11 Best Video Editing Software for YouTube in 2023

May 18, 2023
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Are you an aspiring creator and looking for the best video editing software for YouTube? We understand how we are spoiled for choice in this category these days — making it hard to choose one out of thousands of options. 

What’s worse, it can be confusing to choose which tools are suitable for our needs because of the varying levels of complexity between each software. 

However, all is not lost because, in this article, we’re going to break down the pros, cons, features, and prices of some of the best video editing software for YouTube. Read until the end to get tips for improving your video quality!

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Why Should I Upload YouTube Videos?

Before diving into some of the best YouTube video editing software, we first need to talk about why you should upload your videos into YouTube in the first place. 

First off, videos are the simplest content types to consume compared to reading a text or a photo. There are several reasons why that’s the case:

  • Watching a video tutorial is much easier than reading instructions
  • Videos are more engaging to viewers than photos
  • Creators tend to have more room for creativity in videos than static photos — resulting in fantastic pieces of content.

Because of this, more and more brands have added video marketing as a prominent part of their marketing strategy. 

However, if these general reasons are not enough to convince you to create YouTube videos, these statistics might give you a better picture:

These numbers sound enticing, right? What with the huge number of audience you can reach and the percentage of viewers that could buy your product after watching your videos, the opportunity to grow your business is massive.

Finally, if you own a small business, your chances of growing on YouTube are more significant as there are so few small businesses with a YouTube channel.

Top 10 Best Video Editing Software for YouTube

After learning about why you should upload your videos to YouTube, now’s the time to choose which video editing software is right for you. We’ve listed 10 of the best software for editing YouTube videos and broke them down into:

  1. Key Features
  2. Pros
  3. Cons
  4. Pricing

This should help you better understand what each tool offers and make the correct decision based on your needs. With that in mind, scroll down now to get the low down!

Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro CC is one of the best video editing software available right now. Ranging from YouTubers to Hollywood moviemakers, this editing tool helps anyone who uses it to create amazing videos.

Furthermore, this software can also handle any video format. This way, you don’t have to worry about if you’re recording videos in 4K, VR, or even 8K, as this tool is more than capable of processing them.

The best part about Adobe Premiere Pro CC is its capability to migrate media assets like motion graphics from other Adobe software. With that being said, here are several key features, along with the pros and cons of Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

Key Features:

  • End-to-End VR 180 to help you create and publish immersive VR 180 videos.
  • Effortless Curve Adjustments make it easier and more accurate to do selective color grading and color correction.
  • Auto Reframe Tools that make video reformatting more convenient and streamline your workflow.
  • A massive Stock Audio Library.
  • Seamless Video and Audio Syncing.

Pros of Adobe Premiere Pro CC:

  • Intuitive user interface.
  • Vast formats support.
  • Industry-standard.
  • Often used by some of the best YouTubers.
  • Massive selection of tools.
  • Integration with other Adobe software.
  • Very customizable.

Cons of Adobe Premiere Pro CC:

  • Slow rendering
  • The Steep learning curve for beginners
  • Needs a monthly subscription
  • Adding titles is a bit complicated.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC Pricing:

Adobe Premiere Pro CC has a free trial that enables you to test out the various features the software offers. If you feel like it’s suitable for your needs, you’ll have to pay $20.99/month.

Offeo

Offeo Video Maker

Creating a video from scratch can be very time-consuming. The time you spend on making videos could potentially hamper your business’ growth. With Offeo, you don’t need to start from 0, thanks to the thousands of designer templates available.

Better yet, Offeo has a massive elements library that includes commercially-licensed music, graphic elements, 3D elements, animated text, and so much more. Combine that with a user-friendly drag-and-drop user interface, creating videos will feel like a breeze.

These features and benefits combined will surely help you create video content with minimum effort and with less time. This, in turn, will give you more time to grow your business.

Key Features of Offeo:

  • Size presets for YouTube and most other social media platforms
  • 3000+ designer-made templates
  • Image Background Remover
  • Massive assets library
  • Logo animation
  • Full creative control
  • Multi-language support

Pros of Offeo:

  • One-click animation creation
  • Automatically-generated brand designs with the help of AI. Just upload a product photo or business logo.
  • Highly customizable templates
  • Web-based, no installation required
  • Easy-to-use, perfect for beginners
  • Quick video creation process with a drag-and-drop video creation process

Cons of Offeo:

  • Needs constant internet connection
  • The Maximum length of each video is only 3 minutes
  • Lacks voice-over features
  • No mobile app yet

Offeo Pricing:

  • Premium Monthly plan: $19/month
  • Premium Annual Plan: $149 ($12.42/month)

Do Offeo’s features and benefits suit your needs? Register now and create videos in under 3 minutes!

