---
title: 'Best FREE Video Editing Software for YouTube (Don''t Choose Wrong)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=uCHJ1QgBCQY'
video_id: 'uCHJ1QgBCQY'
date: 2026-08-09
duration_sec: 510
---

# Best FREE Video Editing Software for YouTube (Don't Choose Wrong)

> Source: [Best FREE Video Editing Software for YouTube (Don't Choose Wrong)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=uCHJ1QgBCQY)

## Summary

This video provides a comprehensive guide to choosing the best free video editing software for YouTube, based on the creator's 10 years of experience. It reviews several popular free editors, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses, and offers personalized recommendations based on your operating system and needs.

### Key Points

- **Importance of Choosing the Right Editor** [00:02] — The creator emphasizes that choosing the wrong editor can be detrimental to your YouTube channel, and the video aims to help viewers select the best option for their specific situation.
- **Creator's Experience and Context** [00:27] — The creator has 10 years of YouTube experience, has tried every video editor, and runs a software company called Vid.AI that helps faceless YouTubers generate full 20-minute videos using AI, but notes that Vid.AI is limited to stock footage videos and is not free.
- **OpenShot: A Traditional Editor** [01:07] — OpenShot is a free, timeline-based editor available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. It allows unlimited layers for stacking tracks, but the creator experienced crashes and lost progress, making stability a concern.
- **Shotcut: A Stable Alternative** [02:41] — Shotcut is a free, open-source, timeline-based editor known for its stability. It supports automatic crossfades by overlapping clips and includes color grading tools, making it a more reliable option than OpenShot.
- **VSDC: Feature-Packed for Windows** [03:33] — VSDC is a Windows-only editor with a built-in screen recorder and a vast array of features. However, its UI can be overwhelming, and it has a free version with upgrade prompts, which can be closed.
- **iMovie: The Best for Mac Users** [05:06] — iMovie is recommended as the go-to free editor for Mac users due to its clean UI, ease of use, and optimization for Mac hardware. It is genuinely free forever and supports a simple editing workflow.
- **Kdenlive: A Professional All-in-One** [05:47] — Kdenlive is a free, all-in-one editor for Mac and Windows. It can be intimidating initially but is great for those transitioning from paid software like Adobe Premiere. It uses proxy files for smoother 4K editing.
- **DaVinci Resolve: Hollywood-Grade Software** [06:41] — DaVinci Resolve is a free, professional editor used in Hollywood (e.g., Dune, Blade Runner 2049). It has a steep learning curve but is extremely stable and offers advanced color grading. It requires a powerful computer (8-16 GB RAM).
- **PowerDirector Mobile: For Phone Editing** [07:22] — PowerDirector Mobile is recommended as the best free editor for editing on your phone, available for both iOS and Android, with a timeline-based interface.

### Conclusion

The video concludes by reminding viewers that making videos is only half the battle; growing and monetizing a YouTube channel is also crucial. The creator offers a free course in a linked video to help with this.

