WeVideo Reviews

WeVideo — video creation and editing platform

The first WeVideo blog post dates to 2011, announcing the demo of a cloud-based collaborative video editing service. In December 2012, the service was officially launched and came with third-party integration.

According to users, the iOS app is the most useful. Apple Store reviews indeed gush that it exceeded the users’ expectations and produced stunning videos. Android app reviews mostly lambast unreliable performance, while the Chrome extension was last updated in 2019.

WeVideo is a freemium online video editor marketed with the slogan “Start editing videos easy.” Its target audiences are businesses, educators, and creatives who post on social media channels. WeVideo works in a browser-based editor, iOS and Android apps, and a Google Chrome extension. The official website boasts an impressive repertoire of features, such as editing YouTube and Meta videos, creating video ads, and enhancing home movies.

In this WeVideo review, we will test the features to help you determine if it’s the right social media video editor for you.

About WeVideo

WeVideo is a cloud-based, newbie-friendly video maker and editor usable through your browser or mobile device. Testimonials on the official website praise:

WeVideo can create and edit:

You can start with a video template, such as “anniversary card” and “wedding,” though most of them are premium. 

How to use WeVideo?

On the desktop, visit the official website and click the blue “Try for free” button. Type in your account information and select your goals. You will land in the cloud editor. You can also download the appropriate app and use a third-party login.

I made a free account, added a 601 KB, 8-second MP4 clip, and tried to add some overlay text to it. I got the hang of all video-making tools within 15 seconds because every feature has big, high-contrast buttons and works through drag and drop.

Moreover, I put a text overlay, saved the video, and exported it to WeVideo in 1080p. The editor queued my video for processing and informed me I would get an e-mail when it was ready. After about 30 minutes, the video was ready, and I got a WeVideo link for it but no e-mail. I could download it as well.

The final video was 3.3 MB and played in 25 frames per second; the original was 30 FPS. The video quality was close to the original’s, though there were huge black bars on all sides due to my (wrongly) chosen resolution and aspect ratio.

WeVideo Detailed Features

On mobile, WeVideo felt stellar from the first moment. I downloaded the Android app, logged in through Google, and edited a short WEBM video immediately. I added a voiceover through the microphone, inserted background music, and put a text box in the corner.

The performance was smooth at all times, and the preview showed the final result as I edited the video. The finished video was saved quickly as a 4 MB MP4 file; the original was 1.1 MB.

Next, I used something more challenging — a 20-minute 125 MB MP4 video recorded with OBS in 1920 by 1080 resolution. Adding a text box caused the app to slow down and jitter. Preview playback suffered a similar performance drop, and the voiceover was crackling.

I tapped to export the video in 480p, and the app asked me to linger on the screen as the video rendering, which took 40 minutes. This coincides with Google Play Store complaints about long rendering times for larger videos. The video played fine and without any obvious glitches afterward, though it was nearly double in size — 242 MB.

If you use the WeVideo Android app, short, low-quality videos are your best bet. Also, don’t let the device lock itself because the app pauses rendering if the screen isn’t active.

I couldn’t find a way to start a project in the browser and finish it in the app or vice versa. The WeVideo FAQ states that copying from mobile to the web is only for paid users on iOS devices, while the reverse isn’t possible at all.

WeVideo boasts of having one million commercially licensed elements for use in your video. I am unsure if it is a royalty-free library. In the desktop editor, I counted around 150 acoustic audio tracks up to 4 minutes in length. There are also searchable stock images and videos, with 42 transitions to seamlessly edit videos.

This feature only works on desktop Chrome. I opened the video editor and was allowed access to my webcam/screen/speakers/microphone. WeVideo gave me a 3-2-1 countdown before it started recording my screen and the cursor with high fidelity. There is also the option of recording a specific desktop window or a single Chrome tab. A premium option allows for recording the webcam and the screen at once.

The chroma key is a powerful tool used in movies and shows for realistic backgrounds. Though it’s called a “green screen,” any color can be used as long as it’s solid for better contrast. Moreover, you can digitally replace the color with the background image.

Furthermore, remember that you can replace all patches of color with the background. If you use a blue screen and wear a blue T-shirt, the T-shirt will also display the background. In WeVideo, the chroma key is applied using the Eyedropper tool found in the Color-keying tab that pops up after double-clicking the video in the timeline.

WeVideo claims it is the leading ad maker to produce ads in minutes. Based on my tests, this sounds like a plausible claim. There are various ad templates, and WeVideo advises making YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest ads.

WeVideo recommends you add your branding to your ads. That requires upgrading to at least the Professional plan, which also nets you a no-watermark video editor.

WeVideo has a special edition for educators with the name of WeVideo Classroom you can customize to fit the class’s needs. Contact a WeVideo education specialist through the form on the website with your situation for an assessment.

In addition, a multimedia creation curriculum fosters classroom creativity, while online assignment creation, student progress monitoring, and real-time feedback take the burden off the teacher’s shoulders. The entire class can collaborate on a project to grow their individual and team skills. Students can use their phones to add more content to the project, empowering them through authorship.

Every user in an Education plan is default limited to 1 hour of the video published a month, though the minutes are pooled in the class.

This community allows teachers, educators, and coaches worldwide to access WeVideo learning resources, complete tasks, and gain rewards. The implied intention is to add a bit of extra motivation for the students and develop some healthy competition between teachers and schools.

