When it comes to video editing, there are quite a few options for aspiring filmmakers and marketers nowadays. That’s why we wanted to leverage our years of experience to bring you our shortlist of our favorite, commercially viable video editing apps in 2020.
We’ll start our list of the best editing apps for videos with our overall favorites and then move to more specialized applications.
Adobe Premiere, The Best All-Around Editing Software
iOS, Android, Windows, macOS | Multi-track editor | 4K support
No one said editing was cheap – in fact, the best solutions seldom are. Premiere is available as Adobe Premiere Pro for Mac and PC (for ~$20 monthly) and as Adobe Premiere Rush for iOS and Android (for ~$10 monthly).
Adobe premiere is and has been the industry standard for years. If you’re a marketing professional, then you want to learn this platform. You’ll be able to share files seamlessly between the video companies and freelancers, which is invaluable.
This software is our ecosystem of choice. Premiere, and its sister software, Adobe After Effects, have allowed us to create $10,000+ videos like these for our clients.
However, the learning curve is steep. You’ll want to dedicate several months to the learning process. However, this is one of the best, if not the best, video editing apps on the market.
iMovie, The Best Beginner Video Editing Software
iOS, Mac | Multi-track editor | 4K support
We know this doesn’t sound like an obvious choice – just hear us out.
We made this choice with the beginning filmmaker or Marketer in mind. The massive advantage of this software is that it’s free and pre-installed on Apple devices, and unlike Windows Movie Maker, it’s actually good. It’s not the most feature-rich software, but it’s easy to learn, and it’s strictly aimed at consumers who can be considered perpetual beginners.
iMovie integrates effortlessly into the Apple ecosystem, updates frequently, and is often a dream come true for many newbies.
However, it has one major flaw – iMovie is for Mac only, and there aren’t many great competitors.
Davinci Resolve, The Best up and Coming Editor
Mac and PC | Multi-track editing | 4K support
If you’ve been in the industry for long, this might surprise you. Davinci Resolve has been the best color grading software for years. Unfortunately, it’s always been locked behind a paywall that requires hundreds of dollars upfront and expensive setup.
However, that’s all changed. With the rise in popularity of Black Magic cameras and Black Magic Design’s acquisition of Fusion 360, Davinci Resolve has become a formidable editing software in its own right. It’s not entirely on par yet with Adobe, but it’s getting scarily close.
Even better, Davinci is free to download and use it with a larger purchase, netting you a lifetime membership. Davinci Resolve is our recommendation for the filmmaker with a little bit of time and the will to grow.
The Best Video Editing Apps on Mobile
If you need to edit video on the go, chances are you’ll be editing on your mobile phone or tablet. If you’re a beginner without an Apple device, a mobile Android solution is almost certainly for you.
Many mobile apps for editing are reasonably robust, and if you don’t want to put in the time to learn Davinci, they’re also dead simple to pick up. Not only that, there are a ton of contenders for the best apps to edit video out there! We’ve listed our two favorites below.
PowerDirector, The Best Mobile Editor for Android
Android, iOS | Multi-track editor | 4K support with in-app purchase
Technically, this app is free. However, you shouldn’t go with the free version. A one-time in-app purchase of $5 will remove PowerDirector’s watermarks and advertisements and upgrade your export options to 4K. That’s a ridiculously low price for an app for edits as good as this one.
In many ways, PowerDirector is a mobile version of iMovie. It’s easy to pick up, works with little to no hassle, and gives you a solid set of features. PowerDirector is a mobile editor, which means it won’t be as powerful as a desktop software – but it comes close.
LumaFusion, the Best Mobile Editor for iOS
iOS | Multi-track editor | 4K support
Apple has been going after the creative market forever. Their marketing has been so successful that many people even equate video editing with a MacBook Pro. That means that iOS users can have their choice of creative software.
LumaPro stands out among iOS apps for its pro-level feature set. It looks and acts very similar to Final Cut Pro, Apple’s pro-level software, and is made by the creators of Pinnacle studio, a very formidable video editing software.
LumaPro will take longer to learn, but it’s much more potent than PowerDirector in mobile applications. That said, this application does cost significantly more than PowerDirector, so it might be wise to switch to this application after you gain experience.
If you don’t find the apps for edits that you’ve been looking for on this list, then feel free to check out this list here; we trust HubSpot’s judgment when it comes to editing apps.
The Best Alternative to Video Editing
Chances are if you’re looking for video software, you’re a marketer looking to grow your brand through video – that was certainly the case for us. If that’s your stance, then there are many video editing adjacent options for you to choose from – including our own.
The Video Bot is a text to video creation software that we created to help us land clients faster with hyper-personalized, interactive videos. The software takes your text, places it in a video, and sends that video directly to your inbox. You can then forward that email to whoever you would like.
Now you can use it for free! We would love your feedback because we believe that, in some applications, The Video Bot rivals the best video editing apps (because they made it). Head here for a free trial.