Video editing software ranges from free versions that are pretty bare-bones to feature-packed prosumer versions. Indeed, they vary as much as the reasons why people take up video editing—whether to make home videos, to become YouTube stars, to create VR experiences, and more. Most video editing software for consumers and mainstream users is best used for one or another of these specific functions, but there are a few generalists out there, too. We look at the full spectrum: Free video editing software; paid consumer video editing programs that cost $80 or less; and 'prosumer' versions that offer deeper feature sets, though usually for high purchase prices. Links to full reviews of all the video editing software we've tested can be found at the very bottom of this page.

The Best Video Editing Software of 2018 Whether you're a weekend GoPro shooter or a full-time video professional, you need editing software that's powerful but easy to use. Here's how the best.

Updated February 20, 2018 to add our reviews of prosumer packages: Apple, Magix, and CyberLink, our top pick for overall.  The best addon for kodi on a mac. PowerDirector 16 Ultra wins for its 360-video features, but all three of these programs offer tons of features—for a price. Best video editor overall: Adobe Premiere Elements 2018.

Adobe Premiere Elements 2018 is perfect for people who want to make home movies to share with friends, but who don’t have much video editing experience. It offers decent functionality for more experienced editors who don’t want to follow the walk-throughs, but other, more robust software might be better if you’re a power user pursuing YouTube stardom. Adobe Premiere Elements 2018 offers most of the same basic video editing features you’d find in other consumer packages, but it separates itself from the pack with tutorials and automatic curation and content creation features that very nearly (but not quite) do all the work for you, as long as you don’t mind if your videos look generic. It's this easy access that makes Adobe Premiere Elements our top-rated consumer paid video editor. Runner-up: Corel VideoStudio Ultimate X10.5 At $80 Corel combines an elegant and professional-feeling interface with high-end specialty features like 3D and 4K Ultra HD, making it one of the most satisfying and versatile consumer-level video editors on the market. It also has an elegant, modern-looking user interface, and can export to YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and Vimeo with all the options you’d expect.

It’s versatile, efficient, and top of its class. (Read our.) Best budget video editor: Nero Video 2017. Nero’s video editor is as good as it gets for ripping, copying, and repackaging existing works. But if you’re more concerned with original content creation, there may be better fits out there. Is slightly cheaper at $50 than many competing video editing suites, but it offers most of the same features, including Ultra HD 4K support and intelligent curation features for your media library. And with H.265 format support for mobile devices and the handy ability to switch between a basic and advanced editing mode, Nero will please a wide range of users.

It’s mostly intended for burning physical media, and doesn’t have good social exporting options. But even if you’re not planning to do DVDs, Nero is worth a look if you want a budget option for video editing software. (Read our.) Best free video editor: Shotcut. On has been around for more than 10 years, but it has been steadily updated by open source developers who have been dedicated to the mission of providing a prosumer-level video editing suite at no cost. This program supports most audio and video formats you’d need, it allows you to carefully craft most aspects of your video with powerful filters, and it has a highly customizable user interface that can scale based on your needs from the basic to the advanced. It doesn’t provide as much guidance as some other software, but curious editors can venture to YouTube and elsewhere on the web for support from a still-active community of enthusiasts.

If you’re willing to spend a few hours cracking the eggs, you’ll be rewarded with a video editing program that is every bit as useful as others for which you’d spend $100. And check out our full roundup of the. Best prosumer video editor: CyberLink PowerDirector 16 Ultra Mentioned in this article. For a traditional video editor with a ton of features running on a Windows PC, you could hardly ask for better than PowerDirector 16. From multi-cam to motion tracking to H.265, there are very few editing and exporting features you might want that this software doesn’t have. Cyberlink PowerDirector 16 Ultra is a prosumer video editor that aims to bring every feature under the sun to a video editor that is accessible and affordable. There’s nothing else in this price range that brings you this many well-implemented features, especially in 360 video.

Complexity is its one challenge: The user interface is not always self-explanatory, and the inclusion of so many features means it can be difficult to find what you want. Video editing software: What features to look for The basics When you shop for video editing software, keep these fundamentals in mind. All the video editors we’ve reviewed can do standard functions like creating clips, transitions, titles, and some effects, though they vary in quality of execution and ease of use. There are so many different video formats out there, and one device may capture in a different format than another.