Comparison of video editing software

This is a comparison of non-linear video editing software applications. See also a more complete list of video editing software.

General information

This table gives basic general information about the different editors:

Program Platform Developer Year of first release Year of latest release Latest version License
Adobe Premiere Elements Windows, Mac Adobe Systems 2004 2012 12 [1] (September 23, 2013) [±] Trialware
Adobe Premiere Pro Windows, Mac Adobe Systems 1991 2014 (Adobe CC 2014)
CC 2014 (8.0.1)[2] (July 2014) [±] Trialware
Avid Free DV Windows, Mac Avid ? ? 1.8 Discontinued (Commercial)
Autodesk Smoke Mac Autodesk ? ? 2013 Commercial
Xpress Pro Windows, Mac Avid 2003 ? 5.8 Discontinued (Commercial)
Media Composer Windows, Mac Avid 1989 2012 8.3.1 (March 16, 2015) [±] Commercial
Avidemux Windows, Mac, BSD, Linux Mean, Gruntster and Fahr 2014 2.6.8 GPL
Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Windows, Mac, Solaris, Irix, Linux Blender Foundation 2002 2014 2.70a GPL
Cinelerra Linux, Mac Heroine Virtual 2002 2014 4.6 GPL
Corel VideoStudio Windows Corel Corporation 1993 (Under Ulead) 2015 X8 Trialware
Montage Extreme Windows Dayang 2007 2009 1.2 Commercial
EditDV Windows, Mac Radius 1997 2002 3.0 Discontinued (Commercial)
Edius Windows Grass Valley Canopus 2002 2014 7.1 Commercial
Final Cut Express Mac Apple Inc. 2003 2007 4.0.1 Discontinued (Commercial)
Final Cut Pro Mac Apple Inc. 1999 2015 10.2 Commercial
FORscene Cross-Platform (Java) Forbidden Technologies 2004 ? 15 April 2007 Commercial
iMovie Mac, iOS Apple Inc. 1999 2015 10.0.8 Commercial
ivsEdits Windows Interactive Video Systems 2008 2014 3.0.484 Freeware, Commercial
Kdenlive Linux, BSD, Mac Open Source Community 2002 2014 0.9.10 GPL
Kino Linux, BSD Open Source Community 2000 2009 1.3.4 GPL
Lightworks Windows, Linux, Mac Editshare 1989 2014 12.0 Freeware, Commercial
LiVES GNU/Linux, Unix-like Gabriel Finch and others 2002 2015 2.2.8 GNU GPLv3 +
Magix Movie Edit Pro Windows Magix circa 2001 (VideoDeluxe 1.0) 2015 2015 Plus Commercial
MainActor Linux, Windows MainConcept 2004 2007 5.5 Discontinued (Commercial)
MoviePlus Windows Serif (Europe) Ltd 2000 2011 X5 Commercial
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Windows Womble Multimedia ? 2012 5.0.1.105 Trialware
VideoPad Windows, Mac NCH Software 2008 2013 3.61 Commercial
Nero Multimedia Suite Windows Nero AG 2002 2011 11.0 Commercial
OpenShot Video Editor Linux Open Source Community 2008 2012 1.4.3 GPL
Pinnacle Studio Windows Pinnacle Systems 1999 2014 18 Commercial
Pinnacle Videospin Windows Avid 2009 2009 2.0 Discontinued (Freeware)
Pitivi Linux Open Source Community 2004 2014 0.94[3] LGPL
Shotcut Windows, Mac, Linux Meltytech, LLC 2011 2015 15.02 GPL[4]
Sony Vegas Pro Windows Sony Creative Software 1999 2014 13 Commercial
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Windows Sony Creative Software 2000 2014 13.0 Commercial
Ulead MediaStudio Pro Windows Ulead Systems (now Corel) ? 2006 8.1 Discontinued (Commercial)
VideoThang Windows VideoThang LLC 2007 2008 2.0.1 Discontinued (Freeware)
VirtualDub Windows Avery Lee 2000 2013 1.10.4 stable GPL
VirtualDubMod Windows 2002 2007 1.5.10.3_b2550 Discontinued (GPL)
Windows Movie Maker Windows Microsoft 2000 2012 2012 (v16.4.3528.0331) (April 17, 2014) [±] Freeware

System requirements

This table lists the operating systems that different editors can run on without emulation, as well as other system requirements. Note that minimum system requirements are listed; some features (like High Definition support) may be unavailable with these specifications.

