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Without a solid editor for YouTube videos, you’ll have trouble making deep adjustments to your content. While YouTube Studio provides basic editing, some projects need a heavier treatment.
Fortunately, there are plenty of options. Among all the video editing software, many free video editors perform great as YouTube editors, specifically.
There are options for every platform: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, etc. These programs let you do all sorts of things to your videos: add text, join clips, overlay filters, create fade effects, import music, delete unwanted sections, display a watermark, and more.
CapCut: A YouTube Editor Full of Free Assets
What We Like
There’s a desktop and a web version.
Excels in its free audio collection.
Includes AI characters that speak what you type.
CapCut is from the same company that owns the wildly popular TikTok app. It was released in 2020, so it’s much newer than some of these other options. However, it’s very capable of making great YouTube videos.
Here are a few of the most important features to consider: dozens of text-to-speech voices for reading captions, five export resolutions, including 4K, extract audio from video files, a huge number of keyboard shortcuts, auto-save, motion tracking, and several layout options to take advantage of multiple monitors.
There are also advanced text tools and countless music and sound effects, plus stickers, effects, transitions, and filters that you can quickly apply to your video.
I tested CapCut on Windows. There’s also a web version and apps for macOS, Android, and iOS.
Clipchamp: Online YouTube Editor for Simple Projects
Microsoft’s Clipchamp has you covered if you’re only interested in a quick editor for your YouTube video. It lives entirely online (and is built into Windows 11), so no software download is required. Plus, it couldn’t be easier to use.
This free video editing website can produce HD videos, export to MP4, and accept audio, video, and pictures.
Some things I like about it for YouTube videos specifically are that it can make voiceovers just by entering text, change the speed of any video clip, resize or crop videos to fit the screen, rotate and flip videos, pick from around a dozen filters, fade in and out any video/audio file, and use transitions between files.
You can add content to your video by uploading the files to the Clipchamp website from your phone or computer, or by importing them from websites like Google Drive or OneDrive. Drag them onto the timeline to arrange the files and clip out what you don’t need.
Because this editor is online, it works with all operating systems. Quick signup is supported via a Google or Microsoft account.
Filmora: AI-Powered YouTube Editing App
Another free editing app I enjoyed using for YouTube videos is Filmora. It manages to be fairly easy to use while also packing some great features like AI-generated music, video transitions, and basic editing tools.
YouTube editors will also like these features: export to 720p, add your own voice directly from your phone, overlay another video for a picture-in-picture effect, send the video directly to YouTube when finished, instantly apply a theme to the whole video, and use your own music or pick from the gallery.
Also available are options to include clip transitions (bounce, distort, roll, push, etc.), generate videos from text, overlay objects like leaves and hearts, add titles with fun styles, and adjust the speed of a clip.
Filmora runs on Android and iOS. There’s a desktop version of Filmora, too, which I also like, but it leaves a large watermark across the middle of the video unless you pay to have it removed.
Lightworks: An Easy-to-Use YouTube Video Editor
What We Like
Upload directly to YouTube.
Keep editing while rendering or exporting.
Free video tutorials.
Auto-save and background processing.
Lightworks is an award-winning video editor that’s completely free if you don’t care to have all the extra features. One major limitation that might give you pause is that it doesn’t include all the export formats supported in Lightworks Pro.
I think this choice is perfect for YouTubers for many reasons: add your voice directly to the timeline, import videos in batches, build macros for quicker editing, preview fonts in real time, export videos up to 720p, and publish directly to your YouTube account.
Some of this program’s other features include drag-and-drop support, “fit to fill,” full-screen mode, customizable layouts, precise trimming via the keyboard, multicam clip switching, auto-sync on import, transitions and filters, batch export, and playback comparison of two sources.
There are built-in effects and transitions available for free, but you’ll need a Create or Pro account to access additional features like free stock music, complex animations, advanced text overlays, and more.
I love that there are video tutorials and an active community forum (LWKS Forum). I can see this being super helpful for anyone new to using this program.
The official list of operating systems it runs on includes Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, macOS 10.14 or higher, and Ubuntu and other Linux versions. It’s recommended that you have at least 4 GB of RAM.
HitFilm: A Free Video Editor That You Can Upgrade
HitFilm has lots of features that any YouTuber will love. Some of the more advanced capabilities, like chroma key and picture-in-picture, will cost you, but they’re decently priced. Plus, there’s still a lot to like with this free YouTube video editor, even if you never buy an add-on.
Here are some of HitFilms’ best features I uncovered while using it: auto-save as frequently as every minute, dozens of keyboard shortcuts, colored labels (for 3D effects, text, models, composite shots, images, and more), and the option to crop a clip and animate it to control which part is visible.
You can also set a custom maximum undo level, access several default template options, including 1080p Full HD, mix and balance audio, and use a helpful select tool to grab everything before or after the play head.
The free plan supports unlimited HD exports but does have some limitations. The built-in library is limited to 10 stock music, 25 sound effects, and five templates. There are also fewer visual effects available compared to the Creator and Pro plans.
This free YouTube editor was designed for Windows 11/10 64-bit and macOS 13/12/11. The minimum RAM requirement is 8 GB, but they recommend 16 GB.
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