YouTube Studio Video Editor

As the name suggests, YouTube Studio is built into YouTube itself. It is currently the best option to edit uploaded videos if you want to keep your video’s comments, views, and URL.

Key features:

  • Remove undesirable video sections
  • Trim the start or end of videos
  • Blur faces
  • Add end screen template

Pros of YouTube Studio Video Editor

  • Built into YouTube
  • Keeps various properties of uploaded videos (URL, views, etc.)
  • Enables basic editing

Cons of YouTube Studio Video Editor

  • Lacks features
  • Needs constant internet connection
  • Only available on YouTube

YouTube Studio Video Editor Pricing

YouTube Studio Video Editor is one of few free video editing software on the market.

Lightworks

lightworks

Lightworks is a highly customizable tool that enables you to edit specific areas a bit more in-depth than most other video editing software. Furthermore, this program is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux, with free-floating windows that adapt to your editing needs.

Better yet, you can drag these windows around however you like and import, render, and export videos in the background — all with custom keyboard shortcuts capabilities.

This editing software is perfect for YouTube creators, professional video editors, and sound engineers. 

Key Features of Lightworks

  • Effortless sharing with friends and family with Dedicated Web Export
  • Fast importing, exporting, and rendering with Speed Optimization
  • Has support for all file formats
  • Enables you to make a group of synced clips from a bin with Multi-cam Editing

Pros of Lightworks:

  • Flexible and customizable interface
  • Compatibility with every major operating system
  • Editing and trimming timelines is a cakewalk
  • 3D video processing
  • Publish videos to your YouTube account with one click
  • Library of audio and video effects

Cons of Lightworks:

  • Too many limitations on the Free plan
  • Complicated editor management system
  • Minimal support tutorials

Lightworks Pricing:

  • Free version
  • Create (for beginners): $9.99/month.
  • Pro (for professional editors): $23.99/month.

Wondershare Filmora Video Editor

filmora video editor

Filmora Video Editor helps you make videos and even movies with various filters, overlays, transitions, audio effects, video effects, custom captions, etc.

Furthermore, Wondershare also offers Filmora Go for mobile and Filmora Scrn to capture your screen — making it pretty handy to create tutorials.

Key Features of Wondershare Filmora Video Editor:

  • A vast library of presets that includes elements, transitions, audio, etc
  • Tons of presets, including overlays, elements, filters, audio, transitions, and more.
  • Eliminate camera shake effects with video stabilization.
  • Seamless drag-and-drop user interface
  • Advanced speed adjustments and text editing

Pros of Wondershare Filmora Video Editor:

  • Easy-to-use
  • Supports most formats
  • A massive library of media assets

Cons of Wondershare Filmora Video Editor:

  • All your videos will have a brand watermark on them in the free version.
  • Occasional crashes
  • Transitions would sometimes not be applied properly

Wondershare Filmora Video Editor Pricing:

  • Free trial.
  • Individual monthly plan: $19.99/month.
  • Individual annual plan: $49.99/year.
  • Perpetual Plan (one-time purchase): $79.99.

Apple iMovie

apple imovie

If you have an Apple device and prefer a video editing software for YouTube that’s elegant and simple, iMovie might be the best tool for you. 

Most of the time, iMovie is already built into your Apple device, especially if you have a macOS device or an iPad. It includes many effects like slow-motion and fast-forward, and up to 18 themes and video filters created by Apple.

Furthermore, iMovie also enables you to create soundtracks and has green screen features to help you make your movies look like it’s literally out of this world. 

For example, you can add images of the moon’s surface on the green screen to make it look like the people in your movie is on the moon.

Key Features of Apple iMovie:

  • Easy drag-and-drop interface for adding audio tracks, titles, and more
  • Plenty of built-in Studio-Quality Animated Titles And Credits
  • 10 High-Fidelity Filters
  • 80 high-quality soundtracks
  • Upload 4K videos to YouTube, Facebook, or Vimeo directly from the App
  • Green Screen Effects to enhance your videos

Pros of Apple iMovie:

  • Elegant and intuitive user interface
  • Many editing tools to choose from
  • Easy video-sharing with various Apple devices with Theater Mode
  • Seamless editing with iPad, Mac, and even iPhone

Cons of Apple iMovie:

  • Lacks motion tracking features
  • Little 360-degree video support

Apple iMovie Pricing:

iMovie is completely free and is available to download on the App Store.

