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Comparison of video editing software

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This is a comparison of non-linear video editing software applications. See also a more complete list of video editing software.

General information

This table gives basic general information about the different editors:

Active

Program Developer Platform Initial release Latest release License Target audience
Version Date
Adobe Premiere Elements Adobe Inc. macOS 2004 2022 2022 Trialware prosumer
Windows
Adobe Premiere Pro Adobe Inc. macOS 1991 24.2 Edit this on Wikidata 2024-02 Commercial professional
Windows
Autodesk Flame Autodesk Linux 1993 2022 2022 Commercial professional (vfx; finishing system)
macOS
Avid Media Composer Avid macOS 1989 2022.10 2022 Commercial professional
Windows
Avid Media Composer First Avid macOS 2017 2021.9 2021 Freeware professional
Windows
Avidemux Mean, Gruntster and Fahr BSD 2.8.1 Edit this on Wikidata 2022-09-21 GPL-2.0-or-later basic
Linux
macOS
Windows
AVS Video Editor Online Media Technologies Ltd. Windows 2003 9.7.3 2022 Commercial prosumer
Blender Blender Foundation Linux 2002 4.3.2 Edit this on Wikidata 2024-12-17 GPL-2.0-or-later professional
Irix
macOS
Solaris
Windows
Camtasia TechSmith Corporation Windows

MacOS

2002 v 22 2022-8-16 Trialware, Commercial professional, prosumer
Cinelerra Heroine Virtual Linux 2002 7.4 2021 GPL-2.0-or-later professional
Cinelerra-GG Infinity Open Source Community Linux 2016 2022-08 2022-08-31 GPL-2.0-or-later professional
Corel VideoStudio Corel Corporation Windows 1993 VS 2021 2021 Trialware prosumer
CyberLink PowerDirector CyberLink Windows 2001 20 2021 Commercial prosumer
DaVinci Resolve Blackmagic Design Linux 2004 18.6.4 Build 6 2024 Freeware, Commercial professional
macOS
Windows
Final Cut Pro Apple Inc. macOS 2011 10.6.1 2021 Commercial professional
EDIUS Grass Valley Canopus Windows 2002 10.00 2020 Commercial professional
Flowblade Open Source Community Linux 2012 2.18 Edit this on Wikidata 2024-12-18 GPL-3.0-or-later prosumer
Blackbird Blackbird PLC Cross-platform 2004 - 2020 Commercial professional
iMovie Apple Inc. iOS 1999 10.4 2023-11-30 Commercial prosumer
macOS
ivsEdits Interactive Video Systems Windows 2008 5.0.607 2017 Freeware, Commercial professional (small)?
Kdenlive Open Source Community BSD 2002 24.12.0 Edit this on Wikidata 2024-12-05 GPL-2.0-or-later prosumer
Linux
macOS
Windows
Lightworks LWKS Linux 1989 2021.1 2021 Freeware, Commercial professional
macOS
Windows
LiVES Gabriel Finch and others Linux 2002 3.2.0 Edit this on Wikidata 2020-11-08 GPL-3.0-or-later prosumer
Unix-like
LosslessCut Mikael Finstad BSD 2016 3.64.0 Edit this on Wikidata 2024-11-01 GPL-2.0-only basic, GOP-boundaries
Linux
macOS
Windows
Magix Movie Edit Pro Magix Windows 2001 2019 2021 Commercial prosumer
Natron Alexandre Gauthier
Frédéric Devernay
Linux 2014 2.5.0 Edit this on Wikidata 2022-11-26 GPL-2.0-or-later prosumer ? (vfx)
macOS
Windows
Nero Video Nero AG Windows 2002 2022 2021 Commercial prosumer
OpenShot Open Source Community Linux 2008 3.3.0 Edit this on Wikidata 2024-12-22 GPL-3.0-or-later prosumer
macOS
Windows
Microsoft Photos Video Editor Microsoft Corporation Windows 2017 2021 2021 Freeware basic
Pinnacle Studio Pinnacle Systems Windows 1999 25 2021 Commercial prosumer
Pitivi Open Source Community Linux 2004 2023.03.0 Edit this on Wikidata 2023-03-26 LGPL-2.1-or-later prosumer (in development)
Shotcut Meltytech, LLC Linux 2011 24.11.17 Edit this on Wikidata 2024-11-17 GPL-3.0-or-later prosumer
macOS
OpenBSD
Windows
Vegas Pro Magix Windows 1999 19.0 2021 Commercial professional (small)
VideoPad NCH Software Android 2008 11.22 2022 Trialware prosumer
iPad
iPhone
macOS
Windows
VSDC Free Video Editor Flash-Intergro LLC Windows 2008 9.1 2024 Freeware prosumer
  1. VSE: Video Sequence Editor.
  2. As Cinelerra 5.1.
  3. Under Ulead.
  4. JavaScript, Java, iOS, Android.
  5. VideoDeluxe 1.0.

