As the popularity of video content rapidly increases, creators are looking for accessible tools to create videos quickly and from any device, which is where online video editing websites come in. Many of these online video editing tools are also free, making them an excellent starting point for beginners who want to edit clips online.
In today's article, we'll delve deeper into the best online video editors this year and help you find the right one for your needs.
However, we must also note that free online video editors have limitations, including network reliance, slower performance, and lack of editing features. That's why a fully-fledged video editing tool like Filmora is the recommended alternative for desktop and mobile users.
As this tutorial will show, it offers the necessary features for a complete editing experience without losing its ease of use.
Table of Content
What Makes a Good Online Video Editor?
While online video editors aren't the same as mobile apps or desktop-based editing software, an excellent online video editor still needs to tick a few boxes to qualify as a good choice for its users. These boxes, or characteristics, include the following:
- Ease of Use - While video editing isn't something anyone can do, a good online video editor should help those who want to learn the skill. From the interface to using a particular editing feature, the best online video editors are effortless to use throughout the editing workflow.
- Editing Features - From essential editing tools like cutting, cropping, and trimming to extensive asset libraries to advanced editing features like transitions and effects, an online video editor should have all the necessary features to match any editing project.
- Pre-Made Templates - In addition to essential and advanced editing features, a good online video editor should offer plenty of templates for a quicker editing workflow. After all, online video editing websites are all about speed and fast edits, and pre-made templates are vital here.
- Export Quality - Just because you choose a free web video editor doesn't mean you should be restricted regarding video formats and resolutions. A good online video editor should be able to export in HD, FullHD, or 4K resolutions and support at least the most popular formats.
- Cloud Storage - Another popular reason for choosing online video editors over traditional software is the ability to start editing on one device and finish a project on another. Therefore, a proper online video editor should offer plenty of cloud storage to store multiple editing projects simultaneously without worrying.
While not strictly necessary, most good online video editors will also provide collaboration tools, allowing multiple users to access the same account from various devices and edit videos in real time. That's another vital component of such software, albeit optional for many editors.
Best Free Online Video Editors Compared
Now that we know what makes a good online video editor, we can delve deeper into the tools that have met these criteria and made it to our list. Below is a quick table comparison of 2024's six best online video editors, so let's jump right into these:
| Video Editing Apps | Standout Features | Supported Formats | Best For | Pricing |
| Clipchamp | – Pre-built templates
– Vast array of video transitions and effects | MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, DIVX, FLV, 3GP, WMV, VOB, DCM, and MKV | – Quick social media edits
– Template-based projects | – Free version
– Premium: $11.99/month or $119.99/year |
| Canva | – Extensive stock media assets
– Ready-to-use templates | AVI, GIF, JSON, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, and WebM | – Marketing campaigns
– Promotional business content | – Free version
– Canva Pro: $15/month/user or $120/year/user – Canva Teams: $10/month/user or $100/year/user (minimum of three users) |
| InVideo | – Vast libraries of stock media
– AI-powered editing tools | MP4, MOV, WebM, WMV, AVI, and GIF | – Multi-layered editing
– Professional editing projects | – Free version
– Business: $30/month or $180/year – Unlimited: $60/month or $360/year |
| Kapwing | – Captions and subtitles
– Cloud-based collaboration and editing | MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, WebM, 3GP, and GIF | – Online content creation
– Project collaboration | – Free version
– Pro: $24/month or $192/year – Business: $64/month or $600/year |
| FlexClip | – Array of templates
– Drag-and-drop interface | MP4, MOV, WebM, M4V, AVI, WMV, MKV, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, FLV, RM, and TS | – Fundamental editing workflows
– Novice video editors | – Free version
– Plus: $19.99/month or $119.88/year – Business: $29.99/month or $239.88/year |
| WeVideo | – Green screen removal
– Cloud storage | 3GP, 3GPP, AVI, DIVX, DV, FLV, M4V, MJPEG, MKV, MOD, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, M2TS, MTS, MXF, OGV, WebM, and WMV | – School projects
– Business presentations | – Power: $9.99/month or $38.92/year
– Unlimited: $15.99/month or $62.32/year – Professional: $39.99/month or $155.92/year – Business: $73.99/month or $288.52/year |
While we've added pricing for the paid versions of these online video editors, it's worth noting that all six of the chosen tools have either a free version or at least a lengthy free trial, so you don't have to worry about preparing your credit card to try them out.
Best Online Video Editors
With their top features and supported video formats covered, it's time to jump into each of the best online video editors and explore their other characteristics in detail. Here's a look into these free video editor websites, each with unique strengths, weaknesses, and reasons to choose it as the one for you.
