Apple computers have long been aimed at creative professionals, specially when information technology comes to photo and video editing. Unfortunately, manufacture-leading packages like Adobe Premiere, Later on Furnishings, and Apple tree's own Final Cut Pro aren't inexpensive.

But all is not lost. At that place's a pick of capable, costless video editing apps for Mac to sink your teeth into. Some are made for beginners, while others will satisfy seasoned video editors thanks to the impressive feature sets on offer.

These are our favorite free video editors for Mac.

1. iMovie

Summary: A free, consumer-grade video editor. It's well optimized for Apple hardware and suitable for most personal projects.

iMovie is gratuitous for anyone who owns a Mac. Plus, the iOS version is free to all iPhone and iPad owners. The software is aimed at consumers who desire to rapidly create videos with footage stored in their Photos library. To facilitate this, iMovie uses a simplified timeline editor that doesn't allow for multi-track editing.

Despite the linear editing and basic UI, iMovie is a highly optimized slice of software that can handle 4K video and greenish screen compositing. It besides supports film-in-flick video and boring-motion or fast-forwards visual effects. iMovie lets y'all generate titles, drag-and-drop transitions, and add motion graphics similar 3D globes or travel maps.

The app comes with built-in music and sound effects that are ready to go. It can generate Hollywood-way trailers using footage that you supply. Additionally, the app allows you lot to export directly to YouTube and Vimeo at up to 4K resolution. If you were looking for an all-in-one, free video editor for your Mac, this is information technology.

Download: iMovie (Free)

two. DaVinci Resolve

Summary: A powerful, professional-form video editor that unfortunately lacks the colour-grading tools the developers are famous for.

The Studio version of DaVinci Resolve costs nearly $1,000, but the basic version is completely free. Better still, it includes the same loftier-quality image-processing abilities every bit the pricier version. Yous get a powerful video editor, some of the best color correction capabilities around, and even support for external hardware panels to enable faster editing.

There are limitations, of course. The master one is that Resolve can just output in SD, HD or Ultra Hard disk, although that is likely more than plenty for virtually users. Also, the app places limits on some advanced grading and tracking tools. Yet, these restrictions are mainly in place to convince professional users to upgrade.

The app might have quite a steep learning curve, simply DaVinci Resolve is 1 of the near powerful video editing suites on the planet, and yous become a lot for gratis. See our comparison of DaVinci Resolve and HitFilm Express for more than on how it stacks up.

Download: DaVinci Resolve (Costless)

three. OpenShot

Summary: An open-source video editor for Mac, with an impressive list of features. However, the interface is outdated and may put some users off.

OpenShot is a cross-platform, open up-source tool that'south been around since 2008. It was built with the aim of providing a stable, free, and attainable video editor. The project receives several major updates per year, in line with the expectations for an open-source project with a small team.

OpenShot's feature list has grown over the years to include great support for a diversity of formats, animation keyframes, and unlimited video or audio tracks. Information technology likewise packs in transition and compositing support, titles, and a heap of extra features you'd wait from a modern video editor.

Past criticisms have panned OpenShot'southward reliability, but information technology's however worth a shot for complimentary.

Download: OpenShot (Gratis)

4. Shotcut

Summary: A capable, open-source editor with an interface that'south superior to OpenShot.

Hither's another free, cantankerous-platform, open-source video editor. Shotcut's feature listing is but as impressive as OpenShot, just Shotcut features a prettier interface. Information technology more than closely resembles a pro-tier application than a free one.

The app supports a wide range of video files and formats, including 4K, ProRes, and DNxHD. Shotcut too includes cracking support for working with audio, an impressive listing of video effects (including compositing and transitions), and a flexible UI.

Of note are support for advanced features like 5.1 surround sound, three-style color correction, and a huge number of video and audio filters. At that place's even a full prepare of official video tutorials on the Shotcut website that you can lookout man to get you up to speed with the editor.

Download: Shotcut (Free)

5. Blender

Summary: Not a purpose-built video editor, merely still a powerful, costless tool.

Blender is a complimentary, 3D-modeling and compositing app used in some high-profile productions. Nevertheless, many don't realize Blender is too a capable non-linear video editor, provided yous're willing to take the time to larn how to employ it.

You can employ Blender to cut and splice video, mix and sync audio, or utilise adjustment layers, transitions, and filters. Yous probably won't edit a whole flick together in Blender, but for bones editing tasks, information technology might suffice.

Blender isn't the easiest system to acquire, simply underneath the hood is a powerful non-linear video editor. Check out Daniel Pocock's quick guide to editing video in Blender to learn more.

Download: Blender (Free)

half dozen. Lightworks

Summary: A powerful editor with enough of features, but some seriously restrictive output options make the gratuitous version feel more like a trial.

Lightworks is ane of the most powerful apps on this listing. We'd happily recommend it above all the other packages if it wasn't so restrictive for gratis users. The gratis version includes video furnishings, multi-cam editing, and titling, as well as the usual multi-layered timeline approach you lot'd look from a comprehensive editor.

Unfortunately, rendering (exporting your project) is limited to 1080p output to Vimeo and 720p output to YouTube. You lot tin also render to Lightworks Archives, but y'all lose H.264, MP4, and even DVD export options.

And so while the toolkit is vast, Lightworks isn't a very highly-seasoned free editor for Mac users, unless y'all'd like to thoroughly try information technology out for free and upgrade at a later time.

