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Jul 25,2019• Proven solutions

This is Apple’s free video editing software, and it runs on both Mac OS and iOS platforms, so you can do you video editing just about wherever you go. For hobbyist and amateur filmmakers, Apple iMovie will have approachable tools to help you easily take your footage and edit a video with a clear flow. CyberLink PowerDirector 16 is the best video editing software for Windows, featuring a dazzling array of tricks and treats; plus, it's great for editing 360-degree videos, too. Here are our recs for the top 10 best pieces of video editing software or video editing apps for beginners—from cheapest (i.e. Free!) to most expensive. You can use AirDrop to wirelessly and seamlessly transfer your project over to your Mac. Whether you're looking for the best video editing software for YouTube.

Many people are looking of free Mac video editing software since they have tons of videos and are eager to edit the videos either for better presentation or preservation. Are there any free video editing software for Mac users that are really good? Many people ask this in forums. Here we compare some great Mac video editors, followed by the detailed information of each editor for your reference, and we also made a comparison table for Mac video editor in terms of video format, pros and cons of the 10 best free video editors for Mac. Check it out!

Updates: Are you also looking for video editors for Windows, Linux, mobile phone, or online? Check our latest post 36 Best Video Editors for All the Platforms.

Part 1: Best Free Video Editing Software for Mac Quick Comparison Table

We’ve summarized the features, pros and cons of these best video editing software for Mac users in the comparison table below. You can choose the best suitable one based on your editing skills and needs at the current stage.

Level	Products	Input formats	Output formats	Pros	Cons
For beginners	Apple iMovie	DV, HDV, AVCHD, Apple Intermediate Codec, Motion JPEG/A, iFrame, h.264, MP4, MOV..	H.264/MPEG-4, MOV, AVI, DV..	Available on iPhone/iPad; Comptiable well with Apple ecosystem	Audio is copyrighted
Avidemux	3GP, ASF, AVI, FLV, H263, JPEG, MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPEG4, MPG, and OGM	AVI, FLV, M1V, M2V, MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, OGM and TS	Clean and easy to use interface; Open source software without built-in purchase	Exporting process is slack
OpenShot	WebM, AVCHD, HEVC..	MP4, AVI, MPEG..	Provide free built in effects and animations; Support 3D title	Buggy at times; Freeze and crash often
ZS4 Video Editor	AVI, WAV, Image Files	AVI, WMV, WAV, Jpg, Png	More than 120 built-in video effects; unlimited tracks	User interface is not friendly
HyperEngine-AV	AVI, BMP, Cubic VR, DLS, DV, FLC..	AIFF, AVI, BMP, DV Stream, FLC, MPEG-4..	Includes twelve studio-quality effects; Create slide shows	Discontinued to release new version
For semi-pros	Kdenlive	AVI, MP4, FFmpeg..	QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG..	Open source software	Not friendly for greenhands; Update slowly
Blender	STL, ABC, FBX..	FBX, DAE, ABC..	Fast poly modeling tools; Customizable input	Unintuitive layers system; Animation management is not smooth
For pros	Davinci Resolve	MP4, MOV, MTS, AVI..	QuickTime, AVI, R3D, MXF, DPX..	Learning curve is not steep; Offer advance color grading	Single screen editing workflow is not friendly
Lightworks	MPEG-2, AVC, RED R3D, DPX, Apple Pro Res..	MPEG4/H.264	Package is lightweight; Only need 3GB RAM to use	Effect library is limited
HitFilm Express	H.264, AVCHD, QuickTime, AVI, M2T, M2TS, MTS, MXF	H.264, Apple ProRes, AVI	High level ideo effects compositor	No motion graphics feature

From the above comparison table, we can see there are so many pros and cons in different aspects. However, you may want to take look at another software - Filmora9- before you decide to use the one you like. It is anexcellnt Mac video editor that can meet your basic and advanced needs.

