Updated 2024 Approved IMovie for PC Discover the Best Windows Video Editing Alternatives

Updated 2024 Approved IMovie for PC Discover the Best Windows Video Editing Alternatives

Morgan Lv12

IMovie for PC: Discover the Best Windows Video Editing Alternatives

Are you looking for an iMovie for Windows alternative? If so, that’s hardly surprising. Mac users are blessed with iMovie, a very handy video editing software. Unfortunately, like many Apple products, it’s unavailable on computers that run on Windows OS. But don’t worry. While there’s no iMovie for windows, there are plenty of alternatives. They will make you feel like you are actually using a Windows version of iMovie. This article will introduce you to the best ones.

wondershare filmora video editor

  1. Wondershare Filmora - Best Overall Video Editing Software
  2. WeVideo - Best For Templates
  1. Wondershare Filmora - Enhanced Royalty-Free Stock Library
  2. PowerDirector - Top Ranked Video Editor, PC Mag
  3. APowerEdit - Easiest Way to Edit Videos
  4. Typito - Video Editing Tool Equivalent of Canva
  5. Shotcut - Best for Color Adjustments
  6. AceThinker Video Master - All in one Video Tool
  7. VideoPad Video Editor - Best for Social Media Work
  8. Lightworks
  9. Flexclip - Easy-to-Use Online Editor
  10. WeVideo - Best for Templates
  11. OpenShot - Best for Amateurs

Top 2 Picks for iMovie for Windows Alternative

As mentioned above, there’s a lot of video editing software you can use as an iMovie equivalent for Windows. However, they are not of equal quality. Expectedly, some of them are miles better than others. Therefore, it’s best to do your research before installing - or buying one. That allows you to select the best one for you and, thus, ensure your satisfaction.

Here’s a quick comparison of the top 3 iMovie alternatives for Windows:

Wondershare Filmora - Best Overall Video Editing Software

Paid | 4.7 • 693 Ratings

Wondershare Filmora has a slew of powerful video editing tools that let you express your creativity to its fullest. It allows you to make high-quality, impressive, and captivating videos easily.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

WeVideo - Best For Templates

Paid | 4.5 • 783 Ratings

WeVideo is a web-based video editor with customizable templates perfect for beginners and influencers. It has social media-friendly templates for very specific and popular categories like Unboxings and How-To Makeup.

Ultimate Overview on 11 Best Alternatives to iMovie for Windows

There’s a total of 12 best iMovie alternatives for Windows. Each one is different from the others, but they are all solid choices. Here’s a table showing information about each product:

Software OS Beginner Friendly (score/5) AI Editing Royalty-Free Stock Library Free Trial Cost-Effective (score/5)
Wondershare Filmora Windows, Mac 4.5 4.7
PowerDirector Windows, Mac 5 4.4
APowerEdit Windows, Mac, Online 5 X X 4.5
Typito Windows, Mac 4.5 X 4.2
ShotCut Windows, Mac, Linux 3.5 X 5
AceThinker Video Master Windows 4 X 4
VideoPad Video Editor Windows, Mac, Linux 4.4 X 4.1
LightWorks Windows, Mac, Linux 4 4
FlexClip Windows, Mac, Linux 4 4.5
WeVideo Windows, Mac, Linux 4 X 4.5
OpenShot Windows, Mac, Linux 4.5 X 4.5

11 Best Windows Version of iMovie

All of these 12 iMovie alternatives for Windows 10+ are good choices. However, they have differences, meaning one may be suited for you more than the others. Here’s more information about each one, including the pros and cons, ratings, supported OS, and even user reviews.

1. Wondershare Filmora - Enhanced Royalty-Free Stock Library

Wondershare Filmora is a powerful video editing tool. Its features allow you to showcase your creativity fully. This tool can make your homemade videos look professionally made.

wondershare filmora on windows

Key Features

  • Picture in Picture - Layer in multiple video clips
  • Green Screen - Change the video background and add effects using this feature
  • Split Screen - Show numerous videos at once with the split screen feature
  • Color Match - Save time by applying color correction settings across multiple clips with one click
  • Video Stabilizing - Eliminate Camera Shake
  • Speech to Text - Convert voice to subtitles in one click
  • Text to Speech - Add AI voiceover to liven up your video

Price

Filmora Costs $49.99 per year for individual users. Meanwhile, it costs $155.88 per year for businesses with one user.

Pros

  • PCMag says Wondershare Filmora has an eye-soothing interface. It’s not intimidating for beginners. Furthermore, Filmora’s ergonomic design makes it an easy-to-use video editing tool
  • Wondershare Filmora has AI editing tools not found on the pre-installed video editor on your Windows PC. As the name suggests, it uses artificial intelligence to apply changes to video clips. Some examples of things you can do with these tools are erasing the background or applying a color correction to all clips with a single mouse click
  • Filmora has lots of effects and overlays you can choose from

Cons

  • High RAM consumption that can slow down your PC

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , iPad

User Review

Wondershare Filmora is the video editing software that you need. It has a slew of powerful tools that help you make amazing videos. A TrustRadius Ratings and Review states, “I take advantage of it on a regular basis and make YouTube movies for my shoppers. Simple to create eye-catching movies.”

Takeaway

Wondershare Filmora is filled with AI editing tools that help users produce high-quality videos.

2. PowerDirector - Top Ranked Video Editor, PC Mag

PowerDirector is an iMovie alternative for Windows with a bunch of unique tools and features. Despite being simple and easy to use, it allows you to create Hollywood-level films and clips.

powerdirector interface

Key Features

  • Easy 360-degree video editing
  • Keyframing
  • Chroma key
  • AI Motion Tracking
  • Picture in Picture

Price

PowerDirector’s premium subscription costs $4.08/month.

Pros

  • User Friendly
  • Simple but powerful plugins
  • Has AI Editing Tools
  • Thousands of built-in transitions, overlay effects, and templates

Cons

  • You can’t access the Shutterstock and iStock built-in libraries without a Premium subscription

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac

User Review

Powerdirector enables you to do world-class video editing; it supports 4k, 60 fps video editing! Additionally, it has lots of stickers, transitions, animations, and many more. A G2 reviewer says, “Go for it, guys! It is one of the best editing platforms in the market.”

Takeaway

PowerDirector’s advanced tools make it among the best iMovie alternatives for Windows 10/11.

3. APowerEdit - Easiest Way to Edit Videos

APowerEdit is a straightforward video editing tool with dozens of transitions, text effects, overlays, and filters.

apoweredit interface

Key Features

  • Supports all common media formats
  • Includes dynamic title captions
  • Dozens of overlays, transitions, and filters
  • Picture in Picture
  • Quickly correct brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation

Price

APowerEdit is free software with a paid version that costs$29.95 per month.

Pros

  • Easy to navigate due to its user-friendly design
  • Lots of export options
  • Dozens of editing tools

Cons

  • Lacks advanced editing tools needed for bigger projects

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, Online

User Review

APowerEdit is a simple video editing software best for beginners and not-so-tech-savvy users. An AlternativeTo review says, “Apoweredit is super easy to use. It is suitable for beginners like me. Awesome software!”

Takeaway

APowerEdit is a nice tool to have for beginners. However, if you plan to make impressive short films or bigger projects, it is not the ideal software to use.

4. Typito - Video Editing Tool Equivalent of Canva

Typito is like Canva but for videos. It is a web-based video editing software with drag-and-drop features, stylish typography, images, and brand layouts.

typito interface

Key Features

  • Drag-and-drop interface for easy editing
  • Features built for creating engaging social media posts.
  • Resize video files fast
  • Includes 200+ motion graphic templates

Price

Typito subscriptions start at $15 per month.

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Multiple Export Options
  • Has all the basic video editing tools

Cons

  • Too basic for bigger projects
  • The free version has a watermark

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

Typito is a web-based video editor and a simple, easy-to-use tool. It receives continuous updates, so it becomes better and better. A G2 review says , “In Typito, even if you are a “Free” user, you can still create a video that looks so professional as if you paid someone to do it for you.”

Takeaway

Typito’s solid selection of tools is enough for simple projects, and it’s one of the best iMovie alternatives for Windows for social media influencers. However, advanced users may find it a little lacking.

5. Shotcut - Best for Color Adjustments

ShotCut is a completely free iMovie alternative for Windows. This tool is an open-source, cross-platform, video-editing software.

shotcut interface

Key Features

  • Webcam Capture
  • Keyframing
  • Auto-Rotate
  • Blending Modes
  • Unlimited Undo and Redo options
  • Powerful color correction tools

Price: Free

Pros

  • Because ShotCut is an open-source program, it gets updated regularly by the community
  • Completely free

Cons

  • No social media integrations
  • Not user-friendly

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

Shotcut is free video editing software with a toolkit that rivals paid ones. A G2 review states, “We don’t have to pay anything, and we can edit the professional type of videos. It has all the features which any paid software has.”

Takeaway

Do you not want to spend money? If so, Shotcut is the option for you. It also has the strength of being available on many platforms. And because Shotcut is an open-source program, it gets regular updates from the community. However, its interface is not the most beginner-friendly.

6. AceThinker Video Master - All in one Video Tool

AceThinker is a video editor, video converter, and video downloader in one package.

acethinker video master interface

Key Features

  • Built-in video player
  • HD video converter
  • Wide range of customization
  • Supports popular video formats
  • Basic video editing tools

Price

AceThinker Video Master’s pricing plans start from $29.95.

Pros

  • Video converter, downloader, editor, and screen recorder in one
  • User-friendly interface

Cons

  • Lack of advanced video editing tools

G2 Rating: 5 Stars

Supported OS Windows , Mac

User Review

AceThinker Video Master is all about convenience. It provides you with a video editor, downloader, and converter in one package. An educator left a review on G2 ; they say, “This has saved me lost time, increased student engagement, and [it is] a wonderful training tool for other educators.”

Takeaway

Is the storage space in your Windows PC running out? If that’s the case, AceThinker Video Master is a fantastic tool for you. It’s essentially four video apps in one package. And it’s not too shabby as video editing software, either. Expectedly, it’s not the best choice for making short films for competitions and projects of similar or bigger scale.

7. VideoPad Video Editor - Best for Social Media Work

VideoPad Video Editor is among the most impressive iMovie alternatives for Windows. It has powerful tools that will help you create films that would wow the audience.

videopad video editor interface

Key Features

  • Over 50 Effects and Transitions
  • Supports all video formats
  • 3D Video Editing
  • 360-degree video support
  • Chroma key compositing
  • Camera Stabilizer
  • Speech-to-text feature

Price

VideoPad Home Edition costs $34.99, while the Master’s Edition costs $69.95.

Pros

  • Has basic and advanced tools
  • Direct upload to popular social media channels
  • Fast video stream processor

Cons

  • The interface is outdated
  • The speech-to-text feature is unreliable
  • The free version is full of annoying notifications

G2 Rating: 4 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac

User Review

VideoPad is an easy-to-learn video editing software full of helpful tools. A G2 reviewer states, “This complete and powerful media editing tool offers a variety of possibilities and possibilities to optimize every clip to the fullest.”

Takeaway

VideoPad Video Editor has many free features you can use to improve your videos. Admittedly, there are problems with some of these features. Nevertheless, this tool is a solid choice for a Windows iMovie alternative.

8. Lightworks

Lightworks Pro is a video editor used to make some Oscar-winning films, and Lightworks is a free and less complicated version of it. However, Lightworks is still not that beginner-friendly. Therefore, it’s best to consider this as an iMovie alternative only if you are an intermediate user.

lightworks interface

Key Features

  • Advanced Color Correction
  • Some advanced tools
  • Tooltips to help you learn how to use the features
  • Integration to Cloud services
  • Keyframing
  • Advanced audio controls
  • Autosave

Price

Lightworks is free, but premium subscriptions for Lightworks Create costs $99.9, and Lightworks Pro costs $24.99.

Pros

  • Includes Advanced tools
  • You would not lose progress because of the autosave feature
  • Good performance

Cons

  • Not suited for beginners
  • You can only export up to 720p using the free version

G2 Rating: 3.5 Stars

Supported OS Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

A TrustRadius Ratings and Review says, “Lightworks is a great tool for a non-designer to use because it provides a number of tools and capabilities that can be quickly learned.” However, they note that Lightworks does not provide advanced video editors with all the tools they need. It’s best for intermediate users.

Takeaway

Lightworks is a fantastic alternative to iMovie for Windows 10+ users. However, it requires you to be quite knowledgeable about video editing tools. This editor has a slightly higher learning curve than others. But once you learn how to use Lightworks, creating quality videos would be super easy.

9. Flexclip - Easy-to-Use Online Editor

flexclip interface

FlexClip is a free online editor. It is a good substitute for iMovie for Windows users, regardless if you are a beginner or a professional.

Key Features

  • Dozens of useful tools like background remover and gif maker
  • Voice and screen recorder
  • Integration with social media platforms
  • It supports all the popular video formats
  • Allows you to export up to 1080p

Price

FlexClip is free, but premium subscriptions are available. Subscriptions start from $9.99 per month.

Pros

  • Includes basic and advanced editing tools
  • Easy to share your work on social media platforms
  • Allows creation of high-quality videos

Cons

  • Long loading time before you can use it

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

FlexClip being an online video editor means one thing; it does not use your PC’s processing power. It also delivers what it promises. A G2 reviewe r says, “I have used many video editing tools so far, but none is close to FlexClip when it comes to video editing.”