Windows Mac OS X Unix-like Processor RAM HDD
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 (32-bit) Yes Yes (as of CS3) No 1.4 GHz, SSE2 compatible processor 1 GB / 2 GB when editing HD 4 GB
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 (64-bit) Yes Yes No multicore x64 compatible processor 2 GB 10 GB
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 (64-bit) Yes Yes No multicore x86-64 compatible processor 2GB / 4 GB when editing HD 10 GB
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 (64-bit) Yes Yes No multicore x64 compatible processor 8 GB 10 GB
Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes (as of v9) No 2 GHz with SSE2 support 2 GB 4.5 GB
Avid Free DV Yes Yes No 933 MHz Pentium, 667 MHz PPC 1 GB ?
Media Composer Yes Yes No Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz processor or faster 4+ GB 80 GB
Xpress Pro Yes Yes No Pentium 4, PowerMac G5 1 GB 20 GB
Avidemux Yes Yes Yes ? ? ?
Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes Yes 300 MHz 128 MB 20 MB free space
Cinelerra No Yes Yes 500 MHz 256 MB ?
Corel VideoStudio Yes No No Pentium 4 or higher, SSE2 when editing HD 512 MB 3 GB
Montage Extreme Yes No No Pentium 4 or higher 1 GB 20 GB
EditDV ? ? ? ? ? ?
Edius Yes No No Pentium 4 3.0 GHz+ 1 GB 800 MB
Final Cut Express No Yes No 500 MHz 384 MB 1 GB
Final Cut Studio No Yes No 1.25 GHz G4, Intel Core Duo or Xeon 1 GB 4 GB Apps
FORscene Yes Yes Yes N/A 256 MB Any
iMovie No Yes No Intel based Macs or iPhone 4 or later 1 GB 5 GB
Kdenlive No Yes Yes 600 MHz 256 MB 1 GB
Kino No No Yes ? ? ?
Lightworks Yes Yes (planned) Yes Intel Core Duo, Intel Xeon or AMD processor 2 GB 200 MB
LiVES No Yes Yes 800 MHz 128 MB 10 GB
Magix Movie Edit Pro Yes No No Dual core processor with 2.0 GHz 1 GB 2 GB
MainActor Yes No Yes 700 MHz 128 MB ?
MoviePlus Yes No No Pentium II or AMD Athlon XP 128 MB 149 MB
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes No No 233 MHz 32 MB 20 MB
VideoPad Yes Yes No multicore x86 compatible processor 1GB Any
Nero Multimedia Suite Yes No No 2 GHz AMD or Intel processor 512 MB (1 GB for Windows Vista or Windows 7) / 2 GB when editing HD 5 GB
OpenShot Video Editor No Yes Yes 600 MHz 256 MB 1 GB
Pinnacle Studio Yes No No 1.8 GHz 1 GB 1.7 GB
Pinnacle VideoSpin Yes No No 1.4 GHz 512 MB 150 MB
Pitivi No No Yes ? ? 2 MB
Sony Vegas Pro Yes No No 2.0 GHz 1.0 GB 400 MB
Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes No No 800 MHz 256 MB 800 MB
VirtualDub Yes No No i486 16 MB 3 Mb
VirtualDubMod Yes No No ? ? ?
Windows Movie Maker Yes No No 1 GHz for best performance 128 MB 10 Mb
Windows Mac OS X Unix Processor RAM HDD

"Unix" includes the similar Linux, BSD and Unix-like operating systems.

High definition import

The table below indicates the ability of each program to import various High Definition video formats for editing.

720p HDV 1080i HDV DVCPRO HD Uncompressed HD IMX AVCHD XDCAM HD HDV AVC-Intra DNxHD R3D
Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (third party via codec install) Yes
Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes No No No Yes (As of 7.0) ? Yes ? ? ?
Avid Media Composer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Avid Xpress Pro Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? Yes ? Yes ?
Avidemux ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Blender Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? No[5]
Cinelerra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Dayang Montage Extreme Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
EDIUS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Elecard AVC HD Editor Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes ? ? ?
Final Cut Express Yes Yes No No No Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Final Cut Studio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (third party via codec install) Yes
FORscene Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
iMovie HD Yes Yes Yes (3rd party) No No Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Lightworks Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (as of Pro 11) Yes (as of Pro 11) Yes (as of Pro 11) Yes Yes (as of Pro 11) Yes (3rd party) Yes (as of Pro 11)
LiVES Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? Yes ? ? ?
Magix Movie Edit Pro Yes Yes No ? No Yes ? Yes No ? ?
Pitivi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Kino GTK ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MainActor ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
VideoPad Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes ? ? ? No ? Yes ? ? ?
Nero Vision Xtra/ Nero Video Premium HD Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No No
OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Pinnacle Studio Yes Yes No No No Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Serif MoviePlus Yes Yes ? ? No Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Sony Vegas Yes Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes (as of Pro 9)
Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes Yes ? Yes No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Ulead VideoStudio Plus Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? ?
VirtualDub Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WeVideo Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? ?
Windows Live Movie Maker Yes Yes No ? ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Windows Movie Maker Yes Yes No No No Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
720p HDV 1080i HDV DVCPRO HD Uncompressed IMX AVCHD XDCAM HD HDV AVC-1 DNxHD R3D

