The apps I actually recommend when someone says "how do you edit your videos?"

Someone asked me this week which editing app I use... and I gave them a fifteen-minute answer, because apparently I cannot help myself.

So I'm writing it down here so you can share, save, reference back later etc...

Because "which app should I use" is one of the most common questions I get from social media managers, business owners, from people who filmed a whole event three weeks ago and haven't touched the footage since.

(If that last one stung a bit... hi, this one's for you.)

Quick truth before we start: editing for social is not filmmaking.

You don't need a colour grading suite to sell a spa day.

You need a hook in the first two seconds, captions because half your audience is on mute, vertical everything, and, most importantly... speed.

Over my 10 year career, I have used a lot of different video editors and remember back in the day when I was simply using my iPhone 13's version of iMovie for when I was editing my YouTube vlogs during my university years. I think I can safely say I've upgraded since then.

But if you are looking for some recommendations, here are a few:

CapCut

CapCut is the one I recommend most and is the one I personally use the most.

Auto-captions that actually work, templates, text animations, all free. If you're posting at volume, this is your app. I love the different templates on offer in the app and you've got the option of upgrading and adding your brand assets in the app, which makes my life easier if I have favourite fonts, sounds or transitions I want to use, or I want to use my brand colours on text.

InShot

InShot is for my "I'm not techy" people and is the one I started using when I was first starting with UGC. Trim, music, text, export, done. It won't do anything fancy but if you're fairly new to editing, this is one that I usually recommend first before you go to CapCut.

Canva

Canva, yes, Canva, has quietly become a proper video editor and was something I used to use for when I was editing trailer videos (and even now, I use it now and again for editing). The win here is brand kits, which has been a life savour for me to keep all my logos, assets etc in one place.

Plus, if you're a team of three all making content for one account, Canva is what stops it looking like three different phones made it.

Adobe Premiere

Now this one is for the pros and one I used to use wayyy back in my first digital marketing role for video editing. I would say if you're looking to do advanced editing, i.e. animations and big premiere videos for websites and offline marketing, this is your baby. I may try this one again, but I find it super easy to edit from my trusty CapCut.

iMovie

and you know what, I'll say it... iMovie is great for beginners who want easy editing via a MacBook or iPhone. It's probably the one I'd recommend to my dad who fancies himself as a low-key vlogger.

Edits

I won't lie... I wasn't sure about Edits when it first came out, but I am finding myself using this more and more as time goes on.

I love the inspiration hub where I can save video templates I like and edit them to make them my own, the clean timeline, the green screen effects and it's basically CapCut's competitor with the advantage of being in the Instagram app. It's a solid 9/10 for me.

Now the next few are ones that I've not personally tested myself but would love to either trial soon or I've heard from word of mouth are good:

VN Video Editor

This one has been coming up more and more, simply as an excellent free option that doesn't give you the watermark (InShot free version does, but you can easily crop this out using your editing settings) and it's meant to have a super clean timeline, good keyframing and is great for both short and long-form videos.

Splice

This is another one I keep seeing adverts for, it's meant to be super easy for people to create fully customised videos on iPhone and iPad and some people have said they prefer it to CapCut... I'll be the judge of that!

So in summary:

For beginner editing, I'd go for Edits or InShot

For easy but slightly more advance, go CapCut

Then if you're a pro video editor doing lots of editing and colour grading etc, go Adobe Premiere.

If you have a team and want some good templates to work from, go to Canva.

But what I would say is... don't use multiple video editors, especially due to the storage issues! Stick to one, maybe two editors that you can rely on.

For me, those are CapCut and Edits... I may venture to others soon and I'm always in the market for new tools that will make my life easier, but this is where I'll stick for now.

Want help with editing your videos?

After twelve years of doing this, agency-side, in-house, and now running The Content Stage, I can tell you the app is almost never the actual problem.

The problem is time or confidence, or the fact that editing well is a real skill, and you're already doing three other jobs before lunch.

So if that's you, two options:

Learn it properly, once. My 1:1 Video Editing Session is 75 minutes, hands-on, in the app that actually suits you and your content. You leave with a repeatable process, camera roll to posted, that you can run every single week.

Or hand it over. I do content shoots for brands and businesses where I plan, shoot, edit and deliver a full bank of content ready to post. You run your business, I'll handle the stage management. Or if you have prior footage you've captured but have no idea how to edit it or what to do with it, I can help.

What are your go to video editors?