using VideoPad. With VideoPad, you may experiment with various video compositions and styles thanks to a variety of straightforward and user-friendly tools, including 3D video editing and a sound effects library.

As well as using colour correction and sound effects, you may edit your movies with special effects, overlays, texts, and transitions. After that, export your finished video fast and easily to Google Drive, YouTube, Facebook, and other mobile platforms.

The only downside is that experienced video editors could find it too basic. Although it lacks some of the more sophisticated features included in some of the other free video editing programs on this list, the choices to add light effects, adjust colours, and overlay text and images are sufficient to make it worthwhile to download for free.

Features include:

• For simple and intuitive editing, there are two built-in screens (one to preview selected clips, the other to preview the entire sequence).
• Pre-made customizable transitions for polished professionalism
• Exporting presets enables users to quickly make video files that are optimised for a variety of networks, including Facebook and YouTube, and upload them online without leaving the program
• Social media sharing and publishing tools to share videos online instantly
• A large library of video transitions and visual effects to customise videos
• Video optimization tools, such as stabilisation 

5. DaVinci Resolve

Many professional editors of movies, television shows, and commercials prefer DaVinci Resolve because it integrates quality 8K editing, colour correction, visual effects, and audio post-production in a single production tool.

Even for processor-demanding file types like H.264 and RAW, DaVinci’s high-performance playback engine speeds up editing and trimming. It also supports offline and online editing. Some users might find DaVinci Resolve’s complicated features to be too numerous, but the program’s free version is ideal for more difficult assignments.

Features include:

• Dual timeline for quick navigation, cutting, and trimming
• A dedicated trim interface that gives you the ability to edit in minute detail
• Intelligent auto-editing that syncs audio and video clips for you
• Built-in tools for picture-in-picture effects, retiming, stabilisation, dynamic zoom, text, and audio
• Facial recognition that detects faces in your clips and automatically creates bins based on the people in each shot
• High-quality motion estimation speed changes and frame rate conversions to easily and realistically speed up or slow down clips

6. VSDC Free Video Editor

Both a free and a premium version of VSDC’s desktop video editing program are offered. VSDC’s complete video editing suite, including a mask tool and chroma key functionality for green-screen video effects, is still included in the free edition despite its less features. A well-liked program for editing GoPro video is VSDC.

The toolkit grows to include video stabilisation, powerful post-production effects, slideshow/presentation capabilities, 3D diagram templates, and direct social media sharing if you have the money to invest in the complete edition.

Features include: 

• Colour-correction tools for a more professional look
• A full suite of transitional effects
• Easy-to-use image filters, similar to what you’d find on Instagram
• Mask tools for hiding, blurring, or highlighting specific elements
• Social media link for sharing videos on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Vimeo
• HEVC/H.265 (an advanced video-compression standard), for maintaining the highest quality at the minimum file size—essential for processing 4K and HD files

7. OpenShot

OpenShot is a fantastic video editing application for intermediate editors because of its simple user interface. While more complicated programs might provide more editing options, OpenShot’s simple design and user-friendly interface make it ideal for straightforward editing.

Small businesses can effectively use OpenShot, which works well for clip resizing, scaling, cropping, snapping, and rotation. Additionally, it provides real-time preview, audio editing, frame stepping, time mapping, and credit scrolling.

Features include:

• Unlimited layers for watermarks, background videos, and audio tracks
• Customizable title-card templates
• Drag-and-drop functionality for easily adding video, audio, or image files
• Digital video effects, including brightness, gamma, hue, greyscale, and chroma key compositing for green-screen effects
• Powerful key-frame animation capabilities for creating animated videos

8. Shotcut

An open-source, cross-platform video editor with a large library of instructional videos is called Shotcut. Additionally, a large number of codecs are supported, including FFmpeg, 4K, ProRes, and DNxHD. A word of caution, though: Since Shortcut was first created for Linux, some users might find the interface a little odd. It’s still a top-notch editor in spite of this.

Shotcut is perfect for audiophiles because it offers a wide range of audio editing possibilities. Users can tweak the bass and treble, create bandpass filters, change gain, apply dynamic compression, and many other audio parameters with its wealth of fine-tuning tools.

Features include:

• Support for the latest audio and video formats via FFmpeg, the leading multimedia framework
• Native timeline editing, which allows users to import video files directly into their project file rather than a media library
• Multiformat timeline for mixing and matching resolutions and frame rates within a project
• Advanced audio filters like balance, bass and treble, bandpass filters, compressor, and more
• Support for AV1 decoding and encoding

9. Windows Video Editor

For those who want to get back to the fundamentals, Windows Video Editor, a built-in editor from Microsoft, is a useful program. It’s fantastic for quickly editing brief video footage that you need available right away. While it offers the fundamental editing capabilities like cropping, cutting, and adding text or music, Windows Video Editor is more of a photo editor. The free Video Editor program, which comes with Windows 10 and later, is useful for simple video editing.