Takeaway

You can’t go wrong with FlexClip. It has powerful tools making it a great iMovie alternative for Windows. You don’t even have to install it; it’s an online tool. Unfortunately, that has some downsides. You need to wait for the website to finish loading before working because it scrolls down for each line that gets loaded.

10. WeVideo - Best for Templates

WeVideo includes social-media-friendly templates, making it a fantastic choice for editing popular video categories like How-to, Unboxings, and Makeup tutorials.

Key Features

  • Color Correction
  • Green Screen Editing Tool
  • Has support for square videos (for Instagram) and vertical videos (for TikTok)
  • Customizable templates plus dozens of pre-made ones

Price

Premium subscriptions start at $60 per year.

Pros

  • Includes basic and advanced video editing tools
  • Excellent customer support
  • User-friendly

Cons

  • The free version has lots of limitations
  • Importing videos to the website takes a long time

G2 Rating: 4.4 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

Social media influencers and marketers need to check out WeVideo. A reviewer of this video editing tool on G2 said, “It’s got a handful of Templates that you can use to explore your creativity and inventiveness when creating your content.”

Takeaway

WeVideo is a solid alternative for iMovie for Windows 10/11, but only if you are willing to pay. The free version has lots of restrictions. For example, you can only export 5 minutes of content per month.

11. OpenShot - Best for Amateurs

openshot interface

OpenShot has a straightforward interface, making it beginner-friendly. It has some fantastic tools you’ll find helpful. There’s a catch with beginner-friendly editors, though. They don’t have the advanced features you can find on other video editors. You can say that for OpenShot.

Key Features

  • 3D Animation
  • Text Editor
  • Keyframing
  • Decent selection of templates and filters

Price: Free

Pros

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Includes a wide range of editing tools
  • Lots of export options

Cons

  • Lack of advanced tools like Picture-in-Picture or Chroma Key
  • Very laggy to use sometimes

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

OpenShot is a great introductory software for video editing. Its simplicity, ergonomic design, and set of handy tools make it perfect for beginners. A G2 review states, “I do not have a degree in video editing, but the products from my Openshot edits were of high quality.”

Takeaway

Some tools are intimidating for beginners; there are many buttons, and you don’t know what each one does. That’s not a problem when using OpenShot. Its simple interface is easy to understand, making it the best tool for beginners.

How to Edit a Video with an iMovie Alternative on Windows

Knowing which are the best iMovie alternatives on Windows is not enough. Of course, you also need to learn how to use them. Here’s a guide on how to use Wondershare Filmora, the best overall iMovie alternative for Windows.

Step1 Launch Filmora. Then, if you want to, select the aspect ratio.

filmora interface

Step2 Click New Project, then wait for the video editor to load. Then, click Register to register the product.

Step3 Select the aspect ratio for the final cut. Click Project Settings from the File menu, then select your desired aspect ratio.

filmora project settings

Step4 Import the files you want to edit. Click the Import button in the upper left corner of the video editor. Select Import Media Files, then navigate to the location on your hard drive where the footage you want to edit is stored. Select the files you want to use in your project, then click Import.

importing files to filmora

Step5 Drag and drop the files to the timeline. Please note that the last one you add will always be placed after the previous one. Thus, you need to drag the file on the timeline to put it in the desired position. Press Play to preview.

adding files to filmora timeline

Step6 Apply visual effects, color correction, and other edits you want to make.

adding text to videos on filmora

Step7 Click Export to publish your video. Don’t forget to select your desired file format and resolution.

exporting videos from filmora

Here’s a video tutorial on how to use Wondershare Filmora

image / video 16:9

Final Words

It’s a shame that iMovie is not available on Windows 10/11 computers. Thankfully, there are alternatives you can use. Wondershare Filmora is an outstanding one. It allows you to do what you can do using iMovie and more.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Top 2 Picks for iMovie for Windows Alternative

As mentioned above, there’s a lot of video editing software you can use as an iMovie equivalent for Windows. However, they are not of equal quality. Expectedly, some of them are miles better than others. Therefore, it’s best to do your research before installing - or buying one. That allows you to select the best one for you and, thus, ensure your satisfaction.

Here’s a quick comparison of the top 3 iMovie alternatives for Windows:

Wondershare Filmora - Best Overall Video Editing Software

Paid | 4.7 • 693 Ratings

Wondershare Filmora has a slew of powerful video editing tools that let you express your creativity to its fullest. It allows you to make high-quality, impressive, and captivating videos easily.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

WeVideo - Best For Templates

Paid | 4.5 • 783 Ratings

WeVideo is a web-based video editor with customizable templates perfect for beginners and influencers. It has social media-friendly templates for very specific and popular categories like Unboxings and How-To Makeup.

Ultimate Overview on 11 Best Alternatives to iMovie for Windows

There’s a total of 12 best iMovie alternatives for Windows. Each one is different from the others, but they are all solid choices. Here’s a table showing information about each product:

Software OS Beginner Friendly (score/5) AI Editing Royalty-Free Stock Library Free Trial Cost-Effective (score/5)
Wondershare Filmora Windows, Mac 4.5 4.7
PowerDirector Windows, Mac 5 4.4
APowerEdit Windows, Mac, Online 5 X X 4.5
Typito Windows, Mac 4.5 X 4.2
ShotCut Windows, Mac, Linux 3.5 X 5
AceThinker Video Master Windows 4 X 4
VideoPad Video Editor Windows, Mac, Linux 4.4 X 4.1
LightWorks Windows, Mac, Linux 4 4
FlexClip Windows, Mac, Linux 4 4.5
WeVideo Windows, Mac, Linux 4 X 4.5
OpenShot Windows, Mac, Linux 4.5 X 4.5

11 Best Windows Version of iMovie

All of these 12 iMovie alternatives for Windows 10+ are good choices. However, they have differences, meaning one may be suited for you more than the others. Here’s more information about each one, including the pros and cons, ratings, supported OS, and even user reviews.

1. Wondershare Filmora - Enhanced Royalty-Free Stock Library

Wondershare Filmora is a powerful video editing tool. Its features allow you to showcase your creativity fully. This tool can make your homemade videos look professionally made.

wondershare filmora on windows

Key Features

  • Picture in Picture - Layer in multiple video clips
  • Green Screen - Change the video background and add effects using this feature
  • Split Screen - Show numerous videos at once with the split screen feature
  • Color Match - Save time by applying color correction settings across multiple clips with one click
  • Video Stabilizing - Eliminate Camera Shake
  • Speech to Text - Convert voice to subtitles in one click
  • Text to Speech - Add AI voiceover to liven up your video

Price

Filmora Costs $49.99 per year for individual users. Meanwhile, it costs $155.88 per year for businesses with one user.

Pros

  • PCMag says Wondershare Filmora has an eye-soothing interface. It’s not intimidating for beginners. Furthermore, Filmora’s ergonomic design makes it an easy-to-use video editing tool
  • Wondershare Filmora has AI editing tools not found on the pre-installed video editor on your Windows PC. As the name suggests, it uses artificial intelligence to apply changes to video clips. Some examples of things you can do with these tools are erasing the background or applying a color correction to all clips with a single mouse click
  • Filmora has lots of effects and overlays you can choose from

Cons

  • High RAM consumption that can slow down your PC

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , iPad

User Review

Wondershare Filmora is the video editing software that you need. It has a slew of powerful tools that help you make amazing videos. A TrustRadius Ratings and Review states, “I take advantage of it on a regular basis and make YouTube movies for my shoppers. Simple to create eye-catching movies.”

Takeaway

Wondershare Filmora is filled with AI editing tools that help users produce high-quality videos.

2. PowerDirector - Top Ranked Video Editor, PC Mag

PowerDirector is an iMovie alternative for Windows with a bunch of unique tools and features. Despite being simple and easy to use, it allows you to create Hollywood-level films and clips.

powerdirector interface

Key Features

  • Easy 360-degree video editing
  • Keyframing
  • Chroma key
  • AI Motion Tracking
  • Picture in Picture

Price

PowerDirector’s premium subscription costs $4.08/month.

Pros

  • User Friendly
  • Simple but powerful plugins
  • Has AI Editing Tools
  • Thousands of built-in transitions, overlay effects, and templates

Cons

  • You can’t access the Shutterstock and iStock built-in libraries without a Premium subscription

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac

User Review

Powerdirector enables you to do world-class video editing; it supports 4k, 60 fps video editing! Additionally, it has lots of stickers, transitions, animations, and many more. A G2 reviewer says, “Go for it, guys! It is one of the best editing platforms in the market.”

Takeaway

PowerDirector’s advanced tools make it among the best iMovie alternatives for Windows 10/11.

3. APowerEdit - Easiest Way to Edit Videos

APowerEdit is a straightforward video editing tool with dozens of transitions, text effects, overlays, and filters.

apoweredit interface

Key Features

  • Supports all common media formats
  • Includes dynamic title captions
  • Dozens of overlays, transitions, and filters
  • Picture in Picture
  • Quickly correct brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation

Price

APowerEdit is free software with a paid version that costs$29.95 per month.

Pros

  • Easy to navigate due to its user-friendly design
  • Lots of export options
  • Dozens of editing tools

Cons

  • Lacks advanced editing tools needed for bigger projects

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, Online

User Review

APowerEdit is a simple video editing software best for beginners and not-so-tech-savvy users. An AlternativeTo review says, “Apoweredit is super easy to use. It is suitable for beginners like me. Awesome software!”

Takeaway

APowerEdit is a nice tool to have for beginners. However, if you plan to make impressive short films or bigger projects, it is not the ideal software to use.

4. Typito - Video Editing Tool Equivalent of Canva

Typito is like Canva but for videos. It is a web-based video editing software with drag-and-drop features, stylish typography, images, and brand layouts.

typito interface

Key Features

  • Drag-and-drop interface for easy editing
  • Features built for creating engaging social media posts.
  • Resize video files fast
  • Includes 200+ motion graphic templates

Price

Typito subscriptions start at $15 per month.

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Multiple Export Options
  • Has all the basic video editing tools

Cons

  • Too basic for bigger projects
  • The free version has a watermark

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

Typito is a web-based video editor and a simple, easy-to-use tool. It receives continuous updates, so it becomes better and better. A G2 review says , “In Typito, even if you are a “Free” user, you can still create a video that looks so professional as if you paid someone to do it for you.”

Takeaway

Typito’s solid selection of tools is enough for simple projects, and it’s one of the best iMovie alternatives for Windows for social media influencers. However, advanced users may find it a little lacking.

5. Shotcut - Best for Color Adjustments

ShotCut is a completely free iMovie alternative for Windows. This tool is an open-source, cross-platform, video-editing software.

shotcut interface

Key Features

  • Webcam Capture
  • Keyframing
  • Auto-Rotate
  • Blending Modes
  • Unlimited Undo and Redo options
  • Powerful color correction tools

Price: Free

Pros

  • Because ShotCut is an open-source program, it gets updated regularly by the community
  • Completely free

Cons

  • No social media integrations
  • Not user-friendly

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

Shotcut is free video editing software with a toolkit that rivals paid ones. A G2 review states, “We don’t have to pay anything, and we can edit the professional type of videos. It has all the features which any paid software has.”

Takeaway

Do you not want to spend money? If so, Shotcut is the option for you. It also has the strength of being available on many platforms. And because Shotcut is an open-source program, it gets regular updates from the community. However, its interface is not the most beginner-friendly.

6. AceThinker Video Master - All in one Video Tool

AceThinker is a video editor, video converter, and video downloader in one package.

acethinker video master interface

Key Features

  • Built-in video player
  • HD video converter
  • Wide range of customization
  • Supports popular video formats
  • Basic video editing tools

Price

AceThinker Video Master’s pricing plans start from $29.95.

Pros

  • Video converter, downloader, editor, and screen recorder in one
  • User-friendly interface

Cons

  • Lack of advanced video editing tools

G2 Rating: 5 Stars

Supported OS Windows , Mac

User Review

AceThinker Video Master is all about convenience. It provides you with a video editor, downloader, and converter in one package. An educator left a review on G2 ; they say, “This has saved me lost time, increased student engagement, and [it is] a wonderful training tool for other educators.”

Takeaway

Is the storage space in your Windows PC running out? If that’s the case, AceThinker Video Master is a fantastic tool for you. It’s essentially four video apps in one package. And it’s not too shabby as video editing software, either. Expectedly, it’s not the best choice for making short films for competitions and projects of similar or bigger scale.

7. VideoPad Video Editor - Best for Social Media Work

VideoPad Video Editor is among the most impressive iMovie alternatives for Windows. It has powerful tools that will help you create films that would wow the audience.

videopad video editor interface

Key Features

  • Over 50 Effects and Transitions
  • Supports all video formats
  • 3D Video Editing
  • 360-degree video support
  • Chroma key compositing
  • Camera Stabilizer
  • Speech-to-text feature

Price

VideoPad Home Edition costs $34.99, while the Master’s Edition costs $69.95.

Pros

  • Has basic and advanced tools
  • Direct upload to popular social media channels
  • Fast video stream processor

Cons

  • The interface is outdated
  • The speech-to-text feature is unreliable
  • The free version is full of annoying notifications

G2 Rating: 4 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac

User Review

VideoPad is an easy-to-learn video editing software full of helpful tools. A G2 reviewer states, “This complete and powerful media editing tool offers a variety of possibilities and possibilities to optimize every clip to the fullest.”