Clipchamp
Clipchamp
Great online video editor for short, template-based projects and quick social media edits
4/5 stars
Specifications
Free trial & Pricing: 60 days (only for Chromebooks); Premium costs $11.99/month or $119.99/year
Top features: Designer templates, Stock footage, Auto compose
Supported video formats: MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, DIVX, FLV, 3GP, WMV, VOB, DCM, MKV
Reasons to pick
- Generous templates for social media content
- Simple and easy-to-use interface
- Vast library of transitions and effects
Reasons to avoid
- Slow render speed
- Limited effect control
Why We Picked It
Whether you're after small business marketing or TikTok video content, Microsoft's Clipchamp is both a Windows 11 built-in tool and a popular online video editor. This free web video editor focuses on template-based designs, meme-inspired social media content, and quick marketing videos.
Its powerful hardware acceleration makes Clipchamp run as smoothly as a desktop-based editing tool. Namely, almost every aspect of editing goes smoothly, helping users create quick video edits without much effort, except renders, which are less responsive than native apps.
What Do Others Say About It
4/5 stars. Most Trustpilot comments are positive, with users stating, "Easy to use, great tool" and calling Clipchamp a great basic online video editor. However, negative comments also exist, with some users calling Clipchamp awful and stating,"The page will become unresponsive every five minutes."
Canva
Canva
Best online video editor for social promos and marketing
4.5/5 stars
Specifications
Free trial & Pricing: 30 days; $15/month/user - $300/year/three users
Top features: AI-powered Magic Write and Edit, Collaboration tools, Templates
Supported video formats: AVI, GIF, JSON, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, WebM
Reasons to pick
- Massive number of graphics and templates
- Highly intuitive and effortless user interface
- Excellent value for the paid version
Reasons to avoid
- Requires a constant network connection
- Even the paid version lacks advanced editing options
Why We Picked It
Canva is an impressive online video editor characterized by its friendly attitude toward beginners. It offers over 250,000 templates and tools for everything from newsletters to well-made social media posts. Even free accounts get access to 5GB of cloud storage, making Canva one of the best online video editors for collaboration.
Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface is one of the best on the market. It helps users streamline the editing workflow and quickly create masterpieces. The tool is primarily geared toward small businesses, marketers, and promo videos, and that's what it's best at.
What Do Others Say About It
4.5/5 stars. Some G2 users state that Canva is "an essential tool to create impressive designs and save time," highlighting its collaboration tools as one of the best aspects. Conversely, some comments on Trustpilot aren't as kind, telling others to "steer clear" of Canva and mentioning privacy issues.
InVideo
InVideo
The best online video editor for multi-layered video editing
4.2/5 stars
Specifications
Free trial & Pricing: 7 days; $15/month - $60/month
Top features: Advanced multi-layered editing, AI-powered tools, Stock Media
Supported video formats: MP4, MOV, WebM, WMV, AVI, GIF
Reasons to pick
- Easy-to-navigate interface
- Extensive library of stock footage
- Multi-layered video editing
Reasons to avoid
- Lacks export options for free accounts
- Slow uploads and editing
Why We Picked It
As a free online video editor with no downloads required, InVideo is an excellent tool. It's packed with fundamental and medium-grade editing tools, a significant asset library filled with stock footage and templates, and a simple user interface that even complete novices will have no issues navigating.
However, InVideo could also be better. Unless you choose a subscription-based model like Plus or Max, uploads will take a while, and editing speed will be limited. Similarly, you won't have many export options as a free user.
What Do Others Say About It
4.2/5 stars. Most comments on Trustpilot are highly positive, stating that InVideo is "super easy to use" and that they love the editing workflow. Reviews on G2 are similar, with some users disliking that InVideo's color selectors are only in RGB.
Kapwing
Kapwing
The best free online video editor for collaborative projects and online content creation
4.2/5 stars
Specifications
Free trial & Pricing: No free trial; $24/month - $600/year
Top features: Text-to-video, Collaborative editing, Magic Subtitles
Supported video formats: MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, WebM, 3GP
Reasons to pick
- Remarkable subtitling tool
- Great audio transcriptions
- Excellent cloud-based collaboration tools
Reasons to avoid
- Massive watermark
- Occasional glitching
Why We Picked It
Apart from occasionally getting stuck at specific points, such as finalizing the video, Kapwing is a tremendous online video editor. It's excellent at creating content for social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, as its Magic Subtitles, audio transcription tools, and AI-powered text-to-video features are unmatched.
While the interface could be more friendly toward beginners, you can easily tweak every aspect of your content once you get the hang of it. Moreover, Kapwing's cloud storage and collaborative editing tools make working on a project with colleagues or friends incredibly straightforward.
What Do Others Say About It
4.2/5 stars. Over a dozen Trustpilot comments highlight Kapwing's ease of use and state that it's "an integral part of video marketing." Of course, negative comments are also present, with one user recently saying that Kapwing "takes super long to finalize."
