What is the best free video editor?

The best free video editor is the one that lets you cut a clip and export it without paying, and for quick cuts on a computer I'd start with OpenCut, a free, open source editor that runs in your browser. You open opencut.app, start a project, drop your clips in and cut, and its privacy page says the editing happens on your device and the project lives in your browser, with no account to make. The main OpenCut repo on GitHub had 96.9 thousand stars when I checked on October 31, 2026, which tells you a lot of people are watching it, not that it's perfect.

So here's how I'd judge any free editor: can it split and trim, add text, do a vertical 9:16 canvas and export an MP4 with sound? OpenCut does all of that today, and its changelog adds captions, masks and keyframes. Where it falls short: it's desktop only for now, the version at opencut.app is archived while the team rewrites it, and the AI agent and batch render features are still on the roadmap. My guide to editing a clip in OpenCut for free has the clicks, the costs and the fixes.