The 7 best video editing programs of 2023 : beginner, advanced, and pro­fes­sion­al

Pro­fes­sion­al video editing software must offer ever more functions in order to meet different chal­lenges and keep up with the com­pe­ti­tion: whether it’s 4K res­o­lu­tion, depth im­pres­sion for 3D films, or 360-degree record­ings for VR (virtual reality) videos. Thanks to high-res­o­lu­tion smart­phone cameras and action cameras such as the GoPro, the demand for video editing programs has grown among amateurs and hobby en­thu­si­asts to easily edit their video material.

The good news is that even af­ford­able video editing software now offers many of the features used by budding YouTube stars and hobby film­mak­ers and post­pro­duc­tion pro­fes­sion­als alike. In this article, we present an overview of the best video editing software of 2023 currently on the market.

The pro­fes­sion­al video editing program Adobe Premiere Pro CC meets almost all re­quire­ments for modern non-linear video editing. Adobe Premiere Pro is only available on a sub­scrip­tion basis which requires a monthly fee. The in­vest­ment is worth it for pro­fes­sion­al and semi-pro­fes­sion­al users. The Creative Cloud package provides access to a diverse range of tools for image, sound, and video editing. Within Adobe’s Creative Cloud, sub­scribers can also directly access Adobe’s After Effects if they are sub­scribed to it. The program is a powerful post-pro­duc­tion tool, allowing you to add effects and graphics to your videos.

The Cloud Server also improves team workflows. Team members can quickly and easily share data. Plus, Premiere Pro au­to­mat­i­cal­ly downloads Adobe Media Encoder. This helps you to quickly and easily render the ap­pro­pri­ate video format for your output medium. Adobe is also known for its user-friendly layout. If you’ve worked with other programs from the Creative Cloud before, you’ll be able to quickly fa­mil­iar­ize yourself with the video editing software.

For beginners and advanced users, we recommend the cheaper product option: Adobe Elements. Even its slimmer func­tion­al range should be suf­fi­cient for most semi-pro­fes­sion­als. That having been said, Premiere Elements also offers beginners easy-to-un­der­stand functions that enable pre­sentable results – for example, with the help of automated video editing.

As for special effects, Adobe Premiere Pro can’t quite compete with other pro­fes­sion­al video editing programs. That’s how Final Cut Special Effects in­te­grates without sac­ri­fic­ing ef­fi­cien­cy. Premiere Pro, on the other hand, works with high-res­o­lu­tion video formats. For 4K videos, you need a powerful graphics card and a good processor. Diverse effects and the option to create graphics are included in Adobe Premiere Pro but as more basic tools. For ad­di­tion­al creative freedom, you’ll need a Creative Cloud sub­scrip­tion for Adobe After Effects. However, Premiere Pro’s toolbox does include 3D titles.

The split layout is es­pe­cial­ly helpful for teamwork, since different experts usually work on pro­fes­sion­al projects. The different work­spaces offer spe­cial­ized tools for each in­di­vid­ual task area. Every­thing can then be put together in the cloud. For this purpose, the person in charge creates a team project when opening the program. However, this function is primarily used for producing complex films. Service Team Projects are available to En­ter­prise and Teams customers with full sub­scrip­tion or in­di­vid­u­als with a Premiere Pro or After Effects sub­scrip­tion.

Premiere Elements is Adobe’s home video editing software. Beginners use it to easily create short clips, dynamic slideshows, and small videos. The library helps you find and organize videos on your hard drive.

So, Premiere Elements does a lot of work for its users. Au­toma­tion is the key word. Thanks to templates for color cor­rec­tion, editing, and audio design, even pro­fes­sion­al-looking videos can be produced in a rel­a­tive­ly short time.

To download Adobe Premiere Elements, you don’t need cloud access, but you do need an Adobe ID to sign up for Adobe Premiere Elements. The software is available at a fixed price. Minimum download re­quire­ments are 6.7 GB RAM (Windows) or 8 GB RAM (Mac) and 8 GB disk space for the app (32 GB RAM are rec­om­mend­ed for 4K media). If you purchase the complete Elements family, you can use Photoshop Elements too.

The video editing interface has some elements in common with Premiere Pro. You’ll find four different user in­ter­faces on the hor­i­zon­tal menu bar.