Discontinued / Inactive

Program Developer Platform Initial release Latest release License Target audience
Version Date
Windows Movie Maker Microsoft Windows 2000 16.4.3528.0331 Edit this on Wikidata 2014-04-07 Freeware basic
VirtualDubMod Windows 2002 1.5.10.3_b2550 2007 GPL-2.0-or-later ?
VideoThang VideoThang LLC Windows 2007 2.0.1 2008 Freeware ?
Avid Free DV Avid macOS ? 1.8.1 2006 Commercial ?
Windows
Final Cut Express Apple Inc. macOS 2003 4.0.1 2007 Commercial prosumer
Final Cut Pro Apple Inc. macOS 1999 7.0.3 2009 Commercial professional
Pinnacle Videospin Avid Windows 2009 2.0 2009 Freeware ?
Ulead MediaStudio Pro Ulead Systems Windows ? 8.1 2006 Commercial ?
Serif MoviePlus Serif (Europe) Ltd Windows 2000 X6 2012 Commercial prosumer (basic)
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Womble Multimedia Windows ? 5.0.1.105 2012 Trialware prosumer
Xpress Pro Avid macOS 2003 5.8 ? Commercial ?
Windows
Kino Open Source Community BSD 2000 GPL-2.0-or-later ?
Linux
MainActor MainConcept Linux 2004 5.5 2007 Commercial ?
Windows
EditDV Radius macOS 1997 3.0 2002 Commercial ?
Windows
VirtualDub Avery Lee Windows 2000 1.10.4 stable 2013 GPL-2.0-or-later basic
Autodesk Smoke Autodesk macOS ? 2021 2021 Commercial professional (vfx; finishing system)
Vegas Movie Studio Magix Windows 2000 17 2020 Commercial prosumer
  1. Now Corel.

Definition

  • professional: used for full length Hollywood movies;
  • professional (small): mainly used for paid commercials, short films or podcasts/YouTube channels;
  • prosumer: Mainly targeting private use, anything that can do more than just trimming a film;
  • basic: trimming a film;

System requirements

This table lists the operating systems that different editors can run on without emulation, as well as other system requirements. Note that minimum system requirements are listed; some features (like High Definition support) may be unavailable with these specifications.

Windows macOS Unix-like Processor RAM VRAM HDD
Adobe Premiere Pro CC Yes Yes No Skylake or later 8 GB 2 GB 8 GB
Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes (as of v9) No 2 GHz+ with SSE2 support 2 GB 4.5 GB
Avid Media Composer Yes Yes Yes SSE 4.1 support 16 GB ?
Avidemux Yes Yes Yes ? ? ?
AVS Video Editor Yes No No Intel / AMD compatible at 2500 MHz or higher 1 GB 1 GB
Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes Yes 2 GHz+ with SSE2 support 2 GB 512 MB ?
Cinelerra No No Yes x86-64 compatible processor 256 MB 0.25 GB
Cinelerra-GG Infinity No No Yes x86-64 compatible processor,
recommended minimum: 2 GHz, 4 cores
8 GB recommended for HD editing 0.25 GB
Corel VideoStudio Yes No No 3.0 GHz 4 GB 256 MB 8 GB
DaVinci Resolve Yes Yes Yes Modern Intel/AMD/Apple silicon processor 16 GB DDR4, 32 GB DDR4 when using Fusion 2 GB GDDR6 3.5 GB
EDIUS Yes No No Intel Core 2 or later with SSSE3 support 1 GB 512 MB 6 GB
Final Cut Pro X No Yes No ? 4 GB 256 MB 3.8 GB
Flowblade No No Yes x86-64 compatible processor ? 2.7 GB
Blackbird Yes Yes Yes N/A 256 MB Any
iMovie No Included No Intel based Macs or iPhone 4 or later 1 GB 5 GB
Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes 600 MHz 256 MB 1 GB
Lightworks Yes Yes Yes Intel Core Duo, Intel Xeon or AMD processor 2 GB 200 MB
LiVES No Yes Yes 800 MHz 128 MB 10 GB
Magix Movie Edit Pro Yes No No Dual core processor with 2.0 GHz 1 GB 2 GB
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes No No 233 MHz 32 MB 20 MB
Nero Multimedia Suite Yes No No 2 GHz AMD or Intel processor 512 MB (1 GB for Windows Vista or Windows 7)
2 GB when editing HD
5 GB
OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes 4 GB (16 GB recommended) 1 GB
Pinnacle Studio Yes No No 1.8 GHz 1 GB 1.7 GB
Pitivi No No Yes ? ? 2 MB
Shotcut Yes Yes Yes 2 GHz AMD or Intel processor 2GB / 4 GB when editing HD 1 GB
Vegas Pro Yes No No 2.0 GHz 1.0 GB 400 MB
VideoPad Yes Yes No multicore x86 compatible processor 1GB Any
VirtualDubMod Yes No No ? ? ? ?
VSDC Free Video Editor Yes No No 1.5 GHz or higher, Intel or AMD or compatible processor 512 Mb for the program
Windows macOS Unix Processor RAM VRAM HDD

"Unix" includes the similar Linux, BSD and Unix-like operating systems.

