Top 10 Best Free Video Editing Software for Windows
Original Article at filmora.wondershare.com here
| Level | Products | Input formats | Output formats | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For beginners | Windows Movie Maker | ASF, AVI, DVR-MS, M1V, MP2, MP2V, MPE, MPEG, MPG, MPV2, WM, WMV | Windows Media Video (WMV) or DV AVI | Free, meets your basic editing demands | Service discontinued; No support for modern file formats |
| VideoPad Video Editor | avi, wmv, mpv, divx and many more | WMV, AVI | Intuitive interface | Certain features become unavailable when using the free version of the software over a longer period of time. | |
| Avidemux | AVI, MPEG, MOV, MP4, etc | AVI, MPEG, DIVX, XVID, MP4, etc | Has solid encoding options and its interface is user-friendly. | There are no video effects or transitions. | |
| OpenShot | QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG, etc | mpeg, avi, mp4, mov, etc | Free as well as powerful | Need to install add-ons if the OS you are using doesn’t meet the software’s system requirements. | |
| VSDC Video Editor | AVI, QuickTime (MP4/M4V, 3GP/2G2, MOV, QT), HDVideo/AVCHD (MTS, M2TS, TS, MOD, TOD), WindowsMedia (WMV, ASF, DVR-MS), DVD/VOB, VCD/SVCD, etc | AVI, DVD, VCD/SVCD, MPEG, MP4, M4V, MOV, 3GP/3G2, WMV, MKV, RM/RMVB, FLV, SWF, AMV, MTV | Intuitive interface, friendly to beginners. | Technical support is not free. | |
| For amateurs and pros | Kdenlive | QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG, etc | mpeg, avi, mp4, mov, etc | Allows you to extend your capability with free add-ons. | No technical support. |
| Blender | latest audio and video formats | .MOV, .MPEG4, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, WebM. | A lot of advanced features, perfect for advanced users | Learning curve is steeper for beginners; Very limited learning resources. | |
| DaVinci Resolve | ARI, MTS, MXF, AVI, CIN, DNG, DPX, CDX, MP4, MXF, EXR, MOV | ARI, MTS, MXF, AVI, CIN, DNG, DPX, CDX, MP4, MXF, EXR, MOV | Stunning image quality. Color correction and audio editing are also excellent in Davinci Resolve. | Learning curve is steeper for beginners. | |
| HitFilm Express | AVCHD, AVI, DV, MP4, MPEG, MOV, MMV | AVI, MP4 | Offers a wide spectrum of transitions and video effects | Feature limited while exporting video files, not friendly to beginners. | |
| Lightworks | latest audio and video formats | mp4, MXF, Quicktime, AVI, mts, mpg, m2t | Has a free version | Not for beginners |
Ranked by skill level
1. Windows Movie Maker – Free Built-in Video Editor on Windows 7
Windows Movie Maker was once the world’s most popular free video editing tool for Windows and users can make home movies by simple drag-and-drop. It contains features such as video effects, video transitions, adding titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. Although Windows Movie Maker is built for Windows 7, and if you are looking for some free video editing software for Windows 8 or Windows 10, then you should skip Windows Movie Maker. However, Windows Movie Maker has been discontinued by Microsoft, you can still find installation packages on some third-party authoritative download sites:
You can download Windows Live Movie Maker from Microsoft here.
Or download Windows Movie Maker 6 here.
- Input formats: ASF, AVI, DVR-MS, M1V, MP2, MP2V, MPE, MPEG, MPG, MPV2, WM, WMV
- Output formats: Windows Media Video (WMV) or DV AVI
- Advantages: Free, meets your basic editing demands
- Limitations: Service discontinued; No support for modern file formats; Lacks color correction tools, visual effects or any other advanced video editing options.
2. VideoPad Video Editor
VideoPad is a cross-platform software for beginners. Although the free version limits the video exporting options to just two file formats. The VideoPad’s interface doesn’t take much time to get used to, and it perfectly adjusted to the needs of inexperienced video editors.
This is an intuitive, feature rich and easy to use video editing platform. Beginners can enjoy easy editing with its drag and drop type timeline and the loads of transitions, effects and speed adjustment features make customization easier.