Part 2: Best Free Video Editing Software for Beginners: Wondershare Filmora9 for Mac (Video Tutorial)

Wondershare Filmora9 for Mac offers some persuasive advantages over other video editing tools available for Apple Mac. It not only includes basic video editing tools but also provides various advanced video effects for you to apply. Below are some features that can help you understand the best Mac video editor. Download it now to have a try!

• Supports almost all kinds of video formats, including MP4, AVI, MOV, AVCHD, MKV and more.
• Complete all classic video editing like crop, trim, cut, split and combine in a few clicks.
• Make your footage look like Hollywood film with color tuning tool.
• Make good use of your music with Audio Mixer and Audio Equalizer.
• Exclusive Action Cam Tool allows you to cut and merge large action cam footages within minutes.
• Advanced video editing tools like Tilt Shift, Face off, Mosaic, Jump Cut, etc for you to explore.
• Convert your edited to any popular video format or fit video to mobile devices.
• Burn your own DVD collection or upload to YouTube and Vimeo instantly.
• Up to 100 audio and video tracks to organize your project and layer media.
• Make exciting GoPro/action cam videos with precise speed controls.

How to Edit Videos with Wondershare Filmora9 (originally Wondershare Video Editor)

Import Media Files

Upload media files from your computer or transport from all kinds of cameras, smart phones and elsewhere. Or directly drag-n-drop them to the program.

Edit Your Video

Easily complete basic video editing by clicking the icons above the timeline. Add different video effects and filters to personalize it. For advanced video editing, you can easily create green screen effects.

PhotoFly - Video Editor for Instagram PhotoFly is a photos into video applications. Simple steps, just a few minutes, we can add a group of photos gorgeous special effects. Instagram Video Editor: How to Edit Instagram Video. Instagram is known as one of the most prominent community where you can capture and share your moments simply and beautifully on the Internet. And edit your video with Filmora video editor on your PC or Mac to make it more fantastic in your business. VLINT Video Editor for Instagram & YouTube For PC Windows 10/8/7/Xp/Vista & MAC. If you want to use VLINT Video Editor for Instagram & YouTube application on your desktop or laptop gadget with windows seven eight 10 and Macbook working technique you can start out accomplishing some points like the pursuing tutorial. Another app to edit videos for Instagram we highly recommended is Horizon, which is a good video editor app designed for Instagram. You can record videos in various resolutions. Besides, you can add filters and share videos on your social networks, not limited to Instagram. With the addition of video, Instagram has become the go-to place for visual storytelling. Instagram is a place where people share their life experiences through creativity. Instagram video editor for mac.

Save & Enjoy

Save your video in different formats, share via Vimeo, YouTube, burn to DVD and more.

Part 3: Top 10 Best Free Mac Video Editors for Beginners/Semi-pros/Professionals

We’ve done some research and found out the following free video editing software for Mac users. Some of them are for video editing novice, while some free video editing software are for professionals (but if you need to use the professional features, you may need to purchase the Pro version). Hope you can find the right video editor based on your needs from the following list.

Best Free Video Editing Software for Mac [Beginners]

1. Apple iMovie

iMovie comes with every new Mac (OS X) and you don't need to pay extra money for it. The latest iMovie 11 is a great and free video editor for Mac with many great features such as movie trailer, one step effect, audio editing, etc. And in just a few steps, you can share your movies to YouTube or export videos for your iPhone, iPad, etc. However, iMovie is only free if you buy a new Mac. And when getting started with iMovie, you will find it hard to master this software. All in all, iMovie is one of the best free video editing software for Mac users and receives good reputation. You can learn some iMovie video editing tips and trick at how to use iMovie.

Features:

• Supports editing 4K video
• You can also use it on iPhone/iPad
• 10 video filters are for you

Pros: Available on iPhone/iPad; Comptiable well with Apple ecosystem

Cons: Audio is copyrighted, so you need to download royalty-free music by yourself

2.Avidemux

Avidemux is another great free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux and BSD under the GNU GPL license and supports a variety of video, image and audio formats, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4, MOV, ASF, JPG, AAC, AC3, etc. High compatibility with many video formats is the highlight of this free video editing software for Mac. You can also cut ads from a TV recording, or just save a small part of the video.

