As some marketers say, “if content is king, video is the crown.” But what are you supposed to do if you don’t have a video studio or an in-house staff of video specialists to record and edit your videos? Never fear! These days, it’s easier than ever to create high-quality videos on your own, without an in-house staff or outsourcing your video marketing efforts. In this article, we’re going to share the 15 best video editing software for beginners that you can use to create professional-grade video content to take your content marketing strategy to the next level.

15 Best Video Editing Software for Beginners:

15 Best Video Editing Software for Beginners

Nearly anyone can create high-quality, professional-level videos with little more than a smartphone and the right video editing tools. But there are tons of tools on the market. If you’re a beginner, how do you find the best video editing software for you? We’ve got you covered with this list! No matter what you’re looking to edit—ads, social media videos, short films, or even a full-length movie—finding video editing software that has all of the features you need and is still beginner-friendly can be a daunting task. Stick to the video editing software options on this list and you’ll find a great tool that’s easy to use, is compatible with your existing hardware and software, and offers the features and support you need at a price that you can afford.

1. OpenShot

Platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux OpenShot has an easy-to-use interface that’s great for beginners. It doesn’t have a huge array of editing features, but it’s a solid option for beginners to use for basic editing. OpenShot is useful for resizing, trimming, scaling, snapping, and rotation. In addition, you’ll find features like scrolling credits, time mapping, audio editing, frame stepping, and real-time preview. Key Features:

Drag-and-drop functionality Video effects like brightness, gamma, greyscale, hue, and greenscreen Unlimited layers for audio tracks, background videos, and watermarks Customizable title cards Keyframe animation capabilities

2. Movavi Video Editor Plus

Platforms: Windows, Mac Movavi is a great video editing software for beginners. It includes drag-and-drop controls, audio editing, transitions, filters, and you can export to popular video formats or share directly from the software. Movavi also gives users the ability to cut and splice videos, create customized titles, and sync sound to images. Key Features:

Drag-and-drop functionality Built-in intros, videos, backgrounds, music, sounds Filters, transitions, and titles Keyframe animation of titles, overlay video, stickers, and more

3. VSDC

Platforms: Windows VSDC is a video editing software that can be used to create a movie of any length and complexity. You can use VSDC to process image and video transformations with subpixel resolution and use 10+ mask types to hide, blur, or highlight elements in your video. Key Features:

4K and HD export Video stabilization tool YouTube uploader 3D templates Blending modes and Instagram-like filters Color-correction tools

4. Lightworks

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Lightworks is one of the best YouTube video editing software for beginners. Even the free version includes everything you need to create professional-grade videos in HD and SD formats. It has a simple, intuitive, and easy-to-use interface and includes a collection of video tutorials to help beginners create amazing videos right from the start. Key Features:

Supports a wide range of video formats Speed optimization High-quality trim functions Multicam editing Real-time team project sharing with full control over editing access for each user Easy sharing of videos to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Instagram

5. Adobe Premiere

Platforms: Windows, Mac Adobe Premiere Pro is the choice for most video professionals but it also has a user-friendly interface making it the perfect choice for beginners. You can edit videos for color grade, adjust video sound, and import graphics and special effects from other Adobe apps. Key Features:

Import footage from any file format Trim footage with precision Add animation and video effects Manage your audio editing and sound effects Adjust colors and white balance

6. Movie Maker 10

Platforms: Windows Movie Maker 10 is a great video editing software for beginners or those who need a simple tool to make quick edits to short videos. It offers basic functions like video joining, adding background music, and text caption as well as more advanced features like image filter, transition effects, pan-tilt-zoom effects. Key Features:

Make movies from video clips and photos Trim, rotate, join video clips Add and edit background music Support most popular media formats Overlay text captions, emoticon, still PIP, sound clips on video clips

7. Lumen5

Platforms: Online Lumen5 is a nice option for beginners looking for an easy-to-use video editing software. Using artificial intelligence, Lumen5 can even turn text into a video. You simply copy and paste your text into Lumen5 and let the software build your video! Lumen5 includes branding features like watermarks and logos, free audio, and font sizing choices. Key Features:

Artificial intelligence to create videos quickly and easily Searchable library with millions of free media files Customize your videos to match the look and feel of your brand Optimize every video to improve performance and conversion rates

8. Blender

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Blender is a free, open-source 3D animation suite that includes a functional video editor that will meet the needs of most users. In addition to features that help model and render 3D animations, Blender also offers features like video masking, cuts and splicing, color grading, and more. Key Features:

Live preview, luma waveform, chroma vectorscope, and histogram displays Audio mixing, syncing, scrubbing, and waveform visualization Up to 32 slots for adding video, images, audio, scenes, masks, and effects Speed control, adjustment layers, transitions, keyframes, filters, and more

