What YouTubers edit with, and which editor fits you

How did we pick the YouTube editors on this list?

We read each maker's own product, pricing and help pages on 3 November 2026 and kept only what those pages say. Prices are US prices as shown that day. Offers change, so check the page before you buy. We ran no speed tests, and we quote no ratings or user counts.

A disclosure: we make mouzeclick. It is a mouse app plus tools that run inside Premiere Pro and After Effects, not a video editor, so it is not ranked here. Our own section further down is labelled as ours.

The list covers desktop editors for long-form and Shorts, one free recorder for gaming channels, one text-first editor and one browser editor. Phone-only apps are out of scope, but we note which editors also come as a phone app.

How do the YouTube editors compare on price and platform?

We checked these on the US pages on 3 November 2026. "Not published" means the pages we read do not give that detail.

Why pick Adobe Premiere Pro for a YouTube channel?

Pick Premiere Pro for long-form YouTube if you want transcripts and captions inside the editor and don't mind paying for a membership. Adobe now calls it Adobe Premiere, a name that covers both its desktop and mobile apps.

• Price as shown: the single-app plan starts at US$22.99/mo, annual, billed monthly, for the first year and for new subscribers only. Creative Cloud Pro adds 20+ more apps for US$69.99/mo, or US$34.99/mo for your first 3 months as a new subscriber.
• Licence: membership only, with a monthly or annual commitment. There is no perpetual licence.
• Trial: runs on Windows and macOS. You pay nothing until it ends, and you can cancel up to 14 days after for a full refund.
• Talking-head work: Text-Based Editing transcribes video on import, so you can make a rough cut by copying and pasting text. Captions translate into 18 languages.
• Phone: Premiere on mobile is a free, standalone social video editor for iPhone and Android.

The catch is the monthly bill. If that settles it, read our Premiere Pro vs DaVinci Resolve comparison.

Best for: tutorials, commentary and interviews where the transcript drives the cut.

Is DaVinci Resolve good enough for YouTube for free?

Yes, if your footage is 8-bit at up to 60fps. The free version works with virtually all 8-bit video formats at up to 60fps, in resolutions up to Ultra HD 3840 x 2160, and it costs nothing.

• Price as shown: a free download, or DaVinci Resolve Studio 21 at $236, shown as 20% off $295. The page does not say whether that is a one-time purchase or a subscription.
• Platforms: Mac, Windows and Linux.
• One app, every stage: you edit on the cut and edit pages, build motion graphics on the Fusion page, grade on the color page and mix audio on the Fairlight page, with the deliver page last in the row. The edit page lists subtitles and closed captioning, and its keyboard shortcuts are fully customizable.
• Short-form: square and vertical resolutions for TikTok, Instagram, X, YouTube Shorts and Snapchat, Smart Reframe, and direct upload to YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo and X. The page does not say which of these need Studio.
• What Studio adds: text based editing, magic mask, AI voice isolation and a dialogue separator. It also adds 10-bit video up to 120fps, resolutions beyond 4K and hardware H.264 and H.265 encoding.

Best for: starting without a subscription, colour-heavy channels and anyone on Linux. If you shoot 10-bit or 120fps, budget for Studio.

Should Mac YouTubers buy Final Cut Pro?

Buy it if you edit only on a Mac and would rather pay once than rent. Final Cut Pro is a one-time purchase of $299.99. It is the only one-time price on this list with an amount we could confirm.

• Subscription route: Apple Creator Studio includes Final Cut Pro for Mac and iPad, plus Motion and Compressor, which are Mac only. After a 30-day free trial, new subscribers pay $12.99 a month or $129 a year. Educators and students pay $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year.
• Platforms: Apple's page lists Mac and iPad and names no Windows version.
• Captions: it makes automatic captions by analysing the spoken audio. The caption languages are Not published.

More Mac options are in our guide to the best video editing software for Mac.

Best for: Mac-only creators who want an editor they own, and anyone who also cuts on an iPad.

Is CapCut desktop the right editor for Shorts, Reels and TikTok?

It is the quick option for captioned short clips on a computer, with one gap. CapCut's pages do not publish the Pro price or which desktop features need Pro, so check both in the app before you build a workflow around a feature.

• Platforms: Windows 7 or above (Windows 10 recommended) and macOS 10.14 or above.
• Captions on PC: go to the Text tab in the top menu bar, pick Auto captions in the sidebar, set the source language, then click Create. Captions can be translated, and you can export a standalone SRT file.
• Editing: keyframes and graphs, a colour wheel with auto adjust, and media search by objects, dialogue and people.
• Export: click the blue Export button at the top right and set the title, resolution and codec. Make sure Video exporting is ticked, then click Export again.

For how it compares with a full editor, see Premiere Pro vs CapCut.

Best for: fast vertical clips with captions, on Windows or Mac.

Is Descript better for podcast and talking-head channels?

