Creating great video content for Instagram is easier than ever. You don’t even need to venture outside of the Instagram app to edit your uploads or jazz ‘em up with some stickers, filters, and overlays.
That said, today’s brands face increasing pressure to create something unique that allows them to build a connection with their followers. And unfortunately, using the “standard” tools available inside the app won’t do much to help you stand out in a sea of branded Stories and IGTV segments.
The challenge is, there are countless video editing apps for Instagram at every price point and it’s hard to separate good stuff from the junk.
In this article, I’ll go over some of the best video editing apps for Instagram so you can start upgrading your profile ASAP.
The best video editing apps for Instagram:
- Horizon
- Foodie
- Mojo
- Wondershare FilmoraGo
- A Color Story
- VSCO
- Adobe Premiere Rush CC
- InShot
- WeVideo
- Quik by GoPro
- Kinemaster
- Boomerang
- Animoto
- Magisto
Horizon
Price: Free (+paid)
Horizon is an easy-to-use smartphone video app that has the unique ability to turn vertical videos on their side to display horizontal video. The idea behind this app is to help users create more professional horizontal videos–particularly if they’re used to shooting in Instagram’s signature vertical view.
The app comes with eight real-time filters, supports up to 4k horizontal recording, allows you to shoot with various aspect ratios (Square 1:1, Wide 16:9, Standard 4:3), and offers 60 or 120 fps slow motion support.
It automatically levels out your photos and videos while recording and allows you to shoot horizontal videos, even if you’re in portrait mode.
It’s also worth pointing out that Horizon isn’t just for Instagram, you can use it to polish up your creations and reformat them for every channel in your content mix.
Foodie
Price: Free
Given the sheer volume of food-related content on Instagram from dreamy desserts to smoothie bowls and decadent restaurant visits, it’s no wonder that there’s a dedicated app for editing food and beverage content.
Foodie comes equipped with 30+ filters with names like BBQ, Chewy, Crispy, and Fresh, along with tools that allow you to perform basic edits–think color, brightness, contrast, etc. though the app’s differentiating feature is the ability to take top-down shots of food.
Additionally, Foodie mutes background noise, allowing you to keep other diners’ commentary from ruining an otherwise perfect food story.
While the app is technically designed for food photography, it’s worth noting that its unique features could easily apply to product shots of all types–shoes, clothing, jewelry, etc.
Mojo
Price: Free
Mojo is a free app that allows users to create professional-looking Instagram Stories by working from one of the app’s pre-set animated templates.
Templates come in a variety of categories such as food, travel, fashion, and storytelling, and can be customized with text, stickers, and more, and all are 100% editable.
Wondershare FilmoraGo
Price: Free
Wondershare FilmoraGo is one of my favorite tools on this list, as it’s the perfect tool for those who don’t want to sacrifice quality for simplicity. What’s great about this tool is, users can approach it like a video game. There’s an “easy” setting for newbies, with the option to move into more advanced features as you get more comfortable with the tool.
The easy mode comes with a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to upload clips, select music, and make a few adjustments to your content, then from there, you can add themes, transitions, and other effects for further customization. More advanced features include motion-tracking, animations, warp & distort, lights & flares, and color correction.
Filmora offers a variety of plans from the individual to the enterprise, along with a variety of resources to help you put together branded content tailored for any platform–Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, whatever.
A Color Story
Price: $24.99 per year
A Color Story is an Instagram editing app that is less about weaving together video clips and more about ensuring that your Instagram feed “pops.” While the official website doesn’t say this, I’d also add that A Color Story is a great tool for ensuring that your feed stays “on-brand.”
The app comes with 400+ filters, 100+ special effects, and 20+ editing tools that can help you put together a professional-looking Instagram feed.
Additionally, the app comes with grid-planning tools to ensure a cohesive experience for your followers.
VSCO
Price: Free, $19.99 per year for Paid plan
VSCO is certainly one of the best-known photo-editing apps for Instagram, known primarily for its presets and its popularity among Gen Z’s “VSCO Girls.”
While VSCO introduced video editing back in 2017, the app recently expanded on its video editing tools. Users can now publish video directly to their feeds, and transform videos with the app’s video coloring feature, which brings presets and editing tools to the video.
My recommendation is, I wouldn’t use VSCO as your primary video editing app. Like A Color Story, VSCO really shines when it comes to developing a unique look for your content and saving your custom filters for future content.
Adobe Premiere Rush CC
Price: Free, $9.99 per month
You might already know about Adobe Premiere Pro, it’s a top pick among pro videographers. But, Adobe also makes a mobile version specifically designed for on-the-go-edits and social media.
Adobe Premiere Rush allows users to edit, format, and cut video content specifically for all of your socials. Compared to Premiere Pro, Premiere Rush CC simplifies the editing process and takes Adobe’s advanced editing tools to your mobile device and some support from Adobe’s Sensei AI.
For those who aren’t yet familiar with Premiere Pro, Rush is a solid option, allowing users to switch between devices, film content directly inside the app, and fine-tune your creations in a matter of taps. Alternatively, if you’re already a Pro user, Rush projects work seamlessly with the more robust editor.
InShot
Price: Free, or $11.99 per year.
InShot is a powerful video editing app that allows users to do three main things: edit video, edit images, and create collages. It also comes with a range of filters, and a handful of tools for cropping, re-sizing, and adding effects and adjustments to your creations.