Takeaway

VideoPad Video Editor has many free features you can use to improve your videos. Admittedly, there are problems with some of these features. Nevertheless, this tool is a solid choice for a Windows iMovie alternative.

8. Lightworks

Lightworks Pro is a video editor used to make some Oscar-winning films, and Lightworks is a free and less complicated version of it. However, Lightworks is still not that beginner-friendly. Therefore, it’s best to consider this as an iMovie alternative only if you are an intermediate user.

lightworks interface

Key Features

  • Advanced Color Correction
  • Some advanced tools
  • Tooltips to help you learn how to use the features
  • Integration to Cloud services
  • Keyframing
  • Advanced audio controls
  • Autosave

Price

Lightworks is free, but premium subscriptions for Lightworks Create costs $99.9, and Lightworks Pro costs $24.99.

Pros

  • Includes Advanced tools
  • You would not lose progress because of the autosave feature
  • Good performance

Cons

  • Not suited for beginners
  • You can only export up to 720p using the free version

G2 Rating: 3.5 Stars

Supported OS Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

A TrustRadius Ratings and Review says, “Lightworks is a great tool for a non-designer to use because it provides a number of tools and capabilities that can be quickly learned.” However, they note that Lightworks does not provide advanced video editors with all the tools they need. It’s best for intermediate users.

Takeaway

Lightworks is a fantastic alternative to iMovie for Windows 10+ users. However, it requires you to be quite knowledgeable about video editing tools. This editor has a slightly higher learning curve than others. But once you learn how to use Lightworks, creating quality videos would be super easy.

9. Flexclip - Easy-to-Use Online Editor

flexclip interface

FlexClip is a free online editor. It is a good substitute for iMovie for Windows users, regardless if you are a beginner or a professional.

Key Features

  • Dozens of useful tools like background remover and gif maker
  • Voice and screen recorder
  • Integration with social media platforms
  • It supports all the popular video formats
  • Allows you to export up to 1080p

Price

FlexClip is free, but premium subscriptions are available. Subscriptions start from $9.99 per month.

Pros

  • Includes basic and advanced editing tools
  • Easy to share your work on social media platforms
  • Allows creation of high-quality videos

Cons

  • Long loading time before you can use it

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

FlexClip being an online video editor means one thing; it does not use your PC’s processing power. It also delivers what it promises. A G2 reviewe r says, “I have used many video editing tools so far, but none is close to FlexClip when it comes to video editing.”

Takeaway

You can’t go wrong with FlexClip. It has powerful tools making it a great iMovie alternative for Windows. You don’t even have to install it; it’s an online tool. Unfortunately, that has some downsides. You need to wait for the website to finish loading before working because it scrolls down for each line that gets loaded.

10. WeVideo - Best for Templates

WeVideo includes social-media-friendly templates, making it a fantastic choice for editing popular video categories like How-to, Unboxings, and Makeup tutorials.

Key Features

  • Color Correction
  • Green Screen Editing Tool
  • Has support for square videos (for Instagram) and vertical videos (for TikTok)
  • Customizable templates plus dozens of pre-made ones

Price

Premium subscriptions start at $60 per year.

Pros

  • Includes basic and advanced video editing tools
  • Excellent customer support
  • User-friendly

Cons

  • The free version has lots of limitations
  • Importing videos to the website takes a long time

G2 Rating: 4.4 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

Social media influencers and marketers need to check out WeVideo. A reviewer of this video editing tool on G2 said, “It’s got a handful of Templates that you can use to explore your creativity and inventiveness when creating your content.”

Takeaway

WeVideo is a solid alternative for iMovie for Windows 10/11, but only if you are willing to pay. The free version has lots of restrictions. For example, you can only export 5 minutes of content per month.

11. OpenShot - Best for Amateurs

openshot interface

OpenShot has a straightforward interface, making it beginner-friendly. It has some fantastic tools you’ll find helpful. There’s a catch with beginner-friendly editors, though. They don’t have the advanced features you can find on other video editors. You can say that for OpenShot.

Key Features

  • 3D Animation
  • Text Editor
  • Keyframing
  • Decent selection of templates and filters

Price: Free

Pros

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Includes a wide range of editing tools
  • Lots of export options

Cons

  • Lack of advanced tools like Picture-in-Picture or Chroma Key
  • Very laggy to use sometimes

G2 Rating: 4.5 Stars

Supported OS: Windows , Mac , Linux

User Review

OpenShot is a great introductory software for video editing. Its simplicity, ergonomic design, and set of handy tools make it perfect for beginners. A G2 review states, “I do not have a degree in video editing, but the products from my Openshot edits were of high quality.”

Takeaway

Some tools are intimidating for beginners; there are many buttons, and you don’t know what each one does. That’s not a problem when using OpenShot. Its simple interface is easy to understand, making it the best tool for beginners.

How to Edit a Video with an iMovie Alternative on Windows

Knowing which are the best iMovie alternatives on Windows is not enough. Of course, you also need to learn how to use them. Here’s a guide on how to use Wondershare Filmora, the best overall iMovie alternative for Windows.

Step1 Launch Filmora. Then, if you want to, select the aspect ratio.

filmora interface

Step2 Click New Project, then wait for the video editor to load. Then, click Register to register the product.

Step3 Select the aspect ratio for the final cut. Click Project Settings from the File menu, then select your desired aspect ratio.

filmora project settings

Step4 Import the files you want to edit. Click the Import button in the upper left corner of the video editor. Select Import Media Files, then navigate to the location on your hard drive where the footage you want to edit is stored. Select the files you want to use in your project, then click Import.

importing files to filmora

Step5 Drag and drop the files to the timeline. Please note that the last one you add will always be placed after the previous one. Thus, you need to drag the file on the timeline to put it in the desired position. Press Play to preview.

adding files to filmora timeline

Step6 Apply visual effects, color correction, and other edits you want to make.

adding text to videos on filmora

Step7 Click Export to publish your video. Don’t forget to select your desired file format and resolution.

exporting videos from filmora

Here’s a video tutorial on how to use Wondershare Filmora

image / video 16:9

Final Words

It’s a shame that iMovie is not available on Windows 10/11 computers. Thankfully, there are alternatives you can use. Wondershare Filmora is an outstanding one. It allows you to do what you can do using iMovie and more.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

The Ultimate List: 5 Best Free WMV Video Editing Tools

Top 5 Best Free WMV Video Editors

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding suitable video editing software is quite a difficult task. There are so many choices and at the present scenario, loads of tools come for free even. So, it is a natural trend for the people to incline for the free video editing tools rather than spending money on a tool, which offers nothing but almost the same features. Here is a list of top five free WMV video editing tools, which feature almost all sorts of casual video editing needs.


If you need a more professional video editing tool, Wondershare Filmora is highly recommended. It allows you to create Hollywood-like home movies with titles, effects and transitions from all regular videos, audios and photos. All the video editing tools including trim, split, crop, etc are provided. After editing videos, you can even use the software to share with family and friends, convert videos to different formats and burn DVD.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


Top 5 Best Free WMV Video Editors

1. Windows Movie Maker

Window Movie Maker is an easy-to-use video editing program developed by Microsoft. It supports various video formats including WMV, ASF, MPG, AVI, WMA, WAV and MP3. With it, you can easily combine photos with your video or can customize your video with preset video transition options as well as other video effects. However, the tool has a few limitations which make this piece of tool not suitable for professional video editing purposes.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily-to-use interface;
  • Practical video editing options for beginners.

Cons:

  • Crashes a lot and cannot handle large files;
  • Various versions have been released, though differences are truly negligible.

2. Movica

Movica is a graphic or movie editor for Windows Media (.wmv), MPEG files and FLV movies. This program enables you to copy, paste and select or delete multiple portions from a video file. It’s easy-to-use and has keyboard shortcuts which makes the job of editing WMV much easily. However, it’s compiled as a 32-bit Windows and thus makes its major drawbacks from other users who are already using 64-bit Windows.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Lots of keyboard shortcuts to make editing easy.

Cons:

  • Doesn’t support 64-bit Windows;
  • Outdated interface.

3. VSDC Free Video Editor

VSDC Free Video Editor is an application designed for video editing. It supports various video formats including AVI, MPG, MOV, WMV, MKV, RM, SWF, and FLV files. It’s a complex application with plenty of functionality: drawing and selection tools, plenty of color and lighting corrections, some useful filters, transitions, audio effects and more. All of these allow you to add a personal touch to your video files.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Many useful options provided;
  • Can also be used as a video converter.

Cons:

  • Computer resources (CPU and RAM) are required at a high level;
  • Interface may look complex.

4. Video Toolbox

Video Toolbox is a free powerful online video editor. It enables you easily convert videos, add watermark text, cut videos, crop videos, merge several video files, demux video files and much more. It’s capable of processing video files up to 600 MB. Another feature is to analyze the video files and display detailed information about the codec, bit rate, frame rate, resolution, etc.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use;
  • Powerful video conversion ability.

Cons:

  • Only provides simple video editing functions.

5. Cellsea

Cellsea is an another online video editor which supports various video formats including WMV, RM, 3GP, DIVX, FLV, AVI, MOV, MPG, VOB and MP4. With this free online video editing service, you can upload your videos, easily add effects, change video size, add sound or convert your video to another format and then share with your friends instantaneously.

top wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily edit your videos online and share with others.

Cons:

  • Has file size limit.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding suitable video editing software is quite a difficult task. There are so many choices and at the present scenario, loads of tools come for free even. So, it is a natural trend for the people to incline for the free video editing tools rather than spending money on a tool, which offers nothing but almost the same features. Here is a list of top five free WMV video editing tools, which feature almost all sorts of casual video editing needs.


If you need a more professional video editing tool, Wondershare Filmora is highly recommended. It allows you to create Hollywood-like home movies with titles, effects and transitions from all regular videos, audios and photos. All the video editing tools including trim, split, crop, etc are provided. After editing videos, you can even use the software to share with family and friends, convert videos to different formats and burn DVD.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


Top 5 Best Free WMV Video Editors

1. Windows Movie Maker

Window Movie Maker is an easy-to-use video editing program developed by Microsoft. It supports various video formats including WMV, ASF, MPG, AVI, WMA, WAV and MP3. With it, you can easily combine photos with your video or can customize your video with preset video transition options as well as other video effects. However, the tool has a few limitations which make this piece of tool not suitable for professional video editing purposes.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily-to-use interface;
  • Practical video editing options for beginners.

Cons:

  • Crashes a lot and cannot handle large files;
  • Various versions have been released, though differences are truly negligible.

2. Movica

Movica is a graphic or movie editor for Windows Media (.wmv), MPEG files and FLV movies. This program enables you to copy, paste and select or delete multiple portions from a video file. It’s easy-to-use and has keyboard shortcuts which makes the job of editing WMV much easily. However, it’s compiled as a 32-bit Windows and thus makes its major drawbacks from other users who are already using 64-bit Windows.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Lots of keyboard shortcuts to make editing easy.

Cons:

  • Doesn’t support 64-bit Windows;
  • Outdated interface.

3. VSDC Free Video Editor

VSDC Free Video Editor is an application designed for video editing. It supports various video formats including AVI, MPG, MOV, WMV, MKV, RM, SWF, and FLV files. It’s a complex application with plenty of functionality: drawing and selection tools, plenty of color and lighting corrections, some useful filters, transitions, audio effects and more. All of these allow you to add a personal touch to your video files.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Many useful options provided;
  • Can also be used as a video converter.

Cons:

  • Computer resources (CPU and RAM) are required at a high level;
  • Interface may look complex.

4. Video Toolbox

Video Toolbox is a free powerful online video editor. It enables you easily convert videos, add watermark text, cut videos, crop videos, merge several video files, demux video files and much more. It’s capable of processing video files up to 600 MB. Another feature is to analyze the video files and display detailed information about the codec, bit rate, frame rate, resolution, etc.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use;
  • Powerful video conversion ability.

Cons:

  • Only provides simple video editing functions.

5. Cellsea

Cellsea is an another online video editor which supports various video formats including WMV, RM, 3GP, DIVX, FLV, AVI, MOV, MPG, VOB and MP4. With this free online video editing service, you can upload your videos, easily add effects, change video size, add sound or convert your video to another format and then share with your friends instantaneously.

top wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily edit your videos online and share with others.

Cons:

  • Has file size limit.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding suitable video editing software is quite a difficult task. There are so many choices and at the present scenario, loads of tools come for free even. So, it is a natural trend for the people to incline for the free video editing tools rather than spending money on a tool, which offers nothing but almost the same features. Here is a list of top five free WMV video editing tools, which feature almost all sorts of casual video editing needs.


If you need a more professional video editing tool, Wondershare Filmora is highly recommended. It allows you to create Hollywood-like home movies with titles, effects and transitions from all regular videos, audios and photos. All the video editing tools including trim, split, crop, etc are provided. After editing videos, you can even use the software to share with family and friends, convert videos to different formats and burn DVD.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


Top 5 Best Free WMV Video Editors

1. Windows Movie Maker

Window Movie Maker is an easy-to-use video editing program developed by Microsoft. It supports various video formats including WMV, ASF, MPG, AVI, WMA, WAV and MP3. With it, you can easily combine photos with your video or can customize your video with preset video transition options as well as other video effects. However, the tool has a few limitations which make this piece of tool not suitable for professional video editing purposes.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily-to-use interface;
  • Practical video editing options for beginners.

