Get unlimited stock media assets for just one subscription at https://www.storyblocks.com/katie 🎬 Video editing software is expensive! So I tested out the most popular free video editing apps so you don’t have to. I’m breaking down the pros and cons of some common, beginner-friendly free editors to help you decide which one you’d like to learn. This was a very interesting (and often frustrating lol) experiment for me, and I realized that free apps can actually do a lot! You don’t need to invest in expensive software from the beginning. I’m curious to hear your opinions in the comments below, let me know which one you think is the best!
🎬 Get my team of editors to edit your YouTube videos! 👉🏻 https://www.creatorlymedia.com
🚐 Watch my van life / travel channel https://www.youtube.com/@KatieandDan
📸 Follow me on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/katiesteckly
📕 TABLE OF CONTENTS 📕
00:00 why are video editing apps so dang expensive?
01:00 Davinci Resolve – FREE VERSION
02:01 the one thing free Davinci Resolve cannot do – auto captions
02:53 CapCut
03:28 “CapCut is so perfect and beginner friendly” uhmm really??
04:38 I had to type half of the captions manually… WHY?!
05:27 do not skip on good b-roll! you can get it on Storyblocks
06:23 iMovie is about to wreck me… let’s see how this goes
07:03 the things I like about iMovie
07:18 editing a vertical video in iMovie is absurd
08:16 Descript
08:45 okay why did this take forever though…
09:07 why is Descript exposing me like this though!!
09:58 look, you don’t wanna have to edit b-roll in here
11:19 unfortunately, it’s got a watermark
11:41 Canva (it’s got a new video editing view!)
13:37 Canva will only caption VIDEOS not AUDIO CLIPS
14:36 So, which is the best free video editor for content creators?
🔗 LINKS 🔗
*some of these are affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase on the site after clicking these links, I could earn a commission at no extra cost to you. thanks for supporting the channel!
🎧 where I get music for my videos: https://share.epidemicsound.com/6x4f73
🎬 stock footage & animations I use: https://www.storyblocks.com/katie
📹 Camera Gear:
Main camera: https://geni.us/kszve1
Lens: https://geni.us/ks1625
Vlog camera: https://geni.us/kszve10ii
Microphone: https://geni.us/djimicmini
Tripod: https://geni.us/ksulanzi
👉🏻 See all my gear here: https://katiesteckly.com/gear
👋🏻 ABOUT ME
Hey, I’m Katie! I make videos about social media strategy and content creation. In addition to being a YouTuber, I also run a small agency that provides video editing services for YouTubers and podcasters. If you want our help or just want to learn more, check out https://www.creatorlymedia.com
—————————————-——-
I’ve been using the paid version of filmora for a bit now and although it’s pretty straightforward, it’s not the best. It loses all my footage from my phone and claims it’s ‘moved’. I think I want to switch to DaVinci.
I’m not sure what’s the captioning issue you bumped into with Capcut….am pretty sure you may have missed out the batch editing function? Happy to advise if you share the exact issue.
Katie, I LOVE this video and the intention you put into this, I’m sure this was NOT easy putting all of this together, but so helpful for everyone <3 also, I've just been using Final Cut Pro for 15+ years - what software did you use for this video? especially for the beginning of the video with all the different captions? I love this style so much! @katiesteckly
This was so helpful, thanks so much for creating this comparison video! 😊
I noticed you didn’t include Adobe Premiere Rush. I started with that based on some recs. I also ended up purchasing the Pro version…but have not bothered to learn how to use it. What is your experience with either of these programs? You’ve just about sold me on moving to Divinci and cancelling my premiere pro subscription…but before I do I’d love to hear your opinion.
When I got started, I used iMovie. Davinci terrifed me. It was so overwhelming.
I also taught my 63 yr old mom on iMovie.
Now, I recognize the limitations. I often would use iMovie in combo with Canva… eventually.
I WANT to try Davinci (especially for colour correction).
BUT iMovie was a good way to get started. I’ve had videos go semi-viral (200k+ views) with using this limiting software (meaning that editing software won’t stop someone from doing well).
If a more basic software gets you going, then use it!
Upgrade to more complicated ones later
Thanks Kattie for those tests, it seems I have the similar opinion as you 🙂. I just didn”t tested DaVinci resolve yet. My go too for now and that I really enjoy is CapCut, it does everything I need easily, it has ton of options in the free option (sometime its annoying as some of the more advanced features or template or for the pro version). Indeed the auto-caption is a hit or miss, I thought it was because of my none native english voice (I”m french canadian), so was sure it was because my pronounciation was not clear enough. But if a native english speaker have the same issue, then its not because my english is that bad 🙂(I always need to reedit those captions as it become nonsense). I initially started with Canvas online, but found it limited due to storage issue and also got some issue when editing like you saw. Tried Clipchamp that came included with Windows 11 it was fine for a bit, but also got stock with some annoying issue like when adding some effect they would play well in the preview, but then when exporting the video and rewatch it, they were either not displayed at all (like some text overlay/effect) or the whole video had bad frame rate 😞.
I edited my videos on my channel in Capcut for years – the auto captioning is fiddly but generally works but doesn’t always pick up voiceovers – but the free assets kept me there. I knew Davinci Resolve Free but hated the fact that I’d have to try and animate things in Fusion. I’ve now moved to Davinci Resolve Studio due to Capcut’s issues – it’s more stable than Davinci – yes you heard that correctly, in the last weeks I’ve managed to crash Resolve Studio many times, it’s less stable than the Free version? – but it keeps changing features randomly and sometimes my projects take ages to load or won’t load.
I’m very new to editing, I’ve done a few in Canva and it was a good intro to the process but it did seem quite glitchy so I’m currently trying iMovie. Thank you for all your tips and advice!
I’ve been editing on my phone (now tablet) for years using PowerDirector Pro, and I love it!