1. Best Free Photo Editor Software For Mac
2. Best Video Editing Software For Mac
3. Best Movie Editor Software For Mac
4. Best Editing Software For Mac

Looking for free video editor for Mac to edit & create videos? This guide will show you the major difference between free and paid Mac video editors, and also lists top 12 award-winning free video editors for you.

You may want to edit or create videos for many reasons, like make some tutorials, create videos with pictures, crop and rearrange screen recordings, etc. No matter for what, to make a video more interesting and professional, you need a video editor.

If you are a beginner in video editing and just want to do some simple edits, like crop or split a clip, you can have a try on some free video editing software. Most free video editors are capable of the ability of basic edit functions as crop, trim, cut, split, combine, etc. The following text lists top 12 easy-to-use Mac video editors for you.

11 rows  As far as Mac photo editing software goes, you should be able to find a basic editing. We’ve tested a HEAP of options, from free to pro-level software, and in this video we’ll run through my recommendations for the BEST Video Editing Software for Mac across every price bracket. This list of Best Free Software for Mac OS now includes 281 applications in various categories. With the advent of 'iDevices', Mac OS has arguably become one of the fastest growing user bases in the last decade.

• In Short, Hitfilm Editor is the best free video editor available in the market. Download HitFilm. VSDC Free Video Editor. VSDC is the another best free video editing software which allows you to create stunning videos with fewer efforts. This free video editor might be little hard to use for the beginners.
• Here's a guide to the best photo editing software and apps available for amateur photographers, enthusiasts and professionals. Best for Sharing Photos Best Free Editor for Mac Users Best Open.
• As is often the case with open source software, the interface isn't as slick as commercial alternatives, but don’t let that put you off. OpenShot is an excellent free video editor for macOS,.

But, free software doesn’t meet every need, there is no doubt that free software is really not capable of many advanced video editing features that professional tools can give you, like closed captions, effective video effects, callouts, annotations, transitions, cursor effects, and more. So, if you find free video editor can’t meet your requirements, then you can refer to professional video editing software for Mac (macOS High Sierra).

Now, let’s know more about the difference between free and paid video editing software for Mac at first, then look at the top 12 free Mac video editors one by one.

Table of Contents:

Comparison Chart of Free & Paid Video Editors

Top 12 Free Video Editing Software for Mac

Top 1 - iMovie

iMovie is a video editing software developed by Apple Company for Mac and iOS devices. Originally released in 1999 as an application for Mac OS 8, and now the latest version is iMovie 11. It has a range of great features including supports green-screen, picture-in-picture and split-screen scenes, applying for an audio fade within a clip, take good control of background noise, allows to change speed of video, and more share options (upload videos directly to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc.) and so on.

Top 2 - QuickTime

Just as Wikipedia says that QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple, capable of handing various formats of digital video, pictures, sound, panoramic images and interactivity. As a built-in application for Mac, it makes it easy for you to do some quick edits like adjust the length of the video, combine a few clips into a single file, cut and delete unwanted segments, etc. Plus, it also supports video convert, screen recording, and allows you to share videos to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Flickr.

Top 3 - Lightworks

Lightworks, as an all-major operating systems supported video editing program, supports videos in SD, HD and even 4K video formats. With its strong editing function, it has been chosen by many films as movie maker, mostly known for its well-organized interface that makes it can be a great assistance for professional users. Obviously, the professional version is paid for use. Fortunately, Lightworks offers a free version to common users that may have a limitation of exporting projects in MP4 format to Vimeo and YouTube with maximum 720p resolution.

Top 4 - DaVinci Resolve

Actually, the pro version of Da Vinci Resolve is not free, like Da Vinci Resolve Studio 14 costs $299 and DaVinci Resolve 12.5 Studio is $995. However, the basic version is totally free. It has a friendly interface, and incorporates a similar high quality image creating capacities, an enhanced video editor, some portion also includes color amendment abilities. Supports up to 4K UHD resolution and no watermarks on footage, even supports external hard drives for faster video editing.