FlexClip
FlexClip
The best online video editor for beginners
4.3/5 stars
Specifications
Free trial & Pricing: 7 days; $0 - $29.99/month
Top features: AI Image Generator, Diverse templates, Remarkable interface
Supported video formats: MP4, MOV, WebM, M4V, AVI, WMV, MKV, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, FLV, RM, TS
Reasons to pick
- Extensive editing tools in the free version
- Clean and well-designed user interface
- Massive selection of templates
Reasons to avoid
- Expensive subscription models
- Slow upload speed
Why We Picked It
FlexClip is a simple yet potent online video editor characterized by an extensive array of premade video templates, intuitive design, and dozens of editing tools, even in the free version. You'll love its ease of use and customization options, and you'll have zero issues using any of them, as its interface is remarkably straightforward, even for novices.
However, there are a few drawbacks you should be aware of. For example, free users are limited to HD-only exports, videos up to 10 minutes long, and a maximum of 12 projects.
If you want to remove these limitations, FlexClip's Plus and Business plans give you FullHD and 4K exports, unlimited projects, 3.100GB of cloud storage, and 100GB - 1TB of hosting space, making them excellent for collaboration.
What Do Others Say About It
4.3/5 stars. While most G2 reviews are positive, it's not all rainbows and sunshine, as some users are unhappy with FlexClip's AI generation tools, stating it "needs to be better." On the Trustpilot side, comments are mixed, but users are generally happy with the online video editor, especially its "ready-made templates for TikTok, which are super helpful."
WeVideo
WeVideo
Top online video editor for students, teachers, and small businesses
4.1/5 stars
Specifications
Free trial & Pricing: 30 days; $3.24/month - $73.99/month
Top features: Chroma Key tool, Team collaboration features, Auto subtitle generator
Supported video formats: 3GP, 3GPP, AVI, DIVX, DV, FLV, M4V, MJPEG, MKV, MOD, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, M2TS, MTS, MXF, OGV, WebM, WMV
Reasons to pick
- Intuitive drag-and-drop interface
- Effortless green screen removal
- Color and audio fine-tuning
Reasons to avoid
- Limited free version
- 4K playback isn't smooth
Why We Picked It
WeVideo is a remarkable online video editor and the perfect tool for students, teachers, and business people trying to make professional-looking presentations as quickly and efficiently as possible. From essential editing tools to stock media, effects, transitions, and animations, WeVideo is a neat little online video editor with everything you need.
On the other hand, some issues are also worth mentioning. For example, processing uploaded files can be slow, and 4K playback isn't the best. Furthermore, free users are limited to 480p video exports.
What Do Others Say About It
4.1/5 stars. Comments on G2 are mostly positive when describing WeVideo's editing functionality, with most users disliking the company's subscriptions and saying that "the pricing is horrible and ridiculous." On the other hand, Trustpilot users are mostly pleased, saying that WeVideo is "the easiest and quickest way to produce high-quality videos."
How We Picked the Best Online Video Editors
Selecting only a few online video editors for this humble list took a deep dive into numerous online video editing websites. We thoroughly tested each tool's aspects like speed, usability, and editing capabilities and tried to answer the following questions:
Who's It For?
One of the primary questions we answered was who the online video editor is targeting. While many free web video editors target beginners, some are also geared toward specific uses, such as social media content, marketing promos, TikTok influencers, small businesses, etc.
How Does It Compare to Other Online Video Editors?
While online video editors can't match the power of specialized mobile apps and dedicated desktop editing software like Filmora, they should at least match the performance and ease of use of other good video editing websites, which we tested to qualify the online video editors we picked.
What Are Its Best Features?
In most cases, users care about a tool's editing capabilities, often looking for specific items such as captioning, audio effects library, ready-to-use templates, text-to-speech features, and more. That's why an online video editor's features played a pivotal role in making it on the list of the best online video editors in 2024.
What Do Users Think About It?
Suppose you've found two or more online video editors with features you need for your editing projects. How do you pick between them and make the final decision? In most cases, reading user comments and exploring hands-on reviews on reputable testing websites can give you many answers, and that's what we did before making this list.
How Is The Software's Premium Version Priced?
While those who want to edit movies online usually look for a free video editor website, some users also want advanced editing tools, traditionally locked behind a paywall or a monthly subscription. Therefore, we also considered a premium version of the free online video editor and its pricing.
Conclusion
With the growing need for quick yet professional-looking video content, online video editors have seen a massive rise in popularity. They're everywhere today, and they play a vital role in the lives of social media influencers, business and marketing users, students, teachers, and hobbyists, as they allow users to make effortless video edits straight from the browser.
To help you get started with online video editing, we tried and tested more than a few of these web apps, which resulted in a list of the six best online video editors. In 2024, these web apps include Clipchamp, Canva, InVideo, Kapwing, FlexClip, and WeVideo, all of which have unique strengths and weaknesses and cater to different groups of users.
Yet, these free online video editors also have drawbacks, and we mentioned these limitations. That's why fully-fledged, professional-grade video editing software like Filmora remains the recommended alternative for anyone looking for advanced editing features, high ease of use, and a robust editing experience on both desktop and mobile.
