Best Program to Use to Edit Youtube Videos
The best software for editing videos for YouTube
Best editing software for YouTube
01. Paid-for YouTube video software
02. Free YouTube video software
Seeking the best software for editing videos for YouTube? You'll find it here. Whether you're a serious YouTube vlogger, using YouTube to build your reputation, or just looking to polish your phone footage before sending a YouTube link to friends, these are the best tools that 2021 has to offer.
We've gathered together the leading video editing software and video editing apps for a range of prices, including free. These tools will allow you to make smooth edits to your video and audio, as well as adding titles, graphics, music and effects.
So what exactly is the best software for editing videos for YouTube? Well, that depends on what you need it for.
If you're running a professional YouTube channel, then our number 1 and 2 picks, Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro, will be what you need. However, if you're just making a few tweaks to your phone footage, then something more lightweight such as Premiere Rush (number 6 on our list) will be a better fit. The other four tools, meanwhile, lie somewhere in between, and we'll give you all the facts and figures you need to pick the right one for you. You'll also find links to the best prices, including any Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for 2021.
No cash at all? Then skip ahead to the best free software for editing videos for YouTube. This software is limited, but it's better than nothing for simple editing.
Meanwhile, if you want to raise your video game in general, see our guides to the best camera for YouTube and the best headphones for video editing, as well as reading our walkthrough of how to edit a video on TikTok.
Best software for editing videos for YouTube: quick links
The best software for editing videos for YouTube professionally
Specifications
Platform: Windows and Mac
Payment model: Subscription
Free trial: 30 days
Best for: Professional results
Reasons to buy
+Industry standard +Used by top YouTubers
Reasons to avoid
-Requires subscription -Overkill for newbies
For professional YouTubers, the best software for editing videos for YouTube is Premiere Pro. This cross-platform software is packed with powerful features and flexible collaboration tools. Used throughout the TV and movie industries, it's the route to the kind of slick production values that will take your channel to the next level. No wonder famous YouTubers use Premiere Pro to edit their videos, including PewDiePie, Zack from Jerry Rig Everything, Theo Jo, Linus Tech Tips, Jake Paul, Smosh and Devinsupertramp.
You'll find support for 4K, 8K and VR formats, and the ability to edit collaboratively via a virtual screening room. Other useful features including automatic audio and video syncing, the ability to pull in motion graphics from After Effects, and being able to watch a clip and edit it at the same time.
There are many features, in fact, that it can sometimes feel a little overwhelming, and newcomers to video editing will probably prefer one of the simpler tools on our list (numbers 3 onwards). That said, the interface is pretty straightforward, and it's customisable, too, so you can bring the tools you use more often to the forefront. There are also lots of free Premiere Pro tutorials if you get stuck.
You can't buy Premiere Pro outright: you can only get it as part of a single-app or Creative Cloud subscription. On the plus side, that means the software is constantly being improved. The latest big update (version 22), announced in October, introduced a new audio feature to help you match music to a scene; the ability to make a clean copy of an existing sequence; a new one-click colour grading tool; and the ability to use Speech-to-Text offline.
On the minus side, it means Premiere Pro will cost you a lot of money over time. For pricing options, check out our article how to download Premiere Pro.
- Read our Premiere Pro review
The best software for editing videos for YouTube on Mac
Specifications
Platform: Mac
Payment model: One-off purchase
Free trial: 90 days
Best for: Sophisticated features
Reasons to buy
+Professional tool +Used by top YouTubers
Reasons to avoid
-Mac only -Overkill for newbies
If you're looking for subscription-free software for editing videos for YouTube, we'd recommend Final Cut Pro (previously known as Final Cut Pro X). Well, as long as you have a Mac, because it's not available on Windows.
First launched in 2011, Final Cut was the only serious player in this field for many years, and has been used to edit countless Hollywood films. Famous YouTubers using it to edit their videos include iJustine, Marques Brownlee, Austin Evans, Dude Perfect and Jonathan Morrison.