Often, yes. In Descript you edit the video by editing its text. It transcribes the recording, and your changes to the transcript change the video. It runs on Mac and Windows, and there is a web version.

• Cleanup: it detects and removes filler words and silences. Studio Sound removes background noise, echo and hiss.
• Captions: they are built from the transcript, and the captions page offers subtitles in 30+ languages.
• Free plan: 1 media hour a month and 720p export, with no card needed. Two of Descript's pages disagree on the rest. One says 100 AI credits a month and no watermark. The other says 100 credits one time, with a watermark.
• Paid plans as shown: Hobbyist shows $24 and $16 per person / month (10 media hours, 1080p). Creator shows $35 and $24 (30 media hours, 4k). The page does not say which figure is monthly billing and which is annual.
• Hand-off: through the Descript MCP, a timeline exports as Premiere XML, FCPXML, DaVinci Resolve XML, EDL, AAF or SESX.

To weigh it against Premiere's own transcript editing, see Descript vs Premiere Pro.

Best for: interviews and podcasts where the words are the edit.

Is Filmora a good first editor for a new YouTube channel?

It is built for that stage. Wondershare's own comparison calls Filmora best for beginner to intermediate editors. The current version is Filmora 16.

• Free tier: free to download and use, but free exports carry a Filmora watermark. A paid plan removes it.
• Plans: listed as Free, One-time or Subscription, with no desktop amounts on the pages we read. Filmora for mobile is free, with paid plans from about $4.99/month.
• Platforms: Windows 7 or later (64-bit) and macOS, plus apps for iOS, iPadOS and Android.
• YouTube extras: a YouTube Upload mode, a Social Video Planner for scheduling, and export presets for YouTube, Vimeo and TikTok.
• Screen recorder: it records screen, camera, microphones and system audio at once, and keeps each source separate for editing.

Best for: screen tutorials and a first channel, once you pay to drop the watermark.

Can you edit YouTube videos for free in Clipchamp?

Yes. Clipchamp exports an unlimited number of videos in HD with no watermark, and every user can save in 1080p.

• Where it runs: in Edge or Chrome at app.clipchamp.com on Windows, Mac, Linux and ChromeOS. There is also a Windows app for Windows 10 and 11, and an iOS app.
• AI tools: Clipchamp's FAQ says every AI tool is free for all users, with no limit on how many you use.
• Subtitles: generated in over 80 languages, with editable font and placement and a free transcript download.
• Auto cut: it builds a transcript and finds pauses over 3 seconds. You preview each suggestion before you accept it.
• Premium: premium features come with a Microsoft 365 subscription, at a price Not published on the pages we read.

Best for: free 1080p uploads from a Chromebook or a basic Windows laptop.

What is the best software for recording and editing gaming videos?

Record with OBS Studio, which is free. Then edit in DaVinci Resolve if you want a free editor, or in Premiere Pro if you already pay Adobe. OBS only records; it does not replace the editor.

• Licence: OBS is free and open source under GPLv2, on Windows, Mac and Linux, with no watermarks, no limits and no restriction on commercial use. Its help page says that if anyone asks you to pay for OBS, it is a scam.
• Recording settings: OBS suggests Simple output mode with its recording presets, and a hardware encoder if you have one.
• Frame rate: YouTube asks you to upload at the frame rate you recorded. It counts 48, 50 and 60fps as high frame rate and recommends 12 Mbps for 1080p60 and 53–68 Mbps for 4K60.
• Editing limits: Resolve's free version handles 8-bit footage up to 60fps and UHD. For 120fps capture you need Studio.

The OBS pages we read do not list its recording formats, so check the settings before a long session.

Best for: capturing gameplay, screen and webcam at no cost.

What is the best video editing software for Reels and Shorts on a PC?

On a Windows PC or a Mac, DaVinci Resolve is the editor here whose page is most explicit about vertical video: square and vertical resolutions, Smart Reframe and direct upload (details in the Resolve section above). CapCut desktop is the quick choice for captioned clips. Premiere Pro makes sense if your long-form already lives there.

If you searched for a "reels app", you probably want a phone app. Premiere on mobile is free on iPhone and Android, Filmora has apps for iOS, iPadOS and Android, and Clipchamp has an iOS app.

• YouTube's player adapts to vertical and square uploads. On a computer, the standard is 16:9.
• Keep text clear of each app's on-screen buttons. In Premiere Pro, mouzeclick's Guides tab draws safe zones from 65 platform presets, on Windows and Mac. TikTok's margins, for example, are 130 px at the top, 484 px at the bottom, 140 px on the right and 44 px on the left. See safe zone guides in Premiere Pro.

The full desktop workflow is in Reels and Shorts editing in Premiere Pro.

Which export settings does YouTube recommend?

YouTube recommends an MP4 file with H.264 video and AAC-LC (or Opus) audio at 48kHz, uploaded at the frame rate you recorded. These settings apply in any editor.