Final Cut Pro is on par with Adobe Premiere Pro when it comes to pro­fes­sion­al video editing. In contrast to Adobe’s com­peti­tors, however, the video editing software runs ex­clu­sive­ly on macOS. This can lead to com­pat­i­bil­i­ty problems if you want to render a video in a native Mac format and play it on Windows computers. However, Final Cut also scores points with its smooth operation, even with storage-intensive media. Organize complex projects in the library using tags and a rating system. Pro­fes­sion­al audio editing functions and a wide selection of visual effects round off the program.

Final Cut Pro aims to bridge the gap between the pro­fes­sion­al tech­nol­o­gy of its pre­de­ces­sor and simpler, easy-to-use, free ap­pli­ca­tions. The tool palette includes enough tools to satisfy the needs of both semi-pro­fes­sion­al users and free­lancers. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, the software costs con­sid­er­ably less than the pro­fes­sion­al version.

However, Apple’s product receives fewer updates than Adobe’s com­peti­tor. These updates are done au­to­mat­i­cal­ly through the Apple App Store. For example, the 10.4 version adds a color-cor­rec­tion tool that rivals Premiere Pro. The Apple product supports 360-degree video editing with extensive features and boasts up to 8K res­o­lu­tion.

As one of the world’s best video editing programs, Final Cut Pro offers a powerful database: the Smart Col­lec­tion. The directory imports media, rec­og­nizes image content (like people, for example), and sorts clips by their size.

Won­der­share Filmora is a good entry-level video editing program. Even in­ex­pe­ri­enced users can create pre­sentable videos in minutes using the simple mode, since in this mode you can leave most of the work to the software. You just load your video clips and music into the program. The rest is done by an algorithm. The advanced mode, on the other hand, offers you all the usual functions you can use to create your own video. In action cam mode, you can optimize videos that you have recorded with special action cameras like GoPro. You optimize the image, adjust the colors, and adjust the speed, among other options. The instant-cutter is a simple editing tool without ac­ces­sories. Use it to cut clips and join them together.

The video editing software downloads quickly – it can be installed with just a few clicks. On the start screen, select the image format of your project and one of the editing modes provided. In addition to widescreen, standard, and smart­phone formats (re­spec­tive­ly 16:9, 4:3 and 9:16), there is also an “Instagram format” (1:1).

In advanced mode, you have more freedom. The left bar shows you the different tool themes within a category (here: different filter themes). On the far right, you can see the video preview. In between, you will find drag-and-drop elements (e.g. the “Canvas” filter) that you drag onto the timeline and integrate into the video. For more complex projects, expand the timeline by clicking “Add New Track”.

Beginners and hobby film­mak­ers can enjoy post­pro­duc­tion with the existing selection. They simply upload media like videos, pictures, and music.

The special mode for action cameras makes Filmora in­ter­est­ing for film­mak­ers who enjoy shooting sports or working with handheld devices. See your video clip on a track in sto­ry­board format and preview. The toolbar has three cat­e­gories: “Repair”, “Speed”, and “Color”. In the “Repair” category, for example, you can adjust the lens curvature and image format. Under “Pref­er­ences” you will find a lot of common action cameras. When you select a camera, Filmora will optimize the video based on the pre-set lens settings. You can improve shaky videos with noise by clicking on the noise reduction checkbox.

Use the speed tool to set the scene for stunts. Slow-motion plays movements slower, which are otherwise too fast for the eye. You can play back a scene faster, but some shots only get the speed effect you feel at the moment they are shot. Every video editing software should also have a color corrector. This is also available in action cam mode. Filters and vignettes allow quick ad­just­ment, but you can also adjust colors manually and specif­i­cal­ly.

The video editing software DaVinci Resolve Studio by Black­mag­ic is a real pro­fes­sion­al tool that Hollywood directors work with to cut video. DaVinci Resolve combines editing, sound editing, effects, and color cor­rec­tion in one ap­pli­ca­tion. The functions are so­phis­ti­cat­ed, but require a certain amount of prior knowledge. The version DaVinci Resolve 17 is currently even available for free. All you have to do is register before down­load­ing. DaVinci Resolve Studio 17 is available for $299 and provides plenty of ad­di­tion­al features, including DaVinci Neural Engine Features, col­lab­o­ra­tion tools for multiple users, stereo­scop­ic 3D tools, multiple ResolveFC and Fairlight­FX plug-ins, HDR grading and various tools for film grain ad­just­ment, soft focus effects, and more. Black­mag­ic also offers editing pro­fes­sion­als hardware com­pat­i­ble with the video editing software – for example, special grading control panels for pro­fes­sion­al color cor­rec­tion.

