To make great videos, you need more than a good camera; you need great video editing software. PCMag has been reviewing video editing software for more than 20 years, and we put each application through rigorous hands-on testing. We’ve reviewed dozens of applications, updating the reviews annually to keep up with their changes.
The best video editing programs work well for both professionals and hobbyists, and they incorporate new technology, including, most recently, generative AI. Based on our testing, we recommend CyberLink PowerDirector for enthusiasts and Adobe Premiere Pro for professionals. For Mac-only software, we recommend Final Cut Pro and iMovie. But those aren’t our only top picks. Read on for more advice and details to help you determine the best video editing software for your needs.
No fancy effects matter if an app can’t do the most basic editing tasks. At this point, all the software here does a fine job of letting you join, trim, and split video clips. Most also provide extensive tutorials, help, and guided editing tools. You can make use of special effects such as animated transitions, picture-in-picture (PiP), chroma-key (aka green screen), and filters that enhance colors or apply creative effects and distortions. With most products, you can add a multitude of timeline tracks that accommodate video clips, effects, audio for soundtracks, and text overlays. Some of the more entry-level programs include a storyboard view, which makes joining clips and adding transitions, effects, and background music even simpler.
The Best Video Editing Software for Motion Tracking
Motion tracking is an impressive effect in some consumer-level video editing software. It lets you attach an object or effect to something moving in your video. You might use this editing tool to place a blur over the face of someone you don’t want revealed in your video or to display a text box next to a moving object. You mark the object you want to track, specify the effect or text, and let the app take care of the rest, following the marked object.
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Motion tracking used to be the sole province of special-effects software tools such as Adobe After Effects or Apple Motion. Corel VideoStudio was the first consumer product to include motion tracking. It still leads the pack in the depth and usability of its motion-tracking tool (even including multipoint tracking), though several others now include this video editing tool. Pro-level software like DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro also do motion tracking, though they also support plug-ins and ancillary applications with more capabilities.
Does Editing Software Support 4K and 8K Video?
Support for 4K video source content has become fairly standard in video editing software, and pro software already supports up to 8K and sometimes even higher, which isn’t really practical unless you’re running a full-size movie theater. That said, even smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra can now shoot in 8K.
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Support for 4K and higher formats varies among the consumer products. For example, some but not all the applications can import Sony XAVC and XAVC-S formats, which Sony’s popular DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, camcorders, and professional video cameras use. The same is true for the H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. Most of the applications here now can import and export HEVC, but there are still a few holdouts.
If you plan on working with 4K or higher video content, make sure you choose a video editing application that’s fast at rendering output files (see the section on speed testing below).
Support for newer formats, such as the open-source AV1 and the even more efficient H.266 (VVC—Versatile Video Coding), is very limited at this point. Furthermore, none of the apps here supports H.266. Happily, several of them do support importing Google’s WebM format.
The Best Video Editing Software for Multicam
Advanced abilities continue to make their way into accessible, affordable, and consumer-friendly video editing apps as each new generation of software is released. Multicam editing, which lets you switch camera angles for the same scene shot with multiple video cameras, used to be a feature only for professional software. This and many other advanced effects are now available in enthusiast-level programs. CyberLink PowerDirector excels at multicam editing, as do the pro-level applications DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro.
Can You Edit Video on a Smartphone?
You can create and edit videos on mobile devices almost as easily as you can watch them. If you’re making videos for social media, you might even prefer to edit on a phone. Many of the desktop applications on this list of the best video editing apps also have mobile video editing apps.
Adobe has a separate app called Premiere Rush, which you can use to edit video on your phone and then continue editing it on the desktop Premiere app or the Adobe Express app; it comes with a subscription to either. Apple’s iMovie interacts similarly with Final Cut Pro. TikTok itself has the excellent and free CapCut. With more than 100 million downloads on the Google Play store, the powerful CyberLink PowerDirector’s separate mobile app has made a name for itself on mobiles as well as the desktop. Many of these apps let you shoot video with your phone and start editing right away on the same device.