High definition/High resolution import

The table below indicates the ability of each program to import various High Definition video or High resolution video formats for editing.

DVCPRO HD HD uncompressed AVCHD XDCAM HD HDV AVC-Intra XAVC DNxHD DNxHR DNx uncompressed ProRes ProRes RAW R3D ArriRaw X-OCN AV1
Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ?
Adobe Premiere Elements No No Yes (As of 7.0) ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Avid Media Composer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? ?
Avidemux ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
AVS Video Editor ? Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes (Quick Sync and CUDA for decoding)
Blender ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? No ? ? ?
Cinelerra Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? No ? ? ?
Cinelerra-GG Infinity Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? Yes ? No ? ? Yes
DaVinci Resolve Mac with
Final Cut
Pro X
Yes Yes Yes Mac with
Final Cut Pro X
Mac with
Final Cut
Pro X
Yes Yes Yes 16 or later Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ?
EDIUS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Final Cut Pro X Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial (3rd party via
codec install)
? ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? ?
Blackbird Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
iMovie Yes (3rd party) No Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Lightworks Yes Yes Yes (as of Pro 11) Yes (as of Pro 11) Yes Yes (as of Pro 11) ? Yes
(3rd party)
? ? ? ? Yes (as of Pro 11) ? ? ?
LiVES ? Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? Yes ? No ? ? ?
Magix Movie Edit Pro No ? Yes ? Yes No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MPEG Video Wizard DVD ? ? No ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Nero Video No Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? No ? ? ? ? No ? ? ?
OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? No ? ? ?
Pinnacle Studio No No Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pitivi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Shotcut ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Corel VideoStudio ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Vegas Pro Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes (3rd party) ? ? Yes ? Yes (as of Pro 9) ? ? ?
VideoPad Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ?
VirtualDub Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ?
VSDC Free Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ?
WeVideo Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Movie Maker No ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
DVCPRO HD HD uncompressed AVCHD XDCAM HD HDV AVC-Intra XAVC DNxHD DNxHR DNx uncompressed ProRes ProRes RAW R3D ArriRaw X-OCN AV1

Feature set

High Definition support Non-destructive editing Multitrack editing Full-screen playback Storyboard mode Video tracks Audio tracks / max channels Linear timecode display GPGPU with OpenCL acceleration
Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes, By hitting ctrl+~ (CS6 only) Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes Yes
Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Avid Media Composer Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 24 tracks, unlimited layers 24 tracks, unlimited layers Yes ?
Avidemux Yes Yes ? ? ? 1 2 / ? ? Yes
AVS Video Editor Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 1 1+ Yes Yes (Quick Sync for decoding/encoding, CUDA for decoding)
Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 128 channels (combined with audio) 128 channels (combined with video) Yes Yes
Cinelerra Yes
(any resolution)
Yes Yes Yes No Unlimited Unlimited / 16 Yes ?
Cinelerra-GG Infinity Yes max 8K Yes Yes Yes No Unlimited Unlimited / 16 Yes Some formats, using
VAAPI/VDPAU/CUDA
for decoding/encoding
DaVinci Resolve Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes Yes
EDIUS Yes Yes Yes Yes, on both PC & TV monitors in realtime No unlimited realtime layers unlimited realtime layers Yes ?
Final Cut Pro X Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Blackbird Input only Yes Yes Yes Yes 18 36 Yes ?
iMovie Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 2 6 Yes ?
Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes Planned through MLT
Lightworks Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes Planned
LiVES Yes
(any resolution)
Yes
(multitrack mode)
? Yes
(on first, second or all monitors, configurable)
No Unlimited audio per video track + backing audio / 2 channels Yes ?
Magix Movie Edit Pro Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 32/99 (Plus/Premium) each track may contain audio and video ? Yes
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 1 3 Yes ?
Nero Video Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Unlimited Yes Yes Yes (CUDA)
OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes No No Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Pinnacle Studio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Pitivi Yes Yes ? Yes No Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Shotcut ? Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? Yes (Quick Sync)
Corel VideoStudio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 7 9 Yes Yes (CUDA and Quick Sync)
Vegas Pro Yes

(any resolution)

Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited/Max Channel 16 Yes Yes (as of 11)
VideoPad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited ? Planned
VirtualDub Yes Yes No No No 1 1 Yes ?
VSDC Free Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes Yes
WeVideo Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited No ?
Windows Live Movie Maker Yes Yes No Yes Yes 1 2 ? ?
High Definition support Non-destructive editing Multitrack editing Full-screen playback Storyboard mode Video tracks Audio tracks Linear timecode display GPGPU with OpenCL acceleration

Output options

Please note that recording to Blu-ray does not imply 1080@50p/60p . Most only support up to 1080i 25/30 frames per second recording. Also not all formats can be output.

