What Do YouTubers Use to Edit Videos and Shorts in 2026
What Do YouTubers Use to Edit Videos?
What do YouTubers use to edit videos depends on two things: the length of the video and the computer they own. A 20-minute vlog with B-roll, color grading and sound mixing goes through a desktop editor. A 40-second Short is often filmed, cut and captioned on the phone in the same hour.
A common setup is two tools: one for the main upload and one for Shorts.
This guide covers both groups with prices checked on the official pages and the US App Store in October 2026.
Desktop Editors for Long YouTube Videos
| Editor | Price (US) | Runs on | Typical channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | $22.99/mo (annual plan, billed monthly) | Windows, Mac | Teams and hired editors |
| Final Cut Pro | $299.99 one-time (Mac) | Mac; iPad version in Apple Creator Studio | Solo creators on a Mac |
| DaVinci Resolve | Free; Studio $295 one-time | Windows, Mac, Linux | Color-heavy edits, creators on a budget |
| CapCut desktop | Free (1080p); paid Pro adds 4K | Windows, Mac | Beginners, fast captions and templates |
| Descript | Free (60 media min/mo); Hobbyist $24/mo or $16/mo yearly | Windows, Mac, web | Podcasts and talking-head videos |
| iMovie | Free | Mac, iPhone, iPad | First videos, simple cuts |
Prices from adobe.com, apple.com, blackmagicdesign.com, capcut.com and descript.com, checked October 8, 2026. CapCut Pro prices differ by region and platform.
Adobe Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro is the default in studios and agencies, so a channel that hires editors usually lands on it: project files move between people without conversion. It pairs with After Effects for motion graphics and with Adobe Audition for sound. The single-app plan costs $22.99 a month on an annual commitment.
Weak spot: the subscription never ends, and a mid-range laptop struggles with long 4K timelines.
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro costs $299.99 once on the Mac, with no subscription for the desktop version. Its magnetic timeline closes gaps automatically when you remove a clip, which keeps talking-head edits fast. Final Cut Pro for iPad comes with Apple Creator Studio at $12.99 a month or $129 a year.
Weak spot: there is no Windows version, so a team with Windows machines cannot share projects.
DaVinci Resolve
The free version of DaVinci Resolve covers editing, color grading, Fairlight audio and Fusion effects, and exports a finished YouTube video with no watermark. Studio, at $295 once, adds the paid AI tools and noise reduction. Resolve started as a color grading system, and its color page is the strongest among the editors here.
Weak spot: the interface is dense, and the first week is slower than in CapCut or iMovie.
CapCut and Descript
CapCut desktop is free for 1080p exports and brings the mobile app's auto captions, templates and effects to Windows and Mac. Descript edits video by editing the transcript: delete a sentence in the text and it disappears from the timeline. That makes it popular for podcasts and interviews, and its "Create Clips" feature cuts short clips from the same project.
If you are weighing CapCut for the long term, read our CapCut alternative for iPhone guide first: it covers CapCut's pricing and its US availability history.
What Do YouTubers Use to Edit Shorts?
Shorts are edited on the phone more often than long videos, because they are filmed vertically on the phone and posted from it. Since October 15, 2024, a square or vertical upload of up to 3 minutes counts as a Short, so the tools below all target that limit.
| App | Price | Platform | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube app (Shorts camera) | Free | iPhone, Android | Filming and posting a Short in one place |
| YouTube Create | Free | iPhone (iOS 17+), Android; 21 countries incl. US | Google's free standalone editor |
| CapCut | Free; subscriptions in-app | iPhone, Android, desktop | Trends, templates, effects |
| Bitcut | Free; Pro $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr | iPhone & iPad | Shorts cut from long videos, word-by-word captions |
| LumaFusion | $29.99 one-time | iPhone & iPad | Multi-track edits on the go |
YouTube Shorts Camera and YouTube Create
The Shorts camera inside the YouTube app records in segments up to 3 minutes in total, with undo and redo, music, filters, effects and text-to-speech. It is the shortest path from idea to upload.
YouTube Create is Google's separate free editor. It runs on Android phones with at least 4 GB of RAM and on iPhone XR or newer with iOS 17, in 21 countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India.
Bitcut for Shorts Cut from Long Videos
Many Shorts are a minute taken out of a podcast, stream or long upload. Bitcut is built for that job on iPhone and iPad: Generate Shorts transcribes the long video, picks moments that stand on their own and ranks them as 9:16 candidates. You then edit word-by-word captions in 18 caption looks, and face tracking on the Pro plan keeps the speaker in frame when a 16:9 shot becomes vertical.
The free plan includes the full editor and 30 AI minutes a month, with a watermark on exports. Pro costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year and adds 300 AI minutes, face tracking and clean exports. There is no desktop or Android app. If your long video is already on YouTube, the free browser tool YouTube to Shorts finds Shorts-ready moments from the link without installing anything.
For the full workflow, see how to create YouTube Shorts from long videos.
How to Choose Your Editing Setup
- You work alone on a Mac: Final Cut Pro for long videos, a phone app for Shorts.
- You want to spend nothing: DaVinci Resolve for long videos, the YouTube Shorts camera or YouTube Create for Shorts.
- You hire an editor or plan to: Premiere Pro, because freelancers already know it.
- You run a podcast or interview channel: Descript for the episode, Bitcut for the clips on iPhone.
- Most of your Shorts come from your long uploads: a clipping tool saves the most time. Our best clipping software roundup compares eight.
Frequently Asked Questions
For long videos, Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve are the standard desktop editors, with CapCut desktop popular among beginners. For Shorts, many creators edit on the phone in the YouTube app, YouTube Create, CapCut or Bitcut.
Phone apps: the Shorts camera in the YouTube app (up to 3 minutes), YouTube Create from Google, CapCut for templates and effects, and Bitcut on iPhone for Shorts cut from long videos with word-by-word captions.
DaVinci Resolve is the most capable free desktop editor and exports without a watermark. On the phone, YouTube Create and the YouTube Shorts camera are free with no watermark.
Up to 3 minutes. Square or vertical videos of 3 minutes or less uploaded on or after October 15, 2024 are classified as Shorts.
Yes. iMovie is free, LumaFusion ($29.99 once) handles multi-track edits, and Bitcut turns long recordings into Shorts with captions. A long 4K edit with heavy effects is still faster on a computer.
The Bottom Line
Our Recommendation
Pick the desktop editor by your computer and budget: Final Cut Pro on a Mac, DaVinci Resolve for free, Premiere Pro for teams. For Shorts, start with the YouTube app, and add a clipping app once most of your Shorts come from long videos. Compare AI options in our guide to the best AI video editors for iPhone.
