10 Best Free Video Editing Apps for iPhone and Android for 2024

It used to be that the cinematic universe was the de facto province of big Hollywood studios and their retinue of FX technocrats and video editing magicians. Not anymore. The arrival of inexpensive, uber powerful computer and smarter mobile processing units has stripped this industry of its once mystic aura, turning each man and woman on the street into a potential superstar with each YouTube and TikTok production—and making millions in the process, to the chagrin of flop movie producers and directors.

We have seen movies, winning advertisements, and all sorts of films created via smartphones. No longer are these devices held back by memory and rendering limitations—video editing software has become democratic and accessible to all. But one thing remains prohibitive: the cost of the best of the lot. This list of the best free video editing app for iPhone and Android for 2025 might yet give the chance to aspiring video enthusiasts without the wallet firepower of their more affluent counterparts.

Everything is going video’s way right now. Consider, for example, that among internet users in the United States aged 18 to 24,  97.8% see themselves as digital video viewers. That would be virtually everyone in the age group except those stranded in their mountain caves. By the end of 2022, it’s estimated that of the global consumer internet traffic, online videos will take a whopping 82% share.

This state of affairs has all businesses scampering to monetize this video gold mine. The result is that there is hardly anybody whose attention at any time is not captured by videos—whether from streaming services (good bye, cable services), social media creations, and every silly or memorable video clips from family and strangers alike.

This might as well be the grand video age. It’s an open arena too, where everybody can both be creator and consumer. Some sections of the global population might balk at the cost of the applications that enable this social phenomenon, but they could always turn to this list of the best free video editing apps for iPhone and Android.

10 Best Free Video Editing App for iPhone and Android

1. Fastreel

Fastreel is a video editor built for speedy processing of raw video clips, making it perfect for mobile devices. It’s really the scaled-down version of the more heavyweight Movavi Video Editor. It’s web-based so it’s accessible from any mobile device, but those looking for the best free video editing app for Android, you can check out the app’s native Android or iOS versions under a new name—Movavi Clips (Android version and iOS version)

Fastreel lets you crop, cut, merge, flip, and rotate your videos. You can then add subtitles, filters, and text to further enhance your creations. For special effects, it gives you the option to split the screen, change video speed, reverse, or stop motion, among many others. If you’re worried about music, Fastreel provides an entire copyright-free tracks library to suit the mood of key video scenes.

For inspiration, Fastreel comes with more than 30 video templates to spark your creative juices. You will find templates for family videos, intros, movie trailers, advertisements, and more. To spice up your video creations, Fastreel lets you work with GIF, PNG, or JPEG images. The video platform will only let you edit up to 30 minutes of videos, so that should factor in your decision to use it.

2. Wave.video

Wave.video is another web-based video editing tool set with a companion mobile app for iOS. If you are the business or entrepreneur type, Wave.video is perfect for you as it’s equipped with marketing kits to complement your blogging, video hosting, or landing page generation needs. It gives you access to a good number of features for embedding promotional videos, ads, creating new ones or repurposing what you already have.

For video editing, Wave.video lets you create, combine, crop, and trim video clips anyway your creative eyes see it. Whether for personal or business brand purposes, you will find the essential tools in this video application.

For video and audio materials, Wave.video provides stock video footage and music selections to enhance your projects. The videos run in the millions while the audio library is royalty-free for worriless creation.

3. Moovly

Moovly is a customizable and easy-to-use video editing software for creating any kind of video content—video ads, company videos, training content, or educational videos. Available on both iOS and Android devices, it is packed with user-friendly tools to help you to create professional and engaging videos from scratch. The application also offers millions of royalty-free stock images, sounds, videos, and music in its library that you can use to speed up video content creation.

With Moovly, you can create videos in any style you want. It has advanced video editing tools that allow you to create documentary footage, animated illustrations, motion graphics, or whiteboard videos with hands drawing and writing. You can upload your own videos, pictures, audio, and text and use them together with media objects from the library to make compelling video content. The software also comes with various animation effects, like rotate, zoom, fade, fly, bounce, wipe, and more.

Furthermore, Moovly is built with a video automation tool that lets you automate the production of videos and speed up the entire process of content creation. It generates a series of videos based on a list or database, allowing you to add a personal touch to every video automatically produced by Moovly. You can also use data from RSS feeds, Twitter, or other sources and automatically convert them into videos.

4. HitFilm Express

HitFilm Express is an all-in-one video editing and visual effects solution that provides all the editing, animation, and audio tools you need. Ideal for indie filmmakers and amateurs, HitFilm Express offers a free version of the software and supports both Mac and Windows devices. Built with a simple and intuitive user interface, the software allows you to create appealing and engaging video content.

