The best apps video editing in March 2023
The very best video editing apps help you edit footage on your phone or tablet on the go. Expect a simpler version of full desktop software, giving you key functionality alongside a stripped back interface. In short, they can be a handy part of an editing workflow for both beginners and professionals.
We've played with the best video editing apps on this list, so we know they are brilliant for quick tweaks and casual users. Our reviewers have tried out many of the best-known options through hours of editing their own projects, and judged the ease of use, speed, functionality and more to give their honest opinions.
In our list you'll find video editing apps for iOS, video editing apps for Android, and apps that can be used on both platforms. Most are suitable for both smartphones and tablets (see our guide to best tablets for video editing if you need one of those). And if you have one of the latest iPhones (13 Pro or Pro Max), some even support the new ProRes format.
Some of these apps let you move your clips between mobile devices and computers, too. If you like the sound of that, then also see our guides to best computer for video editing. You might also want to check out our guides to the best video editing software overall, the best monitor for video editing and the best MacBook for video editing. But in the meantime, these are our choices as the best video editing apps. We'll start with quick links to our top three choices, then continue with detailed pros and cons of all of our choices.
The best video editing apps: Our top 3
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A scaled-down version of Premiere Pro, Premiere Rush is the best video editing app overall. It's great for beginners, but also useful for pros because you can move footage back and forth into Premiere Pro. There's a free version too!
Quik: The best video editing app for GoPro
The Quik app is the best app for editing your action-packed GoPro footage, and allows you to remotely control your GoPro device too. This advanced, yet easy-to-use app is free to download, and supports 4K.
LumaFusion: the best iOS app for advanced features
If you're using an iPhone or iPad for your video editing, LumaFusion is the most comprehensive app available today. Its sophisticated interface offers an unmatched range of colour, effects, audio, and keyframing options.
The best video editing apps in full
01. Adobe Premiere Rush (cross-platform)
The best video editing app overall
SPECIFICATIONS :Platform: iOS, Android, Windows, MacOSMulti-track editor: YesExport directly to YouTube: Yes4K support: Yes
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REASONS TO BUY : +Cross-platform
+Useful export options
+Free starter plan
REASONS TO AVOID : -Full version needs subscription
Let's keep things simple. Whether you're using iOS or Android, Adobe's Premiere Rush is the best video editing app available today, bar none. Why? Well, we've yet to see another app that offers such wide functionality from such a simple interface. The UI offers large icons and panels, making it very straightforward for standard video editing tasks, such as dragging-and-dropping footage onto the timeline, correcting colour, mixing in music or voiceovers, or adding titles and transitions.
The focus is on letting you process clips quickly to upload them to social media. For example, it automatically converts your videos to the specific aspect ratios and quality levels required by each platform. That makes it the perfect choice for YouTubers, social media users and anyone wanting to experiment with video editing.
This cross-platform, video editing app is much easier to use than Adobe's more complex desktop software, such as Premiere Pro, After Effects and Audition. That said, Premiere Rush isn't just for amateurs. It's also the best video editing app for professional video editors, because it lets you move content back and forth into Premiere Pro, where you can make more sophisticated edits to it.
You can subscribe to Premiere Rush as a single app, as part of a limited free starter plan, as a bundle with Premiere Pro, or as part of the entire Adobe suite. Either way, you'll get access to updates. For instance, the most recent version (2.0), introduced unlimited exports on desktop, additional languages, and thousands of new royalty-free sound effects and loops. See our full Premiere Rush review for more info.
Quik screenshot on phones plus the Quik logo
02. Quik (cross-platform)
The best video editing app for GoPro users
SPECIFICATIONS: Platform: iOS, Android, Windows, MacOSMulti-track editor: YesExport directly to YouTube: Yes4K support: Yes
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REASONS TO BUY: +Easy interface
+Sync songs to footage
+Horizontal levelling
REASONS TO AVOID: -Doesn't work with all phones
If you use a GoPro, there are a number of third-party apps for editing your footage. However, the best option we've tried to date is the official GoPro app, Quik. It's focused on two specific things: allowing you to remotely control your GoPro device, and edit your GoPro footage. Quik automatically imports your footage, and makes it easy to do things like sync your clips to music, add photos, titles and timelapse sequences, and include graphs based on your stats.
The Horizon Levelling editor tweaks the angle of your scene to correct things if your camera wasn't mounted in line with the horizon. You can go through your footage frame-by-frame to find standout still images. And once your photos and videos are ready, you can directly upload them to Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and more, or share them via text or email.
Quik is updated regularly, with recent updates tuning up the app’s navigation and workflow, as well as improving the 'smarter edits' function, adding new music and the connectedness to your camera. This app is free, but you can pay for extra themes and filters via in-app purchases.
