7 Best Free Windows Movie Maker Alternatives for Windows 10/8

If you ever used the Windows Movie Maker then you know how easy it is. Users can easily edit videos, add images and audio as background sound and many other features.  Windows Movie Maker is designed to be easy to use even for those with no previous experience of video editing.

7 Best Free Alternatives to Windows Movie Maker

Although the Widows Movie Maker is a very good video editing software, but it is no more available in Windows 10, 8, macOS and Linux. Therefore if you are looking for Windows Movie Maker alternative then below software can consider which are free, open-source and easy to use.

1) OpenShot

OpenShot is free and open-source software. It is a powerful video editor for Linux, Mac, and Windows. It is simple and easy to use.

Key features

• Cross-platform video editing software – OpenShot supports operating systems like Linux (most of the distributions), Windows (version 7, 8, and 10+) etc. Project files are cross-platform too, enabling you to save a video project in one OS, and then open it on another.
• Support for several videos, audio, and image formats – This video editing tool is based on the powerful FFmpeg library. It is able to comprehend, read and write most video and image formats.
• Incredible curve-based Keyframe animations – OpenShot has a superefficient key frame animation framework, capable of a wide variety of keyframes and animation possibilities.
• Desktop integration – OpenShot has an outstanding feature – its integration with the user’s desktop. It provides native file browsers, window borders, and complete dragging and drops support with the native file system. Getting started is made extremely easy indeed.
• Amazing 3D animated titles – OpenShot, supported by the open-source Blender application, is able to provide amazing 3D animations. You can select from more than 20 animations, and adjust colors, sizes, length, text, and other properties according to your preference.

Download: https://www.openshot.org/download/
File Size: 170 Mb
System support: Windows 7/8/10, Linux, macOS

2) Kdenlive

Kdenlive is an efficient video editing tool. It is free and open-source. It mainly supports the GNU/Linux platform but is also able to work on BSD and MacOS. It requires some organization before starting but can be used for small personal projects too.

Key features 

• Multi-track video editing – With Kdenlive, you can use and arrange multiple audio and video tracks. Each track can be locked or muted, according to your preference.
• Use of any audio or video format – This software is based on the powerful FFmpeg libraries. It is able to use any audio and video formats directly, with no need to encode clips again.
• Configurable interface and shortcuts – You can arrange and save your custom interface layouts according to the requirements of your workflow. You can easily get the keyboard shortcuts configured, too.
• Titler – Kdenlive enables you to create 2D titles for your projects, incorporating alignment and distribution, letter-spacing and line-spacing, embedded Crawl and Roll tool for text animation, and so on.
• Many effects and transitions – The effects available are plenty, from color correction to audio adjustments. All standard transform options are provided, too.
• Automatic Backup – Project files are backed up automatically, after every few minutes. However, the older versions of the files are not deleted, in case they are needed later on.

Download: https://kdenlive.org/en/
File Size: 84.2 Mb
System support: Windows and macOS

3) Shotcut

Shotcut is free and open-source software. It is a video playback and editing application, available on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Key features

•  Wide-format support – Shotcut offers support for all available audio and video formats. It works with popular image formats and image sequences, with no requirement of import.
• Audio features – The audio scopes of this software include loudness, peak meter, waveform, etc. It provides volume control and audio mixing across all tracks.
• Amazing video effects – Shotcut is able to provide video compositing across video tracks and 3-way color wheels to enable color correction. HTML5 is the source of the videos. It offers a wide variety of track compositing or blending modes.
• Cross-platform support and Codec Independence – Shotcut provides cross-platform support and is available on Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is independent of Codec.

Download: https://shotcut.org/
File Size: 79.1 Mb
System support: Windows 10 and earlier version, GNU/Linux, macOS

If are you looking for more simple tool then consider best slideshow maker that is even easier to use

4) Avidemux

Avidemux is free and open-source. This video editing software is a simple tool for simple video processing tasks. It is able to carry out simple cutting, filtering, and encoding. Using several types of codecs, it supports a wide variety of file types, like AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, etc.

Key features

• Simplicity – Avidemux focuses on being simple. This software does not offer a variety of tools. The best part about this software is it allows you to do the basic things in the easiest way.
• Efficient timeline – The timeline offered here is exceptionally useful and efficient. You are also able to manually select the timeline numbers and go ahead with editing.
• Control of video output – The video output can be controlled, based on MPEG, DVD, AVI or MP4. All elementary editing functions like cutting, filtering and encoding are supported.
• Very few operations for you to remember – Only three operations are required to be remembered by you. You have the option of zooming and resizing videos at your will.

Download here: https://www.fosshub.com/Avidemux.html
File Size: 35.7 Mb
System support: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and BSD

5) DaVinci Resolve 16

DaVinci Resolve 16 is the only video editing software that offers superior 8K editing, flawless color correction, stunning visual effects as well as audio post-production. This software is used for high-end post-production and finishing on most of Hollywood movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Key features

•  Dual timeline – DaVinci Resolve offers a revolutionary dual timeline, which lets you navigate the entire edit and trim, in the quickest way possible.
• Source tape – This software enables you to quickly review all clips in a bin like you would if it was a single “tape.”This allows you to select and add shots to the timeline, without spending time searching a bin.
• Dedicated trim interface – Trim interface provided in the viewer enables you to have a look at both sides of an edit, so you can make the perfect cut easily.
•  Custom timeline settings – Timelines with different frame rates, resolutions, monitoring, and output settings can be created easily.
• Keyframe curve editor – Animating effects are made at high speeds. This is possible due to the provision of ease controls for position, and ResolveFX and OpenFX keyframes in the timeline curve editor.

Download here: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/in/products/davinciresolve/
File Size: 35.7 Mb
System support: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and BSD+

You may also like to know alternatives to snipping tool which are used to take print-screen.

6) PiTiVi

PiTiVi is a free, open-source video editor. It is built using Python. This software is based on the GStreamer multimedia framework. It is an intuitive and flexible software that works well with GNOME and attracts both newbies and professionals.

Key features

• A catalyst to push forward technologies – PiTiVi has a “no downstream hacks” and “upstream first” approach, which makes it act as a catalyst to push forward our favorite technologies.
• Animated effects, transitions, and filters –This software enables you to have access to over 70 industry-standard transitions and more than a hundred video and audio effects. You can animate all the properties of effects with keyframes.
• Flexible and efficient – PiTiVi offers a wide variety of time-saving features, for example, real-time trimming previews, ripple and roll editing, and so on. This makes it the most flexible and efficient software to use.

·        Framerate-independent timeline – This video editing application allows you to use footage which needs not match its framerate inside the project, so the timeline offered is of great help.

Download here: http://www.pitivi.org/
File Size: Not known
System support: Linux

7. Olive Video Editor 

Olive video editor is free non-linear software, aiming to provide a great alternative to high-end professional video editing programs. It is making good progress and users are creating videos with its help. 

Key features

• Newly launched and progressing – Olive is in the initial stages of development. It is making good progress and new features are being added to it every day.
• Rely on shortcuts – This software is made in a way to assist users who rely on shortcuts. All editing tools and common operations have shortcuts, and you can configure your own.
• Exporting at high speeds – Olive is able to export very fast.
• Unicode file names – Olive provides support for Unicode filenames.

Download here: https://www.olivevideoeditor.org/
File Size: 36.6 Mb
System support: Windows 7/8/10, macOS and Linux

Conclusion

Video editing can indeed be quite easy – you only need to have the right software. By selecting one or two of the superefficient tools discussed above, you will evolve your skills beyond Movie Maker and enjoy the experience of creating perfect movies, in the manner, you would want them to be.