7 Best Sports Video Editors 2024 (Make 4K Highlight Videos)

by Chris Von Wilpert, BBusMan • Last updated November 23, 2023

Expert Verified by Leandro Langeani, BBA

First-Person Perspective: We buy, test and review software products based on a 3-step rating methodology and first-hand experienceIf you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our rating methodology and how we make money.

Today there are 107 different sports video editors. We spent 80 hours comparing the top 50 to find the seven best you can use to edit your sports videos.

What is the Best Sports Video Editor?

  1. Filmora — best of the best
  2. PowerDirector — best for visual effects
  3. Adobe Premiere Pro — best for professionals
  4. Apple iMovie — best free option
  5. Final Cut Pro X — best for Apple loyalists
  6. DaVinci Resolve — best for color editing
  7. VideoProc — best for editing speed

Our Verdict — Best Of The Best

Price: Starts at $49.99/year

Filmora is the best all-around editing software. We think it’s the best because of its fast video processing, beginner-friendly interface, and powerful AI features.

The Best Part:

  • It has the slickest interface in the market. Filmora allows you to start editing from day one without any experience or time spent on long tutorials and guides.

The Worst Part:

  • It's not designed for advanced professional use. The software lacks advanced functionalities you may want to use if you're a pro editor.

Get it if you want a comprehensive video editing program that takes little to no time to get used to.

I recommend you get the free plan to test the software, then get the Cross-Platform Plan at $59.99/year.

(free plan available)

Best For

Filmora is best for everyone who wants a straightforward program to edit sports videos swiftly. is best for anyone who wants to build the most engaged online community with easily searchable archives of all past content.

Top Features

  • Amazing artificial intelligence functionalities. Bring out the best of your sports videos with AI-powered features that allow you to auto-select elements in your clips and adjust backgrounds in just a few steps. 
  • User-friendly interface. Enjoy a fantastic editing experience with a sleek interface that has just what you need for editing.
  • Let your creativity unleash. Capitalize on enormous effect and asset databases made available by the software (i.e. stock libraries, editing plug-ins, professional presets, etc.)
  • Multi-device compatibility. Whether you own an Android, iPhone, Mac, or Windows PC, you can edit sports videos on any of your devices with only one subscription.
  • Competitive lifetime pricing. Get unparalleled value for your money with the lifetime pricing plan for Windows PCs at only $79.99 for life.

Pricing

Filmora offers four pricing plans:

  • Free Plan: Free forever, for amateurs who want to edit videos and test out the software.
  • Annual Plan: $49.99/year for amateurs and experienced video editors who want a one-year software subscription to edit sports videos for Windows only.
  • Cross-Platform Plan: $59.99/year for amateurs and experienced video editors who want the yearly plan for all of their devices.
  • Perpetual Plan: $79.99 for video editors who want lifetime Filmora access with the full features.

Try Filmora today with the free plan.

Our Verdict — Best For Visual Effects

Price: Starts at $19.99/month

PowerDirector is a spectacular video editing software. We think it’s the best for visual effects because of its pre-made animation overlays, customizable objects and keyframe controls, and green screen editing features.

The Best Part:

  • It enables you to add outstanding special effects. Spice up your footage with a wide range of visual and sound effects.

The Worst Part:

  • It has an unusual interface. Compared to alternatives that have a more 'standard' look, PowerDirector may feel frustrating with its steep learning curve, at first.

Get it if you want the best sports video editing software for adding visual effects.

I recommend you download the free plan and watch the software's suggested tutorials, then switch to the PowerDirector for Windows plan at $19.99/mo.

(free plan available)

Best For

PowerDirector is best for video editors who want to edit sports videos with special effects.