Cons:

  • Crashes a lot and cannot handle large files;
  • Various versions have been released, though differences are truly negligible.

2. Movica

Movica is a graphic or movie editor for Windows Media (.wmv), MPEG files and FLV movies. This program enables you to copy, paste and select or delete multiple portions from a video file. It’s easy-to-use and has keyboard shortcuts which makes the job of editing WMV much easily. However, it’s compiled as a 32-bit Windows and thus makes its major drawbacks from other users who are already using 64-bit Windows.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Lots of keyboard shortcuts to make editing easy.

Cons:

  • Doesn’t support 64-bit Windows;
  • Outdated interface.

3. VSDC Free Video Editor

VSDC Free Video Editor is an application designed for video editing. It supports various video formats including AVI, MPG, MOV, WMV, MKV, RM, SWF, and FLV files. It’s a complex application with plenty of functionality: drawing and selection tools, plenty of color and lighting corrections, some useful filters, transitions, audio effects and more. All of these allow you to add a personal touch to your video files.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Many useful options provided;
  • Can also be used as a video converter.

Cons:

  • Computer resources (CPU and RAM) are required at a high level;
  • Interface may look complex.

4. Video Toolbox

Video Toolbox is a free powerful online video editor. It enables you easily convert videos, add watermark text, cut videos, crop videos, merge several video files, demux video files and much more. It’s capable of processing video files up to 600 MB. Another feature is to analyze the video files and display detailed information about the codec, bit rate, frame rate, resolution, etc.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use;
  • Powerful video conversion ability.

Cons:

  • Only provides simple video editing functions.

5. Cellsea

Cellsea is an another online video editor which supports various video formats including WMV, RM, 3GP, DIVX, FLV, AVI, MOV, MPG, VOB and MP4. With this free online video editing service, you can upload your videos, easily add effects, change video size, add sound or convert your video to another format and then share with your friends instantaneously.

top wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily edit your videos online and share with others.

Cons:

  • Has file size limit.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Finding suitable video editing software is quite a difficult task. There are so many choices and at the present scenario, loads of tools come for free even. So, it is a natural trend for the people to incline for the free video editing tools rather than spending money on a tool, which offers nothing but almost the same features. Here is a list of top five free WMV video editing tools, which feature almost all sorts of casual video editing needs.


If you need a more professional video editing tool, Wondershare Filmora is highly recommended. It allows you to create Hollywood-like home movies with titles, effects and transitions from all regular videos, audios and photos. All the video editing tools including trim, split, crop, etc are provided. After editing videos, you can even use the software to share with family and friends, convert videos to different formats and burn DVD.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


Top 5 Best Free WMV Video Editors

1. Windows Movie Maker

Window Movie Maker is an easy-to-use video editing program developed by Microsoft. It supports various video formats including WMV, ASF, MPG, AVI, WMA, WAV and MP3. With it, you can easily combine photos with your video or can customize your video with preset video transition options as well as other video effects. However, the tool has a few limitations which make this piece of tool not suitable for professional video editing purposes.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily-to-use interface;
  • Practical video editing options for beginners.

Cons:

  • Crashes a lot and cannot handle large files;
  • Various versions have been released, though differences are truly negligible.

2. Movica

Movica is a graphic or movie editor for Windows Media (.wmv), MPEG files and FLV movies. This program enables you to copy, paste and select or delete multiple portions from a video file. It’s easy-to-use and has keyboard shortcuts which makes the job of editing WMV much easily. However, it’s compiled as a 32-bit Windows and thus makes its major drawbacks from other users who are already using 64-bit Windows.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Lots of keyboard shortcuts to make editing easy.

Cons:

  • Doesn’t support 64-bit Windows;
  • Outdated interface.

3. VSDC Free Video Editor

VSDC Free Video Editor is an application designed for video editing. It supports various video formats including AVI, MPG, MOV, WMV, MKV, RM, SWF, and FLV files. It’s a complex application with plenty of functionality: drawing and selection tools, plenty of color and lighting corrections, some useful filters, transitions, audio effects and more. All of these allow you to add a personal touch to your video files.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Many useful options provided;
  • Can also be used as a video converter.

Cons:

  • Computer resources (CPU and RAM) are required at a high level;
  • Interface may look complex.

4. Video Toolbox

Video Toolbox is a free powerful online video editor. It enables you easily convert videos, add watermark text, cut videos, crop videos, merge several video files, demux video files and much more. It’s capable of processing video files up to 600 MB. Another feature is to analyze the video files and display detailed information about the codec, bit rate, frame rate, resolution, etc.

free wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use;
  • Powerful video conversion ability.

Cons:

  • Only provides simple video editing functions.

5. Cellsea

Cellsea is an another online video editor which supports various video formats including WMV, RM, 3GP, DIVX, FLV, AVI, MOV, MPG, VOB and MP4. With this free online video editing service, you can upload your videos, easily add effects, change video size, add sound or convert your video to another format and then share with your friends instantaneously.

top wmv video editor

Pros:

  • Easily edit your videos online and share with others.

Cons:

  • Has file size limit.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Mastering Video Editing with Windows Movie Maker: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Edit Videos in Windows Live Movie Maker

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Microsoft has released Windows Live Movie Maker on August 19, 2009 as part of a refresh to their Windows Live Essentials download. Windows Live Movie Maker is the first application designed for Windows 7 and is built to make beautiful movies from your photos and videos. And the latest version is Windows Live Movie Maker 2011.

Update in 2017: Microsoft has stopped the Windows Essentials Suite support on January 10, 2017. It is claimed that it is no longer available for download. If you are looking for an alternative to windows essentials movie maker, or windows movie maker, try Filmora video editor, which is available on both Windows7, Windows8 and Windows 10.


Part 1: Best Alternative to Windows Movie Maker: Filmora [Windows7/8/10 & Mac]

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

Windows Live Movie Maker is a little bit limiting for video editing. In most cases, you need to run Windows 7. Fortunately, you do have other options. There is plenty of software which will do the same thing but better than Windows Live Movie Maker for you to edit your videos and burn videos to DVD. Among many of them, we recommend one Wondershare Filmora. You may wonder what’s so special with this Video Editor. First of all, it supports almost all kinds of video formats, such as AVI, MP4, MPG, MPEG, 3GP, WMV, ASF, RM, RMVB, DAT, MOV, MKV and HD video formats: MTS, M2TS(AVCHD ), TS(MPEG-2), HD MKV(, MPEG-2 HD), HD WMV(VC-1), and HD MOV(, MPEG-4). Secondly, it provides powerful video editing function, such as crop, trim, adjust video effect, add watermark, etc. Also, there are various title and text templates, filter/transition and effects presets for you to choose from. Thirdly, Windows Live Movie Maker can only generate WMV files directly, but this video editor supports burn video to DVD disc, DVD Folder and ISO file or save the video to most of the popular formats.


Part 2: How to Edit Videos in Windows Live Movie Maker [Step by Step]

1.Add Videos and Photos

edit videos in windows live movie maker

While you are adding videos to Windows Live Movie Maker, you may encounter a problem like 3GP files can’t be added to Windows Live Movie Maker. Or it can’t be played in Window Live Movie Maker. And many other video files as well, such as RM, RMVB, DAT and HD video formats: MTS, TS, HD MKV, HD WMV, and HD MOV, etc. It’s quite necessary to get familiar with what all those files that could be imported to Windows Live Movie Maker.

 edit video using windows live movie maker

Notes

  • Video and music files that are protected with digital rights management (DRM) can’t be used in Windows Live Movie Maker.
  • Support for using MPEG-2 and Microsoft Recorded TV Show video files in your movie is available only if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows Vista or Windows 7: Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • AVCHD video files that contain Dolby Digital audio can be used in Windows Live Movie Maker if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows 7: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • MPEG-4 video files that contain audio can be used if you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows 7.
  • Some MPEG-4 video files can be used when you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows Vista if the necessary audio and video codecs are installed.

After adding your photos or videos, you can also add audio or background music to your video clips by clicking the Add music option.

Learn details about How to Add and Edit Music in Windows Movie Maker

2. Video Editing

As we said before, Windows Live Movie Maker (later named Windows Movie Maker) is a simple and easy video editing software for Windows, it can complete some basic video editing and become a good choice for novices. Here, I will share with you about the basic video editing tutorial in the Movie Maker.

Windows Movie Maker Edit

Cut & Trim & Split video in Windows Movie Maker

After adding videos and photos to the storyboard, you can now keep the useful sections and remove unwanted parts. To trim video, just place the playhead to the target position and right click the clip to select the Trim Set Start Point and move the playhead again to then end point and right click to select Set End Point. You can also go to the Edit tab and click the Split menu to split the video into parts. You can then delete and cut out unwanted sections or move it to the proper position.

Add Audio to Video: Record and add voiceover or Music

Windows Movie Maker also allows you to add narrations and background music to video footage. Just click the Add Music option and you can add music from online music libraries such as AudioMicro, Free Music Archive, and Vimeo or add music from the computer.

Windows Movie Maker Edit Add music

Add auto movie themes to Video

There is a built-in AutoMovie themes library in Movie Maker. You can use some popular themes such as Contemporary, Cinematic, Fade, Pan and Zoom, Black and White and Sepia.

Add texts &titles to Video

You can add titles, captions, and credits to video with windows movie maker, but it seems hard to add subtitles and customize its position. For more details about the text and title editing, check

Learn more details about How to Add Text to Video with Windows Movie Maker

Apply transitions & animations to video

The Movie Maker features lots of transitions under Animations tab. You can choose from wipes, cinematics, shatters, sweeps and curls, patterns and shapes, reveals, diagonals and dissolves.

Note: if you use the default themes, you won’t see all these transitions. Check the detailed steps about How to Add Transitions in Windows Movie Maker

Apply visual effects to video

We’ve introduced some of the best visual effects software before, but in Windows Movie Maker, you can also add effects such as 3D Ripple, Black and White, Blur, pixelate, mirrors, motions and fade effects.

Change video speed of video

The Movie Maker Edit tab allows you to adjust video volume, add fade in and fade out effects to video, or change video speed.

Learn more details about How to Speed Up Video in Windows Movie Maker

3. Save Video

After finish editing, you can upload your video clips to Facebook, YouTube, and other social media, or burn your videos to DVD with Windows DVD maker. You can also save your video clips on your computer.

Windows Movie Maker Save Video

You may also like: Windows Movie Maker VS Windows Live Movie Maker: What’s the Difference

While, if you find the windows movie maker editing features are limited based on your editing skills, you can try Wondershare Filmora. Below is a video tutorial about how to edit videos with Filmora.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Microsoft has released Windows Live Movie Maker on August 19, 2009 as part of a refresh to their Windows Live Essentials download. Windows Live Movie Maker is the first application designed for Windows 7 and is built to make beautiful movies from your photos and videos. And the latest version is Windows Live Movie Maker 2011.

Update in 2017: Microsoft has stopped the Windows Essentials Suite support on January 10, 2017. It is claimed that it is no longer available for download. If you are looking for an alternative to windows essentials movie maker, or windows movie maker, try Filmora video editor, which is available on both Windows7, Windows8 and Windows 10.


Part 1: Best Alternative to Windows Movie Maker: Filmora [Windows7/8/10 & Mac]

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

Windows Live Movie Maker is a little bit limiting for video editing. In most cases, you need to run Windows 7. Fortunately, you do have other options. There is plenty of software which will do the same thing but better than Windows Live Movie Maker for you to edit your videos and burn videos to DVD. Among many of them, we recommend one Wondershare Filmora. You may wonder what’s so special with this Video Editor. First of all, it supports almost all kinds of video formats, such as AVI, MP4, MPG, MPEG, 3GP, WMV, ASF, RM, RMVB, DAT, MOV, MKV and HD video formats: MTS, M2TS(AVCHD ), TS(MPEG-2), HD MKV(, MPEG-2 HD), HD WMV(VC-1), and HD MOV(, MPEG-4). Secondly, it provides powerful video editing function, such as crop, trim, adjust video effect, add watermark, etc. Also, there are various title and text templates, filter/transition and effects presets for you to choose from. Thirdly, Windows Live Movie Maker can only generate WMV files directly, but this video editor supports burn video to DVD disc, DVD Folder and ISO file or save the video to most of the popular formats.


Part 2: How to Edit Videos in Windows Live Movie Maker [Step by Step]

1.Add Videos and Photos

edit videos in windows live movie maker

While you are adding videos to Windows Live Movie Maker, you may encounter a problem like 3GP files can’t be added to Windows Live Movie Maker. Or it can’t be played in Window Live Movie Maker. And many other video files as well, such as RM, RMVB, DAT and HD video formats: MTS, TS, HD MKV, HD WMV, and HD MOV, etc. It’s quite necessary to get familiar with what all those files that could be imported to Windows Live Movie Maker.

 edit video using windows live movie maker

Notes

  • Video and music files that are protected with digital rights management (DRM) can’t be used in Windows Live Movie Maker.
  • Support for using MPEG-2 and Microsoft Recorded TV Show video files in your movie is available only if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows Vista or Windows 7: Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • AVCHD video files that contain Dolby Digital audio can be used in Windows Live Movie Maker if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows 7: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • MPEG-4 video files that contain audio can be used if you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows 7.
  • Some MPEG-4 video files can be used when you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows Vista if the necessary audio and video codecs are installed.