DVD High Definition Smartphone QuickTime Windows Media MPEG-4 XML/EDL Print to tape Web, not hosted Web, hosted Podcasting
Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes (Blu-ray) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes (Blu-ray) Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Avid Media Composer ? Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Avidemux Yes Yes No ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
AVS Video Editor Yes Yes (Blu-ray) Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No
Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes ? Yes ? Yes Yes No ? ? ?
Cinelerra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
Cinelerra-GG Infinity Yes Yes max 8K Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes CMX3600 No Yes No Yes
EDIUS Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ?
Final Cut Pro X Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Flowblade Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Blackbird No Yes Yes Yes (MPEG 2) Yes (MPEG 2) ? Yes No Yes Yes Yes
iMovie Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (with .Mac) Yes
Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Lightworks Yes Yes (max 720p in free version) ? Yes (only in Pro 11) ? Yes (only in Pro 11) ? ? ? ? ?
LiVES Yes Yes (AVCHD, Blu-ray) Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No ?
Magix Movie Edit Pro Yes Yes (AVCHD, Blu-ray) Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes No ?
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes No No No No Yes
Nero Video Yes Yes (AVCHD, Blu-ray) Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pinnacle Studio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Pitivi Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? No No ?
Shotcut ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Corel VideoStudio Yes Yes Yes (via plug-in) Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes (with DropShot) ?
Vegas Pro Yes Yes (Blu-ray) No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ?
VideoPad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No
VirtualDub No No Yes (Via passthru) No No Yes No No Yes (Via passthru) No No
VSDC Free Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No
WeVideo No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No Yes No
Windows Live Movie Maker Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes No No
DVD High Definition Smartphone QuickTime Windows Media MPEG-4 XML/EDL Print to tape Web, not hosted Web, hosted Podcasting

See also

References

  1. "Latest release of Premiere Pro, new features summary".
  2. "2.8.1".
  3. "Blender 4.3.2". December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  4. G2 (August 17, 2020). "G2 Best Video Editing Software Rankings".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "Cinelerra HV news". Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  6. "Cinelerra-GG changelog" (PDF). Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  7. "Release 2.18". December 18, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  8. "v24.12.0". December 5, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  9. "Release 3.2.0". Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  10. "Release 3.64.0". November 1, 2024. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  11. Coalition, ProVideo (August 22, 2018). "Movie Edit Pro 2019: new version offers improved speed and new features by Jose Antunes".
  12. "Release 2.5.0". November 26, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  13. "v3.3.0".
  14. "Pinnacle Studio Downloads". www.pinnaclesys.com.
  15. "2023.03.0". March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  16. "New Version 24.11". November 17, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  17. "'NOW IN CURRENT: Shotcut' - MARC".
  18. "VideoPad Video Editor Versions". www.nchsoftware.com. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  19. "Download Free Video Editor". www.videosoftdev.com. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  20. "Windows Live Downloads - Version 2". Archived from the original on March 11, 2022.
  21. "Windows Essentials 2012 Microsoft Offline Installer". January 11, 2017.
  22. Roberts, Neil (April 25, 2011). "Smoke on the Water: Which software is used to edit Movies?".
  23. ^ Adobe Premiere Pro system requirements Adobe Systems
  24. ^ Media Composer System Requirements Avid
  25. ^ Requirements Blender Foundation
  26. ^ VideoStudio Ultimate 2019 User Guide P.10 Corel
  27. ^ EDIUS 9 system requirements Grass Valley
  28. ^ Final Cut Pro X - Technical Specifications Apple
  29. ^ Premiere Pro supported file formats Adobe Systems
  30. ^ Avid Supported Video File Formats Avid
  31. ^ DaVinci Resolve Supported Formats and Codecs Blackmagic Design
  32. ^ Apple ProRes and ProRes RAW Authorized Products Apple
  33. ^ Final Cut Pro X: Final Cut Pro: Supported media formats Apple
  34. ^ "Increase VSE strip channels limit from 32 to 128".
  35. "VideoStudio Ultimate 2021 | Fast & Fun Video Editing".
  36. "EDL Support in Blender". www.blenderartists.org. February 11, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
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