Top 5 - OpenShot

Openshot is another award-winning open-source video editing software for Mac, as well as for Linux and Windows. It is a quick to learn Mac video editor, and surprising powerful. It also has lots of outstanding features like: easy to trim videos, supports animation framework (that you can fade, slide, bounce, and animate anything in your video project, provides unlimited tracks, also capable of the ability of adding title and some special video effect, etc.

Top 6 - Shotcut

Shotcut is also a good free, open source and cross-platform video editor for Mac users. Currently, it is still under dynamic improvement, thus you can find it releases new version in every month. The highlights of Shotcut including supports for a wide range of formats, no import required meaning native timeline editing, Blackmagic Design support for input and preview monitoring, and resolution support to 4K, etc.

Top 7 - Blender

Blender is free and open source video editing software, free to use for any purpose, forever. It has several parts, video editing is just a small part of this software. For video editing, Blender allows you to perform basic actions like video cuts and splicing, adjust speed and layers, add images, audio, scenes and effects, as well as more complex tasks. However, many users reported that Blender has a complex interface, you need to spend more time on learning guides and video tutorials.

Top 8 - Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an open source video editor, developed by s small team. It starts from around 2003, which grows significantly throughout these years, and now looks more like an expert video editing software than it used to. In the latest version of Kdenlive, it has more useful highlights such as supports multi-track video editing, allows to use almost any audio and video formats without converting, more effects and transitions, and the capacity to include titles etc.

Top 9 - Avidemux

Avidemux is an open source video editor for Mac that will make cutting, filtering (applying visual effects), and encoding a breeze. It’s compatible with different video formats such as DVD, MPEG, AVI, and many more. If you are a beginner in video editing, than this application suits you perfectly because it's very easy to use and allows you to edit video files without experiencing any inconvenience. If you just want to accomplish a simple editing, you can try Avidemux.

Top 10 - Jahshaka

Jahshaka is also a free video editor that offers you an immersive media management and playback platform. There are many outstanding features of Jahshaka, for instance: powerful project management virtual desktop, 3D animation with per object timelines, made fro VR, full assortment of lights with shadows, support for a wide variety of 3D objects, and more. Although it is said to support Mac OS X, it may not support the latest version such as macOS High Sierra as on its official website it says it can only support older Mac system. Thus, before downloading this video editor, it is necessary for you to check your Mac version.

Top 11 - VideoLAN Movie Creator

VideoLAN Movie Creator is another free video editing software for Mac, based on the proven VLC framework, simple to use and powerful. It supports merging, trimming videos clips, apply filter, allows add background music, preview, etc. But it only supports local exporting.

Top 12 - MovieMator

MovieMator is also a totally free video editing software for Mac, but it more like a professional video editing software, which allows you to add images for a vivid photo slideshow or as cut-ins between video, clips. Filled with lots of unique visual effects and transitions, this free video editor can make fancy home movies in a few minutes. It enhance videos with chroma key, trim and crop fragments, cut footage into parts, delete unnecessary clips, rotate the frame, adjust the volume, import favorite music, and add various filters or transitions.

Conclusion

That’s all for the introduction of free video editing software for Mac. Certainly, free video editor can’t satisfy all your demands, if you want to do more advanced video edits with your project, you can have a try on professional video editing software. For how to choose the one that suits you best depends on your need and budget.

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HitFilm Express

Balancing creativity, ease of use and performance is a trade-off, but HitFilm remains an inspired software package brimming with features, and paired with a dynamic website offering an abundance of fun, funky training videos.

Apple iMovie 10.1.8

iMovie is the ultimate Mac video app for novice filmmakers, combining professional trailers and themes, abundant special effects, and an easy-to-learn interface.

VideoPad

Beginners looking for a free app to quickly edit and output a movie to YouTube or other social networks should check out VideoPad.

Unless you're editing the next Star Wars trilogy, there's no reason to spend a fortune—or anything, for that matter—on video editing software for your Mac or PC. While there are many reasonably priced video-editing suites, going for less than $100, completely free or freemium editing packages can accomplish most or all of what some of the paid software packages can do.