After adding your photos or videos, you can also add audio or background music to your video clips by clicking the Add music option.

Learn details about How to Add and Edit Music in Windows Movie Maker

2. Video Editing

As we said before, Windows Live Movie Maker (later named Windows Movie Maker) is a simple and easy video editing software for Windows, it can complete some basic video editing and become a good choice for novices. Here, I will share with you about the basic video editing tutorial in the Movie Maker.

Windows Movie Maker Edit

Cut & Trim & Split video in Windows Movie Maker

After adding videos and photos to the storyboard, you can now keep the useful sections and remove unwanted parts. To trim video, just place the playhead to the target position and right click the clip to select the Trim Set Start Point and move the playhead again to then end point and right click to select Set End Point. You can also go to the Edit tab and click the Split menu to split the video into parts. You can then delete and cut out unwanted sections or move it to the proper position.

Add Audio to Video: Record and add voiceover or Music

Windows Movie Maker also allows you to add narrations and background music to video footage. Just click the Add Music option and you can add music from online music libraries such as AudioMicro, Free Music Archive, and Vimeo or add music from the computer.

Windows Movie Maker Edit Add music

Add auto movie themes to Video

There is a built-in AutoMovie themes library in Movie Maker. You can use some popular themes such as Contemporary, Cinematic, Fade, Pan and Zoom, Black and White and Sepia.

Add texts &titles to Video

You can add titles, captions, and credits to video with windows movie maker, but it seems hard to add subtitles and customize its position. For more details about the text and title editing, check

Learn more details about How to Add Text to Video with Windows Movie Maker

Apply transitions & animations to video

The Movie Maker features lots of transitions under Animations tab. You can choose from wipes, cinematics, shatters, sweeps and curls, patterns and shapes, reveals, diagonals and dissolves.

Note: if you use the default themes, you won’t see all these transitions. Check the detailed steps about How to Add Transitions in Windows Movie Maker

Apply visual effects to video

We’ve introduced some of the best visual effects software before, but in Windows Movie Maker, you can also add effects such as 3D Ripple, Black and White, Blur, pixelate, mirrors, motions and fade effects.

Change video speed of video

The Movie Maker Edit tab allows you to adjust video volume, add fade in and fade out effects to video, or change video speed.

Learn more details about How to Speed Up Video in Windows Movie Maker

3. Save Video

After finish editing, you can upload your video clips to Facebook, YouTube, and other social media, or burn your videos to DVD with Windows DVD maker. You can also save your video clips on your computer.

Windows Movie Maker Save Video

You may also like: Windows Movie Maker VS Windows Live Movie Maker: What’s the Difference

While, if you find the windows movie maker editing features are limited based on your editing skills, you can try Wondershare Filmora. Below is a video tutorial about how to edit videos with Filmora.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Microsoft has released Windows Live Movie Maker on August 19, 2009 as part of a refresh to their Windows Live Essentials download. Windows Live Movie Maker is the first application designed for Windows 7 and is built to make beautiful movies from your photos and videos. And the latest version is Windows Live Movie Maker 2011.

Update in 2017: Microsoft has stopped the Windows Essentials Suite support on January 10, 2017. It is claimed that it is no longer available for download. If you are looking for an alternative to windows essentials movie maker, or windows movie maker, try Filmora video editor, which is available on both Windows7, Windows8 and Windows 10.


Part 1: Best Alternative to Windows Movie Maker: Filmora [Windows7/8/10 & Mac]

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

Windows Live Movie Maker is a little bit limiting for video editing. In most cases, you need to run Windows 7. Fortunately, you do have other options. There is plenty of software which will do the same thing but better than Windows Live Movie Maker for you to edit your videos and burn videos to DVD. Among many of them, we recommend one Wondershare Filmora. You may wonder what’s so special with this Video Editor. First of all, it supports almost all kinds of video formats, such as AVI, MP4, MPG, MPEG, 3GP, WMV, ASF, RM, RMVB, DAT, MOV, MKV and HD video formats: MTS, M2TS(AVCHD ), TS(MPEG-2), HD MKV(, MPEG-2 HD), HD WMV(VC-1), and HD MOV(, MPEG-4). Secondly, it provides powerful video editing function, such as crop, trim, adjust video effect, add watermark, etc. Also, there are various title and text templates, filter/transition and effects presets for you to choose from. Thirdly, Windows Live Movie Maker can only generate WMV files directly, but this video editor supports burn video to DVD disc, DVD Folder and ISO file or save the video to most of the popular formats.


Part 2: How to Edit Videos in Windows Live Movie Maker [Step by Step]

1.Add Videos and Photos

edit videos in windows live movie maker

While you are adding videos to Windows Live Movie Maker, you may encounter a problem like 3GP files can’t be added to Windows Live Movie Maker. Or it can’t be played in Window Live Movie Maker. And many other video files as well, such as RM, RMVB, DAT and HD video formats: MTS, TS, HD MKV, HD WMV, and HD MOV, etc. It’s quite necessary to get familiar with what all those files that could be imported to Windows Live Movie Maker.

 edit video using windows live movie maker

Notes

  • Video and music files that are protected with digital rights management (DRM) can’t be used in Windows Live Movie Maker.
  • Support for using MPEG-2 and Microsoft Recorded TV Show video files in your movie is available only if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows Vista or Windows 7: Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • AVCHD video files that contain Dolby Digital audio can be used in Windows Live Movie Maker if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows 7: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • MPEG-4 video files that contain audio can be used if you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows 7.
  • Some MPEG-4 video files can be used when you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows Vista if the necessary audio and video codecs are installed.

After adding your photos or videos, you can also add audio or background music to your video clips by clicking the Add music option.

Learn details about How to Add and Edit Music in Windows Movie Maker

2. Video Editing

As we said before, Windows Live Movie Maker (later named Windows Movie Maker) is a simple and easy video editing software for Windows, it can complete some basic video editing and become a good choice for novices. Here, I will share with you about the basic video editing tutorial in the Movie Maker.

Windows Movie Maker Edit

Cut & Trim & Split video in Windows Movie Maker

After adding videos and photos to the storyboard, you can now keep the useful sections and remove unwanted parts. To trim video, just place the playhead to the target position and right click the clip to select the Trim Set Start Point and move the playhead again to then end point and right click to select Set End Point. You can also go to the Edit tab and click the Split menu to split the video into parts. You can then delete and cut out unwanted sections or move it to the proper position.

Add Audio to Video: Record and add voiceover or Music

Windows Movie Maker also allows you to add narrations and background music to video footage. Just click the Add Music option and you can add music from online music libraries such as AudioMicro, Free Music Archive, and Vimeo or add music from the computer.

Windows Movie Maker Edit Add music

Add auto movie themes to Video

There is a built-in AutoMovie themes library in Movie Maker. You can use some popular themes such as Contemporary, Cinematic, Fade, Pan and Zoom, Black and White and Sepia.

Add texts &titles to Video

You can add titles, captions, and credits to video with windows movie maker, but it seems hard to add subtitles and customize its position. For more details about the text and title editing, check

Learn more details about How to Add Text to Video with Windows Movie Maker

Apply transitions & animations to video

The Movie Maker features lots of transitions under Animations tab. You can choose from wipes, cinematics, shatters, sweeps and curls, patterns and shapes, reveals, diagonals and dissolves.

Note: if you use the default themes, you won’t see all these transitions. Check the detailed steps about How to Add Transitions in Windows Movie Maker

Apply visual effects to video

We’ve introduced some of the best visual effects software before, but in Windows Movie Maker, you can also add effects such as 3D Ripple, Black and White, Blur, pixelate, mirrors, motions and fade effects.

Change video speed of video

The Movie Maker Edit tab allows you to adjust video volume, add fade in and fade out effects to video, or change video speed.

Learn more details about How to Speed Up Video in Windows Movie Maker

3. Save Video

After finish editing, you can upload your video clips to Facebook, YouTube, and other social media, or burn your videos to DVD with Windows DVD maker. You can also save your video clips on your computer.

Windows Movie Maker Save Video

You may also like: Windows Movie Maker VS Windows Live Movie Maker: What’s the Difference

While, if you find the windows movie maker editing features are limited based on your editing skills, you can try Wondershare Filmora. Below is a video tutorial about how to edit videos with Filmora.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Microsoft has released Windows Live Movie Maker on August 19, 2009 as part of a refresh to their Windows Live Essentials download. Windows Live Movie Maker is the first application designed for Windows 7 and is built to make beautiful movies from your photos and videos. And the latest version is Windows Live Movie Maker 2011.

Update in 2017: Microsoft has stopped the Windows Essentials Suite support on January 10, 2017. It is claimed that it is no longer available for download. If you are looking for an alternative to windows essentials movie maker, or windows movie maker, try Filmora video editor, which is available on both Windows7, Windows8 and Windows 10.


Part 1: Best Alternative to Windows Movie Maker: Filmora [Windows7/8/10 & Mac]

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

Windows Live Movie Maker is a little bit limiting for video editing. In most cases, you need to run Windows 7. Fortunately, you do have other options. There is plenty of software which will do the same thing but better than Windows Live Movie Maker for you to edit your videos and burn videos to DVD. Among many of them, we recommend one Wondershare Filmora. You may wonder what’s so special with this Video Editor. First of all, it supports almost all kinds of video formats, such as AVI, MP4, MPG, MPEG, 3GP, WMV, ASF, RM, RMVB, DAT, MOV, MKV and HD video formats: MTS, M2TS(AVCHD ), TS(MPEG-2), HD MKV(, MPEG-2 HD), HD WMV(VC-1), and HD MOV(, MPEG-4). Secondly, it provides powerful video editing function, such as crop, trim, adjust video effect, add watermark, etc. Also, there are various title and text templates, filter/transition and effects presets for you to choose from. Thirdly, Windows Live Movie Maker can only generate WMV files directly, but this video editor supports burn video to DVD disc, DVD Folder and ISO file or save the video to most of the popular formats.


Part 2: How to Edit Videos in Windows Live Movie Maker [Step by Step]

1.Add Videos and Photos

edit videos in windows live movie maker

While you are adding videos to Windows Live Movie Maker, you may encounter a problem like 3GP files can’t be added to Windows Live Movie Maker. Or it can’t be played in Window Live Movie Maker. And many other video files as well, such as RM, RMVB, DAT and HD video formats: MTS, TS, HD MKV, HD WMV, and HD MOV, etc. It’s quite necessary to get familiar with what all those files that could be imported to Windows Live Movie Maker.

 edit video using windows live movie maker

Notes

  • Video and music files that are protected with digital rights management (DRM) can’t be used in Windows Live Movie Maker.
  • Support for using MPEG-2 and Microsoft Recorded TV Show video files in your movie is available only if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows Vista or Windows 7: Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • AVCHD video files that contain Dolby Digital audio can be used in Windows Live Movie Maker if your computer is running one of the following editions of Windows 7: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.
  • MPEG-4 video files that contain audio can be used if you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows 7.
  • Some MPEG-4 video files can be used when you’re using Movie Maker on a computer running Windows Vista if the necessary audio and video codecs are installed.

After adding your photos or videos, you can also add audio or background music to your video clips by clicking the Add music option.

Learn details about How to Add and Edit Music in Windows Movie Maker

2. Video Editing

As we said before, Windows Live Movie Maker (later named Windows Movie Maker) is a simple and easy video editing software for Windows, it can complete some basic video editing and become a good choice for novices. Here, I will share with you about the basic video editing tutorial in the Movie Maker.

Windows Movie Maker Edit

Cut & Trim & Split video in Windows Movie Maker

After adding videos and photos to the storyboard, you can now keep the useful sections and remove unwanted parts. To trim video, just place the playhead to the target position and right click the clip to select the Trim Set Start Point and move the playhead again to then end point and right click to select Set End Point. You can also go to the Edit tab and click the Split menu to split the video into parts. You can then delete and cut out unwanted sections or move it to the proper position.

Add Audio to Video: Record and add voiceover or Music

Windows Movie Maker also allows you to add narrations and background music to video footage. Just click the Add Music option and you can add music from online music libraries such as AudioMicro, Free Music Archive, and Vimeo or add music from the computer.

Windows Movie Maker Edit Add music

Add auto movie themes to Video

There is a built-in AutoMovie themes library in Movie Maker. You can use some popular themes such as Contemporary, Cinematic, Fade, Pan and Zoom, Black and White and Sepia.

Add texts &titles to Video

You can add titles, captions, and credits to video with windows movie maker, but it seems hard to add subtitles and customize its position. For more details about the text and title editing, check

Learn more details about How to Add Text to Video with Windows Movie Maker

Apply transitions & animations to video

The Movie Maker features lots of transitions under Animations tab. You can choose from wipes, cinematics, shatters, sweeps and curls, patterns and shapes, reveals, diagonals and dissolves.

Note: if you use the default themes, you won’t see all these transitions. Check the detailed steps about How to Add Transitions in Windows Movie Maker

Apply visual effects to video

We’ve introduced some of the best visual effects software before, but in Windows Movie Maker, you can also add effects such as 3D Ripple, Black and White, Blur, pixelate, mirrors, motions and fade effects.

Change video speed of video

The Movie Maker Edit tab allows you to adjust video volume, add fade in and fade out effects to video, or change video speed.

