Video editing is an intricate process that combines technology, creativity, and skill. As an editor, you need creativity to visualize the final output, expertise to get the desired output, and the tools to ease the creation process.
From a device perspective, Macs are preferred over PCs because they have better processing power and color accuracy. You can leverage Mac’s potential with tools designed for them. In this article, we’ll explore the different video editors for Mac that can work well across different scenarios.
Apple Final Cut Pro – Best for Long-Form Content
Apple Final Cut Pro is a popular MacBook video editor with powerful features. It was one of the first products to introduce non-linear editing, 8K RED RAW and ProRes 422 formats, and a wide range of color spaces.
All these features make the Final Cut Pro ideal for editing long-form content like documentaries and vlogs, as it optimizes your videos. You can also easily add visual effects to make your long videos more appealing to viewers.
Key Features
- It supports up to 64 video angles.
- This tool has built-in noise reduction and audio editing software capabilities.
- You can adjust the focus of video captured in cinematic mode on your iPhone.
- It has more than 300 special effects.
- Its magnetic timeline eliminates gaps automatically.
Pros
- Multi-cam editing and intelligent motion tracking
- 360-degree footage support.
- Streamlined workflow and collaboration
- Organization tools like libraries
Cons
- Can be overwhelming for beginners
- Non-traditional timelines can be confusing.
- Expensive
Pricing – $299.99
Apple Final Cut Pro is one of the best video editing software for professionals handling long-form videos. Although it has a steep learning curve, it’s worth the effort. It’s also compatible with iPhones and iPads.
CyberLink PowerDirector 365 – Best for AI Effects
PowerDirector 365 is one of the best video editors for Macs, as it comes loaded with all the features you need for professional video editing. Its large selection of templates allows you to easily create effects like split-screen collages, animated intros and outros, and more.
PowerDirector 365 is noted for its AI effects that can remove the background, create striking body effects, suggest masks to add, remove objects from the footage, replace the sky, and more.
Key Features
- PowerDirector 365 provides nine layering and blending modes.
- It creates custom masks for unique graphics.
- This tool offers green screen effects.
- Its keyframe controls provide complete control over your projects.
- PowerDirector 365 offers access to millions of royalty-free images and videos.
Pros
- Low learning curve
- Exclusive features and content packs are available
- Works with M1 and M2 chips
- Ideal for all users
Cons
- Stock libraries with paid versions only
- A clunky interface
- Can be overwhelming
Pricing – $4.33 per month
PowerDirector 365 is good value for money, as the price is reasonable for its features. Above everything, the AI tools can save time and effort, thereby speeding up the editing process.
Adobe Premiere Pro – Best for Professionals
Premiere Pro is an editing software for Mac with a wide range of features, including motion graphics and video intros, to provide high-quality professional videos.
Adobe continues to add more features through its collaborations and acquisitions with companies like frame.io. Also, it integrates well with other Adobe products like After Effects and Rush for enhanced capabilities.
Key Features
- Premiere Pro supports automatic transcriptions.
- There are 47 transition effects.
- It stabilizes footage.
- It enables you to reframe videos for different social media platforms.
- Premiere Pro comes with access to the Adobe stock library of music.
Pros
- Offers many professional-trade tools like motion tracking
- Matches colors with Adobe Sensei AI technology
- Hundreds of transitions and effects
- Integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud
Cons
- Consumes a lot of computer resources
- Steep learning curve
- Requires separate applications like After Effects for specific features
Pricing – $20.99 per month
Adobe Premiere Pro suits professionals who have expertise and experience. Its steep learning curve and costs can be intimidating. Adobe has been adding features to make this tool appealing to everyone.
iMovie -Best for Beginners
iMovie is a Mac video editor with a simple interface, making it ideal for beginners. It also comes free with Mac devices, and no specialized knowledge is required to use it. Despite being free and having a simple interface, it has many advanced features like chroma keying, audio effects, storyboards, and trailers.
Key Features
- iMovie automatically adjusts audio to your video’s length.
- It supports the cinematic mode videos of iPhones.
- This tool creates Hollywood-style trailers.
- It comes pre-installed on all Apple devices.
- iMovie is ideal for making mini-movies.
Pros
- Suited for beginners
- Comes with many classy themes
- Color-matching capabilities
- Extensive audio tools
Cons
- No tagging
- No 360-degree video editing
- Lacks features like motion tracking
Pricing – Free
Overall, iMovie is not the best choice for video editing, but it’s free and comes with Mac devices, making it ideal for beginners. Also, it works well for iPhone users who want to edit personal videos.
WeVideo – Best for Tutorials
WeVideo is an Apple video editing software with extensive features for making tutorials. Its ability to create interactive content can maximize engagement and make videos more meaningful for viewers.
