The top video editing apps as of June 2023. The best video editing apps allow you to edit footage on the fly using your phone or tablet. Expect a simplified version of a complete desktop program with important functionality and a simplified interface. In summary, they can be useful for beginners’ and pros’ editing workflows.
We’ve tried practically every video editing app on our list, and we know they’re fantastic for quick fixes and casual users. Our reviewers tried out several of the best-known solutions by editing their projects for hours, judging the ease of use, speed, functionality, and other factors to give unbiased assessments.
In our checklist, you’ll find video editing apps for iOS, Android and apps that can be used on both platforms. Most are compatible with smartphones and tablets (if you need one, see our guide to the best tablets for video editing).
Some apps also allow you to move clips between mobile devices and desktops. If that sounds appealing, check out our guides to the best PC for video editing. Check out our directions to the best video editing software overall, the best video editing monitor, and the best MacBook. We’ll start with brief links to our top three selections, then go over the pros and disadvantages of our choices for the best video editing app.
01. Adobe Premiere Rush (cross-platform)
Let us keep it simple. It is the best video editing app available today, regardless of whether you’re on iOS or Android. Why? We have yet to see another app with many features from such a basic UI. The UI features huge icons and panels, making common video editing activities like dragging and dropping footage onto the timeline, fixing color, mixing music or voiceovers, or adding titles and transitions very simple.
The focus is making it easy for you to process clips quickly so you may submit them to social media. It adapts your videos, for example, to the particular aspect ratios and quality levels required by each platform. This makes it an ideal choice for YouTubers, social media users, and anyone interested in experimenting with video editing.
This cross-platform video editing app is easier to use than Adobe’s more complex desktop software, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition. However, Premiere Rush is for more than just beginners. It’s also the best video editing app for professional video editors because it lets you move range back and forth into Premiere Pro, where you can make more sophisticated modifications.
Premiere Rush is available as a standalone app, as part of a limited free beginning plan, as part of a bundle with Premiere Pro, or as part of the whole Adobe suite. In any case, you’ll have access to updates. For example, the most current version (2.0) added unlimited desktop exports, new languages, and thousands of new royalty-free sound effects and loops. For more information, see our whole Premiere Rush review.
02. Quik (cross-platform)
There are a variety of third-party apps available for editing GoPro footage. However, the best app we’ve tried for video editing with a GoPro is the official GoPro app, Quik. It focuses on remotely controlling your GoPro equipment and editing your GoPro footage. Quik instantly imports your footage and makes adding photos, titles, timelapse sequences, and graphs easy depending on your statistics. It also makes it easy to sync your clips to music.
If your camera is not mounted in line with the horizon, the Horizon Levelling editor will adjust the angle of your scene. To find notable still images, browse through your footage frame by frame. Once your photos and videos are ready, you may instantly post them to Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms or share them by text or email.
Quik is routinely updated, with the latest upgrades increasing the app’s interface and workflow and the smarter edits function, adding new music and connecting to your camera. This app is free, but you may purchase additional themes and filters through in-app purchases.
If Premiere Rush needs to be more advanced for you, check out LumaFusion, which boasts the greatest feature set of any video editing app.LumaFusion, developed by Pinnacle Studio, is similar to a mobile version of Final Cut Pro, including a multitrack timeline along the bottom, a media browser on the top left, and a preview monitor.
Any effect and clip animation can be keyframed, allowing for precise modifications to your project. Six video/audio tracks are included for photos, videos, titles, and graphics, as well as six audio tracks for music, narration, and sound effects.LumaFusion includes inserting/overwriting functionality, color correction, a full-featured audio mixer, lossless export, vertical video support, comprehensive title creation tools, and slow motion/fast motion (forward and reverse). You may also apply an incredible amount of effects.
This is primarily overkill for casual users and would be a terrifying learning curve for beginners. Professional video editors, on the other hand, will love the wide range of strong features it provides. These include a MultiCam Sync tool that lets you sync and edit clips from numerous cameras and audio sources. Furthermore, if you have the most recent iPad Pro, you may fully utilize your Thunderbolt 4 port for better download and upload rates. There’s also a Dropbox interface to make it easier to collaborate on footage with others.
When you’ve finished editing, you have many sharing and exporting choices. You can, for example, export at various resolutions, quality levels, and frame rates, as well as independently export audio and video. The app can even export XML to Final Cut Pro.
Lumafusion was previously only available for iOS, but in February, they added LumaFusion for Android and Chrome OS. Lumafusion is one of the best video editing apps for pros due to its low pricing, making it a steal. Please read our complete LumaFusion review for more information.
KineMaster is highly worth checking out if you’re a professional video editor. This app, available for iOS and Android, lets you to shoot, edit, and export footage on your phone or tablet using a multi-layer interface. Blending modes, chroma-keying, and audio mixing are examples of high-end features.
KineMaster is one of the best video editing apps for trimming clips and layers with frame-by-frame granularity. It is smooth and precise. Audio clip time can also be altered with sub-frame precision. You can submit many layers of video, images, text, and multi-track audio (on supported devices). Instant edit previews, accurate volume envelope control, color LUT filters, speed controls, chroma key compositing, and 3D transitions are among the other features.