Learn more details about How to Speed Up Video in Windows Movie Maker

3. Save Video

After finish editing, you can upload your video clips to Facebook, YouTube, and other social media, or burn your videos to DVD with Windows DVD maker. You can also save your video clips on your computer.

Windows Movie Maker Save Video

You may also like: Windows Movie Maker VS Windows Live Movie Maker: What’s the Difference

While, if you find the windows movie maker editing features are limited based on your editing skills, you can try Wondershare Filmora. Below is a video tutorial about how to edit videos with Filmora.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Best Free Open Source Video Editors

What could be nicer than having the best software to organize your media content? The difference between open source and other software is that open source allows coding changes to personalize your experience. Essentially, video editing is the process of modifying video pictures. Find out the best Open Source Video Editors to do all that in an instant!

1 - OpenShot 2 - Shotcut
3 - Lightworks 4 - Blender
5 - Kdenlive 6 - Olive
7 - VLC 8 - NATRON
9 - Flowbade 10 - Avidemux

Want to Use a More Intelligent Way to Add Custom Video Effects than Coding?

Filmora Free Video Editor is an easy-to-use editor for creating videos. Instead of coding to change the video, Filmora offers various functions and video effects to realize the video upgrade. Furthermore, built-in AI tools will bring more convenience to you.

Use AI to Edit Video Use AI to Edit Video Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

10 Best Open Source Video Editors in 2024 [Free]

Check out this list of best open source video editors that you can use to produce long-form content for YouTube, your online marketplace, or several other venues when you’re on a small budget:

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

1. OpenShot

OpenShot is a free and open-source video editor with no premium features. In contrast, the website provides a donation option. You may use the complete range of functions without paying anything. This works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Mac OS 10.15, and most Linux variants.

For a free site, it also has a fairly large variety of graphic effects, ranging from title themes and video transitions to 3D animations. OpenShot also differs from many other video editors in that it is updated regularly.

Unlike some other systems, OpenShot has had many major versions in 2021 alone, which addressed issues and added new capabilities. However, many users have reported substantial slowdowns when using OpenShot, so remember to look out for any efficiency difficulties.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Unlimited layers
  • Super engaging

Cons

  • It sometimes lags, which is inconvenient

2. Shotcut

Shotcut is a cross-platform, open-source video editing software with a large library of instructional videos. It also works with FFmpeg, 4K , ProRes, and DNxHD, among other formats. However, because Shotcut was created for Linux, many users may find the UI a little strange. Regardless, it’s still a fantastic editor.

Shotcut also has a lot of sound editing capabilities, so it’s great for audiophiles. Customers may change bass and treble, construct bandpass filters, alter gain, apply dynamic compression, and more with its array of audio fine-tuning options. FFmpeg, the dominant multimedia foundation, provides shortcut support for the newest video and audio codecs.

The native timeline editing enables customers to instantly add video files into their project folder instead of using a media library. A project uses multi-format timelines to mix up resolutions and frames per second.

Pros

  • Excellent editing features
  • Offers decoding and encoding features
  • Multi-format timeline

Cons

  • Takes a good chunk of space on your computer

3. Lightworks

Another famous video editor that can be downloaded for free is Lightworks . Lightworks is compatible with most major operating systems and devices, such as Mac, Windows, and Linux. Nevertheless, because there is no Lightworks application for iOS or Android, the system is only available on the PC at this time.

Lightworks is a powerful platform, featuring transitions, timeline-based editing, cloud and local storing, and no watermarks on the final video, yet being completely free to use. As a result, several additional features are only available with a Lightworks subscription account.

The premium edition of Lightworks charges $23.99 monthly, $239.99 annually, or $389.99 for a lifetime membership for a single user. In less than two years, the annual and monthly choices would cost more than a lifetime membership, so if you want to use Lightworks for a lot longer, you should select for lifetime access.

Pros

  • A nice video editor with a lot of options
  • Ideal tool for YouTube video makers who wish to edit their videos regularly
  • Offers smooth service

Cons

  • Only one option to save the project to MP4

filmora box

Filmora AI Video Editor

Create AI-Generated Video with Filmora

Filmora AI video editor offers a ChatGPT plug-in and AI tools to enhance your creative vision. Make your idea into reality.

Create Video with AI Create Video with AI Learn More >

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Try It Free >>

4. Blender

Blender is a free, open-source content creation program on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows systems. Unlike many other open-source editing software, Blender has no paid memberships or add-ons.

Blender differentiates apart from other software in the domain of 3D editing. Customers may sketch directly in a 3D environment by opening the 3D viewport, providing artists greater freedom than ever to tinker with both 2D and 3D concepts.

Blender also has an animated pose editor and non-linear animator features for autonomous motion and a fairly strong set of animation editing capabilities. Designers and other experienced users may use Python scripting to modify the program and expand its native toolset.

Blender has benefited from donations by hundreds of everyday users who have added several additional capabilities as an open-source platform. It is among the most comprehensive and adaptable free video editors presently accessible.

Pros

  • Almost limitless customization
  • Good enough to be used by experts
  • Optimal features for beginner users

Cons

  • Buggy format support

5. Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an open-source video editor that runs on the KDE windows desktop and is developed on Microsoft and Linux. The program provides several editorial and management features based on a specific application for executing editing tasks.

KDEnlive supports all FFmpeg-compatible formats, including MOV, AVI, WMV, MPEG, XviD, and FLV. It also has experimental support for AVCHD and covers 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios for PAL, NTSC, and other HD standards using HDV. You may also transfer the files to a DVD or export them to DV devices with KDEnlive.

Its common functions include preview pane, multitrack recording, artistic effects, tilting functions, video and audio thumbnails, flexible layouts, and desktop compatibility. This software supports various audio/video/image formats, including MPEG, avi, dv, vob, wav, and mp3.

Pros

  • It includes light graffiti
  • It has an audio spectrum and spectrogram
  • An abundance of top-notch features

Cons

  • Mostly for professional use

6. Olive

Olive is a total redesign from the bottom up, with cutting-edge tools to assist you in creating the greatest videos imaginable. Olive 0.2 offers node-based compositing that is both powerful and versatile.

Node editing is a type of visual programming that allows you to customize how Olive produces your video completely. OpenColorIO provides end-to-end color control for the applications.

This should help users match video from many cameras and export your movie to whichever color space you require if you’re delivering to broadcast TV online. It has a powerful, fast disk cache to ensure the cleanest possible playback. It operates quietly in the background to render pictures ahead of time, so they’re available whenever you need them.

Pros

  • Decent interface
  • User-friendly application
  • Quick and powerful disk cache

Cons

  • Lacks some high-end features

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A cross-platform for making videos anywhere for all creators

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Why your video editing isn’t good enough? How about some creative inspo?

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7. VLC

VLC media player is cross-platform open-source multimedia which is extremely popular, and for a good reason: it’s entirely free, it endorses almost every file type without any need for additional file formats, it can maximize audio and video playback for your gadget, it appears to support streaming, and it can be stretched nearly endlessly with downloadable plugins.

VLC Media Player supports MPEG and DivX streaming. ZIP files may also be played without extracting them one by one. After the download is complete, you may manually boost the volume of a movie up to 200 percent if it is too quiet. VLC Media Player also can look for album covers. Several films may be played one after the other using the playlist feature.

Pros

  • A life-saver for many
  • Supports a large variety of formats
  • Highly customizable

Cons

  • Editing metadata isn’t as straightforward as in different editors

8. Natron

On the surface, Natron appears to be a versatile and straightforward multi-platform node-based platform with a robust GUI interface. Although Natron appears to be a basic compositing program , it contains layers of intricacy that will allow your imagination to soar to new heights.

Natron’s Roto and Rotopaint toolkits are versatile, allowing for the creation of endless layers of masks, mattes, and forms. Natron features a strong 2D and Planar tracker that may help you cut down on the number of hours you spend rotoscoping to fulfill personal or business deadlines.

It includes several powerful keying and matte generating tools created by the core OFX software engineers and various tools created by the open-source plugin development community.

Pros

  • Smooth functionality
  • 2D tracking tools
  • Offers decent editing tools

Cons

  • Lacks 3D tracking tools

9. Flowblade

Flowbade is a multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux distributed under the GPL 3. You can make movies out of video clips, audio snippets, and graphics files using Flowblade Movie Editor.

Clips may be clipped at certain frames, filters can be applied to clips, and compositor elements can be used to generate multilayer composite pictures.

The toolbox, ordering, the default tool, and key timeline behaviors are all user adjustable in Flowblade. There is a drag and drop option on the interface for the video files to be imported.

Pros

  • Decent default settings to accommodate users
  • A good amount of editing features
  • 40+ pattern wipes

Cons

  • It sometimes lags on heavy videos

Professional Video Editor

Filmora is an expert in editing videos with your creation. You can use powerful tools to make your video like a masterpiece.

Edit Video Like a Pro Edit Video Like a Pro Learn More >

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Try It Free >>

10. Avidemux

Avidemux is a free video editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux that doesn’t aim to be a full-fledged timeline-based video editing software. Rather, it’s made to make a few minor modifications and then splits out a new file.

You may import your source video and pick the start and finish frames to chop off segments. You may add filters to enhance the video by sharpening the picture or decreasing noise.

Some of the aesthetic options include color effects and borders, while others enhance the clip by sharpening the image or reducing noise. You may even add other clips to the end of your existing one, although this type of work would be better suited to a complete non-linear editor.

If you don’t need to make any changes to the video, Avidemux may come in handy; as part of its exporting process, it allows you to do so.

Pros

  • Decent aesthetic options for video editing
  • Edit multiple videos at the same time
  • Multiple stickers to add to your videos

Cons

  • Lags sometimes

FAQs About Open Source Video Editor

  • What is an open-source video editor?

Open-source video editing software includes source code that allows you to tailor the application to your requirements. Everyone with a basic understanding of coding and video editing skills will almost certainly want to utilize an open-source video editor.

  • Does OpenShot have a watermark?

Openshot is a free, open-source video editing program with no watermark. As a result, although being a completely free tool, it’s doesn’t advertise its brand on your final video. Even though the marketplace is filled with open video editing tools, most of them leave a big watermark on your movie project.

Conclusion

All of the video editors on this shortlist offer fantastic features and are completely free to use. They all have advantages and disadvantages, and you must choose depending on your requirements and usage.

We can’t state that VLC is excellent for users and Shotcut and OpenShot are fantastic for desktops, as much as we’d like to. Based on what you want to get out of it, you must choose the correct tool. And here, we hope the Open Source Video Editors reviewed will help you massively.

Want to Use a More Intelligent Way to Add Custom Video Effects than Coding?

Filmora Free Video Editor is an easy-to-use editor for creating videos. Instead of coding to change the video, Filmora offers various functions and video effects to realize the video upgrade. Furthermore, built-in AI tools will bring more convenience to you.

Use AI to Edit Video Use AI to Edit Video Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

10 Best Open Source Video Editors in 2024 [Free]

Check out this list of best open source video editors that you can use to produce long-form content for YouTube, your online marketplace, or several other venues when you’re on a small budget:

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

1. OpenShot

OpenShot is a free and open-source video editor with no premium features. In contrast, the website provides a donation option. You may use the complete range of functions without paying anything. This works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Mac OS 10.15, and most Linux variants.

For a free site, it also has a fairly large variety of graphic effects, ranging from title themes and video transitions to 3D animations. OpenShot also differs from many other video editors in that it is updated regularly.

Unlike some other systems, OpenShot has had many major versions in 2021 alone, which addressed issues and added new capabilities. However, many users have reported substantial slowdowns when using OpenShot, so remember to look out for any efficiency difficulties.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Unlimited layers
  • Super engaging

Cons

  • It sometimes lags, which is inconvenient

2. Shotcut

Shotcut is a cross-platform, open-source video editing software with a large library of instructional videos. It also works with FFmpeg, 4K , ProRes, and DNxHD, among other formats. However, because Shotcut was created for Linux, many users may find the UI a little strange. Regardless, it’s still a fantastic editor.

Shotcut also has a lot of sound editing capabilities, so it’s great for audiophiles. Customers may change bass and treble, construct bandpass filters, alter gain, apply dynamic compression, and more with its array of audio fine-tuning options. FFmpeg, the dominant multimedia foundation, provides shortcut support for the newest video and audio codecs.

The native timeline editing enables customers to instantly add video files into their project folder instead of using a media library. A project uses multi-format timelines to mix up resolutions and frames per second.

Pros

  • Excellent editing features
  • Offers decoding and encoding features
  • Multi-format timeline

Cons

  • Takes a good chunk of space on your computer

3. Lightworks

Another famous video editor that can be downloaded for free is Lightworks . Lightworks is compatible with most major operating systems and devices, such as Mac, Windows, and Linux. Nevertheless, because there is no Lightworks application for iOS or Android, the system is only available on the PC at this time.

Lightworks is a powerful platform, featuring transitions, timeline-based editing, cloud and local storing, and no watermarks on the final video, yet being completely free to use. As a result, several additional features are only available with a Lightworks subscription account.

The premium edition of Lightworks charges $23.99 monthly, $239.99 annually, or $389.99 for a lifetime membership for a single user. In less than two years, the annual and monthly choices would cost more than a lifetime membership, so if you want to use Lightworks for a lot longer, you should select for lifetime access.

