11 Best Free MP4 Editors in 2025

One of the best MP4 video editors on the market is Movavi Video Editor, available for Mac and Windows users. Movavi Video Editor has a whole range of features aimed at pleasing beginners and professionals alike. It can handle the basics, with easy-to-apply tools for cropping, rotating, and trimming your videos.

You can also use it to add special effects, transitions, stickers, music tracks, and more. If you’re working with outside video, you can also use the built-in chroma-key effects and video capturing tools to create top-quality content for social media.

You don’t need to worry about any stiff learning curve, either, thanks to an easy-to-use interface that makes this video editor a must-have. You can try its features out with a free trial. A full (and independent) review is available on the website linked below.

Key features:

• All essential editing tools
• Transitions between video clips
• Extensive library of stickers
• Select music to accompany your video
• Chroma-key tool lets you add a green screen or blue screen effect to your video
• Stabilize shaky video
• Powerful AI tools help you complete complex edits in just a couple of clicks, including background removal, motion tracking, and noise removal
• Free trial to let you see if it’s the right video editor for you

If you’re a Windows user looking for a freeware tool to quickly edit MP4 videos, then VSDC Free Video Editor is worth a look. VSDC Free Video Editor is compatible with almost all known video formats and offers a number of advanced effects and filters, making it a powerful alternative to other Windows MP4 editors.

VSDC Free Video Editor uses a non-linear interface that allows you to quickly place items, effects, filters, and more at any point in time. You can use it to apply special effects, color correction, and transitions, as well as a number of “Instagram-like” filters to quickly jazz up your social media content.

With 4K video support, video stabilization, object motion tracking, and built-in video capturing, VSDC Free Video Editor gives you the tools to create professional videos at no cost. If you need personalized support or access to some advanced features (such as hardware acceleration), however, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro version.

If you want to learn more, you can check out PCMag’s review below.

VSDC Video Editor Pro review at PCMag.com

Key features:

• Available on Windows
• Supports all common video formats
• Add filters to make your videos pop
• Straightforward interface
• Includes powerful editing tools, such as motions tracking
• Pro version contains additional features, like hardware acceleration

Unlike VSDC Free Video Editor, the open-source (and free to download) Avidemux isn’t trying to aim high with professional-level features. This basic MP4 editor focuses on the core features that casual creators are looking for, such as video conversion, upscaling, cutting, and more – all wrapped up in a simple-to-use interface.

While a basic feature set is perfect for beginners, it’s a bottleneck for more advanced creators. Avidemux isn’t built for pros, with an outdated design that other editors match (or beat) in functionality and appearance.

If you need to quickly edit MP4 videos for free, Avidemux will get the job done. If you’re looking to use it for anything other than the most basic projects, however, you may find an alternative like Movavi Video Editor is a better option. You can find out more from Avidemux users by following the link below.

User reviews of Avidemux at G2.com

Key features:

• Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux
• Open-source, so completely free to download and even modify
• Basic editing tools in a simple user interface

If you’re unsure about downloading a free MP4 editor on your Windows 10 PC, you may wish to try an online service like Clipchamp. Clipchamp is one of the best free MP4 editors you can use straight from your web browser, offering a full set of video editing features that make it suitable for beginners and pros alike.

Thanks to its modern, simple-to-use interface, Clipchamp has a shallow learning curve, giving complete beginners the tools to cut up, customize, and complete video projects. It offers a library of templates you can add immediately to your videos, along with tools to help you adjust colors, add filters, and insert audio and images.

You can export to social media directly or as an MP4 file to your PC or Mac at no cost for standard definition, 480p videos. To export 720p or 1080p videos without a watermark, however, you’ll need to sign up for a paid account. This will also unlock additional features, such as cloud backup and unlimited file exports.

If you’re curious to learn more, check out some user reviews for Clipchamp by following the link below.

User reviews of Clipchamp at G2.com

Key features:

• Browser-based, meaning no need to download software (except for the browser, of course!)
• Template library lets you get a jump start on your video-editing projects
• Insert audio and images alongside video
• Tailor the color balance to your liking
• Pro version allows you to backup your projects to the cloud for additional security and peace of mind

Freemake Video Converter isn’t really a fully fledged video editor like some of the other entries we’ve listed. This freeware video conversion tool for Windows users allows you to quickly convert files to or from the MP4 format, but it also supports hundreds of other known formats and codecs.

You can also use Freemake to splice together other videos (including importing directly from YouTube). You can cut and rotate your clips, as well as import other images and audio files. Freemake also creates the necessary code to embed your videos into your website, as well as supporting direct uploads to YouTube.

As free MP4 video editors go, Freemake is a good option for beginners. If you need to convert or edit your clips in just a few clicks, you’ll find few tools as easy to master as this one. You can learn more about Freemake in our review below.

Freemake Video Converter review

Key features:

• Freeware, meaning totally free to download and use with no paywall or subscription
• Import video clips directly from YouTube, no download necessary
• Upload your finished project directly to YouTube
• Automatically generate code to embed your video project on your website
• Convert video files between hundreds of formats

With over 5 million downloads and counting, Movie Creator is a Windows Store app that allows you to create and customize videos using simple-to-apply tools and features.

