Best free video editor for Mac: the short answer
- Your first edit, home videos, a quick trailer: iMovie.
- YouTube videos, films, serious colour and audio work: DaVinci Resolve.
- Trend-style TikTok and Reels clips with effects: CapCut.
- A free, open-source all-rounder: Shotcut.
- Short-form ads for an app or a product: ClipForge.
Free Mac video editors side by side
| Editor | Price | Vertical 9:16 | Captions from speech | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iMovie | Free (Apple) | Only through the App Preview project | No | First edits, simple stories |
| DaVinci Resolve | Free; Studio is paid | Yes, custom timeline size | Studio only | Long-form, colour, audio |
| CapCut | Free; Pro is paid | Yes | Yes; some styles in Pro | Trend-style social clips |
| Shotcut | Free, open source | Yes | Yes (Speech to Text) | Free all-round editing |
| ClipForge | Free editor; Premium is paid | Yes, with platform presets | Yes, on-device | Short-form ads |
Checked in October 2026. Free tiers change, so confirm the current plan on each vendor's site before you commit a project to it.
iMovie: the free video editor already on your Mac
iMovie comes from Apple, is free on the Mac App Store and is the gentlest introduction to editing: drag clips in, trim, add titles and music, export. Its limits show when you make vertical video: iMovie on Mac has no 9:16 project type. The common workaround is to start an App Preview project, which gives a portrait canvas but leaves out some titles, themes and transitions. It also does not generate captions from speech, so every caption is typed by hand.
DaVinci Resolve: the most powerful free video editing software for Mac
DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic Design gives you a professional editor, colour grading and an audio suite in the free version, and a custom timeline size makes vertical video possible. The price is a steep learning curve and a heavier load on your Mac. For captions, the free version handles subtitles you type or import as a file; creating subtitles from the audio is part of the paid DaVinci Resolve Studio.
CapCut: a free video editor for Mac built for social clips
CapCut's desktop app runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel Macs and brings the effects, templates and trend styles of its phone app to a bigger screen, with auto captions. It is free to download; a paid Pro tier unlocks more, and which features sit behind it has changed more than once, so check the current plan inside the app.
Shotcut: open-source free video editing software for Mac
Shotcut is free and open source, with no paid tier. Since version 24.10 it can generate subtitles from speech with its Speech to Text tool, built on Whisper and accelerated on Apple silicon. The interface is more utilitarian than the others, but nothing is held back for a subscription.
ClipForge: a free video editor for Mac made for ads
ClipForge is ours, so read this with that in mind. It is a native Mac editor for one job: short vertical ads for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, especially for apps and products. The free editor includes a multi-lane timeline, text, captions generated on your Mac with word-highlight styles, an on-device text-to-speech voiceover, your own media and music, and presets that keep captions inside each platform's safe zone and export every format from one project. Premium adds the UGC hook library, the full music and sound-effects libraries, and a Claude / MCP connection that drafts an ad from your screenshots.
It is not the right tool for a wedding film or a long YouTube documentary; iMovie or DaVinci Resolve are. It needs macOS 14 or later. See the features, the video ad maker page and TikTok video editing on Mac.
How to choose a video editor for Mac
- Start from the shape of the video. Long and horizontal: iMovie or DaVinci Resolve. Short and vertical: CapCut, Shotcut or ClipForge.
- Check captions early. If most of your viewers watch muted, automatic captions will save the most time. See auto captions on Mac.
- Decide whether you need a voice. A text-to-speech voiceover avoids recording; see text-to-speech video on Mac.
- Look at where the free version stops before you build a habit on it: Studio for Resolve, Pro for CapCut, Premium for ClipForge, nothing for iMovie and Shotcut.
- Try two. All five are free to download. Edit the same thirty seconds in each and keep the one that felt fastest.
Questions
What is the best free video editor for Mac?
It depends on what you make. iMovie is the easiest start and is already on most Macs. DaVinci Resolve is the most capable free editor for long-form work. CapCut and ClipForge are built for short vertical videos, CapCut for trend-style social clips and ClipForge for ads about apps and products. Shotcut is a free, open-source all-rounder.
Is iMovie good enough for TikTok and Reels?
For simple cuts, yes, but iMovie on Mac has no vertical project type. The usual workaround is its App Preview project, which gives a portrait canvas but drops some titles, themes and transitions. An editor that starts on a 9:16 canvas saves that step.
Which free Mac video editors have automatic captions?
Shotcut generates subtitles from speech with its built-in Speech to Text (Whisper) tool, added in version 24.10. CapCut offers auto captions, with some styles in its paid Pro tier. ClipForge generates captions on your Mac in its free editor. DaVinci Resolve's free version handles subtitles you type or import; generating them from audio is part of the paid Studio version. iMovie does not generate captions from speech.
Can a free video editor make ads?
Yes. Any of these can cut an ad. What changes is how much you build by hand: vertical canvas, captions in each platform's safe zone, a voiceover and an export per format. ClipForge is made for that job; the others are general editors.