The need for online video editing apps or services is higher than ever.
Everybody is trying to put out more video content and someone has to edit that content.
For those who don’t need all the features of NLE software or the help of a video editing agency, online video editing tools are the way to go.
If that’s you, here are 7 video editing websites to check out.
Kapwing
If you’re a millennial you probably heard of or even used Kapwing before.
Kapwing is more like a meme maker or a collection of simple editing features rather than a traditional video editing platform.
You can trim and stitch your videos together, add subtitles, resize or rotate them. Everything is free if you’re okay with having a little “Kapwing” watermark in the corner of your video.
You can upload pretty much any file format as long as your video file does not exceed 300 MB.
Alternatively, you can simply paste the link to the video you want to edit and use it straight from YouTube or Vimeo for example if it’s not longer than 30 minutes.
So Kapwing will not work for videos that are longer than that or larger than 80 MB.
It can be used without creating an account which is awesome in my opinion, one less website where you need to put in your email.
I would say that Kapwing is targeted at the younger generation that wants to create a short funny video on the fly. However, it can be used by educators as well to trim a short presentation, add text, logos or maybe use a filter.
So yeah, definitely a tool to try if you’re into that.
Clipchamp
Next in line is a Clipchamp, a platform that is widely known for its capabilities to record videos using nothing but your web browser.
That alone is a really awesome feature that saves you the trouble of installing additional software on your computer, but what I actually want to look at is their Create product.
So Clipchamp Create is your traditional online video editor that will let you manipulate video files really quickly and easy.
Besides the option of uploading your own video files, you can also use clips from their stock footage library which is a nice extra.
When it comes to editing, Clipchamp Create works pretty much like a standard NLE software. You have your timeline where you drag videos from your library and where you get to create your own little montage.
By double-clicking on your clip, you get access to the video options which will let you crop/resize, rotate, and apply filters to your footage.
Speaking of cropping a video.
I recently started putting together Premiere Pro tutorials and I have a super short and to the point 1-minute clip that explains how you can crop a video in Premiere Pro.
Back to this article now.
You can even do a little bit of color grading since you get access to controls such as exposure, saturation, temperature, or contrast.
For the audio track, you are able to adjust the volume of the whole song/audio clip, fade in or out audio, but I couldn’t find any way to adjust the EQ-ing.
Last but not least, you have a section called ‘Titles‘ where you can insert text slides and animated lower thirds that look pretty good actually. So this would definitely work for a corporate kind of video for example.
Wideo
Wideo is your go-to place if you are looking to create a 2D animated video or engaging presentations that grab attention.
You will have the option to create your video from scratch or start by using one of the many different templates they have available on the website. Personally, I like using the templates and just customize them to whatever I need.
With the templates, you get access to tens of different video styles designed in a nice fashion, for a specific type of videos such as real estate, explainer videos, product reviews, case studies, website demos and so on and so forth. There’s a template for any idea you have in mind.
So I really appreciate the fact that Wideo offers access to such a wide variety of already designed templates. It will help you get your video done in a matter of minutes. No previous experience needed. I really like their real estate templates as they seem to have an up to date and modern feel.
Wideo also comes with a fairly large library of objects you can use. But it you can’t find what you are looking for or you want to create a video that is more personalized you can upload your own images and sounds.
You can add text overlays, choose between different backgrounds and put all of them together in a nice and smoothly animated video. One drawback, in my opinion, is that you don’t get that many fonts to choose from, and I couldn’t find a way to upload your own.
MakeWebVideo
MakeWebVideo is an online animated video maker which allows you to easily design stuff like whiteboard animations, explainer videos or short intro/logo animation clips. So if that’s what you are looking for you should definitely consider it.
It comes with an impressive number of templates that are organized by style. I found their Kinetic Typography templates really nice and up to date, what they really excel at are the whiteboard animations in my opinion.