Download: Lightworks (Free, premium version bachelor)

vii. Avidemux

Summary: A capable freebie, but lacking in polish and features.

Avidemux also made our list of the best Linux video editors. Though it's basic in nature, it works well for simple editing tasks. The app supports a broad diverseness of input and output formats. The project also undergoes several updates a yr, with evolution continuing at a steady footstep.

Thankfully, the team maintains parity among all three major versions, so you lot won't miss out on whatsoever features if you opt for the Mac package.

Avidemux is best reserved for uncomplicated tasks like cutting a video down to size, applying video or audio filters, and transcoding. If you're willing to dig a little deeper, you'll discover a highly capable script editor to automate many of these common tasks.

Be certain to check out the Avidemux Wiki for learning materials, and the Avidemux forum tin assist in example yous get stuck.

Download: Avidemux (Costless)

8. HitFilm Limited

Summary: A free Mac video editor with over 410 furnishings and presets, 2D and 3D compositing, and many more features.

HitFilm Express is a complimentary video editing software that's available for Mac and Windows machines. It comes in two versions. We'll focus on the costless version, HitFilm Limited, which y'all can use to manage all your basic editing needs.

The tool is suitable for beginner and mid-level editing. The software'southward home interface gives you all the acme manufacture news and also a slew of tips and tricks for using the tool. You can elevate videos, images, and music files to the software panel to go going right away. The congenital-in clipper is bound to come in handy every bit well.

Even better, it as well offers VFX editing. But what if the free version doesn't take a particular functionality? Aye, they've got that covered, too. You lot can buy the additional features right from the home workspace. If it piques your interest, you can find out more virtually it from the HitFilm website.

Download: HitFilm Express (Complimentary, premium version bachelor)

ix. InVideo

Summary: A gratis online video editor that can hold its ain confronting any offline tool.

InVideo is the Canva of video editing. For the uninitiated, Canva is a gratuitous online graphic design tool. Then, what this essentially means is that you tin edit your videos right from your browser and avoid all the tussle and ataxia that comes with offline tools.

With over 35,000 video templates and over three million images in the standard media library, this is one beast of a free video editing software for Mac.

Besides, did nosotros tell you that the videos will be watermark gratuitous?

Yous can create a lot with InVideo: Facebook templates, YouTube intros, memes, slideshows, and much more. With the free edition, you'll also get perks like 1GB of free cloud storage, automated text to spoken communication, and more.

If the cloud is your thing, you lot tin can't do much amend than InVideo. All you lot need to practice to get started is create an business relationship on the official website.

Annals: InVideo (Complimentary, premium version available)

10. Final Cut Pro

Summary: An easy-to-pick-upward tool for video editing beginners and pros alike.

Terminal Cut Pro is seen as the natural progression for an iMovie user, or at to the lowest degree those in the Apple tree ecosystem. Although this is a paid tool, Apple offers a whopping 90-day free trial menses. That's nigh three months, give or take.

For those of you who are just stepping into the world of video editing, or only take a few projects that you have to accept care of, the Concluding Cut Pro complimentary trial could be your best option.

There's a basic drag-and-drop space, a slew of editing effects, and a powerful media organization tool with Smart Collections and Auto-Analysis. It besides supports 360-degree content and has functionality for the all-time VR headsets.

All in all, Terminal Cut Pro is another piece of beauty from Apple that celebrates artists and their creativity.

Download: Final Cut Pro ($299, free trial available)

Summary: A powerhouse for all your Mac video making needs.

Cyberlink PowerDirector is, equally its name suggests, a powerful video editing software for Mac.

What caught our attention, when we showtime encountered it, are the wealth of solid features that come up packed with this tool—nearly of them available gratuitous.

This Mac movie maker houses more than than 3,000 furnishings and templates, and to meridian information technology off it also offers around half dozen million stock videos and photos.

A host of other features that deserve a special mention include:

  • Support for 4K video resolution
  • Audio Denoising
  • Monitor Tracking
  • Compatibility with a massive listing of video formats
  • Video Collage Designer
  • PiP Designer
  • Speed Designer

These features are just the tips of the iceberg, as there's a so much more than to explore in PowerDirector. Our but gripe with it—if we can call it that—would exist the watermark that'southward left with the free version. But actually, would information technology be fair to ask this much from a freeware version? Probably not, and that'due south why it made to our list on all-time video editing apps for YouTube besides.

cyberlink-powerdirector

Give PowerDirector a run; encounter if information technology floats your boat. If it does stand up up to your expectations, you tin buy the full version straight from the app itself (from the shopping cart icon in the top-right corner).

Download: Cyberlink PowerDirector (Free, premium version bachelor)

Those Are All the Best Free Mac Video Editors

So, which is the best video editor for you lot? If you lot're only getting your feet wet, iMovie will probably suit you the virtually: it'south costless, like shooting fish in a barrel to use, and carefully optimized for Apple tree hardware.

At that place are plenty of features in iMovie to satisfy beginners and mid-tier users. However, it lacks the raw power to compete with Final Cut or Premiere Pro.

If you want a simple video conversion app instead of a full-fledged video editor, though, take a expect at our guide for top macOS video converters.

The 7 Best Video Converter Apps for macOS

Read Side by side

Near The Author

Shaant Minhas (97 Articles Published)

Shaant is a Staff Writer at MUO. A graduate in Computer Applications, he uses his passion for writing to explain complex stuff in plain English. When not researching or writing, he tin exist found enjoying a good book, running, or hanging out with friends.

More From Shaant Minhas