Members can engage in forum discussions and track their progress on the leaderboard. Those who enjoy WeVideo can acquire one of three levels of certification for more perks when sharing WeVideo knowledge in their institution.

Moreover, any pre-K to high school educator can become a WeVideo Ambassador. They serve as advocates and recruiters for WeVideo while providing feedback regarding deploying products and services in the classroom. Each Ambassador receives the official WeVideo badge and is invited to insider briefings and education conferences presumably organized by WeVideo.

WeVideo Cost

There are six pricing tiers:

The Power plan barely feels like an upgrade. Unlimited is the best choice for individuals, while Professional is for marketers with a brand. Note the type of plan you’re purchasing; some reviewers complain about accidentally buying the annual plan.

You can get discounts for education plans, but they may require a valid K-12 educator e-mail address. Furthermore, they are intended for classes or groups that produce a few videos yearly.

Is WeVideo free?

Yes, but the free version has limitations that might bother you.

On the desktop, the WeVideo pricing page lists these limitations for the free version:

On the Android app, there is no explicit list of limitations. I noticed the exporting resolution locks at 480p, but I could export the 20-minute video to my phone and upload it to Google Drive.

Detailed Alternatives to WeVideo 

iMovie vs. WeVideo

iMovie is a free video editor bundled with iOS devices and Macs. It only supports two video tracks in the timeline, and its users often lament that and other limitations. The interface is slick, and the final product is watchable, but you have little control over how it turns out. For example, the Precision Editor feature goes down to seconds but not frames.

The Autocorrect feature evens out the colors in the video and fixes any lighting problems. Some Themes apply the same settings to a string of videos. For example, Comic Book frames and edits scenes in your video to look like panels in a comic book. There is the chroma key feature too.

iMovie allows you to start a project on an iOS device and upload videos to a Mac. The idea is to start editing on the mobile device and add finishing touches in Final Cut Pro or another video editor.

Filmora vs. WeVideo

Filmora is a part of the Wondershare ecosystem of programs designed for desktop use. It is a mid-range product with optimizations for older hardware and older operating systems. Also, you can zoom in and out of the timeline using the mouse wheel. It lacks advanced editing features but is good enough for home users and has rendering times in line with deluxe video editors.

Effects let you make your footage just like in TV shows and movies, with presets like “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones.” The chroma key feature is robust and can handle small, irregular objects. There are transitions and the picture-in-picture effect as well. Audio tracks added to the timeline can have their audio adjusted individually, but the editor lacks audio distortion effects.

Filmora has a free trial with limited access to features but allows exporting watermarked footage up to 10 times. There is a subscription and a permanent license. 

Adobe Premiere vs. WeVideo

Adobe Premiere is the juggernaut among video creation platforms, with a cornucopia of tools and features. It draws a lot of staying power from the Adobe ecosystem of programs and apps that let you easily edit your video to a professional level. Adobe Premiere also integrates with third-party services and platforms while nudging you to subscribe to a slew of related Adobe products and services. It is a cross-platform program that requires a beefier machine to do your bidding.

Every year, Adobe makes a major Adobe Premiere update bursting with features. The rest of the video editing industry soon follows suit. The interface is by far the most advanced part of Adobe Premiere, but it, too, is regularly spruced up. Everything works on touch screens as well.

The only downside is that Adobe Premiere is quite pricey, and there is no free trial. However, you get seamless compatibility with all other Adobe products, such as Photoshop.

Windows Video Editor vs. WeVideo

Windows Video Editor is the runt of the litter, available by default on all Windows installations and previously known as Windows Movie Maker. In Windows 10, it has been named Video Editor, but it would probably be for the best if it were put out of its misery.

Attempting to add the same 8-second WEBM video used above failed because the Video Editor doesn’t recognize the format. Trying to import an MP4 video triggered a prompt to add a folder to the Photos app to continue. Huh? It turns out that Video Editor is a part of the native Photos app, and I must create a gallery to continue. Why? Well, Microsoft’s partners want their pound of flesh.

As I wrote in my Iolo Ultimate Defense review, Windows 10 lets third-party apps access your galleries and lets them take screenshots or perhaps even share the files with them. What should be a quick and easy 10-second task is a privacy nightmare where you’re never quite sure what’s happening. Besides that, the Video Editor interface is not even ugly — it’s perfunctory. I would not recommend this video editing software to my worst enemy.

WeVideo Review Conclusion

WeVideo is more than meets the eye. It is a solid free online video editor suitable for kids, grandmas, soccer moms, and viral content marketers. I felt comfortable using it from start to finish and had only a few moments of uncertainty when discovering new features. After some training in how to edit videos, I could see myself producing dozens of polished videos a day.

All in all, the simplified interface makes WeVideo easy on the eyes and the brain. Couple that with the splendid mobile experience and a smooth video editor that exceeds expectations. The free tier is enough to make meme material, though the watermark might make them unseemly. The rendering was slow, but the editor did hammer out a video worth my time.

Choose a feature you like from this WeVideo review and go with the appropriate platform. If you’re satisfied with the free tier, you’re ready to tread down the upgrade path but don’t just randomly buy a plan — go with the Unlimited tier for the best value and only upgrade beyond that if you genuinely need those features.

Is WeVideo a good editor?

It is a good video editor, but the feature accessibility depends on the platform. Overall, if all you do is create short, low-quality videos, you’ll find WeVideo handy on any platform. However, recording your desktop requires Chrome, and heavy-duty editing requires an iPad.