Using Movie Creator, you can add preset themes to your videos using custom fonts and colors. It also offers free-to-use video stickers, filters, transitions, and more. If you need to customize your videos, you can also use some of the more traditional features, allowing you to convert, trim, split, or merge your videos together.

Movie Creator is freely available to try on Windows, but you’ll need to upgrade to the full version (at cost) to remove ads and video watermarks from your saved projects.

Key features:

• Intuitive user interface has helpful icons to help you easily locate tools
• Select from various themes
• Extensive library of transitions, filters, stickers, fonts, and more
• Basic editing tools, including split, trim, and merge

As the default video editing tool for Mac users, Apple iMovie is where most beginners get their first-hand experience of video editing. This free-to-use tool includes all of the features you’d expect to see, but there are some surprises that make it stand out, from project sharing over iCloud to support for 4K video editing.

You can even edit your videos cross-platform, switching seamlessly from your Mac to the iMovie app on iPhone or iPad devices. It masters the basics, with tools to splice or trim your videos in a simple and modern interface. If you need to create something more advanced, however, you can also add more complex filters, 3D text, and more.

While iMovie is great for beginners and amateurs, it isn’t a fully fledged editor like Movavi Video Editor. You don’t need to download anything to get started, however, as iMovie is installed on all Macs by default. If you want to learn more, check out PC Mag’s independent review of iMovie by clicking the link below.

Review of Apple iMovie at PCMag.com

Key features:

• All basic video-editing tools
• Sleek drag-and-drop interface
• Seamlessly switch between different Apple platforms with the iMovie mobile app
• Share your project with collaborators via iCloud
• Edit videos in 4K
• Library of filters and special effects

If iMovie is the default video editor for Mac users, you might expect that the well-known Windows Movie Maker fills the same role for Windows 10 users. Unfortunately, this legendary video editing tool is actually no longer available for download. Microsoft stopped supporting it in 2017, replacing it with the built-in Photos app.

That doesn’t mean that Windows Movie Maker can’t still be used. If you still have a copy of Movie Maker that runs on the latest version of Windows 10, the drag-and-drop interface will let you put together basic video projects using video clips, text, images, audio, and more.

It’s impossible to ignore the obvious, however, that Windows Movie Maker is limited in scope, outdated, and no longer supported. You can check out better alternatives for Windows users in the article below.

Best free Windows Movie Maker alternatives

Key features:

• Suite of classic filters, text effects, and more
• Record video through your webcam and audio through a microphone
• Import videos, photos, and music from your computer
• Add animations and visual effects to your projects

For a basic, easy-to-use video editor that gets the job done, you can’t really go wrong with VideoPad. The user interface is well organized, meaning beginners can get their bearings quickly. And if you aren’t happy with how things look, you can move around the various panels to your liking.

VideoPad automatically organizes your media into bins, helping you keep track of everything during the editing process. All you need to do is drag each clip from its bin onto the timeline. In fact, many features on VideoPad can be activated by simple drag and drops. That said, you can also access them via menu bars if that’s more your style.

The simplicity of VideoPad’s interface might lead you to think it’s a simple app. But that’s not true. In fact, VideoPad has a good variety of more advanced tools. It just tucks them away to keep things tidy. You can add filters, transitions, overlays, text, and more. A stabilization tool is great for sorting out shaky video. Even more advanced tools include editing 360-degree video, detailed color correction, and more.

If you can’t choose between multiple filters, don’t worry. VideoPad lets you combine multiple filters together, creating a unique result. And you can save your unique filter combination as a custom template, letting you reuse it multiple times in the future.

VideoPad also supports some plugins, but only on the Windows version. There’s also basic audio editing, with tools to help you mix, edit, and record audio.

VideoPad Video Editor reviews

Key features:

• Straightforward user interface, with advanced tools hidden to streamline editing
• Stabilize shaky video
• Mix and edit audio
• Connect with external plugins
• Combine different filters together and save the result as a unique template
• Add text and titles
• Edit video in 360 degrees

What do you get when you make a video editing software that appeals to both consumers and professionals? Welcome to the world of “prosumer” apps. If you’re looking for something more powerful than your everyday basic video editor, but balk at the price and complexity of truly professional video editors, CyberLink PowerDirector might be for you.

CyberLink PowerDirector is all about helping you with the video editing process. That starts from the beginning. On launch, CyberLink PowerDirector presents you with a startup wizard and short tutorial showing you the basics of editing with the software. Once you’ve got your bearings, you’re left to your own devices.

Well, not quite. One of CyberLink PowerDirector’s main draws is the wide selection of powerful AI tools. These are aimed to help you achieve professional-level edits in seconds. An AI voice changer and automatic face blur allow you to quickly obscure a subject’s identity, perfect for documentaries or content creators working with people who don’t want to be identifiable. There’s also an AI tool to quickly remove the background of a video, which you can then replace with a video or image of your choice. That removes the need for careful chroma keying. More complex still is the text-to-speech tool, which can transform written text into a natural-sounding voice. Use this to throw together a voiceover without needing to record audio.

