The 4 best Android video editing apps, for any budget and skill level

Skill level: Advanced

If you're looking for a Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro-like video editing experience on your Android phone or tablet, this is the best app out there.

It supports two video layers at a time, many image layers, in addition to sound and music layers. After getting the hang of its gestures and figuring out what its somewhat unclear icons mean, doing automatic and manual transitions, color retouching, speeding up or slowing down video - it all becomes a piece of cake. The app is also very well designed for portrait mode smartphone video editing, but also supports the landscape orientation for tablet users.

It is really as close as you can get to a desktop-like, powerful video editing experience on Android, at a reasonable price. One of its downsides are, however, that Cute Cut appears to be an abandoned app. It hasn't seen an update since late 2018, and no major features were added ever since I first bought it in mid-2017. Some users appear to be experiencing the occasional bug due to it's lack of updates, which is something to have in mind before purchasing.

Video Editor & Video Maker - InShot

Price: $29.99 | Download on Google Play
Supports video layers: No
Trimming & cutting: Yes
One-time payment: Yes

Skill level: Easy

If you're after simplicity and basic video retouching for social media, nothing beats InShot. Though its one-time price of $29.99 may be a bit much for what it does, it also has an alternative $2.99 monthly subscription option.

InShot provides a smooth and easy to grasp video editing experience, and while it doesn't support more than one video layer, many clips can be arranged in a timeline, trimmed, sped up or slowed down. The app can also add music, stickers, text, and covers all the basics of what you'll need for that perfect Instagram video.

With its power and simplicity, and frequent updates, this is an app that is likely to justify its price for social media influencers and vloggers who need something basic and easy to use on the go.

Adobe Premiere Rush — Video Editor

Price: $9.99 per month | Download on Google Play
Supports video layers: Yes
Trimming & cutting: Yes
One-time payment: No

Skill level: Advanced

If you've ever used iMovie or Adobe Premiere, this is the closest you can get to having those apps on an Android smartphone. Rush is also the most streamlined, professional option here, capable of syncing your work between your devices, so after you're done editing on the move, you can simply continue working on your computer. It supports not only all types of layers one would ever need, but even video filters.

However, this ultimately perfect video editing app comes at a cost. In addition to not supporting a large chunk of the Android smartphones out there, Adobe asks for $9.99 per month for it, which are the main reasons it's not first this list.

Unless you're a professional who can afford the monthly asking price, and edits videos on the go all the time, Adobe Premiere Rush isn't easy to recommend. If, however, you need the most powerful Android video editing app, and have the right smartphone for it - this is it.