The application is also known for its visual effects toolkit. It provides a color grading and correction tool that you can use to take your videos up a notch and apply professional presets and filters. HitFilm Express is also equipped with motion tracking, keying, and lighting adjustment tools that help you to produce realistic effects. With the solution’s 3D animation tools, you can also bring to life various kinds of characters and sceneries and make your videos more fun.

5. iMovie

Purposely built for Apple devices, iMovie is another free video editing software that offers a wide range of tools for video and audio enhancement. Its key features include options to crop and rotate video clips, modify and enhance video color settings, add video transitions, stabilize shaky videos, and change the speed of clips. The solution also offers excellent tools for narration, green-screen effects, and soundtrack.

With its user-friendly features, iMovie provides a simple, straightforward way to edit your videos. It is particularly suited to users looking for an easy way to put together still images and video clips into a presentable movie. This is one of the best video editing applications for Mac and iPhone devices. With iMovie, you can create and edit videos on any Apple device that you own.

6. VideoPad

VideoPad is one of the best video editing software for beginners who want to create home movies, tutorials, and social media videos. It is easy to use and learn and has a stylish and well-organized interface that makes video editing much simple and straightforward. It also offers a multitude of features, including green screens, audio mixers, video stabilization, 3D video editing, text overlay editing, and more.

Ideal for both commercial and home use, VideoPad allows you to create 360-degree videos, virtual showrooms, creative movies, and product ads. It takes up minimal system resources, which means your videos can be rendered more quickly in VideoPad compared to other video editing software. The software also allows you to optimize your editing workflow by organizing your video clips, images, effects, and audio files into bins.

VideoPad is available in two editions: a non-commercial edition that can be downloaded for free, and a full version of the software for quarterly subscriptions. There are also a handful of add-ons that you can purchase along with the application, including a photo editor, a sound editor, a multitrack mixer, a CD burning tool, a stream recorder, and a video format converter. It supports both iOS and Android devices so you can edit videos right from your mobile phone.

7. Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is one of the most widely-used video editing software. It is a free application that works perfectly with most computers that have a Windows operating system. Although it comes as a built-in program on some versions of Windows, you can also download the application separately so you can start using it from your old or new computer. For basic video editing and creation, the software gives users the freedom to design and create their own video content.

Built with simplicity and ease of use in mind, the program allows you to combine your footage into digital movies with background music, transitions, titles, and effects. It provides a more simplified version of the standard video editor timeline, with long video clips represented in different thumbnails. The program’s video timeline also gives you a glimpse of audio waveforms. This allows you to see where the loud and quiet parts of your video lay and modify them as necessary.

Moreover, the software provides a slew of high-quality transition effects. Aside from the standard dissolves and fades, the program also offers sweeps and curls, patterns, reveals, wipes, shatter effects, and more. There are also a number of artistic filters that you can use to unleash your creativity in movie making, including blur effects, edge detection, threshold, and posterize.

8. Lightworks

Lightworks is a sophisticated video editing software that provides Hollywood-worthy film editing capabilities. It has an established reputation in the filmmaking and cinema industry. The program has been used to create films and expensive music videos by a number of Oscar-winning Hollywood legends, as well as YouTubers and other well-known influencers. Compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux computers, the application offers professional quality tools that will make your clips more remarkable.

Whatever kind of video content you have in mind, the software’s robust set of film editing tools can easily help you to achieve it. Once you get used to the program’s unique and advanced workflow, you’ll find it fast and remarkably straightforward to use. Lightworks also provides a well-designed and organized timeline to help you to create polished videos. It is built with a handful of preset profiles. This allows you to export your work in the right format for your chosen video-sharing site.

Lightworks is a free software program with lots to offer its users when it comes to professional video editing. To access its full video editing toolkit, however, you may want to subscribe to its paid plans, which range from $9.99/user/month to $23.99/user/month.

9. Shotcut

Shotcut is a free, open-source, cross-platform video editor packed with advanced an array of editing features and audio/video effects. It helps you to create your videos to perfection with its top-notch editing tools. It has video effects, transitions, text overlays, and multiple audio features. The program also supports resolutions as high as 4K and a wide range of video file formats, highlighting its impressive capability as a professional editing solution.

The program is an open-code application. This means you can easily alter Shoutcut’s source codes so you can create a high-quality, easily integrated, and secure application that can make your editing tasks more simple and effective. It has a neat and orderly interface that brings out the efficiency of your editing workflows. Aside from the standard tools of a classic video editing program, Shotcut also provides a host of advanced editing features. This includes three-way color correction and grading, 360-degree video filters, clip reversal, and more.