03. LumaFusion (iOS)
The best iOS app for advanced features
SPECIFICATIONS: Platform: iOSMulti-track editor: YesExport directly to YouTube: Yes4K support: Yes
TODAY'S BEST DEALS: Visit Site
REASONS TO BUY: +Advanced features
+Thunderbolt 4 support
+No subscription needed
REASONS TO AVOID: -iOS only
If Premiere Rush isn't quite advanced enough for you, then check out LumaFusion, which has the most comprehensive feature set of any video editing app, although it's only available for iOS. Produced by the creators of Pinnacle Studio, LumaFusion is kind of like a mobile version of Final Cut Pro, with a multitrack timeline along the bottom, media browser top left, and a preview monitor.
Any effect can be keyframed, as can clip animation, allowing precise adjustments to your project. You get six video/audio tracks for photos, videos, titles and graphics, along with an extra six audio tracks for narration, music and sound effects. LumaFusion offers insert/overwrite capability, colour correction, a fully featured audio mixer, lossless export, support for vertical video, advanced title creation tools and slow motion/fast motion (forward and reverse). There are also an impressive number of effects you can apply.
For casual users, this is mostly overkill, and for beginners it would be a frightening learning curve. Professional video editors, though, will appreciate the range of powerful features it has to offer. These include a MultiCam Sync feature, which lets you sync and edit clips from multiple camera and audio sources. Plus, if you have the latest iPad Pro, you can take full advantage of your Thunderbolt 4 port for faster download and upload speeds. And there's a nice integration with Dropbox to make it easier to collaborate on footage with others.
Once you're done editing, there are endless sharing options and exporting options. For instance, you can export at different resolutions, qualities and frame-rates, as well as exporting audio and video separately. The app even supports for XML export to Final Cut Pro. At such an affordable price, Lumafusion is a real bargain, making it one of the best video editing apps for pros. For more info, read our full LumaFusion review.
Screenshot from our review of Kinemaster, one of the best video editing apps
04. KineMaster (Android, iOS)
A cross-platform video editing app with pro appeal
SPECIFICATIONS: Platform: Android, iOSMulti-track editor: YesExport directly to YouTube: Yes4K support: Yes
TODAY'S BEST DEALS: Visit Site
REASONS TO BUY: +Advanced features
+Multi-track editing
+Precision control
REASONS TO AVOID: -Watermarks on free version
If you're a professional video editor, KineMaster is well worth checking out. Available for both iOS and Android, this app allows you to shoot, edit and export your footage on your phone or tablet via a mult-layer interface. High-end features include blending modes, chroma-keying, and audio mixing.
Smooth and precise, KineMaster is one of the best video editing apps for trimming clips and layers with frame-by-frame granularity. Audio clip timing can be adjusted, too, with sub-frame accuracy. You can upload multiple layers of video (on supported devices), images and text, as well as multi-track audio. Other features include instant edit previews, precise volume envelope control, colour LUT filters, speed controls, chroma key compositing and 3D transitions.
In short, while this isn't quite Premiere Pro on a mobile device, in our experience it isn't far off. Its interface will be quite off-putting for a beginner or casual user, but video editing professionals will appreciate its comprehensive range of tools. You'll need an up-to-date phone or tablet to use it without lag, though.
KineMaster is free to download, but adds watermarks to videos, which you have to take out a subscription to remove. This also allows you to export at 1080p or 4K, and get access to over 1,000 premium assets. Find out more in our KineMaster review.
Screenshot from our review of Apple iMovie, one of the best video editing apps
05. iMovie (Apple devices)
Free video editing app for all iPhone and iPad users
SPECIFICATIONS: Platform: iOS, MacMulti-track editor: YesExport direct to YouTube: Yes4K support: Yes
TODAY'S BEST DEALS: Visit Site
REASONS TO BUY: +Free for Apple users
+Easy to use
REASONS TO AVOID: -Not the most feature-rich
-Not the most powerful
It's great to find a useful app that's genuinely free. But what's even better is one you don't even have to download. And iMovie is a great example: it's already there on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, so you may as well give it a try.
iMovie is aimed at ordinary users who don't necessarily have any experience of video editing, so it's much less sophisticated than the likes of LumaFusion or Kinemaster. However, if you're a video editing beginner, or just want an easy way to add titles, music, voiceovers and photos to your home clips, it's a great choice.
In our review, we found the interface easy to use. The app also supports 4K on modern devices, and it integrates beautifully with the Apple ecosystem as a whole. So for example, you can save your clips to the iCloud drive or stream them to an Apple TV via AirPlay. iMovie plays nicely with Apple Photos, Mail and Messages too. To learn more about the app, see our full iMovie review.
The last big update since we did our full review came last October, and introduced the ability to import and edit video captured in Cinematic mode on iPhone 13. If you have a new iPhone or iPad, you can now use the Cinematic control in the inspector to modify the intensity of the depth effect; focus on faces or other objects by selecting them in the viewer; and view and delete focus points in the timeline.
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