The download takes a little longer because the software needs a lot of memory space, due to its im­pres­sive range of functions. However, the in­stal­la­tion runs smoothly. As one of the few pro­fes­sion­al video editing tools, DaVinci Resolve does not just work cross-platform on macOS, Linux, and Windows. It also enables a smooth tran­si­tion to work with its biggest com­peti­tors in the pro­fes­sion­al segment: Final Cut and Adobe Premiere Pro.

The video editing program offers numerous tools and features: from timeline stacks to audio track controls to precise tran­si­tions even with time dis­tor­tion. Ac­cord­ing­ly, a number of toolbars are assembled on the user interface. If you don’t need a tool, simply minimize it. Two preview windows allow you to control your work. Below these, you will find the timeline. There, you can edit several clips on the video track at the same time by selecting them with the mouse. In the selected timeline packages, you can cut several scenes at once. The context-sensitive trimming tool helps you to set the best cut. The multi-camera tool also lets you capture multiple per­spec­tives in a scene. The tracking tool tracks objects. Both tools let you seam­less­ly merge multi-camera scenes.

The Cyberlink Pow­erDi­rec­tor 20 Ultra is voted again and again by numerous testers in the top video editing program ranks. And rightly so, because the video editing software offers more than enough features for home use. Whether it’s a slideshow or a small film project, the program lets even beginners achieve appealing results in a short time. At the same time, the software always works reliably: where other video editing programs get bogged down during editing, Pow­erDi­rec­tor’s preview videos almost always run smoothly. The program is also a pioneer in 360-degree video editing. The price is in the ac­cept­able middle range. Despite the rel­a­tive­ly high memory re­quire­ments of video editing software, download and in­stal­la­tion are quick.

Something practical for users who record simple videos with their smart­phone: Pow­erDi­rec­tor also allows you to work in vertical aspect ratio 9:16. The MultiCam Director lets you fine-tune a scene from different per­spec­tives and join up to four tracks together. You can render the finished video quite quickly with the video editing program. Pow­erDi­rec­tor also offers several menu templates. You can use them to create a user interface for DVDs or Blu-Rays you have burned yourself. Al­ter­na­tive­ly, you can share your work on online platforms like YouTube or Vimeo.

Slideshows can also be created in just a few steps. First, import the desired images, then select a playback style (motion, camera, normal) and add ap­pro­pri­ate music. Check your work in preview. Then render or share the slideshow.

Movavi Video Suite 2022 for Windows and macOS convinces as a full-package solution when it comes to video settings and editing for private use. Sub­scribers can choose between an annual or lifetime sub­scrip­tion (from $60) which provides all the necessary software and features to edit videos and convert them into different formats. Screen­casts for pre­sen­ta­tions or video blogs for YouTube or al­ter­na­tive channels are easy to create – thanks to special effects tools, filters, and high-quality back­ground music. Further, Movavi Video Suite supports the digital archiving of VHS and printed photos. These can be stored on a local hard drive or exported to external storage media such as DVDs or Blu-rays.

If you wish to focus solely on editing videos and can live without certain features, pur­chas­ing only Movavi Video Editor is a good idea. The Video Editor is in­te­grat­ed in the Movavi Video. The following video shows you what you need to know about it:

Other features of the Movavi video editing software include:

• Access to ad­di­tion­al features such as apps, online courses, or stock media (diverse range of effects)
• Media player with high user comfort
• Support of Chroma keying
• Full HD and 4K support
• Format setting for over 200 devices (e.g. PlaySta­tion, iPhone, iPad)
• NVIDIA® CUDA® and Intel® HD graphics hardware boost

As mentioned, Movavi Video Suite is com­pat­i­ble with Windows and macOS operating systems. Movavi rec­om­mends available hardware storage of 2 GB and 2 GB RAM.