In conclusion, while this isn’t nearly Premiere Pro on a mobile device, it’s pretty close in our experience. Its UI will be intimidating to a novice or casual user, but video editing specialists will appreciate its extensive capabilities. You’ll need an up-to-date phone or tablet to utilize it without lag.
KineMaster is free to download, but it adds watermarks to videos that require a membership to remove. You may also export in 1080p or 4K and gain access to over 1,000 premium assets. More information can be found in our KineMaster review.
It’s great to find a useful app that is truly free. What’s even better is that you don’t have to download it. And iMovie is a great example: it’s already on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, so why not give it a shot?
Because iMovie is aimed at average consumers who need experience with video editing, it’s far less sophisticated than programs like LumaFusion or Kinemaster. However, if you’re a beginner in video editing or want an easy way to add titles,voiceovers, musi, and photos to your home clips, it’s a great option.
The interface was easy to use in our review. The app also supports 4K on newer devices and works seamlessly with the rest of the Apple ecosystem. For example, you can store your clips on the iCloud drive or stream them to an Apple TV via AirPlay. iMovie also works well with Apple Photos, Mail, and Messages. See our entire iMovie review to discover more about the app.
The most recent major update since our comprehensive review came in October, and it added the ability to import and edit video taken in Cinematic mode on the iPhone 13. If you have a new iPhone or iPad, you may now alter the intensity of the depth effect in the inspector, focus on faces or other objects by setting them in the viewer, and see and delete focus points in the timeline.
Want to learn how to edit videos without a high learning curve? Then FilmoraGo, accessible for both iPad and Android, is an excellent option. All of the fundamental features you’d expect from a basic video editing app include the ability to trim and divide videos, modify video speed, regulate volume, and resequence clips. While FilmoraGo does not have the progressive features of Lumafusion or Kinemaster, such as multi-track editing or 4K capability, it does make it quite easy to use. Furthermore, because of its themed filters and effects, even inexperienced users can make their videos look astonishingly professional.
FilmoraGo is technically a free app, but your videos will have watermarks until you upgrade to the paid version. If you tried it earlier and didn’t like it, it’s worth a second go. This is due to a major update in June 2021, which included a new user interface, an AR camera, and bright and dark modes. In addition, you may now splice videos in the same image and apply masks not only on the main path but also on the PIP track.
Other recent changes include adding a Chroma Key function that makes moving a specific color from an image or video easy. If you enjoy the app and want to learn more about its desktop sister, check out our Filmora X review.
If you only want to play with home-shot videos, the best video editing app is not as technical and sophisticated as many of the opinions above. You’ll prefer something straightforward and easy to use. Try Apple Clips if you have an iPhone or iPad in that scenario.
Apple Clips is a basic app aimed at children and families. As we mentioned in our review, this free app is extremely limited and cannot be counted among the best video editing apps for pros. However, editing video clips, stories, or messages makes it very easy. Filters, animated text, music, emoji, and stickers can also be readily added.
The current version (3.1.2), released in September 2021, allows you to import and edit video taken in Cinematic mode on iPhone 13 and ProRes video from iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. Read our Apple Clips review for more details.
Filmmaker Pro is yet another of the best video editing apps for non-professionals (despite the name, it’s not a ‘pro’ app, though it does include some pro features such as video grading, excellent green screen support, nearly 200 different fonts for your text overlays, and chroma keying).
There are also 30 filters, 17 transitions, and Audiometer assisted voiceovers. In addition, a major upgrade in October brought a new subject-tracking crop tool, which follows a subject’s movement and keeps it within the crop frame. The most recent version (9.5.4) contains new animations for picture-in-picture videos and the ability to delete numerous projects on iPhone simultaneously.
Filmmaker Pro has a free version, but it lacks features and overlays watermarks on your videos. As a result, it’s best to think of this choice as a free trial.
Do you need to make a short video for social media? The majority of the apps on this list will then be excessive. Instead, choose Inshot, a user-friendly video editing app with pre-built canvas sizes for exporting clips to platforms ranging from IGTV to TikTok.We found Inshot’s UI very basic, making it easy to import, trim, and edit your clips before adding filters, stickers, captions, emojis, and other fun stuff on top, as well as free music and sound effects.
There is a large library that lets you add exclusive stock footage to your video clips and the ability to review videos in full screen. The app is free. However, it contains advertisements and watermarks on your videos. Both can be eliminated for a nominal monthly fee. One-time purchases are also available for more sophisticated features.
You don’t like Quik, the official GoPro app? Then you could try ActionDirector, an Android app created exclusively for filming and editing action footage. You may apply some cool action effects to your images in addition to basic video editing. For example, you may precisely slow down or speed up video parts to create eye-catching slow-motion or fast-motion scenarios.
You can also choose to replay or rewind specific areas of your video. Also you may add hundreds of free background music tracks and sound effects to your clips. You can count titles and text to your videos and share them on social media. ActionDirector is available for free, with in-app payments for additional features.
What is the best video editing app overall?
What is the best free video editor?
However, you are limited to 2GB of storage space, and several advanced features, such as task syncing across mobile and desktop, are not available. There is a reasonably cost-paid subscription if you want all the features and increase your storage plan to 100GB. However, for most users, the free edition of Premiere Rush will suffice for basic video editing.