9. Shotcut

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Shotcut is another open-source video editing software for beginners that includes a ton of tutorials to help you get started. Shotcut supports a broad range of formats with extensive audio editing options, tons of video effects, a vast array of video editing features, and more. Key Features:

Support for the latest audio and video formats Native timeline editing (no import needed) Multi-format timeline so you can mix and match resolutions and frame-rates within a project Advanced audio filters

10. iMovie

Platforms: Mac If you’re a Mac user, you’ve probably heard of iMovie. This app offers a simple, drag-and-drop interface as well as powerful video editing tools that make it a breeze to add titles, music, and effects. iMovie lets you choose from dozens of styles to add animated titles and credits to your movie, as well as an array of special effects, filters, and sounds. Key Features:

Support for 4K resolution Cloud-storage functionality Dozens of studio-quality title animations Stylish, contemporary video filters Built-in music, sound effects, and voiceover recording Speed controls

11. HitFilm Express

Platforms: Windows, Mac HitFilm Express is more of an advanced-beginner video editing software but it’s worth the time it takes to learn the software. This tool is used to produce Hollywood-level films, after all. And, even the free version is more than enough for most video editing beginners. With HitFilm, you’ll get access to an enormous array of video editing tools like composite shot enhancement, picture-in-picture, behavior effects, and a lot more. Key Features:

Professional-grade video editing Composite shot enhancements (animate two separate shots together for unreal video effects) Unlimited video and audio timeline-track creation An adaptive trimmer Audio mixer Transition options like push, zoom, and dissolve

12. Magisto

Platforms: Android, iOS Magisto is a video editing software for beginners using mobile devices to edit video. It uses artificial intelligence to create video content fast. You simply choose your editing style, add your footage, and pick the music you want. Magisto will then edit and create your video as well as make music suggestions to match. It’s an incredible software that’s useful for streamlining to the creation process. Plus, the app lets you know how many people have watched your video from the built-in insights dashboard. Key Features:

Wide range of themes iStock integration for high-quality stock images Facial recognition, filters, effects, and auto-cropping Professional auto-editing ability Share videos across marketing channels Unlimited HD movie downloads

13. DaVinci Resolve

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux DaVinci Resolve is a video editing software for beginners that uses 8K editing, visual effects, color correction, and audio, making it the choice for many professional users. You can use DaVinci both offline and online and the free version of the software is probably all you’ll need if you’re just getting started. DaVinci Resolve offers custom timeline settings, adjustment clips, facial recognition, speed warp retiming, image stabilization, audio scrubbing, and a lot more. Key Features:

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

14. KineMaster

Platforms: Android, iOS KineMaster is a full-featured video editor for Android and iOS with easy-to-use tools like voiceovers, blending modes, speed control, video reverse, green screen (chroma key), and more. With KineMaster, you can even do frame-by-frame editing to fine-tune your video. It’s a free video editing software for beginners that will lend an air of professionalism to your video projects. Key Features:

Multiple layers of video, images, stickers, special effects, text, and handwriting Add voice-overs, background music, voice changers, and sound effects Edit and export 4K 60 FPS video Keyframe animation tool for adding motion to layers Instant preview

15. Pinnacle

Platforms: Windows Pinnacle Studio video editor is great for beginners and professionals. It offers advanced keyframing so you can fine-tune every second of your clips, transitions, and effects. Pinnacle includes creative effects and professional-level tools that you can use to build creative videos. With Pinnacle, you can also edit both small and large video projects quickly and easily using customizable shortcuts and workflows. Key Features:

Trim, split, crop, and rotate videos Wide range of templates, filters, and effects Add titles, graphics, and overlays Explore Seamless Transitions, Paint Effects, Video Masking, Color Grading, and more (Pinnacle Studio Ultimate)

Choose the Best Video Editing Software for Beginners

There you have it! The 15 best video edit software for beginners that we’re loving right now. Many of these tools offer free trials, so you can test them out and find the tool that works best for you. Each video editing software we’ve listed here has its own pros and cons, but you’re the best judge of what features you absolutely need and which ones you can live without. When choosing the best video editing software, though, there are a few things to consider.

Budget

For beginners to video editing, you’ll definitely want to find a software that is either free or offers a free trial so you can take the time to get to know the software and use it to edit a video or two before you commit.

Integrations and Platforms

The platform you’re going to use to edit videos will dictate the video editing software you can use, to a degree. Some of the tools on this list are available across platforms but a few of them are available only for specific platforms (such as iMovie for Mac) or devices.

User Interface

When looking for the best video editing software for beginners, you’ll want to choose a software that has a user-friendly interface with little-to-no learning curve.

Features

Think about the features that you need for your video editing projects. It helps to make a list of the features you absolutely need, features that would be nice to have, and features you don’t really need. Armed with this information, you will be less tempted to go all-in on that professional video editing software that comes with bells and whistles you’ll never use.