Final Cut Pro X

final cut pro

Apple’s Final Cut Pro has all the features to make one of the best video editing software for YouTube creators.

Perfectly suitable for beginners and more advanced video editors, Final Cut Pro enables you to create professional-looking videos with extensive features and a user-friendly interface.

If you used iMovie previously, this tool is an excellent next step if you need more editing power. Furthermore, Final Cut Pro’s interface is similar to iMovie, making it easier for you to get the hang of.

Key Features of Final Cut Pro X:

  • Massive tools, motion graphics, and resources library
  • Sync up to 64 video angles of various sizes and formats thanks to Multi-cam features.
  • Powerful noise reduction
  • Lightning-quick rendering and exporting
  • Perfectly optimized for Mac Pro
  • Supports 360-degree and 4K HDR video editing
  • High-resolution output

Cons of Final Cut Pro X:

  • Relatively expensive for beginners

Final Cut Pro X Pricing:

  • One-time purchase of $299.99. Free trial available.

Movavi Video Editor

Movavi Video Editor combines intuitiveness with a strong kit of features that enable you to make fantastic video projects.

If you don't want to become a pro in video editing but still need creative ideas to make engaging content for your viewers, this tool could be the solution.

Movavi Video Editor has stunning effects, transitions, music, animations, and more.The UI is easy to use and well-organized, so you can quickly find the features you need.

It's also considered one of the best alternatives to Final Cut Pro and similar software.

Key Features of Movavi Video Editor:

  • Basic features like trimming, cropping,cutting, merging, etc.
  • Multiple video and audio enhancement tools
  • AI-powered features, including backgroundremoval, denoizer, video stabilization, color correction, and others.
  • Montage Wizard for quick creation
  • Voiceover recording

Pros of Movavi Video Editor:

  • Intuitive UI with drag & drop support
  • Support for all major media formats and Full HD/4K quality
  • Built-in library of animated titles, intros, music tracks, transitions, special effects, filters, stickers, etc.
  • Fast rendering speed
  • Compatible with both Windows and macOS
  • Movavi Effects Store for more creative elements
  • Export to YouTube, Google Drive, Vimeo, TikTok, and other platforms

Cons of Movavi Video Editor:

  • Short free trial with a watermark and some other limitations
  • May lack advanced features that other options have

Movavi Video Editor Pricing:

  • Free trial
  • A 1-year subscription: $54.95/year
  • A lifetime license: one-time purchase of $79.95

VirtualDub

virtualdub

Virtual Dub is one of the oldest video editing software for YouTube and was very popular in the early 2000s. However, this tool is limited and hasn’t been updated since 2013 — resulting in its fame quickly fading.

This tool is free, though, and was often used by beginners. Furthermore, VirtualDub can cut, trim, and resize video clips but only supports AVI file format.

Pros of Virtual Dub:

  • Supported on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems
  • Able to process many files that enable you to edit large video file sizes.
  • Capable of developing a video file in Windows Bitmap formats and supports DV capture from type 2 FireWire controllers.

Cons of Virtual Dub:

  • Unable to write MPEG-1 files
  • Incapable of doing much cutting-edge editing

Virtual Dub Pricing:

As we mentioned before, Virtual Dub is free to use.

Sony Vegas Pro

sony vegas pro

If you use a Windows computer and need YouTube video editing software with more advanced features, you should consider Sony Vegas Pro.

Although Sony Vegas Pro’s interface might not be the most modern-looking or intuitive, the many advanced editing tools like 3D editing, color correction, and multi-cam editing more than makes up for it.

However, if you’re relatively new to video editing, the features Vegas Pro offers might be overwhelming — resulting in a moderately steep learning curve. 

Furthermore, if you don’t have the time to get used to this tool, it might be best to avoid using it entirely.

Key Features of Sony Vegas Pro:

  • Auto White Balance to enhance your videos.
  • Perform comprehensive sound optimization with Sound Forge.
  • Able to nestle timelines.

Pros of Sony Vegas Pro:

  • Has multi-cam editing capabilities.
  • Plenty of advanced video editing features.
  • Planar motion tracking.
  • Full HDR color support.
  • Updates are always available.

Cons of Sony Vegas Pro:

  • Expensive.
  • Outdated interface.
  • Relatively steep learning curve.

Sony Vegas Pro Pricing:

  • Vegas Pro 365: $19.99/month (12 months, billed annually).
  • $34.99/month (1 month, billed monthly).
  • Vegas Pro (One-time Purchase): $399.