Feature set

High Definition support Non-destructive editing Multitrack editing Full-screen playback Storyboard mode Video tracks Audio tracks / max channels Linear timecode display GPGPU with OpenCL acceleration
Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes, By hitting ctrl+~ (CS6 only) Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes Yes
Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Avid Xpress Pro Media Composer Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 24 tracks, unlimited layers 24 tracks, unlimited layers Yes ?
Avidemux Yes Yes ? ? ? 1 2 / ? ? ?
Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Cinelerra Yes
(any resolution)
Yes ? Yes No Unlimited Unlimited / 16 Yes ?
Corel VideoStudio Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 6 4 Yes ?
Dayang Montage Extreme Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 99 per sequence 99 per sequence Yes ?
EDIUS Yes Yes Yes Yes, on both PC & TV monitors in realtime No unlimited realtime layers unlimited realtime layers Yes ?
Elecard AVC HD Editor Yes Yes ? No No ? ? Yes ?
Final Cut Express Yes Yes ? Yes, with "external video" Yes, in the Media Browser 99 per sequence 99 / 2 per sequence No ?
Final Cut Studio Yes Yes ? Yes, Yes, in the Media Browser 99 per sequence 99 / 24 per sequence Yes Yes
FORscene Input only Yes ? Yes (podcasts) Beta test 2 4 Yes ?
iMovie Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 2 6 Yes ?
Pitivi Yes Yes ? Yes No Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Kdenlive Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Kino GTK ? Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Lightworks Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes Planned
LiVES Yes
(any resolution)
Yes
(multitrack mode)
? Yes
(on first, second or all monitors, configurable)
No Unlimited audio per video track + backing audio / 2 channels Yes ?
Magix Movie Edit Pro Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 32/99 (Plus/Premium) each track may contain audio and video ? Yes
MainActor ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
VideoPad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited ? Planned
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 1 3 Yes ?
Nero Vision Xtra/Nero Video Premium HD Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Unlimited Yes Yes Yes (CUDA)
OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes ? No No Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Pinnacle Studio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ?
Serif MoviePlus Yes Yes Yes Yes, & on separate monitor or TV Yes, partial Unlimited Unlimited No ?
Sony Vegas Pro Yes

(any resolution)

Yes Yes Yes No Unlimited Unlimited/Max Channel 16 Yes Yes (as of 11)
Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes Yes ? Yes, on separate monitor ? 99 ? Yes ?
Ulead VideoStudio Plus Yes Yes ? Yes Yes 7 9 Yes ?
VirtualDub Yes Yes No No No 1 1 Yes ?
WeVideo Yes Yes ? Yes No 1 Unlimited No ?
Windows Live Movie Maker Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Windows Movie Maker Yes No ? Yes Yes 1 2 Yes ?
High Definition support Non-destructive editing Multitrack editing Full-screen playback Storyboard mode Video tracks Audio tracks Linear timecode display GPGPU with OpenCL acceleration

Output options

Please note that recording to Blu-ray does not imply 1080@50p/60p . Most only support up to 1080i 25/30 frames per second recording. Also not all formats can be output.

DVD High Definition Smart phone Java phone QuickTime Windows Media MPEG-4 XML/EDL Print to tape Web, not hosted Web, hosted Podcasting
Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes (Blu-ray) Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes (Blu-ray) Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Avid Xpress Pro Yes Yes (Blu-ray) No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ?
Avidemux ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? Yes Yes[6] ? ? ? ?
Cinelerra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
Dayang Montage Extreme Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? No
EDIUS Yes Yes ? No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ?
Elecard AVC HD Editor No Yes No No No No Yes (Part 10) No No No No No
Final Cut Express Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes No (as of 2.5) Yes Yes ? Yes
Final Cut Studio Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
FORscene No No Yes Yes Yes (MPEG 2) Yes (MPEG 2) ? Yes No Yes Yes Yes
iMovie HD Yes No Yes No Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes No Yes Yes Yes (with .Mac) Yes
Pitivi Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? No No ?
Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Kino GTK No No No No No No Yes No No No No No
Lightworks Yes Yes ? ? Yes (only in Pro 11) ? Yes (only in Pro 11) ? ? ? ? ?
LiVES Yes Yes (AVCHD, Blu-ray) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No ?
Magix Movie Edit Pro Yes Yes (AVCHD, Blu-ray) Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes No ?
VideoPad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No
MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes ? ? Yes No Yes No No No No Yes
Nero Vision Xtra/Nero Video Premium HD Yes Yes (AVCHD, Blu-ray) Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Serif MoviePlus Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ?
Sony Vegas Yes Yes (Blu-ray) No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ?
Pinnacle Studio Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No ?
Ulead VideoStudio Plus Yes Yes Yes (via plug-in) Yes (via plug-in) Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes (with DropShot) ?
VirtualDub No No Yes (Via passthru) No No No Yes No No Yes (Via passthru) No No
WeVideo No Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No Yes No
Windows Live Movie Maker Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No ? Yes ? ?
Windows Movie Maker Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes (WMV only) No No
DVD High Definition Smart phone Java phone QuickTime Windows Media MPEG-4 XML/EDL Print to tape Web, not hosted Web, hosted Podcasting

See also

References