- Input formats: avi, wmv, mpv, divx and many more
- Output formats: WMV, AVI
- Advantages: Intuitive interface
- Limitations: Certain features become unavailable when using the free version of the software over a longer period of time.
3. Avidemux
Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports various file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs.
- Imput formats: AVI, MPEG, MOV, MP4, etc
- Output formats: AVI, MPEG, DIVX, XVID, MP4, etc
- Advantages: Avidemux also has solid encoding options and its interface is user-friendly.
- Limitations: There are no video effects or transitions.
4. OpenShot
Another open-source video editor which offers basic video editing features like trimming and slicing. It also provide lots of transitions and audio effects to help you make simple videos.
- Imput formats: QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG, etc
- Output formats: mpeg, avi, mp4, mov, etc
- Advantages: Free as well as powerful.
- Limitations: Need to install add-ons if the OS you are using doesn’t meet the software’s system requirements.
5. VSDC Video Editor
It has tones of features and you can start for free. There is wide range of filters, overlays, transition effects and color correction abilities. This platform is designed to serve users with smooth editing experience so that even beginners can enjoy creative media projects. Thanks to its wide format support that helps to handle all popular media files with ease.
- Imput formats: AVI, QuickTime (MP4/M4V, 3GP/2G2, MOV, QT), HDVideo/AVCHD (MTS, M2TS, TS, MOD, TOD), WindowsMedia (WMV, ASF, DVR-MS), DVD/VOB, VCD/SVCD, etc
- Output formats: AVI, DVD, VCD/SVCD, MPEG, MP4, M4V, MOV, 3GP/3G2, WMV, MKV, RM/RMVB, FLV, SWF, AMV, MTV
- Advantages: Intuitive interface, friendly to beginners.
- Limitations: Technical support is not free.
6. Kdenlive – Free and Open-source Video Editing Software
Kdenlive is an open-source video editing software which is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. This video editing software combines the simplicity of entry-level video editors with advanced video editing tools frequently used by experienced professionals.
- Imput formats: QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG, etc
- Output formats: mpeg, avi, mp4, mov, etc
- Advantages: Allows you to extend your capability with free add-ons.
- Limitations: No technical support.
7. Blender – Free & Open-source & Professional Animated Film Toolset
Blender is the free open source 3D content creation which supports all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License. Blender has many advanced features, such as modifier-based modeling tools, powerful character animation tools, a node-based material, etc. and is one of the best video editors for both Windows and Mac.
- Input formats: latest audio and video formats
- Output formats: .MOV, .MPEG4, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, WebM.
- Advantages: A lot of advanced features, perfect for advanced users
- Limitations: Learning curve is steeper for beginners; Very limited learning resources.
8. DaVinci Resolve – Free Professional Video Editing & Color Correction software
If you had access to the video editing pro level, then you must try DaVinci Resolve 14. Except for multi-camera editing, 3D editing, motion blur effects, and spatial noise reduction which are only available on the paid version DaVinci Resolve Studio, you can almost do any professional video/audio editing and color correction with DaVinci Resolve 14.
- Supported formats: ARI, MTS, MXF, AVI, CIN, DNG, DPX, CDX, MP4, MXF, EXR, MOV
- Advantages: Stunning image quality. Color correction and audio editing are also excellent in Davinci Resolve.
- Limitations: Learning curve is steeper for beginners.
9. HitFilm Express – Popular Free Video Editor & Compositor
HitFilm Express is a good alternative to Adobe After Effects, it offers users with many visual effect compositing options, and it lets you use semi-professional video editing tools for free. But beginners may find the software’s interface difficult to navigate.
- Imput formats: AVCHD, AVI, DV, MP4, MPEG, MOV, MMV
- Output formats: AVI, MP4
- Advantages: Offers a wide spectrum of transitions and video effects.
- Limitations: Feature limited while exporting video files, not friendly to beginners.
10. Lightworks – Powerful Free Video Editor
Lightworks is a great free video editor featured with many video effects. It can edit up to 256 video, audio, and still image clips. But the user interface is very technical so many people find it hard to use. The pro version costs $25 a month.
- Imput formats: latest audio and video formats
- Output formats: mp4, MXF, Quicktime, AVI, mts, mpg, m2t
- Advantages: Well designed interface, many advanced features.
- Limitations: Not for beginners.