Best free MP4 video editors in 2021

Edited byNataly Bogorad

July 20, 2021

MP4 is supported by smartphones, cameras, gaming devices, and other video-playing gadgets, making it the most commonly played video format globally.

If you want your video to get such wide viewership, it'll have to be in this format, but that means you might need to figure out how to edit an MP4 video. It would be best to invest in high-quality, professional-grade MP4 video-editing software so you'd get crisp videos every time.

But not everyone can afford these high-end tools. In that case, you can find free MP4 cutter tools and free editing apps to cut and style your video the way you want to.

Here is a list of some of the best MP4 video editor freeware, suitable for various editing purposes as well as professional and personal use.

Best MP4 video editor freeware: comparison table

Many kinds of video-editing software can easily be found online, but not all are built equal. Explore the leading free video edition tools, explore their differentiating features, and choose the suitable freeware for you:

Software

OS

Easy to use

Pros

Cons

Movavi Video Editor Windows, Mac Yes Intuitive interface, easy export options, user-friendly, great titles, transitions collection, built-in music tracks, fast processing, etc. No audio meters, no advanced text-editing options
VSDC Free Video Editor Windows Yes Non-linear video-editing capabilities, 4K and HD support, subpixel accuracy, YouTube uploader, DVD burning tool, masking, etc. Paid professional tools, no video stabilization in the free version, no audio waveform, no hardware acceleration features.
EaseUS Video Editor Windows Yes Simple and accessible interface, a vast range of effects and transitions, multiple overlays, easy-to-use, low in price, etc Limited video-editing options, text effects, and UI
Clipchamp Windows,Mac Yes Collaboration tools, customizable branding tools, privacy options, drag and drop, social sharing, etc Slow processing, low-quality resolution
Freemake Windows 7 and above, Android, iOS Yes Uploads clips to YouTube, video converter for any device, converts movies with subtitles, converts files to over 500+ formats, etc Slow conversion, infrequent updates
Movie Creator Windows 10 or higher Yes Built-in, easy to use, easy navigation, etc Freezes, crashes, no uninstallation option, slow
iMovie Mac, iOS Yes Effects and enhancements, easy sharing, user-friendly interface, etc Takes up more space, costly, complex
Fastreel Online Yes Many editing features, no download required, built-in templates and music library, intuitive interface, etc Size limit for uploads, limited input formats, one output format
Microsoft Movie Maker Windows No Supports MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, M4V, and more; drag and drop functionality, customizable speed and transitions, direct uploads, etc Highly crash-prone, numerous versions of the same software, not available anymore
Avidemux Windows, Mac, Linux No Lightweight, fairly simple, offers a wide range of filters, provides a command-line interface for professionals Outdated interface, difficult to use for beginners
Lightworks Windows 7 or newer No Customizable screens, amount of video-editing options, high video quality, flexible, professional-level features Crashes occasionally, the steep learning curve
DaVinchi Resolve Windows, Mac, Linux Yes Professional tools, modern and sleek interface, well-divided editing modules, output on media and delivery pages, well-organized, etc Complex interface, steep learning curve, no integration with external software
HitFilm Express Windows, Mac Yes Stylish interface, muzzle flash effects, change backdrop, blaster impacts, lighting effects, screen simulation, etc Social media sharing accessible with download, cannot import or animate 3D objects

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Free MP4 editors for beginners

If you need to edit an MP4 video, but you don't have enough budget to invest in expensive video-editing software, check out the following best free MP4 editor tools for beginners.

Movavi Video Editor is an easy-to-use MP4 video-editing software that can quickly create small clips and even entire movies with added effects. The software comes with powerful editing modules that help professional video makers and editors. Its intuitive interface offers all the essential video editing tools, such as cutter, splitter, trimmer, rotator, multi-track editor, and more, making it easy to use for beginners.

Movavi Video Editor is an all-in-one MP4 video editor with several advanced features and multi-platform support, including Windows and Mac OS.

Pros:

  • Offers several advanced features such as color stabilization, chroma-key, keyframe animation, etc.
  • Provides a range of video editing tools
  • Faster processing of large HD and 4K videos
  • Built-in 16 intros and outros – ready to use
  • Easy to use for beginners
  • Provides useful guides

Cons:

  • No advanced text editing options
  • Doesn't provide a good overview

VSDC Free Video Editor is a comprehensive video editing suite with a simple user interface. It offers access to a library of visual and audio effects that can be included in the video for desirable results.

