YouTube is a great way to start a side hustle. If you are passionate about a subject, you can be sure that you can find an audience on the platform. But attracting people to your content requires quality videos that stand out.

And to produce such standout videos you need professional video editing software. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford these tools. Thankfully, there are plenty of free video editors for YouTube on the market.

Let’s take a look at the best free video editing software for YouTube.

1. VideoProc Vlogger

Our top pick for the best free editor for YouTube is VideoProc Vlogger. And the primary reason for this is the fully-featured yet easy-to-use nature of the program.

For starters, VideoProc Vlogger has no learning curve and no skill needed. Splitting, cropping, rotating, ripple editing, and many other features on the user interface are very intuitive. Aside from the usual tools like trimming, keyframe insertion, VideoProc gives you the ability to overlay unlimited tracks, including audio, effects, and subtitle tracks.

VideoProc Vlogger has more than 20 speed presets, allowing you to slow down or speed up footage just the way you want. Creating cinematic footage is one of the hardest things to master, so it is great to see VideoProc giving users this many options.

Next, you can also color grade and color correct your 4K videos from inside VideoProc Vlogger. Among other things, you can remove noise, reduce grain, and use 3D LUTs for creating different aesthetics.

Add to this level-3 hardware acceleration, a custom rendering engine, and a state-of-the-art image scaling algorithm and you get an unmatched editing experience that never slows down.

VideoProc Vlogger is free to use, with no strings attached. There is no limit on video exports, no watermark, and no subscription plans. It is available for both Windows and macOS.

2. Lightworks

Lightworks UI

Lightworks is another featured-packed free video editor for YouTube. But before we discuss it in more detail, remember that if you want to edit 4K videos with Lightworks, you’re going to have to subscribe to a premium plan. The free plan limits the resolution to 720p and only exports MP4 files.

If you only want to use Lightworks for small projects, then you won’t be disappointed since it has all the usual bells and whistles. For instance, Lightworks supports timeline trim, split, extend, and crop. Additionally, it also has a built-in color correction feature with support for 3D LUTs.

And to make sure your editing is smooth and responsive, Lightworks supports GPU acceleration. It may not be as good as VideoProc Vlogger’s level-3 hardware acceleration, but it makes the experience a lot better.

There is only support for 64 video tracks and 32 audio tracks. There is also no support for overlay tracks.

3. VideoPad Video Editor

VideoPad UI

VideoPad is a beginner-friendly editor that packs plenty of standout features. The free YouTube video editor has options like crop, trim, resize, flip, manipulate speed, and picture in picture mode. You can also color correct with VideoPad.

Moreover, when you are done with the editing part, you can export the videos in a variety of formats and to a variety of platforms. For instance, you can export directly from VideoPad to YouTube. Similarly, you can also export to cloud services like Google Drive.

VidoePad also allows you to fix fisheye, reduce lens distortion, and sharpen your footage to make it more appealing. You can also add subtitles inside the editor.

Now, there are a few things that VideoPad lacks.

First, VideoPad doesn’t support drag and drop for all features. As an example, if you add transitions, you can’t remove them from the timeline. You have to go to the transition panel and remove it from there.

Second, unlike VideoProc Vlogger, the free version of VideoPad only supports GPU acceleration for effects and transitions. So, your render times will be long.

Finally, the free version of VideoPad also doesn’t allow you to use the software for commercial videos. For that, you have to buy one of the subscriptions.

4. Shotcut

Shotcut UI

No matter which list of "free video editors for YouTube" you skim through, it is more than likely that you’ll find Shotcut there. And Shotcut deserves to be on those lists.

To begin, Shotcut is free and open-source, so it is entirely community-developed.

Moreover, Shotcut boasts many pro features as well. It has more than 20 different transition presets, support for color correction and grading. It also supports multiple layers. You can also customize texts for use in titles and subtitles.

And while the audio editing lags behind the competition like VideoProc Vlogger, the different options on offer more than make up for it. There is support for two audio channels. You can cut, delete, adjust volume, and increase or decrease the audio speed, among other things. Effects like fade in/out are also present.

To finish it up, Shotcut handles the editing workflow flawlessly thanks to GPU acceleration and parallel image processing.

All in all, Shotcut is an excellent choice for folks looking for video editors that cost nothing.

VideoProc Vlogger Is Our Choice For the Best Free Video Editor

While there are a lot of free video editors out there, VideoProc Vlogger offers a unique mix of professional features and beginner-friendly UI. Whether you are working full-time on YouTube or are just starting out, VideoProc Vlogger has something for everyone.