Best online video editors in 2024: web-based tools for ads, social content & more

The best online video editors are useful pieces of kit that can help create a visual story to sell a brand, improve an online presence, or simply create a movie to share among friends and family, without the need for any software installation. 

Offline editors like Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro are often hefty beasts though and require a good deal of technical knowledge and savvy know-how to operate.

That’s why an increasing number of content creators and businesses turn to online video editors. Accessed via a web browser, they provide an easy way to produce video content for a fraction of the brain power. Often offering free plans and cheaper rates than offline professional editors, online video editors come jam-packed with easy-to-use templates. 

Templates are laid out in a variety of aspect ratios to suit different social media platforms, whether requiring something for desktop viewing, a video for Instagram, or something unique for TikTok.  Each template is customizable, allowing users to change text and upload bespoke imagery. Some also offer a juicy content library from which to pick songs, images, and other digital creative content with which to jazz up films you’ve created.

Not all online video editors have these features though, some are more comprehensive and others a little more streamlined. They differ in pricing, too. So depending on your needs, there may be one editor that stands out above the others. That’s why we’ve rounded up the best online video editors available right now to help you choose the one that’s right for you.

Best online video editors: our top pick

If you're looking for an easy editor and are familiar with Adobe products then the Best overall online editor I recommend is Adobe Creative Cloud Express. Available on the web and mobile this simple application can generate not only graphics, collages, and flyers, but also videos and animations. With an emphasis on generating content for social media.

Best online video editors in 2024

Available on the web and mobile, tech behemoth Adobe has created Creative Cloud Express, a simple application that can generate not only graphics, collages, and flyers, but also videos and animations. With an emphasis on generating content for social media, Express has a 30-day free trial and when first accessed provides different options based on your user level and requirements. 

Projects are created and stored via the Creative Cloud account you use when signing up and all kinds of videos and animations are there right from the off. A useful search bar at the top of the page allows users to sift through 47,000 templates and handy tutorial videos are accessible via the landing page, too. 

Wave.video punches at the higher end of the subscription spectrum with a more costly monthly fee than some other online video editors in this roundup. With the free plan, you have access to 2 million royalty-free video clips and images, and 5 free video embeds. 

However, it does watermark content and limits edits to just 15 seconds. Fortunately, the standard plan boosts the video and image library access up to 10 million and allows access to up to 200 million paid-for video clips and images.

The benefit of using this online video editor is that there are unlimited social media native shares from the site, no matter which plans you’re on. And if you need longer edit times, plenty of brands presets, and multiple user logins plus lots more content access then you can opt for the business plan for $48/month. All plans include access to an audio library of 300,000 royalty-free audio tracks, too.

While the free plan is a little restrictive when it comes to library access and watermarked exports, the professional and professional + plans open up a whole world of online video editing possibilities. Alongside the standard aspect ratio options for horizontal, square, and vertical cropped video content for various media platforms, Animoto also allows font uploads for bespoke branded content. 

In a bid to further aid the branding of video content, you can also add a brand watermark to the corner of projects. Be secure in the knowledge that no matter when you’ve created your projects the lifetime license means projects can be downloaded for future use with no restrictions.

InVideo does a good job at breaking down the complex option of choosing from its 5000+ templates by separating them into categories right from the main webpage. A quickstart function beneath the navigation bar provides a search box and three options for altering aspect ratio meaning you can get creating your project with speed.

Unfortunately, it is one of the more expensive online video editors in this guide if purchasing monthly (although half the price if you opt for the annual billing) but it does bring with it a well-laid out, simple interface with plenty of templates to choose from and access to royalty-free sites such as Pexels and Pixabay right from the site, and includes access to 1m+ premium photos and videos.

Read our full InVideo review for more details

Those familiar with even the most basic of offline video editors such as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker will feel at home with Clipchamp, thanks to the essential cutting and editing tools that make creating a project in the timeline a breeze. Videos can be cropped, rotated, and trimmed, and even filters and speed control can be applied like a standard video editor. 

There are four pricing options, which is one more than most on this list. The creator is the plan for casual users which limits video rendering to 720p but it does offer unlimited renders, cloud storage, and audio stock.

Thanks to its similarity to traditional tools, users who have used video editing software before will find its layout familiar. With a good selection of content to choose from it’s straightforward to drag and drop assets into the editor with ease. Rather than limiting users to a certain number of video exports WeVideo uses publish time to differentiate between packages that suits users who need to publish videos of different lengths, especially if one needs multiple short videos.

 It doesn’t count how many videos it exports but rather how long each video is, and once you reach your quota you’ll have to wait until the next month starts before creating more. Free and Power plans limit to 5 and 30 minutes respectively, but any plan above that is unlimited.

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