This freeware enables you to create exclusive videos for marketing or instructional purposes and easily export and share them on YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Moreover, the free mp4 video editor supports many popular file types, formats, and non-linear video editing capabilities.

Pros:

  • Color blending modes
  • Non-linear video editing
  • Motion tracking
  • 4K and HD export
  • Export and publish on social networks
  • Supports all video and audio file formats

Cons:

  • No video stabilization tool in the free version
  • No audio waveform
  • No hardware acceleration features

EaseUS video editor is a free MP4 video editor that also comes with multiple paid plans. It's an easy-to-use software that offers drag and drops features to edit videos, making it perfect for beginners.

You can use the EaseUS MP4 editor to make footage shots on phones, GoPro cameras, or any other digital cameras. Later on, you can add all the visual clips, audio clips, and effects to the software to get the final edited video. The ready-to-use file will be shareable and exportable across various platforms.

Pros:

  • Simple navigation
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Numerous editing modes
  • 50 visual and transition effects
  • Import and export option for different file formats

Cons:

  • High-quality features only come with paid plans
  • No Mac support

Clipchamp is an online MP4 editor that enables you to edit MP4 videos without wasting time in rendering.

This free mp4 video editor offers professional-grade tools and features, including simple trimming and cropping, online screen recording, and special effects like Green Screen. You can also export your videos in different resolutions and aspect ratios to any popular social media platform.

Pros:

  • Social Sharing across multiple platforms
  • Video Capture, creation, and editing
  • Customizable video templates
  • Drag & Drop feature
  • Privacy Options

Cons:

  • Slow processing
  • Low-quality resolution
  • No motion tracking

Freemake MP4 editor is a complete video converter suite that lets you edit and convert videos, extract audio from clips, and rip videos from Blu-rays and DVDs. This video-editing software converts video clips that are compatible with mobile devices and other systems.

Moreover, this software can convert videos into 500 different video file formats, including MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV, 3GP, SWF, FLV, HD MP3, MPEG-4, DVD, and DivX. You can also edit movies for Samsung phones and accessories, Sony PSP, Nokia devices, BlackBerry devices, Apple iPhones and iPads, Android phones, and Xbox.

Pros:

  • Rip and Burn DVD/Blu-ray
  • Instant shareability of edited movies and clips
  • Inserts videos into web pages
  • Convert movies with subtitles
  • Converts 4K and Full HD Online
  • Embed Video To Websites Online

Cons:

  • Slow conversion
  • Infrequent updates

Windows Movie Maker is a video-editing program that comes pre-installed with Microsoft Windows.

It enables you to create simple to complex videos using a mix of raw photos, videos, and music. Moreover, this tool allows users to trim, cut, and clip videos, merge them, or add background music.

The freeware comes with Windows Me, XP or Vista, and is reasonably simple to use.

Pros:

  • Intuitive interface
  • Easy navigation
  • It offers transitions for merged videos

Cons:

  • Freeze and crash-prone
  • Requires saving several times
  • Not suitable for complex editing

iMovie is a video editing software developed specifically for iOS and Mac OS. It enables iOS users to create complete 4K resolution movies with credit rolls and studio logos by using photos and videos. You can then share these videos with your family and friends.

When it comes to this tool's MP4 video editing features, users can add images, edit, trim, or clip the videos with their fingers. To make the video more interesting, they can also use special effects, transitions, and video filters.

Pros:

  • Easy to use
  • Supports 4k & HD videos
  • Screen projection with an apple device
  • Allows you to share videos over multiple platforms
  • Pre-built themes and backdrops
  • Stabilization

Cons:

  • Requires high-level HDD space
  • The complex process for importing MP4 files

This video-editing software by Microsoft was formerly a part of the Windows Essentials software suite where it was called the Windows Live Movie Maker.

This tool enabled Microsoft users to create and edit videos, save their files on OneDrive or publish them over various platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Windows Live Groups, Vimeo, and Flickr.

Windows Movie Maker is now officially discontinued and replaced by Video Editor (formerly Microsoft Story Remix), a built-in program for Windows 10.

Pros:

  • Supports several formats (MP4, M4V, MOV, AVI, and WMV videos, among many others)
  • Drag and drop functionality
  • Customizable speed and transitions
  • Direct uploads and different output options

Cons:

  • Highly crash-prone
  • Numerous versions of the same software
  • Not available anymore

Fastreel is an online video editing tool that enables users to edit videos on their browsers without downloading dedicated software.