It also offers some filters to use, such as color correction. You can apply these filters to your video to make it more beautiful.

Features:

• It supports AVI MP4 and ASF
• Based on H.264 encoder

Pros: Clean and easy to use interface; Open source software without built-in purchase

Cons: Exporting process is slack, which means it will take longer time

3.OpenShot

OpenShot is a free, simple to use open-source video editor for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It is a good video editor for beginners to learn and train video editing skills. If you just want to mae some basic editing without having to spend too much time, OpenShot can be one of your best choices.

Apart from doing basic video editing, you can also render 3D animation. This free editor for Mac also supports more than 70 languages. No need to worry about the language barrier to stop you from editing video.

Features:

• You can trim/slice video quickly
• Show waveforms while editing
• Offer templates to edit titles

Pros: Provide free built in effects and animations; Support 3D title

Cons: Buggy at times; It freezes and crashes often Free wysiwyg html editor download.

4.ZS4 Video Editor

ZS4 Video Editor is a free video editor for Mac which provides media experts with a facility to combine a variety of media types into one (or more) output file(s). Besides Mac, it is also available for Windows and Linux. ZS4 Video Editor comes with over 150 built-in video effects which can help you bring your videos to the next level instantly.

More importanly, you can use it to combine various media files into one, like video, audio and photo. With this all-in-one editor, no more needs to install too many annoying apps.

Features:

• You can edit photos, videos, and audio files
• It is easy to use

Pros: More than 120 built-in video effects; unlimited tracks

Cons: User interface is not friendly

5.HyperEngine-AV

HyperEngine-AV is a free video editing software for Mac used to capture, edit, organize process, and export video, audio, and text to create DVD quality movies and slide shows. It comes with twelve studio-quality effects from Arboretum's Hyperprism suite of audio processors. Besides, it offers text features to display credits, section titles, or karaoke lyrics with fully editable font, size, type, color, style, alignment, and scroll direction. Definitely, HyperEngin-AV is really a good free video editor for Mac users.

Features:

• You can use it to create slide shows
• Supports capturing desktop and editing video

Pros: Includes twelve studio-quality effects; Create slide shows

Cons: It is discontinued to release new version

Best Free Mac Video Editing Software for Semi-pros

1.Kdenlive

Although the development team has moved full-stream-ahead on Linux, you can still use this excellent free video editor on Mac with packages available via MacPorts. Kdenlive supports almost all popular media formats, and you can easily add the files to software's multitrack timeline.

You can create 2D titles to light up project like aligning texts and rotating. For editing huge size of video file, it offers proxy to make the editing experience smoother.

Features:

• It allows you to edit several audio and video tracks
• You can customize shortcuts easily

Pros: It is open source software

• Select Google Play Store amongst the available icons to proceed. Mac photo editor for pc.

Cons: Not friendly for greenhands; Update slowly

2.Blender

Like Avidemux, Blender is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, FreeBSD and OpenBSD. It's a free 3D graphics application and considered as one of the best free video editor for Mac. It can be used for modeling, rigging, texturing, UV unwrapping, skinning, animating, rendering, water and smoke simulations, particle and other simulations, non-linear editing, compositing, and creating interactive 3D applications, animated film, video games, or other visual effects. Blender has lots of advanced features like powerful character animation tools, modifier-based modeling tools, a node-based material and compositing system, Python for embedded scripting and so on.

Features:

• It is a 3D creation suite
• It supports CPU and GPU rendering
• It has various sculpting tools and brushes

Pros: Fast poly modeling tools; Customizable input

Cons: Unintuitive layers system; Animation management is not smooth

Best Free Mac Video Editing Software for Professionals

In our impression, professional-thing costs a lot. But it isn’t true when coming to video editing software like DaVinci Resolve, Lightworks and HitFilm. There are two versions for those video editing software, and the lite version or the free version usually costs no money with limited features which makes them good choice for people who are looking for professional video editing solution to some degree.

