iMovie vs. Lightworks

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
iMovie
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Apple offers iMovie as a video editing platform supporting video creators with high quality effects, support for 4k resolution, audio editing, and other features supporting the creation of videos and movies.
$0
Lightworks
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Lightworks is a video editing tool from LWKS, including dynamic video and audio editing, vibrant colour, visual effects, and sharing features.
$9.99
per month per user
Pricing
iMovieLightworks
Editions & Modules
Free Tier
$0.00
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
iMovieLightworks
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
iMovieLightworks
Considered Both Products
iMovie

No answer on this topic

Lightworks
Chose Lightworks
iMovie is a great tool for Mac users and provides a lot of simple drag/drop elements with video editing. However, it is incredibly restrictive if you want to customize your video. With Lightworks, I can easily add text on a screen, captions, transitions, change the framerate …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
iMovieLightworks
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 9.0 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve
Score 9.0 out of 10
iMovie
iMovie
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro
Score 9.0 out of 10
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
iMovieLightworks
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(30 ratings)
9.8
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
iMovieLightworks
Likelihood to Recommend
Apple
iMovie is a great editing tool for beginners and users with little to no experience. If you are looking for a simple, straight forward way to edit your videos without having any training, this is the tool for you. If you are looking for a robust and very advanced editing platform, you may wish to look elsewhere.
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LWKS
Lightworks is a great tool for a non-designer to use because it provides a number of tools and capabilities that can be quickly learned. For someone who is an advanced video editor, it may not provide every tool they will need. Given how much can be accomplished through the free version, I think it's a great tool for making simple videos for social media, YouTube and other basic applications.
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Pros
Apple
  • iMovie allows users to upload their own clips and edit them together. You're able to add in more clips as you're working on your project which is great as some film editing software don't allow add ons of video clips once you've begun the editing process.
  • iMovie continually saves as you're working on your project and syncs with your devices so you can work on your project from other like computers.
  • iMovie is quick to update changes which allows time to be saved during the editing process. It's very helpful when you need to adjust 1-2 things and don't want to spend hours waiting for the changes to go through.
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LWKS
  • Drag and drop all videos easily.
  • Easy to split videos and strip.
  • You can work with multiple sequences.
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Cons
Apple
  • Audio for video editing is a bit limiting. A pro user would feel limited, but the average person can pretty well do what they need in iMovie and that's what matters for this platform.
  • The design of the UI could use some updating so it doesn't feel so bubbly. This may purely be an aesthetic concern, and maybe the old style makes it more approachable, but i'd prefer to see a more slick design so you don't feel like you are using a kids program.
  • If you ever want to share the project or manually manage files, it can be a bit difficult to figure out. Fortunately Apple allows you to import a project from iMovie into FCPX if you ever want to be upwardly mobile.
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LWKS
  • I have had it crash on me while using; thought content is saved
  • The user interface could be updated/modernized
  • Hot-keys commands are not always intuitive
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Usability
Apple
I'd give it a higher rating but there seems to be some things that are so over-simplified that it's tough for an experienced user to work backwards when needed. That said, it certainly is easy enough for a 7 year old to pick up and use without much instruction or training.
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LWKS
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Apple
Apple does a great job supporting its products. I have never encountered trouble that could not be solved through chat or email. The knowledgebase section of the website, video tutorials online and various user forums also help with most issues. If after using all of these avenues you still have an issue, it may be time for you to outsource your project to a professional!
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LWKS
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Apple
Not as easy to use as iMovie, and a similar cost structure. iMovie is easier for Apple users / and MS users, to both get proficient at. Movie Maker isn't bad, it just isn't as slick as iMovie. We actually used MovieMaker for a couple of years before migrating most users over to iMovie. We have not regretted the move.
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LWKS
Adobe is a great tool that is very competitive and I still use it depending on what PC I have on hand and how fast the job needs to get done but I selected Lightwork because I think that it is less complicated to browse and was able to learn the shortcuts fast, making my time more productive.
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Return on Investment
Apple
  • iMovie is a very inexpensive alternative to other video editing software.
  • It's very easy to train new users on iMovie, so time is saved there.
  • We started a project where we were tasked to create a new 5 minute video every week. We started with little to no knowledge of video editing, but iMovie was so easy to pick up and use that we were able to start filming and putting together videos right away. If we had to learn a more complex program, like Premiere Pro, it would have pushed our timeline back considerably.
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LWKS
  • It has helped us create more video content that we had not been able to do in the past
  • Given that we can use the free version in almost every situation, there has been no direct cost to use
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ScreenShots