Best Free Tools for Creating Promotional Videos

Video is a great way to engage and catch people's attention. You don’t need a degree and expensive editing software to get started - the internet is full of online tools and apps that make videos a snap! Here I’ve listed some of my the best that are available on desktop and/or mobile device - all with free plans. If you are looking for additional resources I’ve got listings for free stock photos or clips to add to your videos.

^{Heads up! This post contains affiliate links, marked with an asterisk. If you sign up through one of those links you won't pay anything extra (sometimes you’ll even get a discount or bonus!), but I'll get a small commission or credit that helps me to keep delivering this awesome free content to you! I only recommend tools that I use and trust. Read my affiliate disclosure here.}

Note: I am evaluating the FREE versions of these tools, so just because some feature isn’t included doesn’t mean it’s not available on a paid plan. I will do my best to keep this post up-to-date with new tools and changes to existing tools, so if you find something here that doesn’t match up to what the software company is offering please let me know!

Headliner

Ever seen people promote or share their podcast with a “video” that is an image with audio and a waveform on it? Headliner is the app that does that! It also has an article to video feature similar to Lumen5.

Another great thing to note: if you are a non-profit organization, you can apply to get Headliner Pro for free!

Favourite features:

• Download 1080p videos even on the free plan

• Create 10 un-watermarked videos per month

• Automatic transcription for any audio that you include in your video

• Complimentary 1:1 30min training sessions for new users

• Integrates with Google Drive and Dropbox

Drawbacks:

• Video editor functions like a traditional editing suite, so video newbies might find this confusing

What it looks like in action:

FlexClip

FlexClip is the newest kid on the block and at the time of writing is still in beta.

Favourite features:

• Download 1080p videos

• Record audio directly in the video editor

• Add your own logo

• Has an ‘apply to all’ feature when you change the style on a single clip

Drawbacks:

• Limited styling & no templates

What it looks like in action:

InVideo

InVideo is great if you are looking for something that’s more advanced than basic, but not quite a professional video editing suite.

Favourite features:

• Great variety of templates - over 100

• More editing & customization options

• Options to share to YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook

• Ability to add emojis, animated filters, and stickers to your scenes

Drawbacks:

• InVideo watermark in top left corner

• Because of the more advanced features, the user interface is not the most user friendly

• No direct embed capability (you’ll have to download the video to your computer and upload to a service like YouTube)

What it looks like in action:

Lumen5

The focus of this tool is to turn your written blog posts or articles into slideshow-type videos. If you don’t blog, not to worry - you can enter your text manually as well.

Favourite features:

• Link your blog’s RSS feed and Lumen will automatically start creating videos for new blog posts (meaning you just have to go in and edit/tweak!)

• Option to share to Facebook and Instagram

• Set up your default template (including style, colour, and logo)

Drawbacks:

• Lumen5 watermark

• Max resolution of 420p when downloading

• No direct embed capability (you’ll have to download the video to your computer and upload to a service like YouTube)

What it looks like in action:

Note: this was made with the paid version of Lumen5 so watermark is missing.

Animoto*

Animoto is one of the best online video creation tools I’ve ever used, mainly for it’s easy user interface and variety of video templates. If you need access to the paid features you can get a free trial for 14 days, so make sure you have your videos planned out and dedicated time to make them before the trial runs out!

Favourite features:

• Has a mobile app

• Download 1080p resolution

• Record audio directly in the video editor

• Add logo intro/outro with a custom message

• Add CTA button at the end of the video (only works when you embed from Animoto)

• Can embed or download videos, or share to all major social media & blogging sites

Drawbacks:

• The free trial puts an Animoto watermark in the top left corner and bottom right corner

• No 9:16 template options for vertical story videos

What it looks like in action:

Note: this was made with the paid version of Lumen5 so watermark is missing.

Rocketium

Rocketium is the closest you’ll get to those Buzzfeed or NowThis videos and probably had the most customization settings of everything in this list.

Favourite Features:

• Template sizes for Facebook Page covers and Instagram Ads

• Record audio directly in the video editor

• Can download videos or share to Youtube and Twitter

• Monthly limit only counts ‘finished’ videos, not drafts

• Can upload directly Dropbox and Google Drive

Drawbacks:

• Rocketium logo on videos in top left corner

• Publish 3 videos per month

• No embed feature

What it looks like in action:

InShot iOS | Android

Favourite Features:

• No watermarks

• 1020p resolution

• Add and animate emojis, stickers, and text

• Tons of size template for all networks

• Share to Facebook, YouTube, and any other services on your phone

Drawbacks:

• Ads in the app

• Easy to accidentally delete drafts

What it looks like in action:

Ripl iOS | Android

Probably the most marketing or business savvy video app creator for mobile device

Favourite Features

• Integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive for access to your existing media

• Post directly to Facebook (Pages and Groups), Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube or save to camera roll

• Professional looking templates

• Can go back and edit/reshare old videos because everything is saved in your Ripl account

Drawbacks:

• Ripl logo in bottom right corner

• No save draft feature, so each time you go back to change something you lose what you’ve done

• Not very user friendly

• Need to upload to YouTube in order to embed

What it looks like in action:

Want more awesome info like this?