It's available for a one-off fee, so is a good choice for long-term YouTubers who don't want to pay a never-ending subscription (although it's not cheap). Final Cut Pro is also a good choice if you do all your work within the Apple ecosystem, because it works super-smoothly with your iTunes and Photos collections. And there's currently a very generous 90-day free trial, so you can be sure you like it before committing.
In terms of the software itself, Final Cut Pro is brimming with sophisticated features to help you raise the look and feel of your YouTube videos to new levels. These include support for 4K, 360-degree video and HDR, advanced filters, multichannel audio tools, noise reduction and advanced colour grading. Most notably, the proprietary Magnetic Timeline system makes finding scenes and moving them around very simple and intuitive, while its Multicam feature lets you view up to 16 angles simultaneously and sync up to 64.
In short, as long as you use a Mac, both Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro offer YouTubers sophisticated tools for editing your videos and giving them that high-class sheen that will help them stand out from the pack. For more details to help you decide between them, check out our article Premiere Pro vs Final Cut Pro.
- Read our Final Cut Pro review
The best software for editing videos for YouTube for beginners
Specifications
Platform: Windows and Mac
Payment model: One-off purchase
Free trial: 30 days
Best for: Learning to edit videos
Reasons to buy
+Good for beginners +Cheap +Simple interface
Reasons to avoid
-Not the most powerful
If you're just starting out editing video, you'll want something simpler than the first two tools on our list. Adobe's Premiere Elements is a stripped-down version of Premiere Pro, so you get all the standard tools you need for video editing, in a simpler interface, and at a one-off price rather than a subscription.
Beginners will appreciate the easy-to-follow interface, clear navigation, video creation wizard, step-by-step tutorials and choice of three editing modes. For those with a little more experience, Elements comes with some a number of clever and useful features, such as face detection, audio effects and soundtracks, noise reduction, automatic feature detection and guided edits.
- Read our Premiere Elements review
The best budget software for editing videos for YouTube
Specifications
Platform: Windows
Payment model: One-off purchase
Free trial: No free trial, but 30-day money back guarantee
Best for: Keeping costs low
Reasons to buy
+Cheap +Easy to use +Advanced features at pricier tiers
Reasons to avoid
-Windows only
Another good choice for beginners editing YouTube videos is Pinnacle Studio. Since Corel took it over in 2012, it's been developed into very capable and reliable professional video editing software. It's not as powerful as some of the other titles on this list, but its nicely organised and user-friendly interface makes it good for newbies.
Once you've spent a bit of time with it you can graduate to the more advanced features at the higher price tier, including keyframing controls, dynamic video masking and 360 VR editing. Plus the latest version released this August (Pinnacle Studio 25) has added object tracking to boot.
In short, if you're new to video editing, aren't already tied in to either Adobe's or Apple's ecosystems, and are low on cash, Pinnacle Studio is well worth investigating.
- Read our Pinnacle Studio review
Popular program with easy slideshow feature
Specifications
Platform: Windows, Mac
Payment model: Subscription
Free trial: 30 days
Best for: Quick and easy video creation
Reasons to buy
+Low cost +Magic Movie Wizard +Some advanced features
Reasons to avoid
-Windows only
Another popular video editing program that's worth considering for your YouTube videos is CyberLink Power Director 365. This mid-market software is available for a very affordable subscription, despite including some advanced features such as multi-cam editing, motion tracking and 360-degree editing.
If you need to create a video very quickly, there's a mini programme, slightly hidden inside the Easy Editor, called the Magic Movie Wizard, which uses clever tech to automatically combine your photos and clips in a matter of minutes. When it comes to 'proper' video editing, there's a fairly flat learning curve, plus lots of tutorials to help you build your skills.
There are also a partnership with Shutterstock and iStock by Getty Images that make it easy to use stock assets in your video, similar to how Premiere Pro plays with Adobe Stock. Note, though, that this tool is Windows only, and requires a subscription that's similar to Adobe's, albeit significantly cheaper.