InShot won’t overwhelm you with features–it’s a workhorse tool that does the basics and does them well. While there’s no splicing or special effects, you can trim videos, add filters, and speed them up. You can also bundle multiple clips together and connect them seamlessly with transitions. Additionally, you can add background music from iTunes or InShot’s built-in music library.
Keep in mind, if you’re going to be posting branded content, you’ll want to upgrade to the paid plan, the InShot Pro Unlimited subscription.
The paid plan offers all of the features from the free version, plus the ability to remove the watermark and ads, additional stickers, filters, and editing tools.
WeVideo
Price: Free-$29.99 per month for the business plan
WeVideo is a cloud-based video editing platform that allows users to create video content on any device–desktop, smartphone, etc.
The app offers some pretty advanced features–animated text, green screen, and screen recording features. It also comes with access to commercially licensed music, stock photos, audio editing, and the ability to share 4k videos.
While WeVideo does offer a free plan, it’s worth mentioning that there are a lot of limitations, there. For one, free account users are stuck with the WeVideo watermark on their videos–which, let’s face it, isn’t a good look for brands trying to put their most professional face forward.
Secondly, you’ll only get 10GB of cloud storage, which means you can only make about one video at a time. For users planning on editing multiple videos at once (which, you’ll probably want to do if you’re building out your content calendar) will want to upgrade to the paid plan for best results.
Paid users can create unlimited videos, add custom branding, and take advantage of collaborative tools like shared libraries and projects–perfect for social media teams.
Quik by GoPro
Price: Free
Quik is a video editing app developed by GoPro, made for video editing on-the-go. You can edit content from your camera roll or imported GoPro footage and turn it into Instagram-ready Stories. Quik collects data from your footage–scanning for things like smiles, faces, voice, and being a GoPro app, cheering, jumps, and speed.
Editing tools allow users to easily rotate, crop, trim, and reorder video clips and photos, speed up or slow down your footage, add GPS stickers that show how fast you were going, and automatically sync videos to music.
What’s more, you can choose a duration for your video and Quik will adjust transitions and cuts automatically for a more “professional” looking final product. While you don’t need to have a GoPro to use Quik, many of the features are geared for making your action shots look their best. I could see this being most useful for travel bloggers, fitness influencers, and even brands like Patagonia or REI that sell outdoor gear and have this community of active people.
KineMaster
Price: Free, $6.41 per month, or $50 per year
KineMaster is a powerful mobile editing app that can really transform your Instagram videos. The app offers a unique set of tools like a variety of blending modes, transitions, chroma key, and the ability to edit video in multiple layers. You can also reverse your video, apply voiceover and sound effects, and add different filters to make your video really “pop.”
I’d recommend shelling out for the paid plan, as much like the other apps I’ve mentioned, the free version will watermark your videos.
Boomerang
Price: Free
Boomerang is one of the easiest-to-use video-editing apps for Instagram there is. Still, despite its simplicity, it’s worth using if you’re interested in creating custom GIFs.
How it works is, you’ll hit a button to take a 10-photo burst. From there, you can edit your content into a GIF.
Since it’s made by Instagram, all you need to do to get started is open your IG app–no sign-up or account required–and you can share your creations on Instagram and Facebook directly from the app.
Animoto
Price: Free for video up to 10 minutes
Animoto is a platform that allows users to create videos in a matter of minutes using the platform’s drag-and-drop editor. The platform is a great tool for anyone who wants to create professional videos without the time and expense of learning how to use complicated video software.
Animoto is especially useful for making slideshows, allowing users to put together professional videos by weaving together video clips and photos. You can choose from 100+ slideshow templates, upload your source material, then customize your creation with text and music.
While Animoto operates on a freemium model, users can create videos up to ten minutes for free without upgrading to the paid plan. So, in the context of Instagram, the ten-minute cap will really only impact those users with hour-long IGTV privileges.
Magisto
Price: Free, $4.99 per month for Premium, $9.99 per month for Professional, $34.99 per month for Business
Designed for business users, Magisto is a video editing app that aims to help users create pro-grade videos with minimal effort. What’s unique about Magisto is, it brings artificial intelligence into the mix to make video editing feel more seamless for its users.
Magisto allows you to create videos directly from your phone within three easy steps. You’ll start by choosing an editing style (based on the type of story you’re telling), then you’ll upload the video clips and photos you’d like to use, and finally, you’ll pick the music you’d like to use from the platform’s built-in library.
After uploading your video clips, Magisto automatically chooses the “best” parts for you, then makes professional edits to your uploads.
Some users have reported that there is a trade-off here. While the app is super easy to use, you can’t do a whole lot of customization. However, if you’re pressed for time, or curious how AI optimizations can help you get more traction on your Insta account, it’s definitely worth a try.
Wrapping Up
Most of these tools are free or won’t cost you more than $50 a year, making them a relatively low-cost way to get more bang for your marketing bucks.
While this list is just the tip of the iceberg, it proves that there is no shortage of fantastic Instagram apps out there for brands of all types–regardless of your budget. My recommendation is, take a few of these options for a spin before you commit.
You’ll want to find something that makes editing as easy as possible while offering the features you care about most–be it filters, advanced editing tools, or I don’t know, the ability to show your audience how fast you can skateboard down a hill.