After testing numerous suites, our favorite free video editing software is HitFilm Express for its lavish cinematic capabilities and high-powered interface. Our favorite video editor for Mac owners, Apple's iMovie, is a no-brainer choice, because of its macOS integration, top-notch output, professional themes and trailers, and support for professional shooting and editing techniques.

Best Overall

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

Hitfilm Express's high-energy style appeals to budding filmmakers who want to put a special touch on a personal event or get creative with a video blog, but it's still easy enough for the adventurous friends-and-family crowd. The one concession you have to make is that you have to give the software maker a shout out on social media in order to download the free app.

New features include animation keyframing in the editor, motion blur, enhanced preview options, a new layout panel, improved masking in composite shots, additional workspaces and new export features.

Other great features include the ability to create your own lightsaber battles, support for 4K video, as well as such features as 3D effects, 360-degree video editing and lens distortion correction from action cameras. Our one quibble is that some features, such as picture-in-picture and animated text require a $9.99 expansion pack.

As with previous versions, HitFilm wasn't the fastest at encoding videos, but that's a trade-off we're willing to make for such an expansive feature set.
Editor's Note: Since our initial review, HitFilm has been updated to version 12.3; improvements GPU-accelerated decoding on Nvidia and Intel graphics cards, changes to the interface, and native support for Dolby AC3 audio.

MORE: HitFilm Express Full Review

Best for Mac Users

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

iMovie is the Mac-based amateur filmmaker’s best friend, delivering themes, Hollywood-style trailers and video effects with minimalistic panache, a cinematic flair, and deep integration and optimization with the Mac OS. Recent updates tweaked the interface and added Touch Bar support for the latest MacBooks.

While you can now edit and share 4K videos, iMovie lacks features found in other free apps, such as the ability to edit 360-degree video, multicam editing and motion tracking. You also have limited control over output settings.

Because it's so deeply entwined with the macOS, iMovie was one of the fastest apps when it came to encoding video. Once that's finished, it also gives you plenty of sharing options: You can upload directly to YouTube and Vimeo, and share any video frame as an image. When you couple iMovie with iMovie Theater and iCloud, you can also view your creations on any Apple device or via Apple TV.
Editor's Note: Now on version 10.1.12, you can no longer share movies to iMovie Theater; you have to save your movies to iCloud Photos to watch them on other devices including Apple TV. On a previous update, Apple has removed the ability to share videos directly to Facebook, but has added an option to export Facebook-compatible videos, which you can then manually upload.

MORE: Apple iMovie 10.1.8 Full Review

Best for Beginners/Social Media

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

This free video editor makes it a cinch to export your creations to YouTube, Facebook, Dropbox, Flickr, Google Drive and an assortment of mobile devices through a simple pull-down menu. You have to sign in to these services first. And while YouTube uploaded directly to my channel without incident, you may have to save your video to your hard drive with social media specs and then upload to the social network yourself.

Compared to HitFilm's high-energy interface, VideoPad has a simple, soothing look which makes it more approachable for novices. It works with both Macs and PCs and still lets you edit 360-degree video with the same ease as you would traditional movies, though adding text to 360-degree clips can be a bit tricky. VideoPad also lacks some of the advanced features you'll find with HitFilm, like multicam editing, high-end special effects and motion tracking, but you can purchase a number of add-ons to expand VideoPad's feature set.

Our biggest issue with VideoPad was not knowing which features were disabled in the free version versus the trial and paid versions. We found VideoPad to be a bit slower on our transcoding tests than Hitfilm, too. But that may not matter for those looking for an app that they can use to quickly and easily edit video and then upload to the social media outlet of their choice.

MORE: VideoPad Full Review

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

Best Free Photo Editor Software For Mac

A powerful pro-level app, cross platform you’ll want to use a system with discrete graphics to get the most out of this editor.

The latest version of DaVinci incorporates Fusion, previously a stand-alone application, which brings with it four high-end video-production modules for editing, color correction, audio production, and video effects and motion graphics. This video editor is quite powerful, but has a bit of a learning curve. If its 256-page manual doesn't intimidate you, high-level enthusiasts will find a lot of tools at their disposal.