You will need to create an account before you can jump into editing. First, you pick the template, then you can upload your own photos and footage, use an audio track they provide or upload your own and that’s pretty much it. One thing I think they can improve is the music selection, but then again they do offer the option to use your own music so you can work around that. Just make sure have a license for the music you’re using and don’t get into any copyright infringement.
MakeWebVideo even offers video hosting if you don’t want to put your video up on YouTube or Vimeo. You just copy and paste the link they provide on your website and you are good to go. I think they are one of the few in their niche that offers to host and an embedded video player. So that’s a plus.
Price wise, the cost is based on the template you are using. The cheapest ones are in the 10-15 USD range, while the majority are more like 30 or 40 dollars. So not expensive at all.
Typito
I love adding animated copy pullouts to videos. I think they add more style and an up to date feel to a dull talking head video for example or to a corporate presentation.
And that’s exactly what Typito lets you do. All online, using drag and drop. How cool is that?
It’s like using After Effects, but a lot, lot, lot easier. Sure, you are limited by their library and don’t have the flexibility that a dedicated animation software gives you, but let’s be honest. Most of the times you just use templates anyways, right?
And Typito’s templates look really stylized. I don’t know how often they update them, but the ones they have available right now look pretty nice and up to date with the trends.
So once you are on their website all you need to do is upload your footage, pick the text animation you like and just drag it on top of your footage. You can pick where it comes in and where it goes out, change the colors to make it match your brand colors for example and obviously you can change the text.
The font selection is great too, so you can really customize everything to make it look pretty much the way you want it.
Here’s what you should expect from Typito.
mysimpleshow
This one sits at the top of my list when it comes to creating explainer videos online or if I am looking for a video maker that can help me express a storyline freely. I really like how clean and simple the user interface is and the results you get from their service.
They divide the creation process into 4 different steps which kinda helps you get more organized with your project. At the very start, you get the option of uploading a PowerPoint to use as your script or create the script from scratch instead.
Right after that, you will be asked to pick from a bunch of different options the one that best describes your project. Based on that mysimpleshow will suggest a storyline for you to use. Sure, you can tweak and customize that storyboard in step #3 so that it matches your needs.
The second step is where you get to write down your script which the software will then turn into a voice over. This is quite a unique feature they are offering, so a clear differentiator from the competition.
Just make it sure to make your copy really short and match your message.
Lumen5
Lumen5 is an online video solution that turns your written content such as blog posts into videos.
I know a lot of companies love this because everybody is trying re-purpose content and just create more and more content. And if it’s video content that is even better.
So that’s where Lumen5 comes into the picture.
Once you are in the Lumen5 dashboard you have 3 different options. You can simply paste the URL of the blog you want to make a video from, you can start with some copy or you can pick some of the themes they have on the app.
Personally, I like the “Start with a link” option as I think it’s the best fit for content creators that are looking to get a video done quickly.
You get to select the paragraphs that you want to be displayed in your video, pick the media to use in your clip and lastly but not least, chose the audio. Speaking of that, Lumen5 has a great music selection. You also have a handful of options for animating the copy in your Lumen5 clip, such as panning and zooming.
Overall, I think Lumen5 is a good option for people that want to create short blog videos at scale. It literally takes you a few minutes to produce one clip.
Design Wizard
Conclusion
As a full-time video editor and a power user of the Adobe suite, I can tell you I am pretty reluctant when it comes to online video editing solution.
I like to have complete control over the footage and I understand that you can’t have that with any of the above apps. But even so, I was impressed by the quality of the output you can get from all of these services, and most importantly I was blown away by how easy it is to create videos that look like they were cut by experienced editors.
So if you don’t want to get a headache from all the knobs you will find in Premiere Pro but still crank out a simple, stylish video in minutes, any of the above options are worth checking out.
Sure, each one will serve a slightly different purpose and not all will be suited for everything, but depending on what type of content you are trying to create you can definitely find at least a couple of options that would work out for you.
Cristian Stanciu is a freelance video editor, owner, and post-production coordinator of Veedyou Media – a company offering video editing services to videographers, marketing agencies, video production studios, or brands all over the globe.