5 Best Online Video Editors in 2026

That's a good question, but the answer is both direct and vague – it all depends on your goals and preferences.

The thing is, editors are often specialized, be it for short video clips, vertical videos, music videos, some for enhancing visuals, and some for just about any kind of edit you can think of. The only thing that is certain about online video editors is them being indispensable in the modern process of content creation.

Why is that, you may ask? There are some things that matter to creators and casual users alike, so let's find them in a few of the top online video editing software to find the best one for you!

Introduction to online video editors

First, let's go over why we even consider online editors. Everyone knows that desktop ones are better; online options cannot provide a complete video editing suite, right? It may have been true in the past, but now they are on par – at least for an average user – and online video editing options have some undeniable advantages, like:

1. Cross-platform access. A vast majority of online tools are account-based, meaning that you can edit videos on just about any device with an Internet connection. It allows you to work on them whenever and wherever you want, without being confined to a single PC.
2. No installation required. Not only does it mean you can save space, since some desktop editors can be quite big, but your device also doesn't have to be super modern and powerful to meet its requirements, which can be pretty demanding.
3. Auto-saving. Most online editors save projects automatically in the cloud, so if your browser crashes or your battery dies, you won't lose your progress. Plus, you can often roll back a project several steps or view previous versions.
4. Quick sharing. Once done, you can immediately post your video on multiple platforms without even downloading it!
5. Easier collaboration. If you're working in a team, this is a huge advantage. You can just share a link to the project with the other party so they can view the draft, leave comments, or even make edits directly in the browser.
6. Simplicity. While desktop editors are multi-functional and have a lot of features, online ones are better when you need just one kind of edit. You know, sometimes it's just easier to boot up a tool for a quick cut, music addition, making a slideshow, etc.

And last, but not least – you're always up-to-date online. Developers update their tools, and new features, filters, and formats appear in your browser automatically.

With all of these listed, you can see that online video editors are more beneficial for an average user. Plus, we love to share our clips across various social media platforms, and they are often vertical. While you can adjust settings to make editing this format easier, online options can do it right away.

5 best video editing software online

Now, let's get to the meat of the question. To define the bestness of any editor, we need to see if it caters to our needs.

I will try a few of the very common picks to see if I can easily edit a video of my cats that I'd like to share across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and the like. The common criteria will be:

• Devices (web and mobile);
• Features I need for my video;
• Responsiveness, reliability, and editing experience;
• Ability to add subtitles and/or a voice-over;
• Extra features, like recording or something specific to the tool.

So let's research!

Clideo Video Editor

Among a plethora of other, simpler tools, Clideo Online Video Editor stands out as an all-in-one solution. However, even though it has a great deal of advanced features, this video editor stays user-friendly as everything is pretty straightforward and easy to grasp even at first glance.

It's a great all-rounder, providing a smooth video editing experience for simple and professional videos alike, and an average user can get the best out of their creativity with it. So let's see what you can expect:

• Cross-platform compatibility + a separate app for iPhones;
• Support for multiple modern visual and audio formats;
• Aspect ratio presets for quick fitting to a specific platform.

For my project, I have a vertical video that I want to crop, enhance its colors, add fun background music, and some text and/or voice-over.

The first was the easiest – as soon as I added my file to start editing, it became selected in the player, and I could just drag whichever side I wanted to crop and change the video length. Adjusting the colors is similarly easy, as I've just tweaked a few options here and there. I can easily combine multiple clips by just dragging and dropping or copying and pasting the new files from my computer to the page.

Music is where it gets interesting. I could upload one from my device, but I opted for using something from the built-in library with both music and sound effects (there are libraries with stock videos and images too).

Captions are also easy to add, but what about a voice-over? Check this out – there are options to use text-to-speech (TTS) for it or record your own right there! Plus, if you need to record your camera, screen, or both at once, it's also possible.

The platform is not only for Windows or Mac users, as there is a handy iOS app that allows sending the result to one or a few social media platforms using one of the share buttons.

