Avidemux

Avidemux Review: Simple Video Editing That Just Works

Avidemux opens, cuts, encodes, filters, and saves video. Nothing fancy. No animations. No colour grading. No fluff. Just editing. And that’s the whole point.

Description

Avidemux is one of the oldest video editors. It is also one of the most trustworthy you can find being free and clean since 2005 as far as I recall.

It is a lightweight, cross-platform video editor that strips away everything you don’t need. No timelines. No drag-and-drop effects. Just a great software for fast video cutting, encoding, and filtering. If you’ve ever wanted to trim ads from recorded TV or stitch together security camera footage, this is the tool.

It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it’s completely free. Ideal for people who need precise cuts, clean outputs, and no distractions.

Main Features

Area	Function	Details
Editing	Cut, trim, join videos	Edit frame-accurate without re-encoding (for supported formats)
Codecs	You have built-in encoding/decoding	H.264, H.265, MPEG-2, VP9, AAC, AC3, MP3
Filters	Basic visual and audio filters	Many such as crop, resize, sharpen, deinterlace, noise removal, colour shift
Automation	Useful for scripting	Run custom scripts, Save tasks as projects, use job queue etc.
Formats	Extended support	Popular formats such as AVI, MP4, MKV, WebM, OGM, FLV, MPEG-TS
Audio	Stream copy or re-encode	Add or remove or shift audio tracks
Batch	Process multiple files	Automate encoding

What It Does and How Is the User Interface

Avidemux user interface is simple. There’s no loading screen, just a clean window waiting for you to drop a file.

If you want to cut out a scene - just Mark the A and B points and hit delete.

If you want to export it - pick your codec, set your container, then click "Save." That’s it!

No clutter. No timeline to scroll through forever. There are no unnecessary tabs.

You don’t even need to touch your mouse much - you can use the keyboard shortcuts. The UI looks like many other software titles I tested, it won't impress you in terms of design.

But it also doesn’t slow you down. It just does the job so I personally appreciate the functionality over the shiny look.

One great feature: re-encoding is optional. If your input and output formats match, you can cut and save without touching your video quality. This will save hours if you have a lot of files to work with.

Sure, IT IS not Adobe Premiere. It doesn’t try to be. It’s the quiet sidekick you rely on when you need quick edits, not some complicated creative sessions.

Alternatives

Top 5 Alternatives	Platform	Price	Best For	Key Difference
Shotcut	Win, Mac, Linux	Free	Timeline-based edit	Full Graphical User Interface - effects, transitions etc.
DaVinci Resolve	Win, Mac, Linux	Free/Paid	Professional editing, Colour grading	Resource intensive, advanced tools
HandBrake	Win, Mac, Linux	Free	Video conversion	Great for re-encoding, no real cutting tools
OpenShot	Win, Mac, Linux	Free	Simple video editing	More visual user interface but some slower performance
FFmpeg	Win, Mac, Linux	Free	Process via command-line	Powerful but not GUI-based

Note: FFmpeg - although it is only used via command-line it is very popular and being used and integrated into many projects such as VLC, HandBrake, Blender, Kodi etc.

Conclusion

Avidemux does exactly what it promises. You throw a video at it, trim the fat (maybe not the most inspiring expression), pick an output format, and hit "Save". Done. No learning curve. No crash risk. Please note that it might not be best software for YouTubers or filmmakers. Avidemux is for users who need quick video fixes rather than Hollywood productions. It is for people who want to cut videos, now, and move on. The development is not so active but this is a mature software and each release fixed a lot of bugs and implemented new features.

No release notes available