- Read our CyberLink PowerDirector review
The best software for editing YouTube videos on mobile
Specifications
Platform: Android, iOS
Payment model: Subscription
Free trial?: No, but free starter plan available
Best for: Mobile video editing
Reasons to buy
+Designed with YouTubers in mind +Cross-platform +Free version with Creative Cloud
Reasons to avoid
-Not as powerful as Premiere Pro
Premiere Rush is an Adobe app that's been specifically created for YouTubers and social media video creators. And so if you create a lot of video on your phone, or spend a lot of time editing videos on the go, it should save you a lot of time and effort, either as an alternative or a partner app to Premiere Pro.
Premiere Rush allows you to use many of the most useful features of Premiere Pro on mobile, such as auto ducking, which helps you balance out sound levels between voice and music. It's super-easy to incorporate assets from Adobe Stock, such as motion graphic templates, to get that slick look and feel to your videos. And the app shares your work with the cloud, so you can pick it up and continue editing whatever the device you're on, being it mobile or desktop, iOS or Android.
The free plan is available to anyone with a Creative Cloud membership and includes 2GB cloud storage, unlimited free exports on mobile, and up to three exports on desktop. Beyond that, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan.
- Read our Premiere Rush review
The best free software for editing videos for YouTube
07. Lightworks
The best free software for editing videos for YouTube
Specifications
Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux
Payment model: Freemium
Best for: Professional results at zero cost
Reasons to buy
+Pro tool +Feature-rich +Works on Linux
Reasons to avoid
-Learning curve
If you work on Windows and don't mind a bit of a learning curve, it's worth giving Lightworks a try. This pro-level video editing software is commonly used in Hollywood, on big-budget movies from Moulin Rouge to The King's Speech. Yet the free version is barely any less powerful and feature-rich than the paid one. We particularly appreciate the very fine control often by the superior timeline feature, not to mention being able to export straight to YouTube and Vimeo.
The main downside of the free version is that you can only export at 720p, so if HD or 4K video is important to your YouTube brand, you'll have to look elsewhere. Also, it's only free for non-commercial projects, so it's not an option if you're already making money from your YouTube channel. (That said, if you're already making money, then it's probably time to pay for software anyway).
08. Shotcut
The best open source software for editing videos for YouTube
Specifications
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
Payment model: Free and open source
Best for: Learning video editing for free
Reasons to buy
+Supports range of formats +Cross-platform +Supportive community
Reasons to avoid
-Unattractive interface
Shotcut is so simple to use, it would make a great starter app for any YouTuber who's completely new to video editing. You'll find a good selection of video and audio editing tools, and support for wide range of formats, including 4K.
Note that Shotcut is not just free, it's open source. As with most open source software, that comes with both plusses and minuses. On the negative side, the interface is not as polished as those in most commercial tools. On the positive side, the interface is customisable using pre-made panels, so you can adapt it to how you work. There's also a thriving community surrounding it, a ton of tutorials, and it's available for Linux, as well as iOS and Windows.
09. iMovie
Free Apple software for editing videos for YouTube
Specifications
Platform: macOS, iPadOS, iOS
Payment model: Free with Apple devices
Best for: Apple-based novices
Reasons to buy
+Pre-loaded on Macs +Easy to learn +Simple interface
Reasons to avoid
-No Windows version
If you own a Mac, iPad or iPhone, you already have iMovie, which comes pre-loaded, so it's well worth giving a try for editing your YouTube videos. Broadly aimed at general consumer use, for putting together holiday videos and the like, it couldn't be further away from a pro-level tool like Final Cut Pro X. But by that token, it's very simple to pick up and use, so it's a good option for someone just starting on their YouTube video editing journey.
The latest version also has a few nifty features, including pre-set themes, the excellent storyboard-based tools for Trailers and Movies, and support for 4K editing. There's also support for the MacBook's Touch Bar and the iPad's mouse and touch pad. Plus iMovie on iOS got a big update in September 2021, most notably adding the ability to import and edit video captured in Cinematic mode on iPhone 13.
Read more:
- The 12 best YouTube art channels
- The 9 best tablets for photo and video editing
- The 10 best computers for video editing
Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. He is author of Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books. He was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine.
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Best Program to Use to Edit Youtube Videos
Source: https://www.creativebloq.com/buying-guides/best-software-for-editing-videos-for-youtube
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