Editor's Note: DaVinci Resolve 16 is now available, and includes such new features as facial recognition, fast export to YouTube and Vimeo, and 3D audio.

Also Reviewed

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

VSDC is not bad for basic edits, but its interface has a learning curve, and it lacks some popular features.

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

Shotcut has a ton of features, but is not as intuitive to use as other programs.

Why You Should Trust Us

We have been testing the leading consumer video-editing suites, both free and paid, for several years. With such knowledge, we can compare things like performance, interfaces and features, and improvements in the various suites over time.

The reviewer, Jackie Dove, is an obsessive, insomniac freelance tech writer and editor in Northern California. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, photo-app fanatic and VR/AR/3D aficionado, her specialties include cross-platform hardware and software, art, design, photography, video, and a wide range of creative and productivity apps and systems.

What to Look for in a Free Video Editor

Best Video Editing Software For Mac

The Definition of Free: There's free and then there's freemium. Some software, like iMovie, is genuinely free. But just as some video-editing packages are sold in tiers — with more-expensive versions offering more and expanded features — a freemium video program may just be the lowest level of a paid version. Or it may be a trial version that hobbles the end product in various ways, like putting a huge watermark on your video or limiting output formats.

But there are variations on this theme. HitFilm, VideoPad, DaVinci Resolve and VSDC, for example, offer paid versions with high-end features that most consumers probably won't miss, but otherwise allow for full use of the basic program.

Best Movie Editor Software For Mac

MORE: The Best Video Editing Software Under $100

Another hidden 'cost' is periodic or even constant in-line advertising or reminders that an upgrade is available. Our favorite program, HitFilm, never pushes an upgrade on you, but it makes you go through a social media and authorizing song and dance to download the product or switch computers. VideoPad (on the Mac) makes you verify at every launch that you are using the free version for noncommercial purposes.

Both DaVinci and VSDC mix paid features in their basic programs, but they do not explicitly mark these features as such. However, if you try to use them, you'll get an error message and an ad. We can't fault the software companies for trying to get users on board with paid versions, but just be warned that such annoyances are the hidden cost of otherwise-free video apps.

Those looking for a powerful editor with a huge variety of built-in resources and responsive technical support may be better off dropping some cash on a consumer video-editing program, like award winners Adobe Premiere Elements, CyberLink PowerDirector or Corel VideoStudio. However, first consider trying out software such as HitFilm Express 2017, VideoPad, DaVinci Resolve or VSDC, which offer all of the basics for free, and then purchasing additional features à la carte or simply upgrade as your experience and needs grow.

Basic Features: The watchword with free apps is often which one offers the best combination of technically complex software for which you would otherwise have to shell out the big bucks. All video editors should, at the very least, have some combination of familiar features like a viewer or playback window, library, timeline, and access to transitions and effects.

Tech support and documentation: One of the big distinctions between paid and free software is the level of documentation and tech support; paid software has more-explicit and -detailed documentation and guides than the free versions. That said, many software packages post instructional videos of the most popular features to YouTube, and more-complex free packages may offer extensive documentation.

Many independent vendors, who are often sole proprietors in charge of the software, make themselves available to users via social media and email to assist with problems, troubleshoot, take suggestions and criticism, and otherwise oversee the software. Programs with intuitive interfaces and tool-tip hints, and even built-in tutorials to greet new users, make free software popular.

System requirements: Many free software packages technically serve most consumer hardware systems with integrated graphics, as opposed to more-powerful discrete graphics cards. If you have a consumer machine like a MacBook or a Windows laptop with integrated graphics, make sure your machine is powerful enough to run them efficiently.

Best Editing Software For Mac

Export options: Another area where free meets inconvenience may be at the tail end of the project, when you want to export your video, only to discover that the free version will not output to your desired format. Before you start using a free package, make sure that it will save your video to the platform and resolution you need, whether your video will eventually wind up on YouTube or on a Blu-ray disc.