And what about the pricing? There's just the Free plan and Pro, available for $9/mo. Free users can satisfy most of their video editing needs with the former, while the subscription plan offers perks such as increased upload and storage options, removal of watermarks, access to higher AI feature limits (that are available in their separate subtitling and video translation tools), and the ability to export videos in HD and 4K quality.

In general, Clideo Video Editor is perfect for the everyday video editing needs of any content creator, like repurposing, quick cuts, subtitling, adding texts, etc.

WeVideo

What about projects you need to work on with someone else? This online editor is exactly for that! Like Clideo's, it's suitable for different levels of editing expertise, but with a twist: WeVideo offers separate editing modes for beginners and more advanced users. I chose the latter to see how hard (or not) it is for an average user to create videos here.

It's the usual video editor, kinda like some older desktop editing software, and the workflow is similar. Just pick anything you need on the timeline, click "Edit" under the player, and you have all available edits there. As my video is a simple project, I was able to edit it without a hitch.

When exporting videos, you can send the result to a few cloud storage options or directly to YouTube. The first two are good for sharing, but you can also connect your account to your organization's account, making it much easier to edit videos together.

Price

A free 7-day trial, Creator and Teams plans, $28/mo and $75/mo respectively, that provide additional features like collaborating in real time. There's also an Enterprise plan for teams larger than 3 with custom billing.

Animoto

If you're a solo player or represent some brand, this editor is perfect for you. It's one of the best options for quick, eye-catching videos, with plenty of free templates for various social events, making it suitable for small businesses and influencers.

However, with this focus, I wasn't able to achieve the same result as in previous options when editing my video. It's not a bad thing, but it shows this tool wasn't suitable for my type of idea.

Price

Basic plan for $19/mo, Professional for $29/mo, and Professional Plus for $79/mo. The latter caters to teams, providing shared workspace, managing roles, etc.

FlexClip

Another great option, suitable for every kind of video content. Apart from the usual editing tools, it also has a heap of AI features, helpful for various kinds of videos. For example, you can add video effects, SFX, remove the background, etc.

I didn't need AI tools for my video, but it still looked pretty good after I tweaked it here and there in FlexClip's editor.

Price

$19.99/mo for a Plus plan and $29.99/mo for a Business plan; both provide a heap of additional features, with the latter also offering unlimited stock media and 4k quality.

VEED.io

And what about cases where your video already looks good, but you just want to quickly subtitle it? Advanced tools like VEED.io's editor are your friends then! This one provides accurate auto-subtitling and audio cleanup, which is helpful.

It's also great as an editor, and I was able to quickly finish my video. Among other features, VEED.io offers powerful AI options, such as video generation from text, voice cloning, and B-roll and transition generation.

Price

€21/mo for a Lite plan, and €53/mo for a Pro plan, presenting more in the AI field, e.g., unlimited generation, more tools, etc.

Tips for choosing the best online video editing tool

Those were just the tip of the iceberg, but we already can see how web apps can differ from one to another. This is why, when choosing the tool for your project, you should:

• Define your main objective. Don't look for the "best overall" solution. Look for the best one for your purpose.
• Consider the main limitations. Those vary by tool, but mostly free accounts are limited by export quality, duration, file size, and watermarking. If you are ok with them, you can still have a powerful free online video editor at your fingertips.
• Check if the editor works fast on your preferred browser. It's especially useful if you plan to work on different devices and want to have a smooth editing process on each of them.
• See if there are aspect ratios for platforms that differ from each other. As a rule of thumb, just about any modern editor has a variety of them. But if you want to, e.g., post the same video in TikTok's and YouTube's native formats, see if they are available before editing.
• Think about whether the price is good for you. While you may get an "okay" result with the free version, some paid features might be tempting and helpful in the long run, so consider whether they are worth it overall.

All in all, in the end, it comes down to how comfortable you are with using a specific online editor. And who knows, maybe the most complex of them will be the one for you? Try different options to find out!