Tips For Improving Video Quality

After choosing the right editing software, you might think that you’re ready to start creating fantastic YouTube videos. Although that may be true, gaining additional insights into what makes a video look fantastic couldn’t hurt.

In this section, we’re going to discuss some of the best tips to enhance your video quality and make them much more engaging to your viewers.

1. Make Sure Your Spot is Well-Lit

One of the best ways to achieve this is to face your window when there’s sunshine outside. This way, the diffused sunlight entering your windows will evenly light up your face. 

However, ensure the sunlight isn’t harsh, or you’ll end up creating shadows on your face and making you squint in front of the camera.

Another way to get good lighting is to install a ring light and position it in front of your face. Adjust it accordingly to prevent dealing with shadows. A third alternative would be to set up three-point lighting like the image below.

Three point lighting

2. Use Crystal-Clear Audio

You can do a few things to ensure your video’s audio quality is the best it can be. The first would be to buy professional audio gear such as clip-on mics. However, do more research on its quality and ability to eliminate background noise.

Secondly, you can record in a small room with carpets and curtains to minimize echo in your audio files.

3. Stabilize Your Shots

If you want to make sure your shot is stable and avoid capturing shaky footage, try to do some of the things we’ve mentioned below: 

  • Use a tripod or monopod to shoot your YouTube videos
  • Shoot wide because it’s easier
  • Hold the camera close to your chest and with both hands
  • Keep your elbow planted on a steady object (i.e., armrest)
  • Position your camera above your kneecap with your knees bent as you sit down
  • If you have the budget, get a camera with image stabilization features.

4. Add Caption Files

Try adding caption files like SRT files to make viewers who don’t understand your language (or are hard of hearing) still get enjoyment from watching your YouTube videos.

Furthermore, captions also improve YouTube SEO, which helps you rank higher on the video-sharing platform.

5. Use Several Pattern Interrupt Techniques to Improve Viewer Retention

One of the most-used and possibly basic ways to move from one shot to the next is transitions. However, transitions alone might make your video look uninspired and make your viewers stop watching your video.

To prevent this from happening, you should use other effects like Flash effects, smoke effects, b-roll, and other pattern interrupt techniques to keep your viewers’ attention.

6. Ensure your Video’s Resolution is at Least 1080p

Do you have a relatively small budget that prevents you from buying a camera that perfectly suits your needs? No worries! You can start recording with your smartphone camera as most of them can record 1080p videos these days.

Recording with at least 1080p resolution means your video quality is at least on par with most YouTubers.

We understand that engaging content is indeed crucial. However, it can all fall apart if you have a low-quality camera as your viewers won’t have as good an experience watching them. With that being said, always ensure that your camera is at least 1080p!

FAQs: Best Video Editing Software For Youtube

What is video editing software?

A video editing software is a tool to help anyone modify, alter, or generate a video or movie file according to their vision. Most video editing software enables you to rearrange, remove, or cut sections to make a more cohesive video.

What do most YouTubers use to edit videos?

  1. Adobe Premiere Pro
  2. Final Cut Pro X
  3. iMovie
  4. Lightworks
  5. Freemake
  6. Sony Vegas Pro

What is the easiest software to edit videos?

  1. Offeo
  2. Apple iMovie
  3. HitFilm 4 Express
  4. Wondershare Filmora
  5. Nero Video

Which software is best for making YouTube videos?

The best software for making YouTube videos doesn’t have a watermark and meets all your editing needs. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to edit your YouTube videos, you can give Offeo a try.

Is Offeo Good for YouTube?

Yes, it is. This is because Offeo has a YouTube intro and outro maker, YouTube thumbnail maker, and thousands of other templates and effects that make creating videos feel like a breeze.

Conclusion: Best Video Editing Software for YouTube

Now that you’ve reached this point, we hope you have a better understanding of what some of the best video editing software for YouTube offer and which ones suit you the most.

If you have a brand or is currently a creator, using the right editing software can genuinely elevate your videos. However, editing videos from scratch can be really time-consuming and emotionally draining.

However, if you use Offeo, you won’t have to start from 0, thanks to the thousands of designer-made templates we provide. Moreover, you can create unique intros and outros with our YouTube intro and outro maker.

The best part? No prior editing experience is necessary as Offeo’s interface is intuitive and user-friendly. 

Well then, what are you waiting for? Sign up for Offeo today and experience effortless YouTube video editing in under 3 minutes!

Written By
Rifqi Renanda

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