Top Features

  • It provides an efficient editing experience. Create a ton of video, audio, and image files like a boss.
  • Versatile format support. Enjoy a magnificent editing experience with any type of video format or resolution.
  • 360-degree video editing. Immerse yourself in your digital video editor and create the best panoramic footage.
  • Wide range of animation features. Bring your footage to life with the most spectacular animation effects available. 
  • Professional-grade motion editing features. Track and adjust objects like a pro with advanced stabilization and motion-tracking effects.

Pricing

PowerDirector offers two pricing plans:

  • PowerDirector for Windows: $19.99/month for video editors who want full access to the software.
  • Director Suite for Windows: $29.99/month for video editors who want full access to the Director Suite (i.e. PowerDirector, PhotoDirector, ColorDirector, and AudioDirector).

Annual plans provide a 71% discount over monthly plans.

Try PowerDirector today with the free plan.

Our Verdict — Best For Professionals

Price: Starts at $20.99/month

Adobe Premiere Pro is the #1 professional editing software in the market. We think it’s the best for professionals because of its advanced toolset, powerful graphics support, and killer sports highlight video editing features.

The Best Part:

  • Limitless professional features. With Premiere Pro's advanced features, the sky's the limit for how far you can go with editing your sports clips.

The Worst Part:

  • There’s a lot to learn. The interface may feel overwhelming at first, especially if you're a beginner to video editing.

Get it if you want the most professional sports footage editing tool available.

I recommend you take advantage of the free 7-day trial, then sign up for a yearly subscription billed monthly at $20.99/mo.

(7-day free trial)

Best For

Adobe Premiere Pro is best for professionals who want the most flexible and powerful sports video editing software in the market.

Top Features

  • Multi-device compatibility. Switch between different operating systems seamlessly, and access your projects in the cloud with any device.
  • Integration with the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. Maximize your creativity and efficiency by integrating your work with other Adobe products to manage your images, audio, and video in one ecosystem.
  • Huge user community and resources. Learn from tons of tutorials, videos, and forum threads available on the internet from other users and troubleshoot any issue in a matter of minutes.
  • Your imagination can take you anywhere. Create high-production value videos with the software's limitless professional features for 360 video editing, VR editing, and more.
  • Allocated cloud storage. Sign up for a subscription and automatically receive allocated cloud storage to save your work.

Pricing

Adobe Premiere Pro offers three pricing plans:

  • Monthly: $31.49/month for professionals who want to use the software's full features without committing to a yearly plan.
  • Yearly - Billed Monthly: $20.99/month for professionals who want to commit to a one-year plan paid monthly.
  • Yearly - Billed Yearly: $239.88/year for professionals who want to pay a full year upfront for access to the software.

Try Adobe Premiere Pro today with a free 7-day trial.

Our Top Three Picks

Here’s a quick summary of our top three picks:

  1. Filmora — best of the best
  2. PowerDirector — best for visual effects
  3. Adobe Premiere Pro — best for professionals

Here’s a quick comparison of our top seven picks:

Tool

Entry Offer

Pricing

Filmora

Free plan

Starts at $49.99/year

PowerDirector

Free plan

Starts at $19.99/mo

Adobe Premiere Pro

7-day free trial

Starts at $20.99/mo

Apple iMovie

None

Free forever

Final Cut Pro X

90-day free trial

Starts at $299.99

DaVinci Resolve

Free plan

$295

VideoProc

Free plan

Starts at $25.95/year

Here are the top 50 sports video editors we considered in this review:

  1. Filmora
  2. PowerDirector
  3. Adobe Premiere Pro
  4. Apple iMovie
  5. Final Cut Pro X
  6. DaVinci Resolve
  7. VideoProc
  8. Hudl
  9. GoPro Studio
  10. Corel VideoStudio
  11. KineMaster
  12. Adobe Premiere Rush
  13. VSDC
  14. VSCO
  15. MAGIX Vegas Pro
  16. Pinnacle Studio
  17. Movavi Video Editor
  18. Magisto
  19. LightMV
  20. InVideo Online Video Editor
  21. Instasize
  22. InShot
  23. iMyFone Filme Video Editor
  24. FlexClip
  25. Camtasia Studio
  26. Corel VideoStudio Pro
  27. Apple iMovie
  28. Adobe Premiere Elements
  29. Shotcut
  30. MAGIX Vegas Pro
  31. Lightworks
  32. Olive Video Editor
  33. ZS4 Video Editor
  34. Videobolt PRO
  35. Screenflow
  36. Moovly
  37. Lumen5
  38. Kdenlive
  39. Kapwing
  40. HyperEngine-AV
  41. Filmigo
  42. Fastreel
  43. Ezvid
  44. CyberLink ColorDirector
  45. Capto
  46. CapCut
  47. Autodesk Motion FX
  48. Animoto
  49. OpenShot
  50. HitFilm Pro

What is the best sports video editor?

The best sports video editor all across the board is definitely Filmora. You'll be able to use it whether you have experience or not, and it works as a great editing software for sports highlights or footage.

Other alternatives include Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X, which are pretty advanced and may be overwhelming for beginners with no existing video editing experience. Though it's worth noting that watching tutorial videos to master these will end up paying off if you're committed and want to work in sports video editing professionally.

What are the best apps to make a highlight reel?

The best software to edit or make a highlight reel with great video quality is probably Adobe Premiere Rush. It has a range of professional features that'll allow you to create pretty good reels for social media platforms.

Which video editor do YouTubers use?

YouTubers often use a variety of video editors as they progress in their careers. Filmora makes a good starting program and is one that many YouTubers use to get started when they have no experience.

At later stages, YouTubers may resort to more advanced software such as Adobe Premiere Pro to use features that aren't available on less professional alternatives like iMovie or Filmora.

YouTubers also tend to use software that's "creator-friendly" such as Camtasia Studio to not only edit videos but also publish or schedule them right away from the software's dashboard.

It's worth noting however that many YouTubers hire freelance editors so they can dedicate more time for content creation itself rather than editing.

How much do sports video editors make?

Like every profession, it depends on many factors. The average sports video editor makes $58,210 per year in the USA.

Freelance sports video editors can charge around $50 to $100 per hour depending on the project and scope of work.

What is the most professional editing app?

The most professional editing app for videos is without a question Adobe Premiere Pro. The program is used by top movie producers and can produce effects and results that are pretty much out of this world.

Other alternatives for Adobe Premiere Pro that are pretty powerful as well include DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro X, and PowerDirector. Be advised that all of these programs have a steep learning curve for beginners and may take a while to get used to and be very efficient with.

Which video editor is better than KineMaster?

A great alternative to KineMaster that's available for Android devices is InShot. 

InShot is a user-friendly and very intuitive video editing app. It reportedly has faster rendering than KineMaster and feels easier and simpler to use for mobile video editing.

What is the easiest video editing app to use?

Mobile video editing apps are definitely easier than desktop software, due to the latter being usually more complex and advanced.

You can get started with mobile apps like InShot and KineMaster, then work yourself up to easy-to-use desktop programs like Filmora and iMovie.

What is the best video editing app without paying?

The best video editing app without paying would depend on the device you're using. If you're a Mac user, then your go-to video editing app should definitely be iMovie. For mobile, InShot is a great free option.

If you're using Windows, you can't go wrong with HitFilm, as it supports up to HD resolution and gives you access to pretty much every feature without forcing you into a paid plan when you're not ready.

The Bottom Line

To recap, here are the best sports video editor software to try this year:

  1. Filmora — best of the best
  2. PowerDirector — best for visual effects
  3. Adobe Premiere Pro — best for professionals
  4. Apple iMovie — best free option
  5. Final Cut Pro X — best for Apple loyalists
  6. DaVinci Resolve — best for color editing
  7. VideoProc — best for editing speed

Make Your First $100K Per Month

Learn how to leverage a blog + smart AI to make $100k per month. Includes examples, illustrations, and step-by-step instructions.

>