• Video: H.264, progressive scan, High Profile, 2 consecutive B frames, a closed GOP of half the frame rate, CABAC, variable bitrate and 4:2:0 chroma.
• File: moov atom at the front (Fast Start) and no edit lists.
• Audio: stereo at 384 kbps, mono at 128 kbps, 5.1 at 512 kbps.

YouTube sets no bitrate limit; these figures are for reference. For step-by-step presets, see Premiere Pro export settings for YouTube.

Where mouzeclick fits (we make it)

mouzeclick is not a video editor and replaces none of the tools above. It is a mouse app for Windows and Mac, plus tools inside Premiere Pro and After Effects. If you edit YouTube videos in Premiere Pro, it handles the chores you repeat on every video.

• Silence (Windows and Mac): Studio's Silence tab reads the sound on your computer and marks each pause. By default it marks pauses quieter than −40 dB that last 0.40 s or more, and keeps 0.12 s around speech. Untick a pause to keep it. Remove cuts on every track, leaves a music bed alone and keeps a copy of the sequence. See the Premiere Pro silence remover.
• Captions (Windows only): written on your computer by Whisper, with one of three models: Fast 60 MB, Accurate 190 MB or Best 574 MB. They cover 47 languages plus automatic detection, and land on Premiere's own caption track or in one of 289 styled looks. More in auto captions in Premiere Pro.
• Chapters (Windows and Mac): mouzemark makes YouTube chapters from markers, and exports markers as CSV, text, SRT, EDL or JSON. See YouTube chapters in Premiere Pro.
• AutoZoom (Windows only, in the Premiere Pro workspace): plain keyframes that zoom in, hold and zoom out. By default it punches in to 115% every 4 s, holds for 1.5 s and moves over 0.18 s. Nothing is triggered by speech. See Premiere Pro auto zoom and the Windows workspaces.
• Other editors: the mouse app puts per-app buttons, gestures and the Options wheel on any mouse in Resolve, CapCut or Final Cut. On Windows, its library of 309 built-in shortcuts includes Resolve and CapCut. There is no Resolve or Final Cut panel. If you edit in Descript or Clipchamp, their built-in silence removal is the better pick. CapCut, Final Cut Pro, Clipchamp and Descript all make their own captions, and mouzeclick's panels don't run in those editors.

Captions, Retakes and the workspaces run on Windows only. The mouse app, Silence, Guides and mouzemark run on Windows and Mac (see the Mac install steps). mouzeclick needs an internet connection while it runs. It costs $25 a month, $249 a year, or $499 once for one of the first 100 lifetime keys. The trial lasts 3 days and needs no card, and every Premiere Pro and After Effects tool works fully during it (see mouzeclick pricing).

How do you choose the right editor for your YouTube channel?

Start with your computer and your budget. Then match the editor to the kind of video you make most.

1. Your system. Every editor here runs on a Mac: Clipchamp in the browser, the rest as apps. Final Cut Pro is Mac and iPad. Linux: Resolve, with OBS for recording. Chromebook: Clipchamp in the browser.
2. Free, one-time or membership. Free: Resolve, Clipchamp (1080p, no watermark) and OBS for recording. Filmora's free version watermarks exports. One-time: Final Cut Pro at $299.99. Membership: Premiere Pro. More free options are in our guide to the best free video editing software.
3. Your format. Long-form talking heads: Premiere Pro or Descript. Shorts and TikTok: CapCut desktop or Resolve's vertical timelines. Gaming: OBS plus Resolve. Colour-graded vlogs: Resolve.
4. Your footage. Resolve's free version stops at 8-bit, 60fps and UHD. Studio goes to 10-bit, 120fps and beyond 4K.
5. Try before you pay. Premiere's trial charges nothing until it ends. Apple Creator Studio, which includes Final Cut, has a 30-day trial, and Descript's free plan needs no card.

Questions people ask

Sources

Checked on 2026-11-03. Prices and features change: each link goes to the maker's own page.

1. Adobe Premiere product page (price, licence, features, mobile app)
2. Adobe Creative Cloud plans: video and audio
3. Adobe Premiere free trial
4. DaVinci Resolve (price, platforms, free vs Studio)
5. DaVinci Resolve Studio
6. DaVinci Resolve: what's new (vertical video, upload)
7. Apple Final Cut Pro
8. CapCut desktop video editor
9. CapCut: add subtitles to video
10. Descript video editor (plans, silence removal)
11. Descript captions
12. Descript video editing (platforms, Studio Sound)
13. Descript home (free plan, what it is)
14. Descript MCP (timeline export formats)
15. Wondershare Filmora
16. Filmora: best free video editing software without watermark
17. Filmora for Windows
18. Microsoft Clipchamp
19. Clipchamp AI video editing
20. Clipchamp green screen editor (1080p for all users)
21. Clipchamp online video resizer (iOS app)
22. OBS Studio
23. OBS Studio help
24. YouTube Help: recommended upload encoding settings

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