5 Best iMovie Alternatives for Windows and Mac

Being one of the best professional video editor products, iMovie has managed to capture a lot of loyal users by its ease of use and powerful media processing ability. However, like all of the other applications developed by Apple, iMovie is not liked by everyone for its unique interacting style.

Good thing is, in this highly developed the digital world nowadays, nothing is irreplaceable. If you are not used to using the iMovie as your video editing tool, there are still a lot of iMovie alternatives that you can choose from. And today we are going to introduce some of them.

Part 1: About iMovie

Initially released in 1999, iMovie has been one of the most popular video editings and creating application on the Mac OS for almost two decades. Within these years, iMovie has successfully evolved from a simple video edition tool to powerful multimedia creating center. With iMovie, you can easily realize your creativities in the form of video, image, photo slideshow and more.

iMovie is available on almost all of Apple’s computer or smartphone devices and is preinstalled on both the Mac OS and the iOS system. If you are using an iPhone or a PC that runs the Mac OS, the purple icon with a start and a filming camera on it is the iMovie app.

iMovie s powerful media processing abilities make the app handy for people in different areas. It doesn’t matter if you are a YouTuber trying to make a stunning YouTube video, or just a home guy who wants to make a beautiful family album, iMovie can make it all happen. However, although iMovie is a good app, it’s far from being a perfect one.

Not only does the unique interacting style of iMovie need some time to get used to, but sometimes you also need to pay for the functions you need despite it’s a pre-installed app on your device. So for those who need an iMovie alternative to replace the app, we have some really good suggestions for you in the following for your reference.

Part 2: 5 Best iMovie Alternatives for Windows

Leawo Video Converter Ultimate

Leawo Video Converter Ultimate is one of the best media processing application on Windows. Not only is the program powerful and multifunctional, it’s also super easy to use and way more user-friendly than iMovie. Like iMovie, Leawo Video Converter Ultimate can easily perform some video editing tasks from trimming video, cropping video to adding watermark to video, converting video formats etc.

   

What’s more, Leawo Video Converter Ultimate can also do something that iMovie couldn’t. With Leawo Video Converter, you can easily rip HD videos out of a Blu-ray or DVD disc, download YouTube videos to MP4, burn your own videos to DVD or Blu-ray and do many more advanced multimedia works. If there is one most recommendable iMovie alternative for Windows, then it has to be Leawo Video Converter Ultimate in my opinion.

Adobe Premiere Pro

When it comes to the video production work, Adobe Premiere Pro might be the most professional application that you can possibly have. With tons of powerful media processing functions and uncountable customization options, Adobe Premiere Pro can realize almost any effect you want on your video as long as you know how.

Because of the powerful functions that this product can provide, Adobe Premiere Pro is the first choice for a lot of professionals working in the video production industry. However, the high price and the complicity makes this product not suitable for total beginners.

Pinnacle Studio

Pinnacle Studio is an easy-to-use iMovie alternative for Windows users. If you are overwhelmed by the complicity of iMovie or Adobe Premiere Pro, then Pinnacle Studio might help you out by providing a simple interacting style. Although the program is easy to use, the ability of Pinnacle Studio is still powerful.

Pinnacle Studio offers all of the basic video editing functions plus multi-tract video editing, enhanced color effects panel, multi-camera video editing and many advanced video processing options. The price of Pinnacle Studio starts at $59, which is hardly a bargain, but is also not so overwhelming for beginners.

Sony Vegas Pro 16

Together with iMovie and Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro is one of the top 3 most popular video producing applications among the video professionals. Sony Vegas Pro 16 has all of the functions that Sony Vegas Pro always have, plus some new features like streamlined editor, hover scrub, extensive file backups, high DPI scaling and more.

Comparing to its counterparts, Sony Vegas Pro 16 provides a detailed audio editing interface, giving you a full control over the audio in your video like no app else. Just as all of its advantages, he disadvantages of Sony Vegas Pro 16 are also obvious. Like its professional counterparts, Sony Vegas Pro 16 is expensive, complicated and need some demanding on computer specs.

Lightworks

As an open-source video editing program, Lightworks winds its loyal users mainly by its efficiency and speed. The application is designed slightly different from the traditional video editing programs based on timelines. The new design may take you some time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, the video editing experience that Lightworks provides is enjoyable like no app else.

Another thing that I like about the program is, Lightworks has an official forum. When you have any problem using the product, just turn to the forum and there will be many members that would help.

Part 3: 5 Best iMovie Alternatives for Mac

Leawo Video Converter Ultimate for Mac

In the last part, we have introduced Leawo Video Converter Ultimate as one of the best recommendable iMovie alternatives for Windows. Fortunately, On Mac OS, you can also use Leawo Video Converter Ultimate because Leawo Video Converter Ultimate for Mac is available for anyone who is working on a Mac computer. Leawo Video Converter Ultimate is just as amazing as the Windows version of the program.

By installing Leawo Video Converter Ultimate for Mac, you don’t only get one of the best video editor and converter programs on Mac, but also get one of the best DVD rippers for Mac, one of the best video downloaders on Mac and one of the best DVD burners on Mac, because Leawo Video Converter Ultimate for Mac has all of them integrated into one single app.

Avid Media Composer

Avid Media Composer is a fully featured video editing tool available on both Windows and Mac OS platforms. As a practical video editing application, Avid Media Composer supports most of the mainstream media formats as both input and output and is powerful enough to deal with big and long video creatives.

Although Avid Media Composer is not freeware, it has a free version called Avid Media Composer | First. For beginners, trying out the Avid Media Composer | First before buying the product might be an excellent idea.

Final Cut Pro X

The next iMovie alternative for Mac that I would like to introduce, is another application developed by Apple called Final Cut Pro X. Final Cut Pro X has a similar designing ideology as Adobe Premiere Pro. If you like using Adobe Premiere Pro, you probably would like more using Final Cut Pro X more on Mac because of the higher stability and better performance.

With so many advanced video editing options, Final Cut Pro X is trying to keep itself as easy as possible so that even beginners can quickly get used to the program and starting to creating stunning videos with it. As one part of Apple’s eco-system, you can easily sync your productions with your other Apple devices in Final Cut Pro X, and that’s also one of the biggest advantages of this application.

OpenShot

The biggest advantage of OpenShot is that the application is completely free of charge. Being available for most of the major operating systems, OpenShot can provide all of the basic video editing functions for your daily video processing tasks.

Although the product is not as powerful as most of the professional iMovie alternatives you can get on Mac OS, the fact that this application is available for multiple systems, easy to use and free of charge makes OpenShot recommendable if you want to replace iMovie on your computer with a simpler application.

DaVinci Resolve 15

DaVinci Resolve 15 is a video editing tool released by Blackmagic Design. Unlike other iMovie alternatives, DaVinci Resolve 15 specializes in not only video editing, but also color correction and other visual effect productions.

With some new features added, DaVinci Resolve 15 is now not only capable of doing basic VFX effects, but also some post-productions of audio, visual effects and more. If you need a great color correction function or some visual production tools, DaVinci Resolve 15 should definitely be your choice to replace iMovie.

Part 4: Conclusion

Although iMovie is loved by many Apple users, a decent iMovie alternative is still wanted by a great number of other users. Today we introduced some of the best iMovie alternatives for you. Led by Leawo Video Converter Ultimate and Leawo Video Converter Ultimate for Mac, all of these iMovie alternatives are efficient, practical and recommendable. If you want something other than iMovie to edit or convert your videos, I’m sure these recommendations would help.