Features include:

• Auto-preview tool for edits and effects
• Auto-movie options for creating customizable cuts of your video clips
• Animation tab to easily add music, titles, and credits
• 3D effects section with minimal customization 
• Easy to use for novice users working in Windows 

10. Vimeo Create

Your existing product images and text are instantly converted into beautiful ecommerce movies by Vimeo Create, a free editing program that you can connect to your Shopify store directly. Video expertise is not necessary.

Simply select design customizations, add your video and logo, and respond to a few questions about your product. Vimeo creates your video, then instantly modifies it (though you can also choose your own styles or start from scratch). Even colour schemes, themes, music, and typefaces are suggested by the AI software.

It’s particularly helpful for producing videos in bulk (if you, say, start a channel for your business in an effort to make money on YouTube and want to streamline the creation process). More than 200 million people utilise the popular video software program called Vimeo. You can manage, host, and distribute all of your films from one location with Vimeo because it is an all-in-one solution, which streamlines your process.

Features include:

• More than 1,000 templates to choose from
• Facial recognition, filters, effects, and auto-cropping
• Professional auto-editing ability
• Ability to share videos across marketing channels
• Unlimited high-quality stock images with iStock integration
• Library of commercially licensed music to choose from

11. Kine Master

If you’re a mobile video editor, KineMaster should be your go-to program. This capable video editing program is ideal for mobile devices and is free (subscription model optional). With KineMaster, recording video, editing it, and uploading it all from your phone or tablet is simple. KineMaster performs the reverse of what most mobile editors do, which is toe the line between powerful capabilities and simplicity.

With KineMaster’s more than 2,500 downloadable transitions and effects, you can quickly clip, splice, trim, and combine films. Correct and improve videos using colour filters and enhancements to make them stand out. Once you’re done, instantly upload them to sites like Reels, Stories, TikTok, YouTube, and more.

Features:

• Asset store to download effects, soundtracks, stickers, fonts, and more
• Backup and sharing abilities to keep video projects safe
• Eight blending options to create artistic video effects 
• Reverse tool to make focal shifts, in-camera transitions, and other edits easy
• Edit and export 4K videos at 60 fps

12. Movie Maker Online

The greatest browser-based video editor available right now is Movie Maker Online. It’s an affordable tool for those who want to make videos, but it has some limitations. You’ll have to go around the tool’s advertisements in order to edit your films. Additionally, it has a maximum duration of 10 minutes, which ought to be adequate for the average free user.

The interface has a few oddities as well. Instead of being arranged horizontally like in conventional video editors, the video and audio timelines are arranged vertically. It takes some getting used to at first. Because it is entirely browser-based, it can be easily accessed on a variety of devices.

Movie Maker Online gives you all the basics you need to make a video for free. You also get access to free music, videos, and photos, which is a nice bonus. 

Features: 

• Free, browser-based video editor
• Royalty free music, photos, and sound effects
• Ideal for quickly trimming, combining, and adjusting videos 
• Built-in support 

How to choose a video editor

For companies wishing to produce promotional videos, there is a wide variety of desktop-based editing software available. The main benefit of free desktop video editing programs is that they frequently have more functions than the majority of mobile video editing programs.

Whether you’re editing videos for YouTube or TikTok, here are some considerations to keep in mind:

• user encounter. How simple it is to learn the software is another factor to take into account. Search for software with express editing options so you may swiftly edit videos in the way you like. Templates are an added benefit. A quality editing program will also provide tutorials so you can learn how to use the capabilities.

• Editing features. Make sure the program you’ve chosen offers robust video editing features that will wow viewers. For instance, you’ll need an editing program that can improve and add effects to video if you’re using drone footage. Perhaps you require colour grading, chroma key editing, or more sophisticated tools like 360-degree editing.

• Hidden costs.Some video editors claim to be “free,” but they are only effective if you pay extra money to gain access to better features. Editing software that is completely free may have poor performance, restricted file format support, or other restrictions. Your software of choice should be able to handle all of your basic editing requirements without charging extra.

• Support.When you’re new to video editing, customer support is always beneficial. It’s convenient to have a resource where you can find answers if you have questions regarding a feature. Verify whether your software offers support options like email or phone support, FAQs, or discussion boards where you can get assistance from real people. 

• Export options.Where will you put videos online? Make sure your video editing program can produce high-quality video in common formats so you can easily submit videos to your social media accounts.

• Requirements. Particular computer kinds are the only ones that can run certain programs. For instance, not all of the programs on this list might be compatible with Google Chromebooks. Make sure a software is compatible with your desktop before investing time on it.

Finding the best free video editor for you

You can start experimenting with the finest free video editing programs now that you are aware of your alternatives. Although each choice has pros and cons of its own, maybe you now have a clearer understanding of which free video-editing program is best for your company.

Over all social media platforms, videos regularly outperform photos and text postings in terms of interaction. A polished, well-produced marketing video may help you tell a compelling tale about your products, outperform YouTube’s algorithm, grab viewers’ attention, establish your brand’s personality, and increase the return on investment from paid social advertising.

Boost your content marketing efforts. There are countless possibilities for free video editing tools, so your brand’s marketing videos can be as creative as you like.