CyberLink PowerDirector also has an extensive suite of manual editing tools and features. Marketers and other professionals will likely appreciate the brand kit. In essence, this is a dedicated media sections for brand assets, which lets you keep track of and quickly add selected media like logos and outros. You can also make edits based on text captions, preview videos in portrait mode, and much more.

All this might sound too good to be true. Well, there is a catch. You have to pay for a lot of it. Fortunately, you have a few choices. First, you can make a one-time payment for perpetual use. That’s great if you are opposed to subscriptions. If you don’t mind regular payments, you can choose between a few different tiers depending on how many features you need.

CyberLink PowerDirector review

Key features:

• Wide array of powerful AI tools that let you achieve complex edits in seconds
• Text-based editing
• Cross-platform editing with a mobile app and CyberLink Cloud
• Large library of stock content, including transitions, templates, and audio tracks
• Brand kit lets you organize and easily add brand assets to your projects
• Easily obscure people’s identity with AI tools
• Transform video into animations with the cartoon effect
• Remove and replace the background of video, including the sky specifically

When it comes to editing video, the basics can go a long way. If you’re someone who doesn’t need plenty of fancy effects clogging up your video editor and getting in the way of your workflow, then OpenShot might interest you.

One of OpenShot’s most well-reviewed features is its interface. It’s simple, attractive, and customizable. You can either toggle between a simple and advanced view, or set about repositioning the various panels to your liking. Tools are clearly marked and intuitive to use. For example, a blue region above the timeline represents the Zoom Slider tool. The blue section shows what part of the timeline is visible. Move it to move through the timeline. Drag either edge to adjust how zoomed into the timeline you are. It doesn’t get much more intuitive than that.

Learning and using OpenShot’s tools might be straightforward, but then again, there isn’t that much to learn. Compared to more advanced free video-editing apps on this list, OpenShot is pretty basic. It has some novel features, like a library of emojis you can add to your projects. Also available are a few complex effects, like a video stabilizer and motion tracker. But that’s about it.

Unfortunately, some of these features have a reputation of not working. Actually, OpenShot itself is considered somewhat unreliable. Users report the official Mac version not working at all, leaving Apple users reliant on one of the Daily Builds instead. Those are different from an official release, but seem to work fine. Other bugs have also been reported, including some related to transitions.

If you’re willing to work around these issues, you might find yourself with an easy-to-use, efficient video editor. For a free product, that’s nothing to sniff at.

OpenShot review

Key features:

• Two layouts, simple and advanced
• Customize the position of various panels
• Some advanced effects, including motion tracking and video stabilization
• Library of emojis with transparent backgrounds
• Compatible with major video file formats
• Intuitive user interface

Like Lightworks, DaVinci Resolve is another Hollywood favorite video editor aimed at the professional market. It allows you to edit almost all major file formats without limitations in its free version, along with impressive 8K video support, advanced clip trimming, and a wide bank of professional effects and features.

The latest version of DaVinci Resolve includes support for 3D audio editing, AI-powered video improvements, HDR support to tweak your color settings, and more. The core features are still there, too, with tools to clip, cut, trim, and combine your video clips together into your final project.

Da Vinci Resolve offers almost everything that a professional editor might need. While it isn’t a beginner-friendly option, professional editors are likely to find themselves satisfied with this Emmy award-winning option for TV, movie, or online video creation. For an up-to-date review of Da Vinci Resolve, click the Tom’s Guide link below.

Review of DaVinci Resolve 17 at Tom’s Guide

Key features:

• One of the best color correction, color grading, and color adjustment tools available
• Edit video in ultra-high-definition 8K
• AI-powered tools to help you edit faster
• Powerful audio editing tools
• Specialized layout for editing vertical videos, perfect for content creators
• Supports various third-party extensions
• Add special effects to your videos

While DaVinci Resolve and Lightworks are powerful MP4 editors, their special effects pale in comparison to HitFilm Express. Over 400 individual effects (including 3D effects) are available in HitFilm Express, making it a good option for experimenting amateurs or professionals who need to put together a project fast.

This cross-platform video editor offers a customizable user interface that you can manipulate to suit your own workflow. Just like other major MP4 editors for free, it offers the basics, letting you create custom videos by clipping, trimming, and joining together your content, whether it’s from multiple video clips, photos, or audio files.

You can also take advantage of HitFilm Express’ video animations and audio editing features, including support for 3D models and animations. It offers support for 4K video and, if you’re just starting out, you can take advantage of a huge number of beginner tutorials on HitFilm’s website.

To learn more, take a look at a recent review at the Tom’s Guide website by following the link below.

Review of HitFilm Express at Tom’s Guide

HitFilm Express is no longer available. Its developer, FXHome, now only offers a subscription-based version of the editing software. However, if you have HitFilm Express downloaded already, you can continue using it as normal.

Key features:

• Motion tracking tool
• Apply a limit to audio levels to prevent uncomfortably loud sounds ruining your project
• Green screen effect lets you change the background, isolate a subject, and more
• Adjust the color of your video
• Combine multiple different video clips into a single shot