10 Best Video Editing Software for Newcomers on YouTube in 2024

Launching a successful YouTube channel involves knowing a bunch of stuff like best video editing software. You’ve got to crack the YouTube secrets, make catchy thumbnails, monetize your channel, follow the rules, and grasp music licensing. Plus, you need to create awesome content that people actually want to watch.

Now, when it’s time to pick a video editor for YouTube, don’t just grab the first one you see. We’ve got your back – did all the research. Choosing a YouTube video editor is a big deal. It can be the key to YouTube stardom or a massive headache.

Let’s jump in and explore the best video editing software for YouTube.

PowerDirector stands out as the top choice for editing YouTube videos. Packed with handy AI features, it lets you edit your videos with ease. Whether you’re adding intros, outros, or using the royalty-free music library, PowerDirector has it all. Plus, it allows direct uploads to YouTube, making your editing process seamless and efficient.

Openshot stands out as a top choice for YouTube video editing. Its simple design and ability to have many editing tracks make it great. Plus, it’s free since it’s open-source and lightweight.

Kapwing is a user-friendly online tool for editing YouTube videos. It has a simple layout and advanced features, making it the top choice for adding subtitles to your videos on YouTube.

Choosing the best video editing software for YouTube involves considering various factors. These tools vary in size, cost, and difficulty, catering to different needs. Before finalizing your choice, align these three key aspects:

• Budget: YouTube video editing software comes in a range of prices, from free to expensive. Determine your budget and stick to it; avoid considering software beyond your financial limit.
• Skill Level: The best YouTube video editors accommodate various skill levels, from professional to beginners. Look into user reviews to ensure the chosen editor suits your skill set.
• Compatibility: It’s essential to confirm that your selected YouTube video editing software is compatible with your device. Some are exclusive to Mac or Windows, and some may only work on newer models. If you use video/audio from multiple devices, such as a webcam, screen recorder, gaming console, DSLR camera, or microphone, verify that the software supports them.

Discover why we’re a trustworthy source for unbiased picks of the best video editing software for YouTube. We thoroughly assess and rank these editors through a comprehensive process.

• Evaluate Overall Performance: Initially, we examine the software’s performance on YouTube. Testing includes assessing rendering speed, stability, and the accuracy of effects. We also check for compatibility with various video and audio formats, ensuring fair pricing compared to other YouTube video editors. Compatibility across operating systems, web browsers, and different computer models is crucial in our assessment.
• Test YouTube-Specific Features: We delve into YouTube-specific tools and features offered by each video editing software. Our focus is on features that simplify YouTube video editing, such as animated titles, a library of background music and sound effects, YouTube overlays and stickers, intro/outro templates, direct YouTube upload with editable metadata, and audio restoration.
• Evaluate Ease of Use: Given our emphasis on catering to YouTube beginners, we prioritize ease of use. We assess the user interface’s intuitiveness, the accessibility of tools, and the availability of tutorials or guided edits. We explore whether beginner-friendly tools like AI-powered effects or pre-made assets are provided for editing YouTube videos.
• Compare Results: To maintain impartiality, we incorporate external reviewer ratings. Multiple reviews from both renowned critics and regular users are considered. The chosen score best represents our findings, ensuring alignment with the general consensus.
• Trustworthy Selection Process: Count on our rigorous selection process to bring you reliable recommendations for the best YouTube video editing software.

Important Features:

1. YouTube Intro/Outro Designs: Explore numerous video intro/outro templates that you can personalize effortlessly using the user-friendly template designer. Find the ideal template from over 30 categories such as Countdown, Wedding, Birthday, Fashion, Holiday, and Music.
2. AI Tools and Guided Edits: Make advanced edits with ease using one-click AI tools like Speech Enhancement and Body Effects; complex edits are simplified into straightforward steps.
3. Animated Titles: Enhance your videos by effortlessly incorporating unique titles with animated templates that include motion graphics and sound effects.
4. Seamless Transitions: Access hundreds of pre-designed drag-and-drop transitions in various categories like Glitch, Roll, and Spin.
5. Effortless Green Screen/Chroma Key Editing: Precisely remove backgrounds of any color with a single click and replace them with a solid color or stock video.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

PowerDirector 365 stands out as the ideal video editing tool for both newcomers and experts creating content for YouTube. It packs advanced features such as multi-cam editing, motion tracking, and 360-degree editing while maintaining user-friendliness, making it perfect for beginners.

PowerDirector simplifies the YouTube video editing journey, making even intricate edits seem simple. Featuring ready-made templates and AI-driven tools to automate time-consuming tasks, it ensures a speedy video post. The Magic Movie Wizard employs intelligent recognition to merge your photos and clips seamlessly into premade templates.

PowerDirector earns its title as the best YouTube video editing software by streamlining the editing process, making complex tasks appear effortless. With pre-made templates and AI tools for quick edits, along with the Magic Movie Wizard’s intelligent recognition, your video can be up and running in no time.