The software comes with numerous professional editing tools that assist users in video editing. Its extensive list of features allows you to create slideshows, compress videos, cut clips, crop dimensions, resize a video clip, and do so much more.

Pros:

  • Offers numerous video editing features
  • Regularly expanding templates
  • Built-in music library
  • Intuitive interface
  • No download required

Cons:

  • 500 MB size limit for uploads
  • Limited input format
  • Singular output format

Avidemux is an open-source, free mp4 video editor supported by Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.

This freeware comes with features that enable you to cut, filterб and encode the tasks done. Other than this, the tool includes frame rate optimization, decoding options, and several processing tools. Another great thing about this MP4 editor is that it allows you to automate tasks by queuing them.

Pros:

  • Automation of tasks
  • Fairly simple
  • Offers a wide range of filters
  • Provides the command-line interface for professionals

Cons:

  • Outdated interface
  • Drops frame income formats
  • Complex to use for beginners

Free professional MP4 editors

The following are some professional MP4 video editors that offer a host of advanced features and tools.

Lightworks is one of the most innovative free professional MP4 editors. It allows the experts to add custom effects and explore different aspects of the video creation process. Thanks to a simple, user-friendly interface and a tight timeline, you can use this tool to trim and weave various audio and video files with just a few mouse clicks. It also allows easy import and export options for users.

This tool also includes pro-grade color correction, GPU-accelerated real-time effects, video capture function, and broad video format support.

Pros:

  • Tailored screens
  • Many video editing options
  • High video quality
  • Flexible
  • Professional features

Cons:

  • Crashes occasionally
  • Steep learning curve

DaVinci Resolve is a powerful free MP4 video editor software that offers all-in-one post-production solutions along with audio, video, and color-correcting tools. Also, its multi-user collaboration feature helps users in communicating with their colleagues or peers.

Although it's free and easily accessible, it is a complex software with a vast array of features that can be overwhelming for beginners.

Pros:

  • Professional tools
  • Modern & sleek interface
  • Well-divided editing modules
  • Output on media and delivery pages
  • Well-organized
  • Freedom to switch between workspaces
  • Multi-tasking

Cons:

  • Complex interface
  • Steep learning curve
  • No integration with external software

HitFilm Express is a 360-degree video editing and visual effects software that allows users to import clips and add effects to them. It has a free version compatible with both Windows and Mac OS.

Also, it offers tutorials that allow new users to create clips and effects from Hollywood products like Star Wars, Portal Combat, and 310 To Yuma.

With a bit of practice, you can highlight blaster impact through advanced tracking techniques, lighting effects, and numerous portal designs. It's also possible to import and animate complex 3d models, enhance the iconic heads-up display, and apply masking and layering techniques with this freeware.

Pros:

  • Stylish interface and VFX tools
  • Advanced Tracking
  • Screen Simulation
  • Offers exclusive effects (Footage Distortions, Muzzle Flash Effects, Lighting Effects)
  • Blaster Impacts

Cons:

  • Lacks the ability to import and animate 3D models
  • Social media sharing required for download

Nataly Bogorad

Nataly Bogorad is a content creator and a chief editor. With qualifications in English and American studies and art criticism, she specializes in writing SEO-optimized and user-friendly content. Nataly graduated from Universität Kassel with a bachelor of arts degree and worked as a project assistant for Regionalmanagement Nordhessen GmbH.

Frequently asked questions

💻 How can I edit MP4 files?

The easiest way to edit MP4 files includes uploading the MP4 file to web-based MP4 video editing software. The tool then allows you to extract audio from video, merge two different videos, compress them or convert them online.

📹 How can I edit MP4 files for free?

Edit your MP4 files for free using the free MP4 video-editing software that is web-based or downloaded from the internet.

💻 How can I edit a large MP4 video?

Edit a large MP4 video by trimming or cutting it down into clips. However, suppose you want to edit it as a whole video. In that case, you can opt for video editors like Windows Movie Maker, Avidemux, VSDC, and many others that allow you to edit large MP4 videos.

🎥 Does Windows 10 have a video editor?

Windows 10 does have a Video Editor. It is a full-fledged video creation and editing software that enables you to tell your story with music, text, motion, 3D effects, and so much more.