It also integrates well with learning management systems like Google Classroom and Schoology. It’s estimated that two-thirds of the top 100 U.S. schools use WeVideo to create educational tutorials.
Key Features
- With this tool, you can create podcasts, videos, and GIFs to enhance learning.
- Its Assignment Ideas Library helps integrate lessons with the existing curriculum.
- WeVideo is compatible with most modern web browsers.
- It supports different types of assessment, including multiple choice questions and polls in videos.
Pros
- Enhances collaboration
- Generates metrics about learners
- Easy to use
- Offers green screen tools
Cons
- Slow performance
- Advanced features can be expensive.
- Suited for a specific audience
Pricing- Starts at $89 per year.
WeVideo is a good choice for teachers, universities, school districts, and online tutors for creating interactive and engaging educational videos. However, its capabilities for advanced and professional video editing are limited.
Kapwing – Best for Social Media
Kapwing is an excellent video editing software for YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, TikTok, and other social media sites. You can use this tool through the web browser without any downloads or installations. It uses a drag-and-drop editing interface, making it ideal for beginners.
- It provides access to millions of stock videos from Pexels and Pixabay.
- You can easily add video and audio clips for social media platforms.
- It comes with 100+ online editing tools for creating different kinds of videos.
- You can directly share the videos on a social media platform.
- Kapwing supports unlimited overlays.
Key Features
Pros
- Removes backgrounds
- Comes with hundreds of trendy templates
- Easy to add subtitles
- Collaborative editing
Cons
- Poor customer service
- Not many advanced features
- Speed depends on the stability of your Internet connection.
Pricing – Starts at $16 per month.
Overall, Kapwing is a good choice for making all kinds of videos, especially short ones for social media. You can use its free version to edit videos online. It also has many AI tools like Smart Cut and Remove Background Noise for impactful editing.
DaVinci Resolve – Best for Post-Production
DaVinci Resolve is a powerful video editor for Mac. It combines many capabilities like editing, color correction, and motion graphics on a single platform. Moreover, its elegant interface makes editing videos and adding effects a breeze.
Due to these features, DaVinci Resolve is ideal for post-production work. A highlight of this tool is its free version, which has most of the capabilities you need to create stunning videos.
Key Features
- DaVinci Resolve intelligently analyzes and sorts audio clips based on the classification and video.
- It has many advanced features like multi-cam editing and motion tracking.
- Its hardware components, like keyboards, panels, and consoles, support advanced editing.
- Fairlight, a part of Resolve, offers professional and post-production audio editing.
- It uses a node-based workflow with hundreds of 2D and 3D tools to quickly transform videos.
Pros
- Supports cloud collaboration
- Comes with four AI tools
- Simplifies workflow management
- Offers speech-to-text transcription using AI
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Highly complex for beginners
- Requires enormous system resources
Pricing- The premium version is available for a one-time license of $295.
In all, DaVinci Resolve is an advanced platform with a big learning curve. Although its free plan is impressive, it can also be overwhelming for beginners. This is why Resolve is more suited for professional video editors.
Wondershare Filmora – Best for Effects
Filmora is a simple tool for video editing on Mac. It offers many AI tools, including AI Thumbnail Creator, AI Copilot Editor, AI text-based editing, and AI music generator, to save time and effort in video editing. It is noted for its providing effects like blur, animation, and filters that can create impactful video content.
Key Features
- It comes with many ready-to-go templates for creating videos for all purposes.
- There are many formats for different social media platforms.
- A drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to add any element to a video.
- It offers many stickers, titles, and effects.
- Its stock images and audio files can enhance your videos.
Pros
- Fast rendering speed
- Intuitive interface
- Inexpensive
- Cross-platform functionality
Cons
- No multi-cam editing
- The video stabilizer tool can be better.
- The effects don’t always blend well.
Pricing – Starts at $49.99 per year.
Filmora is an affordable video editing tool that offers good value for your money. Its many capabilities, pleasing interface, and decent performance make it ideal for all users.
Movavi Video Editor – Best for User Interface
Movavi’s simple user interface makes it an ideal choice for beginners. Its drag-and-drop interface has many filters, titles, transitions, and overlays. With this tool, you can edit a video on Mac within just 20 minutes, making it a good choice for those who want to create lots of content. Moreover, its many intuitive tools make video editing a breeze.
Key Features
- It has many AI tools for removing background, noise removal, and motion tracking.
- 7Movavi offers many free audio and soundtracks.
- The timeline is clear and streamlined to create all video lengths easily.
- Movavi’s advanced color correction makes your videos more appealing.
- It has many pre-built designed effects to create videos in any style.