## Transcript

in the right place. It's really important that you don't choose wrong editor for your channel. And in this video, I'm going to show you how to choose the absolute best editor and give you a bunch of options, but then distill
them down into what is the best option for you personally because it's going to depend on your situation, your operating system, and the device that you're editors in the context of doing YouTube because I've been doing YouTube for the
past 10 years. I've tried every single video editor out there when it comes to personally have edited hundreds and hundreds of videos myself. Obviously, I videos for me. And also, I run a software company called Vidai that helps
faceless YouTubers generate full 20inute videos using AI completely. But the thing is that Vidai is limited to just stock footage types of videos. So, if you're doing those types of videos, it's amazing for that, but it's not free. So,
list. I'm going to only be showing you free editors on this list. So, without further ado, let's get into my first recommendation, which is OpenShot. Now, OpenShot is a traditionalbased editor that you can download on your computer.
It's available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Chrome OS, which is pretty rare basic editor. It's timeline based editing, so you can drag clips onto a timeline and then split them, clip them, add titles, music, sound effects,
OpenShot is the fact that you can put unlimited layers on your videos. Now, a layer is simply a track that could handle, for example, music, a video, pictures, etc. You can put unlimited of those tracks, so you can stack a lot of
kind of cool. There are also a bunch of different transitions, like 3D cheesy, so I don't really recommend using them that much for YouTube. use for YouTube are going to just be a simple crossfade that almost any of
able to do. But to be able to run OpenShot, you are going to need at least 4 GB of RAM. And now, while I've used OpenShot, I actually really like it. The UI is not the most modern thing in the world. But the issue I had when I was
testing it out, and I had a very good computer when I was testing it was the which is incredibly frustrating. You have to make sure to save your work and to save your work, boom, all of your progress is gone. So, I really didn't
like that. And I saw some people having the same experience online as well. But, never crashed for them. So, I guess it just depends on your experience with absolute best editor in the world, but I
completely free editor. And when I say free, I mean literally costs nothing for next free editor is one that's been around forever, but nobody really talks about it much. And this next one is extremely stable, unlike OpenShot. And
as we discussed, stability matters a lot. You don't want your video editor crashing. And that editor is Shotcut. Now, Shotcut is available for Windows, source. It's also timeline based editing. It looks pretty similar to
like about Shotcut is the fact that, as we discussed with transitions, my mostused transition is a simple crossfade. And what you can do on your timeline is you can drag one clip overlapping on the other clip, and you
can set it to automatically do a crossfade when you do that. So, that way tab and then drag that onto it. It will automatically do that, which I grading tools built in. Honestly, I don't really even use that for YouTube.
allows you to key out things like a green screen. Again, I personally don't any file format, which is nice. And it looks a little bit more complex in OpenShot when you initially open it, but it's very easy to get the hang of. And
editor, and in my experience, it's crashed a lot less in OpenShot, so I check it out. Now, the next editor is VSSDC. Now, VSSDC has a built-in screen can just record your screen and then go straight into editing your videos. But
personally, I don't really love the UI on VSSDC due to the fact that it's kind of overwhelmingly feature- packed. Like if you're looking for specific features this could be a good tool for you. But for me personally, when I'm making
faceless YouTube videos, I don't need all these crazy tools really. So I overwhelming. Another thing is that VSSDC is only available for Windows. But like I said, almost any feature you can imagine, VSSDC probably has it. like you
can't do with a lot of the other free editors I'm showing you. And if you're having that built-in screen recorder is really nice, but honestly, I prefer to just use something like OBS to record separately and then use a separate
editor. And VSDC isn't as plugandplay as OpenShot or Shotcut, but it is seen people saying that they use it on computers that have 4 GB of RAM and they're able to run it. And since it's optimized for Windows specifically, it
hardware. Now, another thing is that there is a free and a paid version of show upgrade prompts which you can close and just keep working. All the pro effects and removes those prompts, but honestly 99% of people will never need
and you want something super in-depth and professional, you might want to look into VSSDC. So, we talked about Windows. Now, let's talk about Mac. I personally think if you are using a Mac, this should be your free editor. And that
editor is iMovie. iMovie has an amazing UI. It's very clean. It's very easy to get the hang of and very easy to use. Plus, it's optimized for Mac. So, if go-to editor. And it's also perfect for the editing workflow that I teach where
you layer your B-roll on top, you add your music, add some occasional titles And iMovie is genuinely free forever. You don't have to worry about upgrading already bought a very expensive computer. And if I personally used a
Mac, I would use iMovie. I've tried iMovie out on a few of my friends I personally don't have a Mac so I don't use it. Now next up we have Kaden Live which is available for both Mac and Windows. It's a really great all-in-one
editor. It's really good. My only gripe with it is that it is a little bit intimidating when you initially open it up. But if you're coming from some expensive paid software like Adobe Premiere or something, this can make the
transitioning to a free video editing software. Plus, it utilizes something working with 4K footage and you want to will do is it will create smaller versions of those videos for editing to
not until you do the final export of your video that then it will include those 4K files. So, it's a super professional editor. Honestly, too you're looking for a lot of tools, it is still timeline based editing as well,
it out. Now, this next tool is one that has literally been used in Hollywood free. Now, yes, this does have a very worth it. I've experimented around with it a little bit. Again, for myself
didn't put enough time into learning it, but there is definitely a learning curve. And the software is Da Vinci Resolve. Now, Da Vinci is one of the you're worried about a video editor crashing, Da Vinci is one of the best.
everything that you would ever want to do for editing for your YouTube used in Hollywood Productions. Movies like Dune and Bladeunner 2049 were color want a pretty good computer for this. I would recommend at least 8 to 16 GB of
tutorials as well. And Blackmagic, who makes the software, has an entire training series on them. It also uses proxy files just like Caden Live. But at all? If you want to do editing directly on your phone, my
recommendation for the best free editor would be the Power Director mobile app. It's available for both iOS and Android. Amazing app for editing videos. I'm want to edit on your phone. And there's literally a timeline that you can drag
clips on and everything. But what I am associated with is Vid.AI, which again, is a paid software. But I think it is worth mentioning that if you do want to easily as possible, that is what I've
you're making faceless videos for YouTube, yes, it's not free, but if you want to check it out, it will save you so much time as opposed to doing all the down below if you want to check out vid.ai. But making videos is just half
the battle when it comes to growing a successful YouTube channel. It's really secret for growing really fast and more importantly monetizing correctly to make YouTube into a real business. And in this video next to me right here, I'll
go over exactly how to do that. In fact, this video right here is essentially a completely free course where I'll go over my new way of building a huge out. My name is Matt Par. Hope you got value from this and I will see you