Top 6 Lightweight Video Editors in 2024

When it comes to video editing, there are many programs to choose from, from professional Adobe Premiere Pro to simple online services. But for many people who want to edit videos with basic operations, a lightweight video editor that balances usability and functionality is a better choice. In this article, I will introduce 6 light video editing software to help you edit videos easily and quickly. Please read on.

Compatible OS: Windows

If you've never tried editing videos before, you can start with WonderFox Free HD Video Converter Factory, an easy-to-use program with a set of editing tools that make it easy to create stunning, high-quality videos.

The program is lightweight, fast and can run smoothly on weak PCs with as little as 1GB of RAM, ensuring smooth video editing performance. Apart from that, this is also a multi-purpose program that can download, convert and compress videos all in one place. It is a free product. But it has no watermark and no size limit. It also includes premium features to help you work with videos more efficiently. But that’s something up to you to decide after you use the program and like it.

Key features:

• Support all mainstream formats: MP4, AVI, MOV, MXF, MKV, MPEG-4, H.264, HEVC, AV1, etc.
• Trim video length and split video into parts.
• Join multiple video clips into one.
• Crop video to any size.
• Rotate videos and mirror videos horizontally and vertically.
• Apply effects to videos and adjust colors.
• Add text and images to protect your video.
• Export video for uploading to YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.

→ WonderFox Free HD Video Converter Factory WonderFox Free HD Video Converter Factory

Compatible OS: Windows, macOS, Linux

Shotcut is an open source, cross-platform program that can help you make professional-looking videos at no cost. It has a sleek and intuitive interface where you can manage your videos with no difficulty. And with this program, you can smoothly edit videos on less powerful computers, thanks to its small size and low system requirements.

That said, Shotcut not only provides you with basic editing tools but also features that help you control the performance of your audio and video, such as speed, color, volume, and more. This makes it one of the best free advanced video editing software and the best choice for users who want to further edit videos with minute details.

Key features:

• Wide video, audio, and image formats support thanks to FFmpeg.
• Capture source from screen, webcam, HDMI, and Windows DirectShow devices.
• Video editing with a timeline.
• Merge, resize, trim, and reverse videos.
• Detach audio from the video.
• Customizable filters and effects.
• Color correction.
• AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA hardware encoding.

→ Shotcut

Compatible OS: Windows, macOS, Linux

If Shotcut is too much for you, you can have a try at OpenShot, another open source and multiplatform video editing program that has no demands on the system and works with high-definition videos with ease.

While the program provides lots of buttons and controls, it does not prevent you from mastering the program in the shortest time. And using OpenShot, you can quickly edit videos by cutting, snapping, trimming, and more. It also provides you with smooth transitions and interesting effects, emojis, and title templates to help you put your creative minds into visuals. The icing on the cake is that it allows you to use keyframes to adjust videos accurately.

Key features:

• Support all major formats from the FFmpeg library.
• Resize, scale, trim, snap, and rotate videos.
• Add video transitions, effects, emojis and animated titles.
• Edit video frame by frame.
• Separate audio from video.
• Image overlay.
• Real-time preview.

→ OpenShot

Compatible OS: Windows

As a matter of fact, Windows 10 users don’t need to install third-party software as the default Video Editor in the Photos app will suffice if all you need is basic video editing. With it, you can trim, split, rotate, merge, apply effects and filters, and add text and audio to your videos simply.

This Video Editor app is low on resource demands and supports high-res videos. You can quickly import an HD video into the app and start editing with no pressure. Note that, however, Microsoft is removing Video Editor from the Photos app and trying to replace it with the new Clipchamp. But you can still install Video Editor from the legacy Photos app.

Key features:

• Trim and split the video into clips.
• Change the video playback speed.
• Combine videos into one.
• Apply text, 3D effects and filters.
• Add background music and custom audio to videos as well as mute videos.
• Easy operations and fast performance.
• Real-time preview.

→ Windows Video Editor

Compatible OS: Windows

Clipchamp is the newest video editing tool acquired by Microsoft and is pre-installed on every Windows 11 computer. It is the replacement for Video Editor but with much more useful features like timeline, templates, screen recording, transition, color adjustment, etc.

This app is also fast and light. It even has a web-based service that allows you to take video editing in the cloud, so no space is taken in your local system. All the basic features in Clipchamp are free and without a watermark, but it also offers functions such as 4K export, stock videos, content backup, and brand kit that need payment. In short, you can use Clipchamp for simple video editing and professional tasks at the same time. Moreover, it is still easy to use.

Key features:

• Support all mainstream video formats.
• Record webcam and screen.
• Rotate, flip, trim, split, crop, and stretch videos.
• Video and image overlay.
• Make GIFs from videos.
• Generate auto-subtitles.
• Remove audio from the video.
• Advanced and professional editing toolkit.

→ Clipchamp

Compatible OS: macOS, iOS, iPadOS

iMovie is the native free video editing software on iMac, MacBook, iPad and iPhone. It lets beginners experience the fun of video editing and also create stunning videos at the same time. However, it is very lightweight and can run on 4GB RAM devices smoothly.

Using iMovie, you can readily edit your videos like in any other simple video editor. The tools it provides include cut, split, combine, effects, filters, etc. But what really sets iMovie apart is its Chroma-key effect that can help you combine two videos or images to create amazing visual effects like a pro. For example, you can make your own animations, transitions, intros and outros, trailers, and more.

Key features:

• Support a wide range of videos and still cameras.
• Come with all major editing tools.
• Great templates.
• Add transitions and filters to videos.
• Add audio and sound effects.
• Chroma key.
• Make movie trailers.

→ iMovie

Nowadays, it's not difficult to edit videos using basic cut, split, merge, rotate or similar functions. And you don't need to subscribe to advanced editing software, the lightweight video editors here are enough. From now on, you can also run these programs on less powerful PCs and laptops. They will help you process your videos easily and quickly without taking up too many resources on your computer. Hope this article is useful to you. Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!

1. What is the lightest free video editor?

Windows 11 built-in video editor Clipchamp is the de facto lightest free video editing app that runs quickly on PC and has all the major features including trimming, rotating, cropping, merging, adding effects, etc. to help you edit videos easily.

2. What is the lightest video editor for Mac?

iMovie is the best lightweight video editor that comes pre-installed on every Mac computer. It takes little system RAM and can process basic video editing with swift and stable performance.

3. What is the minimum RAM for video editing?

RAM or Random Access Memory greatly affects your video editing process. Too little RAM often slows down your computer when you open programs, play songs, edit videos, and more. So, you need to make sure you have at least 8GB RAM for editing 1080p videos or 16GB RAM for editing 4K footage.