11 Best Windows Movie Maker Alternatives

Many Windows users' first foray into video production is with Windows Movie Maker. As one of the best showcases of free video editors, it brings much convenience to create fun and memorable videos. However, this handy software was officially discontinued by Microsoft in 2017, which means there's no access to download it from Microsoft's official site.

Even though you can download Windows Movie Maker somewhere else, errors or malfunctions happen frequently, because this phased-out software is no longer compatible with the latest Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Now it's time to move on with Windows Movie Maker alternatives to edit videos. Here's the in-depth review and comparison of the 11 best Windows Movie Maker replacements ranging from simple and free tools to advanced and paid ones.

1. VideoProc Vlogger

VideoProc Vlogger is a free and capable video editor available for Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, and Mac. It covers all your needs no matter you are seeking a handy alternative to Windows Movie Maker or a fully-featured video editor to start your vlog journey. This software has wide array of superb features including basic cutting and reframing tools, aesthetic filters, effects, titles, and transitions, speed ramping, motion cropping, color grading, and studio-level audio editing.

To bring all your ideas into life, VideoProc Vlogger accepts almost all video/audio/image files from iPhone, DJI, GoPro, Sony, Canon, Fuji, and so on, and lets you create unlimited tracks in the timeline. Its self-explaining and modern interface is fast to learn and easy enough for all beginners, yet powerful for pros.

Pros:

• Completely free without any limits.
• Quick workflow for making slideshows, family videos, travel vlogs, and sports highlights.
• Level-3 hardware acceleration to speed up large and long video processing.
• Support 4K 60/120fps and lossless audio output.
• Better compatibility with modern files: 4K/8K, HDR, RAW, ProRes, HEVC, H.264, GIF…

Cons:

• Not supported on 32-bit Windows OS.

2. Microsoft Photos

Now the built-in video editor in Windows 10 is Photos. It was originally developed for managing pictures but later upgraded with editing features when Microsoft decided to replace Windows Movie Maker with it in Windows 10.

Photos is a completely storyboard-based editor with auto and customizable modes. Beginners who don't want to spend much time learning video editing can create videos or photo slideshows with soundtracks, themes, and effects in the auto mode. Also, you can use a set of video creation and editing tools to customize your video including split, music, text, speed, crop, rotate, and 3D effects.

Pros:

• A larger library of background music, 3D effects, titles, and filters.
• Simple and quick editing tools for beginners.
• Instant sharing via Mail, Twitter, and Pinterest (photos and albums).

Cons:

• Can't export 4K videos.
• Not timeline-based to edit videos frame by frame.
• Video editing features unavailable for the Microsoft Family and Enterprise editions.

3. Shotcut

Shoutcut is an open-source video editor that works on Windows, Mac and Linux without charging anything. If you are looking for a Windows Movie Maker Alternative replacement on Windows 7, this software would be a good choice for its good performance on 32-bit Windows 7 PC and some advanced editing features like Chroma key, overlay, audio filters, and voiceover. But it's not intuitive and beginner-friendly, compared to Windows Movie Maker, everything you do is dealing with parameters.

Pros:

• Free on all Windows computers.
• No file import required - native timeline editing.
• High-quality output (1080P and 4K 60fps).
• Support universal video formats.

Cons:

• Cluttered interface and confusing parameters in output settings.
• No preset output profiles for different devices.
• Stock transitions are limited and obsolete.

4. Movavi Video Editor

Movavi Video Editor is a full-featured video editor for Windows and Mac that's designed mainly for beginners. It has an intuitive interface, timeline panel with drag and drop features, access to royalty free music, video effects, and so on. You can also get advantage of AI to automatically create short videos, stabilize shaky footage, remove background or noise, or track objects.

Pros:

• A clean, intuitive user interface for all editing needs.
• Hundreds of creative filters, transitions, stickers, and titles to spice up videos.
• Advanced video and audio editing tools to quickly enhance the quality.
• Support for various popular formats and export to social media.

Cons:

• Slow file optimization for large projects.
• Free version leaves a watermark on the video

5. Kdenlive

Kdenlive is a cross-platform video editing program working on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. This none-liner video editor comes with a multi-tracking timeline and a well-organized and streamlined panel and hence becomes the primary tool for beginners to start the journey of video editing. Moreover, it has dozens of free effects and transitions for its users. And for experts, it offers you audio and video scopes like audio meter, waveform, histogram, and vectorscope to monitor your audio level and video color.

Pros:

• Proxy editing to release the burden on the computer while editing high-res videos.
• Free online resources of render profiles, title templates, fonts, etc.
• Plenty of pro features: keyframe effects, multi-cam editing, and audio mixing.

Cons:

• Tricky installation on Windows for newbies.
• Slow response and unstable on low-end computers.
• MKV, MOV, AVI are not supported in output options.