This YouTube video editor provides specific intro and outro templates for YouTube, animated “Like” and “Subscribe” overlays, and direct uploads to the platform. Enhance your video with music and sound effects from a vast royalty-free stock library, utilizing Smart Fit to match your music to your video’s length. Tackle audio challenges from outdoor recordings with wind removal and noise reduction. Unleash your creativity by crafting custom stickers and overlays from text using the innovative AI Sticker Generator. The potential with this YouTube video editor is boundless.

Important Features:

1. Time Control: Add life to your video by adjusting speed and direction using dynamic keyframes and speed effects.
2. Enhanced Timeline: Have control over your clips with versatile options like snapping, slicing, panning, zooming, and more.
3. Title Designs: Effortlessly craft vector titles with a choice of 40+ customizable templates.
4. Sound Insights: Get a visual look at sound patterns for accurate audio editing through audio waveforms.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux

OpenShot stands out as a free YouTube video editor, perfect for those starting out. While it’s a bit more basic compared to other options, its simplicity is great for beginners and won’t hog your computer’s storage.

OpenShot is an excellent choice for YouTube video editing beginners. Despite having fewer features than some competitors, its user-friendly interface and unexpected advanced tools make it a standout. With color adjustment options, background removal, keyframe animations, and over 400 preset effects, plus unlimited editing tracks, it’s a solid pick.

Important Features:

1. Video Pace Control: Make videos faster, slower, or play in reverse for interesting effects.
2. Background Removal: Easily replace backgrounds using the green screen editor in this YouTube video editor.
3. Meme Creation: Customize text on your images or videos, either your own or using popular meme templates.
4. AI B-roll Generation: Automatically enhance videos with matching stock footage.

Compatibility: Web Browser

Kapwing stands out as a free, browser-based platform ideal for editing YouTube videos. It particularly shines in adding subtitles, thanks to its precise auto-generated subtitles, a real time-saver. Beyond that, it proves valuable for enhancing their understanding of videos lacking subtitles. Just paste the URL into Kapwing, and behold the magic of AI-powered subtitles.

Kapwing secures its place as one of the top choices for YouTube beginners in video editing. Abundant AI-generated content, covering videos, images, scripts, memes, and more, makes it user-friendly. Noteworthy features include the Smart Cut tool, which trims silences automatically, a variety of YouTube templates, and additional tools like auto-translation and text-to-speech functionalities.

Discovering the perfect YouTube video editor can be tricky, especially if you’re new to it. If you’re starting a new channel and don’t want to waste time searching, try PowerDirector 365. It’s the ultimate video editing software for YouTube beginners, packed with features like title templates, transitions, animated overlays, video speed adjustment, a stabilizer, special effects, and more.

PowerDirector 365 also offers a vast library of free background music, sound effects, photos, and videos. It even has cool audio effects like a voice-changer. You can easily change backgrounds, remove unwanted objects, and directly upload your edited video to YouTube. Save time and hassle with this all-in-one YouTube video editing solution.

Important Feature’s

1. Edit Easily: Simple drag-and-drop for beginners, advanced options for pros.
2. Filters and Colors: Use pre-made or personalized LUTs to boost video colors.
3. Moving Graphics: Choose from 700+ titles and graphics to add motion to your videos.
4. Auto-Save: Projects save on their own to avoid losing your work.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux

Lightworks stands out as excellent video editing software, especially for new YouTube creators diving into video editing. With a rich history of editing Oscar-winning films for three decades, like Braveheart and Pulp Fiction, the free version is tailored for YouTube edits. Its extensive array of creative transitions, including those from the Pro version, cements its place as a top YouTube video editor.

Our pick for YouTube beginners serious about mastering video editing is Lightworks. It’s not just for its history but also for its features catering specifically to YouTube editors. Enjoy tools like YouTube presets, a music library, voice-over, direct YouTube uploads, and advanced editing functions such as trim-slip, ripple, roll, slide, insert, replace, and backfill. What sets it apart is background processing, letting you save time on importing, exporting, and rendering complex effects while actively working on your project.

Important Features:

1. Autocorrect: Automatically improves the brightness and colors in your videos.
2. Shift focus: Change the background blur in videos taken with Cinematic Mode on an iPhone.
3. Green screen effects: Place your subject in different places by removing the background automatically.
4. Picture-in-Picture: Give your videos a broadcast vibe by overlaying multiple clips.

Compatibility: Mac

iMovie serves as Apple’s complimentary video editing tool for YouTube beginners. It’s accessible to Mac users, included with every macOS, catering to those initiating their YouTube journey. The software facilitates swift and straightforward YouTube video editing through Storyboards—premade templates aiding in the movie-making process. Additionally, Magic Movie enables the instant creation of edited videos with transitions, titles, and music in just a few clicks. Quick and easy movie trailers and credit sequences are also achievable with ready-made templates.

iMovie stands out as an excellent choice for YouTube video editing, especially for those with budget constraints, given its free availability to Mac users. Uploading videos to YouTube is a seamless process. iMovie boasts a diverse set of movie-making tools and effects, including green screen, filters, and Smart Soundtrack, which automatically adjusts music length to match the video.