Pros

  • A nice video editor with a lot of options
  • Ideal tool for YouTube video makers who wish to edit their videos regularly
  • Offers smooth service

Cons

  • Only one option to save the project to MP4

filmora box

Filmora AI Video Editor

Create AI-Generated Video with Filmora

Filmora AI video editor offers a ChatGPT plug-in and AI tools to enhance your creative vision. Make your idea into reality.

Create Video with AI Create Video with AI Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

4. Blender

Blender is a free, open-source content creation program on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows systems. Unlike many other open-source editing software, Blender has no paid memberships or add-ons.

Blender differentiates apart from other software in the domain of 3D editing. Customers may sketch directly in a 3D environment by opening the 3D viewport, providing artists greater freedom than ever to tinker with both 2D and 3D concepts.

Blender also has an animated pose editor and non-linear animator features for autonomous motion and a fairly strong set of animation editing capabilities. Designers and other experienced users may use Python scripting to modify the program and expand its native toolset.

Blender has benefited from donations by hundreds of everyday users who have added several additional capabilities as an open-source platform. It is among the most comprehensive and adaptable free video editors presently accessible.

Pros

  • Almost limitless customization
  • Good enough to be used by experts
  • Optimal features for beginner users

Cons

  • Buggy format support

5. Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an open-source video editor that runs on the KDE windows desktop and is developed on Microsoft and Linux. The program provides several editorial and management features based on a specific application for executing editing tasks.

KDEnlive supports all FFmpeg-compatible formats, including MOV, AVI, WMV, MPEG, XviD, and FLV. It also has experimental support for AVCHD and covers 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios for PAL, NTSC, and other HD standards using HDV. You may also transfer the files to a DVD or export them to DV devices with KDEnlive.

Its common functions include preview pane, multitrack recording, artistic effects, tilting functions, video and audio thumbnails, flexible layouts, and desktop compatibility. This software supports various audio/video/image formats, including MPEG, avi, dv, vob, wav, and mp3.

Pros

  • It includes light graffiti
  • It has an audio spectrum and spectrogram
  • An abundance of top-notch features

Cons

  • Mostly for professional use

6. Olive

Olive is a total redesign from the bottom up, with cutting-edge tools to assist you in creating the greatest videos imaginable. Olive 0.2 offers node-based compositing that is both powerful and versatile.

Node editing is a type of visual programming that allows you to customize how Olive produces your video completely. OpenColorIO provides end-to-end color control for the applications.

This should help users match video from many cameras and export your movie to whichever color space you require if you’re delivering to broadcast TV online. It has a powerful, fast disk cache to ensure the cleanest possible playback. It operates quietly in the background to render pictures ahead of time, so they’re available whenever you need them.

Pros

  • Decent interface
  • User-friendly application
  • Quick and powerful disk cache

Cons

  • Lacks some high-end features

filmora logo

A cross-platform for making videos anywhere for all creators

filmora-02

Why your video editing isn’t good enough? How about some creative inspo?

  • 100 Million+ Users
  • 150+ Countries and Regions
  • 4 Million+ Social Media Followers
  • 5 Million+ Stock Media for Use

Try It Free Try It Free

Try It Free

Try It Free

* Secure Download

filmora12

7. VLC

VLC media player is cross-platform open-source multimedia which is extremely popular, and for a good reason: it’s entirely free, it endorses almost every file type without any need for additional file formats, it can maximize audio and video playback for your gadget, it appears to support streaming, and it can be stretched nearly endlessly with downloadable plugins.

VLC Media Player supports MPEG and DivX streaming. ZIP files may also be played without extracting them one by one. After the download is complete, you may manually boost the volume of a movie up to 200 percent if it is too quiet. VLC Media Player also can look for album covers. Several films may be played one after the other using the playlist feature.

Pros

  • A life-saver for many
  • Supports a large variety of formats
  • Highly customizable

Cons

  • Editing metadata isn’t as straightforward as in different editors

8. Natron

On the surface, Natron appears to be a versatile and straightforward multi-platform node-based platform with a robust GUI interface. Although Natron appears to be a basic compositing program , it contains layers of intricacy that will allow your imagination to soar to new heights.

Natron’s Roto and Rotopaint toolkits are versatile, allowing for the creation of endless layers of masks, mattes, and forms. Natron features a strong 2D and Planar tracker that may help you cut down on the number of hours you spend rotoscoping to fulfill personal or business deadlines.

It includes several powerful keying and matte generating tools created by the core OFX software engineers and various tools created by the open-source plugin development community.

Pros

  • Smooth functionality
  • 2D tracking tools
  • Offers decent editing tools

Cons

  • Lacks 3D tracking tools

9. Flowblade

Flowbade is a multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux distributed under the GPL 3. You can make movies out of video clips, audio snippets, and graphics files using Flowblade Movie Editor.

Clips may be clipped at certain frames, filters can be applied to clips, and compositor elements can be used to generate multilayer composite pictures.

The toolbox, ordering, the default tool, and key timeline behaviors are all user adjustable in Flowblade. There is a drag and drop option on the interface for the video files to be imported.

Pros

  • Decent default settings to accommodate users
  • A good amount of editing features
  • 40+ pattern wipes

Cons

  • It sometimes lags on heavy videos

Professional Video Editor

Filmora is an expert in editing videos with your creation. You can use powerful tools to make your video like a masterpiece.

Edit Video Like a Pro Edit Video Like a Pro Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

10. Avidemux

Avidemux is a free video editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux that doesn’t aim to be a full-fledged timeline-based video editing software. Rather, it’s made to make a few minor modifications and then splits out a new file.

You may import your source video and pick the start and finish frames to chop off segments. You may add filters to enhance the video by sharpening the picture or decreasing noise.

Some of the aesthetic options include color effects and borders, while others enhance the clip by sharpening the image or reducing noise. You may even add other clips to the end of your existing one, although this type of work would be better suited to a complete non-linear editor.

If you don’t need to make any changes to the video, Avidemux may come in handy; as part of its exporting process, it allows you to do so.

Pros

  • Decent aesthetic options for video editing
  • Edit multiple videos at the same time
  • Multiple stickers to add to your videos

Cons

  • Lags sometimes

FAQs About Open Source Video Editor

  • What is an open-source video editor?

Open-source video editing software includes source code that allows you to tailor the application to your requirements. Everyone with a basic understanding of coding and video editing skills will almost certainly want to utilize an open-source video editor.

  • Does OpenShot have a watermark?

Openshot is a free, open-source video editing program with no watermark. As a result, although being a completely free tool, it’s doesn’t advertise its brand on your final video. Even though the marketplace is filled with open video editing tools, most of them leave a big watermark on your movie project.

Conclusion

All of the video editors on this shortlist offer fantastic features and are completely free to use. They all have advantages and disadvantages, and you must choose depending on your requirements and usage.

We can’t state that VLC is excellent for users and Shotcut and OpenShot are fantastic for desktops, as much as we’d like to. Based on what you want to get out of it, you must choose the correct tool. And here, we hope the Open Source Video Editors reviewed will help you massively.

Want to Use a More Intelligent Way to Add Custom Video Effects than Coding?

Filmora Free Video Editor is an easy-to-use editor for creating videos. Instead of coding to change the video, Filmora offers various functions and video effects to realize the video upgrade. Furthermore, built-in AI tools will bring more convenience to you.

Use AI to Edit Video Use AI to Edit Video Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

10 Best Open Source Video Editors in 2024 [Free]

Check out this list of best open source video editors that you can use to produce long-form content for YouTube, your online marketplace, or several other venues when you’re on a small budget:

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

1. OpenShot

OpenShot is a free and open-source video editor with no premium features. In contrast, the website provides a donation option. You may use the complete range of functions without paying anything. This works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Mac OS 10.15, and most Linux variants.

For a free site, it also has a fairly large variety of graphic effects, ranging from title themes and video transitions to 3D animations. OpenShot also differs from many other video editors in that it is updated regularly.

Unlike some other systems, OpenShot has had many major versions in 2021 alone, which addressed issues and added new capabilities. However, many users have reported substantial slowdowns when using OpenShot, so remember to look out for any efficiency difficulties.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Unlimited layers
  • Super engaging

Cons

  • It sometimes lags, which is inconvenient

2. Shotcut

Shotcut is a cross-platform, open-source video editing software with a large library of instructional videos. It also works with FFmpeg, 4K , ProRes, and DNxHD, among other formats. However, because Shotcut was created for Linux, many users may find the UI a little strange. Regardless, it’s still a fantastic editor.

Shotcut also has a lot of sound editing capabilities, so it’s great for audiophiles. Customers may change bass and treble, construct bandpass filters, alter gain, apply dynamic compression, and more with its array of audio fine-tuning options. FFmpeg, the dominant multimedia foundation, provides shortcut support for the newest video and audio codecs.

The native timeline editing enables customers to instantly add video files into their project folder instead of using a media library. A project uses multi-format timelines to mix up resolutions and frames per second.

Pros

  • Excellent editing features
  • Offers decoding and encoding features
  • Multi-format timeline

Cons

  • Takes a good chunk of space on your computer

3. Lightworks

Another famous video editor that can be downloaded for free is Lightworks . Lightworks is compatible with most major operating systems and devices, such as Mac, Windows, and Linux. Nevertheless, because there is no Lightworks application for iOS or Android, the system is only available on the PC at this time.

Lightworks is a powerful platform, featuring transitions, timeline-based editing, cloud and local storing, and no watermarks on the final video, yet being completely free to use. As a result, several additional features are only available with a Lightworks subscription account.

The premium edition of Lightworks charges $23.99 monthly, $239.99 annually, or $389.99 for a lifetime membership for a single user. In less than two years, the annual and monthly choices would cost more than a lifetime membership, so if you want to use Lightworks for a lot longer, you should select for lifetime access.

Pros

  • A nice video editor with a lot of options
  • Ideal tool for YouTube video makers who wish to edit their videos regularly
  • Offers smooth service

Cons

  • Only one option to save the project to MP4

filmora box

Filmora AI Video Editor

Create AI-Generated Video with Filmora

Filmora AI video editor offers a ChatGPT plug-in and AI tools to enhance your creative vision. Make your idea into reality.

Create Video with AI Create Video with AI Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

4. Blender

Blender is a free, open-source content creation program on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows systems. Unlike many other open-source editing software, Blender has no paid memberships or add-ons.

Blender differentiates apart from other software in the domain of 3D editing. Customers may sketch directly in a 3D environment by opening the 3D viewport, providing artists greater freedom than ever to tinker with both 2D and 3D concepts.

Blender also has an animated pose editor and non-linear animator features for autonomous motion and a fairly strong set of animation editing capabilities. Designers and other experienced users may use Python scripting to modify the program and expand its native toolset.

Blender has benefited from donations by hundreds of everyday users who have added several additional capabilities as an open-source platform. It is among the most comprehensive and adaptable free video editors presently accessible.

Pros

  • Almost limitless customization
  • Good enough to be used by experts
  • Optimal features for beginner users

Cons

  • Buggy format support

5. Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an open-source video editor that runs on the KDE windows desktop and is developed on Microsoft and Linux. The program provides several editorial and management features based on a specific application for executing editing tasks.

KDEnlive supports all FFmpeg-compatible formats, including MOV, AVI, WMV, MPEG, XviD, and FLV. It also has experimental support for AVCHD and covers 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios for PAL, NTSC, and other HD standards using HDV. You may also transfer the files to a DVD or export them to DV devices with KDEnlive.

Its common functions include preview pane, multitrack recording, artistic effects, tilting functions, video and audio thumbnails, flexible layouts, and desktop compatibility. This software supports various audio/video/image formats, including MPEG, avi, dv, vob, wav, and mp3.

Pros

  • It includes light graffiti
  • It has an audio spectrum and spectrogram
  • An abundance of top-notch features

Cons

  • Mostly for professional use

6. Olive

Olive is a total redesign from the bottom up, with cutting-edge tools to assist you in creating the greatest videos imaginable. Olive 0.2 offers node-based compositing that is both powerful and versatile.

Node editing is a type of visual programming that allows you to customize how Olive produces your video completely. OpenColorIO provides end-to-end color control for the applications.

This should help users match video from many cameras and export your movie to whichever color space you require if you’re delivering to broadcast TV online. It has a powerful, fast disk cache to ensure the cleanest possible playback. It operates quietly in the background to render pictures ahead of time, so they’re available whenever you need them.

Pros

  • Decent interface
  • User-friendly application
  • Quick and powerful disk cache

Cons

  • Lacks some high-end features

filmora logo

A cross-platform for making videos anywhere for all creators

filmora-02

Why your video editing isn’t good enough? How about some creative inspo?

  • 100 Million+ Users
  • 150+ Countries and Regions
  • 4 Million+ Social Media Followers
  • 5 Million+ Stock Media for Use

Try It Free Try It Free

Try It Free

Try It Free

* Secure Download

filmora12

7. VLC

VLC media player is cross-platform open-source multimedia which is extremely popular, and for a good reason: it’s entirely free, it endorses almost every file type without any need for additional file formats, it can maximize audio and video playback for your gadget, it appears to support streaming, and it can be stretched nearly endlessly with downloadable plugins.

VLC Media Player supports MPEG and DivX streaming. ZIP files may also be played without extracting them one by one. After the download is complete, you may manually boost the volume of a movie up to 200 percent if it is too quiet. VLC Media Player also can look for album covers. Several films may be played one after the other using the playlist feature.