Expertly built with a wide format support, Shotcut allows you to render videos in hundreds of video and audio formats and codecs. It also has a multi-format timeline that enables you to mix and match frames and resolutions within a single project. Furthermore, Shotcut offers customizable filters that can be layered and combined in a raft of creative and interesting ways.

10. Kinemaster

Kinemaster is a free mobile video editor available on iOS and Android devices. It is a powerful video editing tool that can help you to bring creative stories to life. It also has a variety of mobile-friendly features. Additionally, it supports multiple layers of video, images, text, and audio and lets you create high-quality videos from your phone. You can also share your videos on various social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and more.

Whether you are a professional or an amateur at video editing, Kinemaster offers an array of easy-to-use features to help you to achieve the kind of video content you have in mind. The program is built with multiple effects and transitions that you can use to make fun and interesting videos. It supports multi-layering, which means you can add multiple videos, audio, texts, and images within a project. You can also apply transitions to your videos in any way that you want.

Kinemaster is the ideal solution for advertisers, influencers, and publishers who want to showcase their creativity to the world. The application also has a real-time recording feature that allows you to capture videos and audio instantly. Furthermore, editing can also be done right away, enabling you to add effects or modify videos in real-time. In this way, you no longer have to wait for the recording process to be completed before you can start editing your video files.

How do free video editing apps compare to paid alternatives?

Many users wonder how free apps stack up against their paid counterparts when exploring video editing options. Here’s a comparison highlighting the main differences between free and paid video editing apps:

• Feature Set:
  • Free Apps: Typically offer a limited set of features, focusing on basic editing tasks. Users can perform essential functions like trimming, cutting, and applying simple filters but may miss out on advanced tools.
  • Paid Apps: Provide a comprehensive suite of features, including professional-grade tools like multi-layer editing, advanced color correction, and special effects. These features cater to users looking to produce high-quality videos.
• User Experience:
  • Free Apps: Often have a simpler interface, which can be great for beginners. However, the limited functionality may frustrate users as their skills progress.
  • Paid Apps: Usually feature more sophisticated interfaces designed for experienced editors. While a learning curve may exist, the enhanced capabilities can lead to better production quality.
• Watermarks and Ads:
  • Free Apps: Many free apps impose watermarks on exported videos or include ads, which can detract from the content’s viewing experience and overall professionalism.
  • Paid Apps: Generally allow for watermark-free exports and provide an ad-free experience, which is crucial for content creators looking to share polished videos.
• Support and Updates:
  • Free Apps: Customer support may be limited, and updates can be infrequent. Users often rely on community forums for help, which might not always provide timely solutions.
  • Paid Apps: Usually offer robust customer support, including tutorials, online resources, and responsive assistance. Frequent updates often introduce new features and fix bugs.
• Performance and Export Quality:
  • Free Apps: They may have restrictions on export resolutions and file formats, affecting video quality. Performance can also vary, with some free apps running slower or crashing during intensive tasks.
  • Paid Apps: Typically support higher resolutions (including 4K) and various file formats. Enhanced performance ensures smoother editing and rendering processes.

Choosing the Best Free Editing Software

So there you have it—the best video editing app free to use to create the video content that you need. With so many of these free video editing app vying for your attention, choosing the best one is a difficult task. Whether you are an amateur or a professional videographer, a powerful editing app can help you edit and publish your cinematic creations. So in picking which one of these apps to use, you have to carefully consider its features and capabilities, as well as the supported devices and formats for your rendered videos.

Although some of these free applications may not be on par with premium products in the marketplace, most of these free applications are remarkably easy and convenient to use. This makes them an excellent choice for beginners who are testing out video editing capabilities, as well as for professionals who need to create different kinds of video content more quickly and stylishly.

That being said, Fastreel is our recommended free video editor app if you want quick and easy processing of raw video clips. Its native apps for mobile devices offer a wide collection of built-in effects. It also has video themes that you can use to give your videos a cinematic feel. To know more about video editing software product options, you can also check out our guide to the top 20 video editing software here.

By Nestor Gilbert

Nestor Gilbert is a senior B2B and SaaS analyst and a core contributor at FinancesOnline for over 5 years. With his experience in software development and extensive knowledge of SaaS management, he writes mostly about emerging B2B technologies and their impact on the current business landscape. However, he also provides in-depth reviews on a wide range of software solutions to help businesses find suitable options for them. Through his work, he aims to help companies develop a more tech-forward approach to their operations and overcome their SaaS-related challenges.