While some free video editors guide you through the process, others offer more powerful features, allowing plenty of room for development. All the free video editors on this list, at least, enable you to combine clips and export a final product at 1080p (without a watermark) in a format compatible with YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

After testing every free video editing app, we could find, we narrowed down the following options:

Editing features. The ability to organize clips into a timeline is one of the most popular features of video editing. While some apps offer automatic editing options for this, others leave the editing to you. You can also utilize tools to split clips and add markers.

We also examined advanced editing features such as Chroma keying, green screen, multi-camera editing, video stabilization, and effects.

Limitations for free users. On our list, only a few editors are completely free; the rest are premium-level free apps. We only considered apps that fulfilled our export requirements (1080p or higher, no watermark, no limit on exports) and were beneficial for our novice video editors. Additionally, we prioritized premium-level free versions that offered more generous features.

Efficiency. We looked for performant apps with good options for exporting video. (Publishing directly to YouTube, and TikTok was a nice bonus but not essential.) Playback should be smooth, and video preview windows should ideally include toggles for quality settings to accommodate less powerful hardware. Web-based video editors should feel as close to a desktop app as possible and handle the editing workflow accordingly. 

Learning and support. Support documentation, tutorials, and an active user community can be enormous assets, especially when dealing with free tools. For easier-to-use tools, you may find that user-friendly design and easy-to-follow in-app tutorials suffice.

Extras. Some video editors are complete suites that can handle effects, audio mastering, and even subtitling. Others offer integration with stock footage services and cloud storage providers. Though not essential, extras like these helped some video editing apps stand out.

 To test these editors, we shot a few 4K HDR videos on our iPhone 13 Pro. Then, we cut and pasted them into a timeline, split them, adjusted playback speed, and added transitions between clips. We also experimented with a few more advanced options (if available), such as Chroma keying, video and audio syncing, color correction, and more. Finally, we verified that the exported files met our quality standards—and didn’t contain a watermark.

After conducting these tests, we’ve selected the aforementioned free video editing software to serve as our beginner editors.