I made my first college video project on the good old Windows Movie Maker and instantly fell in love with the simplicity of the software. Microsoft, however, killed the movie maker in 2017 and now we are in shortage of a good Windows Movie Maker alternatives or rather a free video editor.

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While there is no shortage of good video editing apps for Windows, an ideal Windows Movie Maker alternative needs to be free, simple and most importantly export videos without any watermark. The support for native transitions, music and animated titles would be an added bonus. Since the Windows Movie Maker is more of a bare-bone simple editing software, we won’t be including free-complex professional editing tools like DaVinci Resolve, Filmhit Express Pro, etc. With that out of the way, here is my list of best Windows Movie Maker alternatives.

Best Windows Movie Maker Alternatives

1. Windows Movie Maker

What better alternative would be to the Windows Movie Maker than the app itself. While Windows Movie Maker is no longer available for download on the official Microsoft website, luckily, few websites have maintained the applications in Microsoft Windows Live Essentials 2012 such as the Photo Gallery, Messenger, Movie Maker, etc. You can download the Movie Maker from archive.org or MiniTool.

This version of Windows Movie Maker is exactly similar to the previous version with no changes in the UI or the internal code. The installation process is similar to any other software installation in Windows. However, the caveat is it might affect the functioning of the native Photos and Videos app that you get in Windows 10. There are chances that this application might break and cease to function as soon as you update Windows.

Aug 20, 2019  Fimlora Video Editor is amazing software which will let you edit videos on Mac (macOS 10.13) and it works just like Windows movie maker, but with even more features. From basic level video editing tool to superb effects, this software gives everything you need for making a standout video.

1. Alternatives to Windows Movie Maker for all platforms with any license. Our Features Cross-Platform OpenShot is a cross-platform video editor, with support for Linux, Mac, and Windows. DaVinci Resolve.
2. Up to30%cash back  Another free movie maker and encoder for Mac is the Avidemux platform. This easy-to-use software was built for those who need more flexibility than Mac’s built-in iMovie. It supports AVI, DVD, MPEG, MP4, and ASF files with numerous types of codecs.

Download Windows Movie Maker

2. Microsoft Video Editor

With the recent updates, Microsoft integrated a Video Editor natively with the Photos & Videos app. It’s totally different from the inbuilt video editor that you get in the Photos app. The new video editor has some reminiscence of the old Windows movie maker but the UI is quite modern. Foremost, you get multiple video layers and a timeline wherein you can drag and drop video footage. My favorite feature in the app is the ability to add titles effects. You get a bunch of title effects and if you mix and match them with the 3D library effects, you can come up with some fun videos.

Although Video Editor feels like a refreshing change from the old Windows Movie Maker, it still has a long way to go. I couldn’t find the option to separate audio from the video. Moreover, while exporting the video, I couldn’t set custom resolution or frame rates.

What’s good?

• Simple to use and minimal UI
• Video layers, titles, and 3D texts with native transitions
• Inbuilt themes to add filter and audio to the videos
• Ability to add custom audio or background music to your timeline
• Inbuilt transitions to add between videos
• Maximum out resolution is 1080p

What’s not?

• Cannot remove or separate audio from a video
• No custom export resolution

Download Microsoft Photos

3. Avidemux

Avidemux is a simple video editor where you can get started without any tutorial. The same reason why Windows Movie Maker had a huge appeal. The app has a clean white interface that doesn’t scream video editor in your face. You can directly proceed by dropping your video into the app. The play head is at the bottom, you can scrub over it for the overview. It has A and B points in the video which act as start and endpoints of your video.

When you change the Video Output option from copy to MPEG2 or something else, you will have the Filters button enabled. Click on it and you will see a whole dialogue box of transitions pop up. There are several transitions, color effects, and other filters in this menu which can be dragged and dropped on your clip.

Read: 5 Best Open Source Audio Editor You Should Try

Avidemux being a typical open-source software has horrendous UI. The UI element placement is terrible. On top of that, it’s really hard to distinguish between multiple files on the timeline.

What’s good?

• Ability to handle multiple video files
• Transitions, Color filters, etc.
• Audio Editor

What’s not?

• Unintuitive UI
• Playhead looks confusing when
• Inability to separate audio and video

Download Avidemux

4. ShotCut

ShotCut has gained a lot of traction these days as it’s not only free and easy to use but also cross-platform. While the interface isn’t even close to Windows Movie Maker, it does bring all the Windows Movie Maker features to the table. You have the same old timeline at the bottom wherein you can cut, join or detach audio from the clips.

Shotcut could be an ideal alternative for the Windows Movie Maker but it has a steep learning curve. For example, the software features quite a bit of transition but they are hard to find. Coming from the Windows Movie Maker, you would have a hard time figuring out the tools and transitions. Just in case if you give ShotCut a shot, here is a detailed video tutorial for beginners.

What’s good?

• Ability to cut, trim, adjust the speed
• Transition Effects
• Audio Editor and Waveform adjustment
• Supports mobile 4k video files

What’s not?

