Download The Best Free iMovie Alternative for Mac OS

In spite of the truth that iMovie is an easy to master video editor and successful movie maker with millions of users, there are many people that are finding iMovie alternatives, better for free, like iMovie is for Apple devices.

As a veteran in video editing, I've chosen and will introduce the best of free iMovie alternatives for macOS (Mojave included) in this article. Some alternatives also work in Windows so you don't need to find an iMovie for PC alternative if you want to edit videos on a PC. An online iMovie alternative is also recommended so that you're able to edit video without installing anything. Let's check what're the best iMovie alternatives for totally free.

 

> #1 Free iMovie Alternative for Mojave - Avidemux
> #2 Free iMovie Alternative for macOS - OpenShot
> #3 Free iMovie Alternative for Mac and Windows - Shotcut
> #4 Free iMovie Alternative Online - ClipChamp (Chrome required)

Top 1 Free iMovie Alternative for Mac - Avidemux

Avidemux is a lightweight and open-source video editing and processing application that can run on Mac, including the newest macOS 11 Big Sur. It can process video files in all regular video and audio formats, including avi, mov, mpeg, mp4, mkv, mp3, aac, ac3 and even flv. If you only want a basic video editor for Windows, this is your ideal choice.

Pros: basic video editing, 1:1 quality editing, tons of filter effects, wide formats support

Cons: lack features like transition, titles, themes, etc.

Verdict: As a free iMovie alternative for Mac, it's a good idea to use Avidemux for cutting, trimming, applying filters and converting videos. However, due to the missing of transitions, themes, titles, green screen, stickers, etc., it's hard to make fantastic movies on your Mac.

Top 2 Free iMovie Alternative for Mac OS - Openshot

See the following screenshot with media browser, preview and timeline? It's like iMovie's user interface, isn't it? This free iMovie alternative for Mac is called Openshot. Apart from similar user interface, they also share comparable features like splitting, trimming, titling, slow motion, green screen, and much more.

Pros: basic video editing, easy to use timeline, 3D animation titles, unlimited tracks

Cons: interface not as elegant as iMovie

Verdict: You can't ask more from Openshot as a free iMovie alternative for Mac (Mojave compatible), exception the user interface. Better than iMovie, Avidemux even allows you to make 3D animated titles with effects like snow and lens flares. Free download Openshot to replace iMovie now. In addition to macOS, Windows and Linux are also supported.

Top 3 Free iMovie Alternative for Mac and Windows - Shotcut

Shotcut is a powerful iMovie alternative for various platforms. If you're frequently changing between Windows and Mac OS, it's your best choice. Shotcut is a video capture tool. Although it's a free video editor, it provides professional features such as GPU acceleration, color correction, video filters, audio filters, video compositing across video tracks, and more.

Pros: powerful video editing; fully featured timeline; 4K and HD formats support; detailed color grading; simple keyboard shortcuts, GPU acceleration;

Cons: minor bugs appeared sometimes

Verdict: Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor alternative to iMovie for Mac. If you don't to pay much money on professional video editing software for Mac, Shotcut Mac version is more than enough for daily video editing needs. There is an active forum for you to ask for solution if you encountered a bug, or to share your experience using this free iMovie alternative for Mac and Windows, like what you may have done in Apple's iMovie community.

Top 4 Free iMovie Alternative for Mac in Cloud - ClipChamp

Usually, you just need an iMovie alternative to edit video temporarily. So why not use an online video editor for free like ClipChamp? ClipChamp is not a truncated video editor. It's fully featured with media browser, preview window, and timeline. In addition to basic video editing tools like splitting, rotating, and flipping, you're also able to add titles, transitions, filters, and control video speed. It seems that everything like in iMovie. It's a very impressive online video editor.

Pros: fully features online video editor; compress/convert/record video;

Cons: Google Chrome required; takes time to upload and download video; Only 480p export for free account.

Verdict: Due to the download limit, ClipChamp is not a good iMovie alternative for Mac unless you don't care about the video quality. Apart from that, by paying a little money, you got an extremely fast and powerful online video editor that is most alike iMovie for Mac.

Comparison of Free iMovie Alternatives for Mac OS

Check out the following table for the brief differences between the above free iMovie for Mac alternatives.

Freeware	OS	Unique Features	Price
Avidemux	Mac, Windows, Linux	Easy interface, extendable filters,audio filters, powerful scripting capabilities.	Free, no ads, no watermark, not trial
OpenShot	Mac, Windows, Linux	Unlimited tracks, 3D animated titles, animation and keyframes, 70+ language support	Free, no watermark, no ads, not trial
Shotcut	Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD	Powerful video capture and up to 4K video export; multi-track timeline; fast processing; video and audio compositing; display and monitoring; color grading;	Free, not trial, no watermark, no ads, no limits.
ClipChamp	Mac, Windows	Video editor like iMovie in the cloud; Really fast and easy. Google Chrome required.	Free for 480p export. Pay for HD export.

Paid iMovie for Mac Alternative Free Trial

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