1. Davinci Resolve

Blackmagic Design's Davinci Resolve has been growing from an advanced color-grading tool to an video post-production solution. If you are an experienced video maker and want to apply a high quality color correction/grading to your footage, Davinci Resolve's free basic version can be your choice.

Timeline curve function is a powerful feature for you to add keyframe if you want to edit a specific scene. Also it offers full 3D editing particle systems to let you release creativity.

Features:

• Multi track timeline you can choose
• Trimming video is easy to use
• You can adjust constant or variable speed

Pros: Learning curve is not steep; Offer advance color grading

Cons: Single screen editing workflow is not friendly

2.Lightworks

Lightworks is a professional video editing software for Windows and Mac, its free version offers you limited export option. It includes video effects, multicam editing, titling, as well as the multi layered timeline approach which is perfect for advanced video editing needs.

Features:

• It is a rewarded editor in the world
• It offers Proxy for 4K
• Compatible well with Mac

Pros: Package is lightweight; Only need 3GB RAM to use

Cons: Effects library is limited

Pdf editor for mac os x. This latest update will also allow users to save single pages as PDF documents, compose variable file names, protect and encrypt PDF files and automate printing jobs at the touch of a button, giving enhanced productivity options that are hard to beat. Update 2.2.1 is a compatibility update that brings BatchOutput in line with Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan and allows for quicker processing of batch files into PDF format and batch printing. Users can choose to save multiple files as PDF in one go, or set up a batch printing job to complete in a specified time period with no consuming post-processing required.

3.HitFilm Express

HitFilm Express is more like a compositing video editor, compared with Adobe After Effects, it's more easy-to-use and friendly to semi-pros. People who are not familiar with the video editing process may find using HitFilm Express difficult.

Features:

• Various courses are available
• It offers Proxy for 4K
• More than 400 video effects

Pros: High level ideo effects compositor

Cons: It lacks motion graphics feature

Conclusion

You may have found the best video editor for Mac after reading this article. I’ll try my best to keep the list up to date, but if your favorite free video editor for Mac isn’t listed above, please leave a comment and let me know. This article is for mac version, click here to get more info about free video editing software for Windows.

Easy-to-use and powerful video editor for all creators.

Bring up your video to a professional level with straightforward tools.

• Choosing Video Editing Software
• Video Editing Tips

Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

The Rundown

• Best Overall:Adobe Premiere Pro at Amazon, 'The cross-platform, uber-popular timeline-based video editor that’s long set the standard for video editing software.'
• Runner-Up, Best Overall:Nero Platinum 2019 at Amazon, 'An essential multitasking tool that's perfect for beginners or aspiring filmmakers.'
• Best Value:Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate at Best Buy, “Offers a host of post effects that put this thing way out of its price class.”
• Best for Macs:Apple Final Cut Pro at Apple, 'Treads the line between a consumer product and one for professionals who need powerful editing tools.'
• Best for Windows:Movavi Video Editor 15 at Amazon, 'Built specifically with beginners in mind, offering special features that make it a breeze to create.'
• Best for YouTube:Corel VideoStudio Pro X10 at Amazon, 'With over 1,500 customizable effects, transitions, and titles, there’s something for everyone.'
• Best for Vloggers:Sony Movie Studio 13 at Amazon, 'Can directly upload to Facebook or other social media for fast sharing.'
• Best for Smartphones:Adobe Premiere Clip at iTunes, 'Perfect for creatives whose videos are bound for social media channels like YouTube and Instagram.'
• Best for Beginners:Corel VideoStudio at Amazon, 'Includes storyboard mode, which helps users draft the exact vision they have in mind.'

Our Top Picks

Best Overall: Adobe Premiere Pro

The granddaddy of video editing, Adobe Premiere Pro is the cross-platform, uber-popular timeline based video editor that’s long set the standard for video editing software. Capable of tackling nearly any type of video format, Adobe’s software is ready to produce video for any type of professional production, including film, television and the Web. Premiere Pro offers enough horsepower to handle 360-degree virtual reality video to 8K footage all in native format. It can even import and export footage from competitive software such as Final Cut Pro.