• Hard to find transform and editing tools
• No native titles or intro sequences

Download ShotCut

5. OpenShot

OpenShot as the name sounds are quite similar to ShotCut. The UI has a close resemblance to ShotCut with the windows and elements arranged in the same order. For instance, you have the timeline at the bottom, video player to the top-right and video files on the top-left. However, I found it much more intuitive than ShotCut.

To begin with, to import a video file you can drag and drop it either on the timeline or on the Project Window. Whereas in ShotCut, it has to be imported in the Project Window first. Introducing a transition is as convenient as right-clicking on the timeline and selecting your animation. Alternatively, you can go to the Transitions tab and drag & drop any effect on the video file. Similar to the Windows Movie Maker, you have some built-in color effects like negative, pixelate, etc.

OpenShot is an ideal video editing app with only one drawback. The inability to directly upload your file on social media sites like YouTube, Twitter, etc which was a popular option in the Windows Movie Maker.

What’s good?

• Ability to cut, trim, adjust speed and separate audio
• Built-in Transitions and color Effects
• Multiple video and audio tracks
• Supports mobile 4k video files
• Inbuilt Animated titles

What’s not?

• Inability to export to YouTube, Twitter, etc.

Download OpenShot

6. Lightworks

Lightworks may not be the ideal alternative for Windows Movie Maker. It is more of a stepping stone from the Windows Movie Maker. If you are serious about editing, Lightworks offers a plethora of video and audio editing tools. The app has an intense amount of tools ranging from VFX, Audio, and Video which are neatly stacked at the top in the form of a tab.

On the Edit tab, you have the project files and the timeline. On the VFX tab, you get the real color-correction tools, transformations, and build-in transitions, etc. You also get custom audio presets like wind noise removal, bass enhancer, equalizer, etc.

What’s good?

• Editing tools like cut, trim, splice, etc.
• Inbuilt Transition effects like fade, crossfade, push, etc.
• Inbuilt Noise and Animation Presets.
• Well categorized UI

What’s not?

• The free version limits export to 720p

Download Lightworks

7. Filmora9

Back when I started my YouTube channel, Filmora was the most intuitive video editor I could get my hands on. The major reason was Chroma keying. I used a green-screen and the only software that could help me cut it out cleanly was Filmora9. Basically, it has all the basic tools you wish for in a video editor. For a basic video editor, it’s the most intuitive video editor out there and for a power user, it has got enough tools to keep you hooked. The only compromise in the free variant is the watermark on videos.

For more information, you can read out our full review of Filmora9.

What’s good?

• Well categorized, intuitive, and polished UI
• Editing tools like cut, trim, splice, etc.
• Audio editing tools to remove noise and enhance pitch
• Keyframing to induce 2D animations and transitions

What’s not?

• Watermark in the free variant

Download Filmora9

8. Jahshaka

Now, Jahshaka is a very little-known video editor. The major reason being, that’s it’s not primarily intended for video editing. Jahshaka promotes it as a VR building software with lots of 3d tools. However, it has a fantastic built-in video editor wherein you can import your normal video and audio clips and go ahead with business. Jahshaka has a slight bit of learning curve but the fantastic documentation will help you get on board pretty easily.

What’s good?

• Editing tools like cut, trim, splice, etc.
• Well categorized and polished UI
• Lots of VR and 3D tools

What’s not?

• Has a fairly hard learning curve

Download Jahshaka

Wrapping Up

For one-time editing or mediocre stuff, you can try the native Microsoft Photos or the original Windows Movie Maker. For a thorough alternative, I would really recommend OpenShot. In case you are serious about editing or do it as part of content creation, Lightworks is a good starting point.

For any queries or issues regarding the editing tools or video production, do let me know in the comments below.

Also Read: Best Online Video Editor Without Watermark (2018)

Summary :

What is the best free slideshow maker? What is the best slideshow maker for Windows 10? What is the best slideshow maker for Mac? There are 10 best photo slideshow makers to turn your photos into a movie.

Today, photo slideshow or video content drives marketing, and people even can make money on YouTube video. But, do you know how to make a photo slideshow with music and pictures? With photo slideshow makers, you are able to make a cool slideshow which can attract, entertain, and engage your audience.

What is the best program to make a picture slideshow? What is the best free slideshow maker?

Let’s dive in! Here are top 10 photo slideshow makers for 2019.

1. MiniTool Movie Maker

MiniTool Movie Maker, a newly released video editing tool, is the best slideshow maker for Windows 10/8/7 users.

It can help you easily and quickly create photo slideshow without watermark. MiniTool Movie Maker is a perfect fit for beginners. It comes for free on Windows PCs, along with basic features. Even newbie editors can grasp the best free photo slideshow maker to make a video with pictures and music.

Related article: 4 Easy Ways to Make Video from Pictures in 2019.

MiniTool Movie Maker offers movie templates. Each template is a pre-designed construct, with ready-made titles and effects, and a series of placeholders. If you don’t know anything about video editing, this is the quickest way to make a video. Select a template, then import your clips into those placeholders, and change these titles. After that, you can share this cool video with friends.

