Best Video Editing Apps: Free, Paid, and What Each Is For
Five video editors that solve different problems: a fast tool for vertical clips, a paid app with no subscription, and a free one that matches it feature for feature.
Five editors, and the first real decision is not which one is "best" — it's which of two different jobs you're actually doing.
Two jobs, not one ranking
InShot, YouCut, and CapCut are built for the same thing: a short vertical clip, edited and exported in minutes. VN and LumaFusion are built for the opposite — a real timeline, multiple audio tracks, color work. Rank all five against each other and the comparison stops meaning much; the right question is which job you have.
The free-versus-paid question comes down to one app
VN gives away, for free, most of what LumaFusion charges $29.99 for once: keyframes, speed curves, multi-track audio, no watermark. The gap that's left is polish and support, not features. LumaFusion still wins if editing is a daily habit and the extra reliability is worth paying for; VN wins for everyone else willing to spend an awkward first session learning it.
Size ranges five times over for the same category
YouCut 153 MB
InShot 251 MB
VN 590 MB
CapCut 771 MB
The weight mostly tracks features, not bloat — CapCut's template library and VN's real timeline both cost storage that a simple trim-and-export tool like YouCut never needs.
Short answer
Quick vertical clips — InShot. Fastest path from footage to export, watermark removed by the subscription.
Same job, don't want to pay for it — YouCut. Fewer tools, no watermark either way.
Matching a trend without editing it yourself — CapCut. Free, heaviest app here, owned by ByteDance.
Real editing, don't want to pay — VN. Everything LumaFusion does, minus the polish, minus the price.
Editing daily — LumaFusion. One payment, built like desktop software, wrong choice for anything short and vertical.
Best for: quick edits on short vertical video — the fastest way from clip to export
Pros
- Fastest loop in the category — trim, caption, export in minutes
- Preset aspect ratios for every platform, nothing to configure by hand
- Largest, most consistently high-rated audience among these five
Cons
- Watermark and ads on the free tier — the subscription removes both
- No real multi-track editing or precise color control
- 251 MB
The default for anything short and vertical. The moment an edit needs more than one audio track or real color work, this is the wrong tool — move to VN rather than fight InShot's ceiling.
Best for: the same quick edit as InShot, without paying to remove a watermark
Pros
- No watermark on the free tier — rare among free editors
- Lightest app in the group at 153 MB
- Covers trimming, merging, speed, music and text — the essentials
Cons
- Ads between actions instead of a watermark
- No keyframes, no speed curves, limited layers
- Made by the same developer as InShot, with visibly fewer features
The honest trade for anyone who won't pay to remove InShot's watermark: fewer tools, but nothing branded onto the export.
Best for: matching a trending format without editing it yourself
Pros
- Template library tracks current trends closely — minutes to reproduce a look
- Usable auto-captions out of the box
- Free, with the largest reviewed audience in the category
Cons
- 771 MB — heaviest editor here by a wide margin, over three times InShot
- Templates make a video look like other videos — that's the whole method
- Owned by ByteDance; worth checking an employer's device policy before installing
Picks the video for you as much as it edits it. Great when the goal is matching a format fast; a ceiling the moment you want the result to look like your own work.
Best for: real multi-track editing without paying for LumaFusion
Pros
- Genuine timeline with keyframes, speed curves and multiple audio tracks
- No watermark, no subscription gate on the core tools
- Covers most of what LumaFusion does, for free
Cons
- Assumes you already know what a keyframe is — a rough first session
- 590 MB
- Less polished and less supported than LumaFusion
The free ceiling of this category, not the floor. Worth the learning curve the moment InShot's limits start showing.
Best for: editing daily and wanting a tool built for it, not a phone app that happens to allow it
Pros
- Multi-track audio with keyframed levels and real color tools
- Edits directly from external storage — footage doesn't need to fit on the device
- One purchase, no subscription — cheaper than most "free" editors within two years
Cons
- $29.99 up front, the only paid app in this list
- Nothing to gain here if you're posting short vertical clips — InShot or CapCut are faster for that
- Steepest learning curve of the group, closer to desktop software than a phone app
Worth it the moment editing is a habit rather than an occasional task. For anyone still posting short clips occasionally, VN gets close for free.