VSDC Free Video Editor 11.3.2

VSDC Free Video Editor is a full non-linear video editor for Windows that costs nothing and puts no watermark on what you export.

It is made by Flash-Integro and runs on Windows 7 through 11, with separate 64-bit and 32-bit installers.

It is also busier than most free editors, so expect a short learning curve before it starts to feel quick.

What VSDC Actually Does - in Plain Terms

Non-linear means you are not stuck editing in a straight line. Any clip, image, title or sound can sit anywhere on the timeline, on as many layers as you like, and its size, position and settings can change over time.

That makes it good at the jobs simple editors struggle with: picture-in-picture, animated titles, split screens and layered overlays.

• Editing basics. Cut, trim, join, crop and rotate, plus multicam editing for footage shot on more than one camera.
• Colour. A grading panel with LUT support, scopes, white balance and Lift, Gamma and Gain controls, including for HDR footage.
• Effects. Over 200 built-in effects and transitions, blending modes, and stabilisation for shaky phone video.
• Text and audio. Animated titles, subtitles and charts, with normalisation, an equaliser, echo and reverb on the sound side.
• Extras. A screen recorder, a video converter, DVD burning and direct YouTube upload come in the same install.

Formats It Opens and Exports

It imports the common video, audio and image formats, including HEIC and WebP photos and SRT subtitles, so most phone and camera files go straight in.

Exports cover MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, WebM and GIF, with H.265 (HEVC), AV1 and, since version 11.2, H.266 (VVC). There are ready-made profiles for YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo and phones, and the free version exports up to 8K at 120 fps.

One catch with the newer codecs: Windows' own Photos and Media Player apps need the HEVC Video Extension to play H.265 files, and the AV1 Video Extension for AV1.

H.266 barely plays anywhere yet, so stick to H.264 or H.265 for anything you plan to share. If an export will not open, try it in VLC Media Player before blaming the editor.

What Is Free and What Costs Money

The free version is genuinely free: no watermark, no time limit on exports and no cap on how long your video can be.

A paid VSDC Pro licence sits on top and adds extras such as the HSL chroma key for removing backgrounds. Some premium templates and effects are also sold separately through the VSDC Store, but most home edits never need either.

Before You Install

Pick the 64-bit installer unless you are on a 32-bit copy of Windows - both builds are on the VSDC Free Video Editor download page. Windows 7 is the oldest version supported, so XP and Vista are out.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is your first five minutes. If the opening screen already looks like too much, a simpler editor will get your video finished faster.

And if all you need is to cut the ends off a clip, LosslessCut does it in seconds without re-encoding, so there is no quality loss at all.

Tools That Pair Well With It

HandBrake shrinks a finished export for email or a phone without reopening the project, and FFmpeg does the same job from the command line.

OBS Studio records cleaner screen and webcam footage than the built-in recorder, which matters for tutorials and game clips you plan to edit afterwards.

If a camera file refuses to import, MediaInfo tells you which codec is inside it, and K-Lite Codec Pack usually supplies the missing decoder.

For anything beyond a few lines of captions, Subtitle Edit is far quicker than typing them into the timeline. The Video Editors category has the rest.

Quick questions

Download VSDC Free Video Editor 11.3.2 and see how it handles your footage, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.