While most professional-grade software can handle multi-cam editing, Premiere Pro goes one step beyond, handling as many sources as necessary with as many angles as required. The inclusion of the bundled Lumetri Color Panel allows advanced color adjustments to be handled with ease. Additionally, Adobe’s integration with After Effects and Photoshop adds even more reason for professional grade editors to choose Premiere Pro.

Runner-Up, Best Overall: Nero Platinum 2019

Nero is a trusted name when it comes to diverse and easy-to-use multimedia suites, and Nero Platinum 2019 is no different. The latest version of its flagship product allows you to burn media, create your own, edit creations, organize your collection, stream the media you've already got, and much more. It's an essential multitasking tool that's perfect for beginners or aspiring filmmakers, with everything you need to author, burn, and store the best possible content you can make.

The latest version includes several new choices for movie design, disc menu, and vertical smartphone video designs in addition to the new Nero Start application, 1-Click Video Story, and DriveSpan app for making stored creations even simpler. Whether you need to edit that great new film you shot with friends or want to organize your files, Nero Platinum 2019 is an excellent choice.

Best Value: Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate

Corel’s Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate gives you everything you’ll get with the standard copy of Pinnacle Studio 21, plus a host of upgraded features. It does everything the lower version will do: giving you a seamless editing interface, the ability to work in full HD, as well as a great set of features for laying out a perfect story with video. But, it will also offer you a host of post effects that put this thing way out of its price class.

For starters, they’ve added in some crazy seamless morph transitions to help you blend together all the parts of your visual story. They’ve thrown in a pretty unique paintbrush filter effect that will work in tandem with already-shot video, letting you transform raw, live footage into living animations. Not only does Studio 21 Ultimate offer support for uploading 360-degree video but they’ve included a surprisingly intuitive set of trim, edit and control features for 360 video that will let you ensure your viewer gets the exact immersive experience you want.

Finally, rounding out their set of flagship additions, they give you the ability to include a motion-tracked image-blurring filter over the top of any element on the screen, meaning you can protect the identity of someone’s face, their license plate or anything else you’d prefer not to be in your final product.

Best for Macs: Apple Final Cut Pro

Apple’s Final Cut Pro X software falls into what we call the “prosumer” category because it treads the line between a product for consumers who want to up their video-editing game and one for professionals who need powerful editing tools. It lacks a traditional timeline-track interface, which is enough to scare some users off, but the software is intuitive and powerful nonetheless.

It has great organizational tools like libraries, ratings, tagging, auto analysis for faces and scenes, and automatic color coding for track-specific clips, useful keyboard short-cuts, and drag-and-drop media importing give Adobe’s Premiere Elements a run for its money. Unfortunately, you can't directly open projects from Final Cut Pro 7 or earlier, but there are many third-party plug-ins that will help you out there.​

Best for Windows: Movavi Video Editor 15

The latest version of Movavi Video Editor is built specifically with beginners in mind, offering special features that make it a breeze to create. Its drag-and-drop interface is especially useful, as it allows you to trim, cut, and otherwise tinker with your clips to piece them together in a way that makes it easy to debut your very own masterpiece. It also includes a wide variety of transitions, titles, and special effects to jazz up your final version, with picture-in-picture support, callouts to annotate certain sections, stickers to place on your clips, and more.

Have older, subpar quality videos you wish you could clean up a bit? Use Magic Enhance. Need some extra footage? You can use Movavi Video Editor to record new clips from within the application as well. With all these tools in mind, Movavi offers powerful ways to package and share your footage, whether you're an old auteur or fledgling director.

Best for YouTube: Corel VideoStudio Pro X10

Best Budget Video Editing Software For Mac

When it comes to video editing for YouTube, almost every app does it well, but Corel VideoStudio Pro X10 does it better. With nearly every feature and tool that you need at your disposal (including transitions, effects, titles, templates and more), Pro X10 brings with it an outstanding fleet of tools.

