Free video editing apps for Android and iPhone: which fits which task, per their own pages

Which free editor fits which task, according to their own pages?

Pick the task, then check the requirements table that follows. The "Basis" column says which page backs each line. The pairing of task and app is our reading of those pages, not a quality ranking.

Read October 21 and 22, 2026.

What does each app need: iOS, Android and RAM?

Most lists skip this, and it decides whether an editor installs. iOS minimums come from the App Store lookup, Android minimums from the Google Play "About this app" dialog, and the RAM figures from Google's and Adobe's own statements. Values are for the US storefronts.

App Store lookup October 21, 2026; Google Play and Adobe October 22, 2026.

Adobe's helpx pages for Premiere mobile refused our headless browser (Access Denied) on October 22, 2026, so for Adobe we cite its own blog post and the Google Play listing instead. Google Play is the final check for your own model.

Which free video editors add a watermark to exports?

The honest answer is what each publisher says, because we did not export from the apps. The table separates the statement from its source. A store listing is the publisher advertising its own app.

Read October 21, 2026.

Do not treat user reviews as the rule. Google Play reviews of InShot mention removing a watermark by watching ads, but we found no official page that says so, so we did not use it.

What do the store pages say about price, ads and purchases?

"Free" in a store means the download is free. The labels below are what each page shows, not what is locked behind them.

App Store pages and Google Play pages, October 21, 2026; ratings change daily.

Play and App Store ratings are different pools of people and are not comparable. CapCut shows 3.5 on Google Play and 4.61 on the App Store; we do not know why and draw no conclusion. Which features sit behind the purchases is not on the store pages, and we did not check it in the apps.

Do I need an app at all, or is a browser tool enough?

Separate from the apps above, Koldflux offers a no-install option for one narrow job. It is not a phone editor: it has single-purpose tools that run in the browser (trim, crop, merge, speed, compress). Its trim page says the file is processed on your device, with no upload, up to 100 MB per file, and that the first run loads an engine of about 30 MB.

We ran the trim tool in desktop Google Chrome on October 21, 2026: a synthetic 6 second 640 by 360 test clip, Start 1, End 4, produced a 3.000 second H.264 and AAC file. We did not run it in a phone browser, and we did not run crop or merge; we only checked that their pages load.

Our reading of the tool pages and the store pages.

Free tools:Trim a video by timestamp (free, in your browser)Crop a video by exact pixelsMerge video clips

How can I test an editor myself in 10 minutes?

This is our suggestion, not a procedure we ran on a phone. Use only the free parts of the app and write down what you find; publishers change free limits, which is why every fact above carries a date.

1. Import (1 minute): add one 10 second clip from your own gallery. Note whether the app asks for an account or shows an ad first.
2. Timeline edit (2 minutes): split the clip, delete a piece, change the speed. Check that the edits are as easy to reach as you need.
3. Captions (2 minutes): run auto captions if the app has them. Note the language options and whether it is marked Pro.
4. Music (1 minute): add a track from the app's library. Note whether free tracks are labeled for commercial use if you publish for a business; the app's license text is the source, not us.
5. Watermark (1 minute): start from a blank project, not a template (CapCut help says a template can add an ending clip), and use no Pro-labeled items.
6. Export (2 minutes): export at 1080p and, if offered, 4K. Write down which resolutions are locked on the free plan, then play the last two seconds and each corner for a logo or outro.
7. Free-tier limits (1 minute): note export length limits, ad prompts, and any "Pro" prompt at the export step. Repeat after an app update.

Limits and how we checked

• What we ran: the Koldflux trim tool, in desktop Google Chrome, October 21, 2026, on a synthetic test clip. Command and output are in the test log. Crop and merge were checked for HTTP 200 only.
• What we only read: App Store listings (US storefront, public lookup API and web pages), Google Play pages (US, English, including the About this app dialog on October 22, 2026) and the official help pages and Adobe blog post in Sources. We did not install, open or export from any app, so how a watermark looks in practice is not covered.
• Region and version: store text, minimum versions and ratings change by country and by release. All values are for the US storefront on the dates shown.
• Not covered: KineMaster, PowerDirector, Filmora, Splice, Canva, Google Photos and other editors; iPad-only or desktop editors; paid plans and what Pro unlocks; export quality and speed. We did not search Google Play for an iMovie Android app, and Adobe's helpx pages were not readable to us.
• Publisher statements in store listings are advertising by the publisher. The task pairings in the first table are our reading of their pages, not a quality ranking.
• Trademarks belong to their owners. Koldflux is not affiliated with any app named here.