6. Olive

Olive is a recently-developed open-source video editor. It's quite competent and aims to becoming a free alternative to industry-leading software like After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro X. Obviously, it can work as a powerful replacement to Windows Movie Maker.

You can find all the features that you used in the legacy software, such as split, crop, text, transitions, and animate. If you invest more time learning its node composition (a form of visual programming) and color management, you can make the best videos possible.

Pros:

• Smooth playback optimized by a robust disk cache feature.
• Cover needs from rough cut to grand visual effects.
• Well-rounded shortcuts for the video editing process.

Cons:

• It's still in alpha and crashes or freezes frequently.
• No comprehensive video tutorials on this new product.

7. VSDC

VSDC is a Windows-only video editor coming in a free version and a pro version among which the VSDC Free Video Editor is often regarded as an alternative to Windows Movie Maker. It places basic editing tools like trim, cut, rotate, and effects on the top of the interface, just like Windows Movie Maker, so older users can quickly pick it up.

While if you dive further into it, you'll find it more professional than Windows Movie Maker. It supports multiple media tracks to do overlay or masking and allows you to fine-tune settings in the properties panel.

Pros:

• Compatible with all popular video formats like MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, GIF…
• Its free version won't add watermarks to the final results.
• Support 4K resolution and 360-degree videos.
• Wizard mode to create slideshows in seconds.

Cons:

• Chroma key, color grading, stabilization are missed in the free version.
• Wrapped too many options in the interface that might confuse users.

8. DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve provides Hollywood's most popular solution for video/audio editing, visual effects, motion graphics, color correction, and color grading in one stop. The latest version is DaVinci Resolve 17 with new image processing for the latest wide gamut HDR, a powerful audio engine, AI-based magic mask and more.

Different from Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve is free and won't make you feel like wasting money if you just make little use of its great talents. So you can regard it as either an easy alternative to Windows Movie Maker or a professional tool to learn.

Pros:

• Top color grading capabilities.
• Pro node editing, multi-cam editing, and multi-track editing.
• High-quality output without watermark.

Cons:

• HEVC/H.265 codec is not available in its previous versions.
• Complicated operations even for simple transitions and effects.

9. Adobe Premiere Pro

Preferred by many amateurs and film editors, this big brand always tops on lists of video editing software. You can use it to get any result – family vlogs, slideshows, MVs, and VFX videos. It's essentially different from Windows Movie Maker in terms of the UI, workflow, and ease of use.

And even for the simple cut, it has various tools to deal with – ripple edit, rolling edit, slip tool, and slide tool, which trim off different parts in the clips. So, if you want to improve your editing skills, this would be a good alternative to Movie Maker on Windows 11/10.

Pros:

• Premium-grade audio and video editing capabilities.
• Proxy editing for 1080p or 4K videos.
• A bunch of free plugins to unlock more features.

Cons:

• Resource-intensive system requirements.
• Complicated UI and steep learning curve.

10. Clipchamp

Although Clipchamp is an online editor, it's born with capable features like offline programs and follows a similar UI design and editing workflow. It's simple as Windows Movie Maker but more versatile as it has a decent timeline. And the major advantage lies in its free templates, filters, and stickers. No matter how the Windows OS changes, this tool is always available as long as the Internet is connected

Pros:

• Rich stock footage, music, and templates.
• Packed with other utilities: video converter and webcam recorder.
• Instant sharing via a link.
• No watermark in its free version.

Cons:

• Can't export HD nor UHD videos in the free plan.
• More time-consuming than offline software.

11. Kapwing

Kapwing, a web-based video editor, shares many similarities with Windows Movie Maker. For example, it concentrates on a single timeline and basic video editing. But it has more useful features allowing you to add subtitles, edit audio, and add shapes to the footage. If you value the ease of use most when considering an alternative, Kapwing is definitely worth a try.

Pros:

• Free and no registration required.
• Co-edit with others in the same project.
• Hundreds of media stocks and hot memes.

Cons:

• Can't export videos at 4K resolution.
• The maximum upload file size is 500MB.
• MP4 output only.

Windows Movie Maker Alternatives Comparison

Here's a comparison among the free alternatives to Windows Movie Maker above. Choose the best tool for you according to your computer build, budget, editing skills, and check if it has the features that you value most in Movie Maker.

FAQs

Why was Windows Movie Maker discontinued?

Because Movie Maker did not achieve the success Microsoft expected to match Apple's iMovie, from both market and technical considerations, Microsoft removed it and re-branded the Photos app with video editing features.

What replaced Movie Maker in Windows 11/10?

The built-in windows video editor is Microsoft Photos now. It's free and very basic for making quick photo movies. You can find the editing features in the Photos app or type Video Editor in Search Windows.

Can you download the old Windows Movie Maker?

Yes, but you have to download Windows Live Essential Suite 2012 installer from online archives since the official download link ceased to exist in 2017.