Step 1
Choose footage that represents your typical workflow
Pick a video type you edit regularly — interview, tutorial, product demo. This gives you the most useful comparison against your current free editor.
Editly AI
Best Free Video Editor
Is Editly actually free?
Editly has a free tier with 3 full AI-edited exports — no watermark, no credit card required. After those 3 credits, you need a Pro subscription at $28/month for 100 exports or Max at $70/month for 500 exports.
Free Video Editor Options: What You Get and What It Costs in Time
Every free editor has a cost — either in money or in time. Here's an honest comparison.
| Decision | Other Apps | Editly |
|---|---|---|
| DaVinci Resolve (free) | DaVinci Resolve: professional-grade free NLE — costs significant learning time and manual editing time per project | Editly free: 3 AI-edited exports — zero learning time, 10-20 minutes per video, then $28/month |
| Silence removal | Free NLEs (Shotcut, OpenShot, Clipchamp): not built in — requires manual scrubbing for every project | Editly: built-in as a prompt option — applied automatically with any free or paid export |
| Auto-captions | Free NLEs: limited (DaVinci has Speech to Text; Shotcut/OpenShot don't) — requires additional setup | Editly: included in every edit prompt — generated from spoken content automatically |
| Export quality | Free NLEs: full quality, no watermark — genuinely unlimited free exports | Editly free: 3 full-quality exports, no watermark — then $28/month for 100 exports |
Use Your 3 Free Credits Wisely
Step 2
Write a specific, detailed prompt
The more specific the prompt, the better the output. 'Trim to 5 minutes, remove silences over 0.8 seconds, add white captions at the bottom, start with the strongest point.'
Step 3
Compare time and output quality
Time how long the Editly process takes from upload to download. Compare that to how long the same edit takes in your current free editor.
Step 4
Make an informed decision about Pro
If 3 exports is enough to see the value, upgrade to Pro at $28/month. If you prefer manual control, the free NLEs are excellent and always available.
Start With 3 Free Exports — No Card Required
Test AI editing for free. Upload real footage, write a real prompt, compare against your current workflow. Make the decision based on what you see, not what we say.
- 3 free exports, no watermark, no credit card
- Compare directly against DaVinci, Shotcut, or any other free editor
- Pro $28/month if the speed difference is worth it