Pros
- Fast video cutting
- Supports 13 languages
- Offers video stabilization
- Provides precise cuts for sharper videos
Cons
- No clip trimming
- Not compatible with the M1 chip
- No multi-cam editing
Pricing – $79.95
Movavi aims to simplify video editing for everyone. To meet this goal, it packs many capabilities into a simple and uncluttered user interface. However, it’s not the best choice for creating professional videos.
VideoPad – Best for Export Options
VideoPad is an easy-to-use video editing for MacBook Pro. Although the interface is simple, it comes packed with advanced editing features like 360-degree editing, video stabilization, and animation. It provides 60+ supported video formats that can be exported to social media and other applications. You can even save these formats to your desktop or other device.
Key Features
- VideoPad uses AI to create the transcription for videos.
- You can edit 3D and 360 video files.
- You can import and mix music tracks on this platform.
- It uses lossless export for the best quality.
- It offers plugin support for many popular tools.
Pros
- Supports more than 50 visual effects and transitions
- Fast video stream processing
- Intuitive design
- Templates for intros, outros, and titles
Cons
- No advanced functionality for professional video editors
- Slow rendering
- No extensive workflows or AI features
Pricing – $80 for Home and $139 for Master’s editions respectively.
VideoPad is an ideal tool for editing videos and sharing them easily with friends and family. It accepts many input formats and provides output across all video files. You can even burn it directly to a disc or watch the video on YouTube or TV.
Lightworks – Best for Collaboration
Lightworks is a Mac video editor that has been used to edit Hollywood films. It is a highly versatile tool that offers precision and control to professionals. Its free version is ideal for beginners, while the paid versions come with advanced editing tools for professional video editors.
A highlight of this tool is its sequences. You can see the sequences as they happen and can also provide real-time access to other users. This ability to edit and see changes to sequences makes it a great choice for collaboration among members of a team.
Key Features
- You can edit directly from cloud storage to provide visibility to every team member.
- It comes with built-in EQ and filters.
- Lightworks supports a wide variety of formats.
- It has lots of customization options.
Pros
- Accessible Hollywood-style editing.
- Audio editing
- Supports VFX
- Uses color grading to transform videos
- Seamless uploads to YouTube
Cons
- Not the best choice for beginners
- Outdated user interface
- VFX tools can be better.
Pricing – $9.99 per month.
Lightworks is a powerful video editing tool ideal for projects with many contributors. It supports advanced tools through a well-designed interface.
HitFilm – Best for Visual Effects
HitFilm is a visual effects-filled editor for Mac with one of the largest VFX toolsets in the world. It comes with hundreds of presets and built-in filters to quickly include motion tracking, color correction, audio syncing, chroma-keying, and more. Its pro tilting and composing tools add to HitFilm’s appeal among professional editors.
Key Features
- This is a comprehensive platform as it includes video editing, animation, and audio tools in the same platform.
- You can cut, slim, trim, split, crop, and more through its interface.
- It comes with many built-in transitions.
- HitFilm provides a library of stock videos, images, templates, and audio clips.
- Adding 2D and 3D subtitles is easy.
Pros
- Fast rendering
- Tons of visual effects – lighting, lens flares, color grading, keying, and motion tracking
- Plugins for popular tools
- Vibrant community
Cons
- Not intuitive interface
- Requires high computing resources
- Watermark in the free plan
Pricing – $7.99 per month
HitFilm is a useful VFX editor for intermediate users. Its support for various formats and easy upload to social media platforms make HitFilm a good option for YouTube content creators.
Comparison Chart
Below is a quick comparison chart for a glance at the pricing.
| Tool | Cost | Free Plan | Beginner-friendly | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Cut Pro | $299.99 | No | No | Download |
| PowerDirector 365 | $4.33/mo | No | No | Download |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | $20.99/mo | No | No | Download |
| iMovie | Free with Mac | Yes | Yes | Download |
| WeVideo | $89/yr | Yes | Yes | Download |
| Kapwing | $16/mo | Yes | Yes | Download |
| DaVinci Resolve | $295 | Yes | No | Download |
| Filmora | $49.99/yr | Yes | Yes | Download |
| Movavi | $79.95 | Yes | Yes | Download |
| VideoPad | $80 | Yes | Yes | Download |
| Lightworks | $9.99/mo | Yes | No | Download |
| HitFilm | $7.99/mo | Yes | No | Download |
Choosing the Right Video Editor for Mac
The best video editing software for your Mac depends on your specific needs and skill level. Video editing professionals can opt for tools with advanced features, while beginners and hobbyists can explore free and user-friendly options. Consider factors like integration, collaboration features, and budget constraints when selecting a video editing tool.