Pros

  • A life-saver for many
  • Supports a large variety of formats
  • Highly customizable

Cons

  • Editing metadata isn’t as straightforward as in different editors

8. Natron

On the surface, Natron appears to be a versatile and straightforward multi-platform node-based platform with a robust GUI interface. Although Natron appears to be a basic compositing program , it contains layers of intricacy that will allow your imagination to soar to new heights.

Natron’s Roto and Rotopaint toolkits are versatile, allowing for the creation of endless layers of masks, mattes, and forms. Natron features a strong 2D and Planar tracker that may help you cut down on the number of hours you spend rotoscoping to fulfill personal or business deadlines.

It includes several powerful keying and matte generating tools created by the core OFX software engineers and various tools created by the open-source plugin development community.

Pros

  • Smooth functionality
  • 2D tracking tools
  • Offers decent editing tools

Cons

  • Lacks 3D tracking tools

9. Flowblade

Flowbade is a multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux distributed under the GPL 3. You can make movies out of video clips, audio snippets, and graphics files using Flowblade Movie Editor.

Clips may be clipped at certain frames, filters can be applied to clips, and compositor elements can be used to generate multilayer composite pictures.

The toolbox, ordering, the default tool, and key timeline behaviors are all user adjustable in Flowblade. There is a drag and drop option on the interface for the video files to be imported.

Pros

  • Decent default settings to accommodate users
  • A good amount of editing features
  • 40+ pattern wipes

Cons

  • It sometimes lags on heavy videos

Professional Video Editor

Filmora is an expert in editing videos with your creation. You can use powerful tools to make your video like a masterpiece.

Edit Video Like a Pro Edit Video Like a Pro Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

10. Avidemux

Avidemux is a free video editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux that doesn’t aim to be a full-fledged timeline-based video editing software. Rather, it’s made to make a few minor modifications and then splits out a new file.

You may import your source video and pick the start and finish frames to chop off segments. You may add filters to enhance the video by sharpening the picture or decreasing noise.

Some of the aesthetic options include color effects and borders, while others enhance the clip by sharpening the image or reducing noise. You may even add other clips to the end of your existing one, although this type of work would be better suited to a complete non-linear editor.

If you don’t need to make any changes to the video, Avidemux may come in handy; as part of its exporting process, it allows you to do so.

Pros

  • Decent aesthetic options for video editing
  • Edit multiple videos at the same time
  • Multiple stickers to add to your videos

Cons

  • Lags sometimes

FAQs About Open Source Video Editor

  • What is an open-source video editor?

Open-source video editing software includes source code that allows you to tailor the application to your requirements. Everyone with a basic understanding of coding and video editing skills will almost certainly want to utilize an open-source video editor.

  • Does OpenShot have a watermark?

Openshot is a free, open-source video editing program with no watermark. As a result, although being a completely free tool, it’s doesn’t advertise its brand on your final video. Even though the marketplace is filled with open video editing tools, most of them leave a big watermark on your movie project.

Conclusion

All of the video editors on this shortlist offer fantastic features and are completely free to use. They all have advantages and disadvantages, and you must choose depending on your requirements and usage.

We can’t state that VLC is excellent for users and Shotcut and OpenShot are fantastic for desktops, as much as we’d like to. Based on what you want to get out of it, you must choose the correct tool. And here, we hope the Open Source Video Editors reviewed will help you massively.

Want to Use a More Intelligent Way to Add Custom Video Effects than Coding?

Filmora Free Video Editor is an easy-to-use editor for creating videos. Instead of coding to change the video, Filmora offers various functions and video effects to realize the video upgrade. Furthermore, built-in AI tools will bring more convenience to you.

Use AI to Edit Video Use AI to Edit Video Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

10 Best Open Source Video Editors in 2024 [Free]

Check out this list of best open source video editors that you can use to produce long-form content for YouTube, your online marketplace, or several other venues when you’re on a small budget:

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

1. OpenShot

OpenShot is a free and open-source video editor with no premium features. In contrast, the website provides a donation option. You may use the complete range of functions without paying anything. This works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Mac OS 10.15, and most Linux variants.

For a free site, it also has a fairly large variety of graphic effects, ranging from title themes and video transitions to 3D animations. OpenShot also differs from many other video editors in that it is updated regularly.

Unlike some other systems, OpenShot has had many major versions in 2021 alone, which addressed issues and added new capabilities. However, many users have reported substantial slowdowns when using OpenShot, so remember to look out for any efficiency difficulties.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Unlimited layers
  • Super engaging

Cons

  • It sometimes lags, which is inconvenient

2. Shotcut

Shotcut is a cross-platform, open-source video editing software with a large library of instructional videos. It also works with FFmpeg, 4K , ProRes, and DNxHD, among other formats. However, because Shotcut was created for Linux, many users may find the UI a little strange. Regardless, it’s still a fantastic editor.

Shotcut also has a lot of sound editing capabilities, so it’s great for audiophiles. Customers may change bass and treble, construct bandpass filters, alter gain, apply dynamic compression, and more with its array of audio fine-tuning options. FFmpeg, the dominant multimedia foundation, provides shortcut support for the newest video and audio codecs.

The native timeline editing enables customers to instantly add video files into their project folder instead of using a media library. A project uses multi-format timelines to mix up resolutions and frames per second.

Pros

  • Excellent editing features
  • Offers decoding and encoding features
  • Multi-format timeline

Cons

  • Takes a good chunk of space on your computer

3. Lightworks

Another famous video editor that can be downloaded for free is Lightworks . Lightworks is compatible with most major operating systems and devices, such as Mac, Windows, and Linux. Nevertheless, because there is no Lightworks application for iOS or Android, the system is only available on the PC at this time.

Lightworks is a powerful platform, featuring transitions, timeline-based editing, cloud and local storing, and no watermarks on the final video, yet being completely free to use. As a result, several additional features are only available with a Lightworks subscription account.

The premium edition of Lightworks charges $23.99 monthly, $239.99 annually, or $389.99 for a lifetime membership for a single user. In less than two years, the annual and monthly choices would cost more than a lifetime membership, so if you want to use Lightworks for a lot longer, you should select for lifetime access.

Pros

  • A nice video editor with a lot of options
  • Ideal tool for YouTube video makers who wish to edit their videos regularly
  • Offers smooth service

Cons

  • Only one option to save the project to MP4

filmora box

Filmora AI Video Editor

Create AI-Generated Video with Filmora

Filmora AI video editor offers a ChatGPT plug-in and AI tools to enhance your creative vision. Make your idea into reality.

Create Video with AI Create Video with AI Learn More >

iOS Android

Try It Free >>

4. Blender

Blender is a free, open-source content creation program on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows systems. Unlike many other open-source editing software, Blender has no paid memberships or add-ons.

Blender differentiates apart from other software in the domain of 3D editing. Customers may sketch directly in a 3D environment by opening the 3D viewport, providing artists greater freedom than ever to tinker with both 2D and 3D concepts.

Blender also has an animated pose editor and non-linear animator features for autonomous motion and a fairly strong set of animation editing capabilities. Designers and other experienced users may use Python scripting to modify the program and expand its native toolset.

Blender has benefited from donations by hundreds of everyday users who have added several additional capabilities as an open-source platform. It is among the most comprehensive and adaptable free video editors presently accessible.

Pros

  • Almost limitless customization
  • Good enough to be used by experts
  • Optimal features for beginner users

Cons

  • Buggy format support

5. Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an open-source video editor that runs on the KDE windows desktop and is developed on Microsoft and Linux. The program provides several editorial and management features based on a specific application for executing editing tasks.

KDEnlive supports all FFmpeg-compatible formats, including MOV, AVI, WMV, MPEG, XviD, and FLV. It also has experimental support for AVCHD and covers 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios for PAL, NTSC, and other HD standards using HDV. You may also transfer the files to a DVD or export them to DV devices with KDEnlive.

Its common functions include preview pane, multitrack recording, artistic effects, tilting functions, video and audio thumbnails, flexible layouts, and desktop compatibility. This software supports various audio/video/image formats, including MPEG, avi, dv, vob, wav, and mp3.

Pros

  • It includes light graffiti
  • It has an audio spectrum and spectrogram
  • An abundance of top-notch features

Cons

  • Mostly for professional use

6. Olive

Olive is a total redesign from the bottom up, with cutting-edge tools to assist you in creating the greatest videos imaginable. Olive 0.2 offers node-based compositing that is both powerful and versatile.

Node editing is a type of visual programming that allows you to customize how Olive produces your video completely. OpenColorIO provides end-to-end color control for the applications.

This should help users match video from many cameras and export your movie to whichever color space you require if you’re delivering to broadcast TV online. It has a powerful, fast disk cache to ensure the cleanest possible playback. It operates quietly in the background to render pictures ahead of time, so they’re available whenever you need them.

Pros

  • Decent interface
  • User-friendly application
  • Quick and powerful disk cache

Cons

  • Lacks some high-end features

filmora logo

A cross-platform for making videos anywhere for all creators

filmora-02

Why your video editing isn’t good enough? How about some creative inspo?

  • 100 Million+ Users
  • 150+ Countries and Regions
  • 4 Million+ Social Media Followers
  • 5 Million+ Stock Media for Use

Try It Free Try It Free

Try It Free

Try It Free

* Secure Download

filmora12

7. VLC

VLC media player is cross-platform open-source multimedia which is extremely popular, and for a good reason: it’s entirely free, it endorses almost every file type without any need for additional file formats, it can maximize audio and video playback for your gadget, it appears to support streaming, and it can be stretched nearly endlessly with downloadable plugins.

VLC Media Player supports MPEG and DivX streaming. ZIP files may also be played without extracting them one by one. After the download is complete, you may manually boost the volume of a movie up to 200 percent if it is too quiet. VLC Media Player also can look for album covers. Several films may be played one after the other using the playlist feature.

Pros

  • A life-saver for many
  • Supports a large variety of formats
  • Highly customizable

Cons

  • Editing metadata isn’t as straightforward as in different editors

8. Natron

On the surface, Natron appears to be a versatile and straightforward multi-platform node-based platform with a robust GUI interface. Although Natron appears to be a basic compositing program , it contains layers of intricacy that will allow your imagination to soar to new heights.

Natron’s Roto and Rotopaint toolkits are versatile, allowing for the creation of endless layers of masks, mattes, and forms. Natron features a strong 2D and Planar tracker that may help you cut down on the number of hours you spend rotoscoping to fulfill personal or business deadlines.

It includes several powerful keying and matte generating tools created by the core OFX software engineers and various tools created by the open-source plugin development community.

Pros

  • Smooth functionality
  • 2D tracking tools
  • Offers decent editing tools

Cons

  • Lacks 3D tracking tools

9. Flowblade

Flowbade is a multitrack non-linear video editor for Linux distributed under the GPL 3. You can make movies out of video clips, audio snippets, and graphics files using Flowblade Movie Editor.

Clips may be clipped at certain frames, filters can be applied to clips, and compositor elements can be used to generate multilayer composite pictures.

The toolbox, ordering, the default tool, and key timeline behaviors are all user adjustable in Flowblade. There is a drag and drop option on the interface for the video files to be imported.

Pros

  • Decent default settings to accommodate users
  • A good amount of editing features
  • 40+ pattern wipes

Cons

  • It sometimes lags on heavy videos

Professional Video Editor

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10. Avidemux

Avidemux is a free video editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux that doesn’t aim to be a full-fledged timeline-based video editing software. Rather, it’s made to make a few minor modifications and then splits out a new file.

You may import your source video and pick the start and finish frames to chop off segments. You may add filters to enhance the video by sharpening the picture or decreasing noise.

Some of the aesthetic options include color effects and borders, while others enhance the clip by sharpening the image or reducing noise. You may even add other clips to the end of your existing one, although this type of work would be better suited to a complete non-linear editor.

If you don’t need to make any changes to the video, Avidemux may come in handy; as part of its exporting process, it allows you to do so.

Pros

  • Decent aesthetic options for video editing
  • Edit multiple videos at the same time
  • Multiple stickers to add to your videos

Cons

  • Lags sometimes

FAQs About Open Source Video Editor

  • What is an open-source video editor?

Open-source video editing software includes source code that allows you to tailor the application to your requirements. Everyone with a basic understanding of coding and video editing skills will almost certainly want to utilize an open-source video editor.

  • Does OpenShot have a watermark?

Openshot is a free, open-source video editing program with no watermark. As a result, although being a completely free tool, it’s doesn’t advertise its brand on your final video. Even though the marketplace is filled with open video editing tools, most of them leave a big watermark on your movie project.

Conclusion

All of the video editors on this shortlist offer fantastic features and are completely free to use. They all have advantages and disadvantages, and you must choose depending on your requirements and usage.

We can’t state that VLC is excellent for users and Shotcut and OpenShot are fantastic for desktops, as much as we’d like to. Based on what you want to get out of it, you must choose the correct tool. And here, we hope the Open Source Video Editors reviewed will help you massively.

Also read:

  • Title: Updated 2024 Approved IMovie for PC Discover the Best Windows Video Editing Alternatives
  • Author: Morgan
  • Created at : 2024-04-28 05:25:04
  • Updated at : 2024-04-29 05:25:04
  • Link: https://ai-video-tools.techidaily.com/updated-2024-approved-imovie-for-pc-discover-the-best-windows-video-editing-alternatives/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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Updated 2024 Approved IMovie for PC Discover the Best Windows Video Editing Alternatives