Best Windows Movie Maker Alternative

Windows Movie Maker was one of the most popular video editing & publishing applications for Windows users. For a casual video editor personal, the Windows Movie Maker was very easy to use and produce great videos for social media posting and other regular publishing. It was the part of Windows Essentials software suite. So why does Microsoft withdraw it on Windows 10?

With the inception of Windows 8, Microsoft launched the one-stop-shop for all utility, entertainment, and gaming apps – Microsoft App Store. To push the Microsoft Store’s apps, Microsoft no longer wants to carry out the cost of maintaining and updating the traditional Win32 apps, so it is gradually discontinuing them. The conventional version of popular applications like Microsoft Office, Skype, and others are still there but also available on the Windows Store. The Windows Movie Maker was part of that. 

Though Microsoft provided the alternative to Windows Movie Maker in the form of Microsoft Photos, many people were unsatisfied with it and looking for the best Windows Movie Maker alternative.

If you are one of those, who miss the fantastic features of Windows Movie Maker and looking for similar video editing programs, here is a compilation of the best alternatives to Windows Movie Maker.

Movavi Video Editor

For beginner to intermediate level of video editing, Movavi Video Editor for Windows and macOS is the best alternative to Windows Movie Maker. Because of its simplicity and advanced features, Movavi has become a favorite of video editing professionals. It provides you basic to professional tools like cutting, trimming, joining, rotating, filters, stickers, transition effects, adding sound, and much more. For any video editing software, it is essential to have a straightforward user interface so that even the beginner-level editor can use it smoothly. This is where Movavi is quite ahead of its competitors. It comes with a slick user interface and significant functions. The pro version has more advanced tools for professionals, which you can activate by getting Movavi activation codes.

Shotcut

Shotcut is another excellent video editing tool and a great alternative to Windows Movie Maker. It is an open-source program so available for free to use. It is best suited for the person who likes to work with keyboard shortcuts. Shotcut allows you to import videos of all the popular formats. It provides you the bulk of video and audio editing options, making it popular among video editing professionals. Since Shotcut gives you a lot of keyboard shortcuts to work on, the video editing on it becomes super quick and efficient. Another great thing is that users can use the Shotcut either on the web itself or through the application.

Ezvid

If you like to get an application that can record the video as well as provides excellent editing tools, then Ezvid is just for you. It is one of the simplest video editing applications you will find on the internet. Other than recording the screen and editing the recorded video, you also have the option to upload the videos from the local disk for editing purposes. Ezvid provides users with all the basic to advanced tools to edit and customize the video and publish it on different platforms. It also lets you add the watermark into the video and also background music or sound. Ezvid is best for the professional who creates tutorials videos and needs to record their screen and then edit it.

VideoLAN Movie Creator

VideoLAN Movie Creator or VLMC is a video editing tool developed by the VideoLAN company, which is known for the famous VLC Media Player. It is a cross-platform application available for Windows OS, macOS, and Linux. The great thing about VLMC is that it supports almost every video and audio format available. You can upload the video files of any format, edit them, and then export them in any format, resolution, quality you prefer. Because of its slick interface, it is pretty easy to get used to once started. There are plenty of advanced options like splitting video, adding transitions and filters, adding the background sound, and much more. However, sometimes it can cause trouble while rendering the video.

Lightworks

Lightworks is a powerful video editing tool that is primarily meant for professional editors. Even though it is powerful, it is available for free use as it is open-source. Lightworks provides you with advanced editing features like color correction, multiple transitions, over more than 40 special effects, and much more. Since it has a lot of advanced options, using it requires a learning curve. But after learning and getting used to it, you will love this video editing tool.

Bottom Line

Although Windows Movie Maker was a class apart video editing tool, these top alternatives certainly match its functionality and ease of editing. Few of them are fit for basic editing, while some, like Lightworks, are powerful enough to even create a movie. You can choose any of these by analyzing your skills and requirements.