Important Features:

1. Mixing Styles: Use different blending modes like Dodge, Burn, and Luminosity to enhance your video.
2. Enhancing Colors: Adjust and balance colors with 3-way color wheels and a white balance eye-dropper.
3. Sound Tweaks: Apply audio filters such as Compressor, Downmix, Invert, Reverb, and more for improved audio quality.
4. Track Movements: Pin graphics to any moving object or person in your video using motion tracking.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux

Shotcut stands out as a free, open-source YouTube video editor that works on different platforms. It’s perfect for YouTubers seeking diverse format options, supporting numerous audio and video formats without the need for importing. This YouTube video editor also offers various device and transport choices, including webcam capture.

Championing openness and cross-platform functionality, Shotcut earns its spot as one of the best YouTube video editing software. Its exceptional format support extends to 4K and 8K resolutions. This editor provides a broad array of device options, including webcam capture, making it versatile for YouTubers. Edit your YouTube videos with an extensive range of filters, transitions, over 40,000 instant templates, and enjoy the flexibility of unlimited undo and redo options.

Important Features:

1. Video Creator Guide: Follow easy steps using ready-made templates and settings to make videos.
2. Scene Changes: Pick different transitions and set how long they last in your video.
3. No-cost Sound Additions: Access a collection of ready-to-use sound effects in this YouTube video editor.
4. 3D and All-Around Editing: Edit and share 360-degree videos for an immersive feel; also converts 2D to 3D.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

VideoPad stands out as excellent video editing software, especially for those new to YouTube. It aids in enhancing your videos for search engines. This YouTube video editor allows you to include essential information like titles, tags, and descriptions directly, bypassing YouTube’s publishing tools. Additionally, seamless uploading to YouTube is supported.

VideoPad is a versatile tool for editing YouTube videos, offering features like voiceovers, transitions, and visual effects. The software provides professional templates, including intros and outros, as well as the option to incorporate custom logos. Notably, it includes video stabilization for footage captured on smartphones or action cameras. You can effortlessly upload and edit metadata like titles, tags, and descriptions directly on YouTube using VideoPad.

Important Features:

1. Frame Flex: Change the size and position of video frames for cool framing and layout.
2. Color Correction: Ready-made filters, HSL controls, hue shifts, and luma ranges for better visuals.
3. Bulk Edit: Edit many clips or settings at once for a smooth and quick workflow.
4. Audio Ducking: Auto reduces background audio when there’s voiceover or dialogue.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

When considering the best video editing software for YouTube, Lightworks and Avid Media Composer First emerge as strong contenders. These are free versions of the professional tools widely used in Hollywood. Avid, being the industry standard, is our preferred choice. It provides budding professionals with an opportunity to explore and learn Avid in a more affordable and user-friendly format.

Avid Media Composer First stands out as the free, simplified edition of the Hollywood-used professional editing software. It claims the title of the best video editing software for YouTube, especially beneficial for those starting in the field. Despite being a condensed version, this free YouTube video editor boasts advanced features such as video stabilization, sophisticated color tools, 4-way multi-cam editing, audio punch-in, and more.

Important Features:

1. Split-screen: Show several videos or pictures at the same time on your screen.
2. Speed tools: Make your videos super slow or extra fast for cool effects.
3. Image stabilization: Fix shaky footage to make it play smoothly.
4. Keyframe animations: Pick how strong and long your effects are with this YouTube video editing tool.

Compatibility: Windows

Magix Movie Studio stands out as excellent video editing software for YouTube, especially for those who are just starting or want to make quick and easy edits. Beginners benefit from Storyboard Mode, which organizes editing effortlessly, while advanced editors can delve into frame-by-frame editing. This YouTube video editor boasts a unique multi-format timeline, allowing smooth arrangement of video, audio, and media files on each track.

We consider Magix a top choice among YouTube video editing software, catering to both beginners and advanced users. Storyboard Mode streamlines timeline editing for newcomers, and seasoned editors can enjoy frame-by-frame precision. The editor provides convenient one-click solutions like Remove Beginning and Split Movie, along with a vast selection of over 900 effects, transitions, and titles. With direct YouTube upload and speedy rendering, you can edit and share your YouTube videos in no time.

Important Features:

1. Filters and LUTs: Quickly change the vibe of your videos using over 180 filters like Glitch, Blur, VHS, and others.
2. Intros: Add pre-made YouTube intros to your videos easily.
3. Motion Tracking: Connect visuals to things that are moving in your video.
4. Picture-in-Picture: Put a smaller video or image on top of your main video.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

Movavi Video Suite stands out as excellent software for crafting YouTube how-to and tutorial videos, thanks to its advanced screen recording features. You gain precise control over what you capture, making it ideal for recording webinars, creating instructional content, and capturing online events and streaming videos.

For YouTube newcomers, Movavi Video Suite proves to be one of the best video editing tools. It provides a rapid movie creation feature, akin to PowerDirector, transforming your photos and videos into captivating slideshows paired with music. The software excels in screen recording, offering manual control over the capture area. With Movavi, editing YouTube videos becomes a breeze, incorporating features like chroma key, color adjustment, pan/zoom, crop/rotate, and video stabilization.