Support for 360-degree VR, 4K, Ultra HD and 3D media help round out the export opportunities available with Pro X10 and, while they may not all be supported by YouTube now, it’s good to know you have the capability for when they are. The user interface isn’t for beginners, but within a short amount of time, you’ll be a master at capturing, editing and sharing.

Best Cheap Video Editing Mac

Added features such as time remapping for including slow motion, high-speed effects or freeze action are complemented by easily grouping or ungrouping clips on a timeline to edit in bulk or one at a time. With over 1,500 customizable effects, transitions and titles, there’s something for everyone. Even as the video itself is the focus, custom fitting your project with a soundtrack is handled well with custom-fit audio allowing your movies to both look and sound good.

Best for Vloggers: Sony Movie Studio 13

Sony Movie Studio 13 was made with the digital filmmaker in mind – once you’ve edited your video to your satisfaction, you can directly upload it to Facebook or other social media for fast sharing. Create video in beautiful 4K (ultra HD) XAVCS, or AVCHD to give your vlogs a high-production, professional feel.

Movie Studio 13 Platinum is touch-enabled, too, so you can create and edit movies even faster using your PC’s touchscreen. With large, easy-to-use buttons, fewer menus and the popular Simple Edit Mode, Sony Movie Studio 13 makes video editing fast and easy, so you can keep up with the Internet’s viral pace. The software also comes with ACID Music Studio 10 and Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 to take your online media up a notch.

Best for Smartphones: Adobe Premiere Clip

Premiere Clip is your iOS/Android connection to Adobe’s most powerful editing programs: Premiere Pro and Premiere Elements. It’s part of the Creative Cloud ecosystem, which means you’ll need an Adobe ID to access it, but both the app and an account are free for all.

Premiere Clip is perfect for creatives whose videos are bound for social media channels like YouTube and Instagram. You can easily import video clips from places like your phone, Lightroom, Creative Cloud, and Dropbox, and then use the app’s Freeform editor to trim or split clips, adjust exposure and highlights, add audio and more. And, of course, you can add filters, which is a given in today’s social media sphere.

Best Affordable Video Editor

Best for Beginners: Corel VideoStudio

Corel’s Windows-only VideoStudio offers an equally robust set of features comparative to Adobe or CyberLink’s product line. Right off the bat, it’s easy to see why VideoStudio is a great option: It offers support for 4K, 360-degree VR, multi-cam editing, as well as a large library of royalty-free music. Beginners will quickly learn to appreciate features such as 'checkmarks,' which can either let you know which clips you’ve already used or can apply effects to all the clips currently in your timeline at once. Additionally, voice detection helps you match subtitles to speech in your video clips.

Purchasing the full version of VideoStudio Ultimate X10 adds a whole extra set of options that beginners will quickly love, including multi-monitor support, easier title creation, and even stop-motion animation. Corel supports almost every output format imaginable, so it's ideal for sharing socially or for hosting online for the world to see. Another highlight for beginners is the inclusion of storyboard mode, which will help draft the exact vision they have in mind for a finished product without wasting hours and days on edits that may never see the light of day.

What to Look for in Video Editing Software

Platform - If you’re looking for a new video editing software package, you’ll want to look into whether if it is available for your platform before continuing to dig into it any further. If you have a Windows PC or a Mac, check the software manufacturer's website to see if a version is available for your device.

Top Video Editor For Mac

Experience - Are you brand new to video editing or a seasoned professional? Some video editing software packages can feel extremely intimidating with an endless number of settings and dials. If you are new to the game, consider picking out a started solution from companies like Corel and Nero.

Wondershare Video Editor For Mac

Price - Professional video editing software packages and cause hundreds if not thousands of dollars. If you are looking to edit videos of your family events, you most likely won’t need the features in the professional suites. If you’re keeping it simple, don’t spend over $100 on your software of choice.