Top 10 Best Video Editing Tools for Creators (2026)

CapCut is built for short vertical video, with templates, captions and quick effects. The free plan covers basic editing, and Pro is listed at $19.99 a month (about £15) with 1,200 monthly AI credits, premium templates and 1 TB of storage. A seven-day Pro trial may be offered, depending on region. The page said displayed pricing is for reference only.

Price: free, or about £15 a month ($19.99) for Pro. Good at: quick vertical clips, templates and captions. Best for: reels, shorts and quick social clips. Watch out for: heavy template use can make your videos look like everyone else's.

Descript lets you edit video and audio by editing a transcript. The free plan gives 60 media minutes a month with a 720p export, Hobbyist is listed at $16 a month (about £12) and Creator at $24 (about £18). The page did not say which price is annual and which is monthly, so confirm the billing option at checkout.

Price: free, or about £12 a month ($16) for Hobbyist. Good at: cutting filler words and rough edits from a transcript. Best for: podcasts, interviews and talking-head video. Watch out for: monthly AI credit and media-hour limits on the lower plans.

Filmora is a friendly editor with templates, effects and AI tools. The free version adds a watermark and limits cloud storage and AI use. The Advanced plan is listed at US$59.99 a year (about £45), with 1,000 AI credits a month and 10 GB of cloud storage. The page did not clearly state the Basic or one-off Perpetual prices. Best for: beginners who want a polished look quickly. Watch out for: the watermark on free exports.

Apple's iMovie page covers editing and sharing movies on Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The page checked did not state a price, so check the App Store for the current price on your device. It is a good place to learn the basics, and you can move up to Final Cut Pro later. Best for: Apple users doing basic edits. Watch out for: fewer advanced controls and no Windows version.

Clipchamp is Microsoft's simple video editor. Its page says no payment or download is needed for the free editor, with 1080p exports and no watermarks, while Premium features, including 4K export, come with a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription. The page did not state what that subscription costs. Best for: simple edits for Windows users. Watch out for: 4K and premium features need a paid Microsoft plan.

VEED is a browser editor well known for subtitles and quick edits. Its prices were not shown on the pages checked, so none are given here. Its pages say subtitles are subject to a 50-hour monthly fair-use limit, AI credits do not carry over and plans are billed per seat. Best for: captions and quick edits without installing software. Watch out for: per-seat pricing and monthly allowances.

Camtasia is made for screen recordings, callouts and tutorials. Individual plans billed yearly are listed at Starter $39 a year (about £29), Essentials $179.88 (about £134), Create $249 (about £186) and Pro $599 (about £448). Individual plans are for one user and non-transferable.

Price: from about £29 a year ($39, Starter) up to about £448 a year ($599, Pro). Good at: screen recordings, callouts and step-by-step tutorials. Best for: software walkthroughs and training videos. Watch out for: a large price gap between tiers, so pick the lowest one that has what you need.

DaVinci Resolve is a professional editor with a very capable free version for Mac, Windows and Linux, including multi-user collaboration and HDR grading. The paid Studio version is listed at $236 one-off (about £176), reduced from $295, and adds 10-bit up to 120fps, higher resolutions, the AI Neural Engine and text-based editing.

Price: free, or about £176 one-off ($236) for Studio. Good at: colour grading and professional editing without a subscription. Best for: creators who want pro tools and are willing to learn. Watch out for: a steeper learning curve and a computer powerful enough to run it.

Final Cut Pro is Apple's pro editor for Mac. Apple's UK page lists £299.99 as a one-off purchase for Mac, or £12.99 a month or £129 a year inside the Apple Creator Studio subscription, which also covers iPad and has a 30-day free trial. Student and educator plans are £2.99 a month or £29 a year. Best for: Mac users who edit regularly. Watch out for: no Windows version, and the one-off price is high if you only edit occasionally.

Premiere Pro is the industry-standard editor and works well with Adobe's other apps. Adobe's page listed US$22.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly (about £17), for the first year only and for new subscribers, with a seven-day free trial. The page showed no UK price, so check Adobe's UK page for the price including VAT. Best for: creators who work with the Adobe ecosystem. Watch out for: the price after the first year and a steeper learning curve.