How to make a slideshow with music and pictures via the best slideshow maker for Windows 10?

Movie Maker For Mac

3 Steps to Make a Photo Slideshow

Step 1. Lunch MiniTool Movie Maker, import your pictures, videos and music files via the Import Media Files button, and drag and drop these files to the storyboard.

Step 2. Now, you can use your imagination to create an outstanding photo slideshow.

• Adding transitions to connect one picture to another.
• Adding filters to change the color of pictures.
• Adding text to complete your photo slideshow.

Step 3. Export this photo slideshow and share it with your lovers.

The best free photo slideshow maker gives you an amazing opportunity to create an impressive slideshow just in 3 simple steps. You even can use this tool to create a Facebook Slideshow.

Pros

• It is a free, easy-to-use and simple video editing software.
• It offers a lot of choices of transitions.
• It allows you to easily change the brightness, contrast, and saturation of pictures and videos.
• It provides movie templates to help you easily create a cool movie.
• It can split and trim video without damaging the raw material.
• It lets you export a movie in different file formats like MP4, MOV, WMV, etc.
• It can help you create your own story without watermark.

Cons

It doesn't support screen recording now.

Our verdict

MiniTool Movie Maker is a free and simple video editing software for new users. Almost everyone can make a cool video without watermark as long as they use this free tool. Besides, this free video editor without watermark can change video resolution, change video format easily, etc.

Related article: The Best Free Slideshow Maker – MiniTool Movie Maker (2019).

2. Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker, a discontinued video editing software by Microsoft, offers the ability to create and edit photo slideshows as well as to publish them on OneDrive, Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube, and Flickr. More information about this free photo slideshow maker can be found in 6 Things You Need to Know About Free Windows Movie Maker (2019).

Windows Movie Maker allows you to combine your clips into digital movies with titles, transitions, background music, and effects. Its intuitive interface has a simpler version of a video editor timeline and is easy enough for even newbie editors to grasp.

You can simply see the effects, transitions, and themes automatically when you just hover the mouse cursor over the buttons. It’s a simple feature that is popular with users.

Related article: How to Use Movie Maker Step-by-step Guide for Beginners.

Pros

• It offers some transition effects.
• Voiceovers and other audio features are provided.
• Its intuitive interface has a simpler version of a video editor timeline.
• You can preview effects, transitions, and themes automatically.

Cons

• It was officially discontinued on January 10, 2017.
• It cannot change the contrast, saturation, or effects.

Our verdict

Windows Movie Maker might be the simplest way to combine your pictures into a photo slideshow.

Related article: 5 Ways to Combine Videos into One Easily and Quickly (100% Working).

But, you need to be careful when downloading this tool. Websites that offer free downloads of Movie Maker are not offering the real thing, and those downloads may contain malware, viruses, or hidden costs.

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If you want to experience this free video slideshow maker, you can click the following button. This download is completely safe. 100% Virus-Free and Spyware-Free Guaranteed!

3. Movavi Slideshow Maker

Movavi Slideshow Maker helps you create a slideshow in Windows and Mac. It equips with the tools you need to polish photos and add enhancements to your projects.

It offers 105 transition effects, and they are classy and professional looking. It offers 165 chic photo filters although it doesn’t supply any backgrounds or themes.

Pros

• It is Mac compatible.
• This program lets you capture screens.

Cons

This program doesn’t allow you to post projects directly to Twitter, Facebook or email.

Our verdict

This photo slideshow maker is a choice for users who want to create and post professional-looking videos and slideshows to their YouTube accounts.

4. Icecream Slideshow Maker

Icecream Slideshow Maker creates video slideshows out of the images. This easy-to-use photo slideshow maker lets you add multiple audio files to create a playlist per each slideshow, add text for each slide in a slideshow and preview the slideshow.

By using this video slideshow maker, you are able to resume created files from the History panel, and you can upload the slideshow to YouTube, Google Drive and Dropbox right from the program.

Pros

• It offers online support
• It allows saving projects after the video slideshow creation. All of your works will be securely stored in the program and you can get back to them whenever you want.

Cons

• The output formats are limited to 4 types which are AVI, MOV, WEBM and MP4.
• There is no “Ctrl+Z” in this software.
• The trial edition has some limitations. For instance, you are limited in adding 20 photos for 1 slideshow and an output video format of just WEBM.

Our verdict

Icecream Slideshow Maker is very easy to use and supports a wide range of transitions. But, if you want to make photo slideshow with unlimited photos, you need to choose the advanced edition.

5. Proshow Gold

Both professional photographers and inexperienced users can perfectly use ProShow Gold.

This photo slideshow maker offers a sizable library of professional-looking transitions, backgrounds, and effects to help professional photographers showcase images and videos in modern fashion.

This photo slideshow maker pops up the ProShow Wizard when you open it to help inexperienced users make a slideshow.

Pros

• Extensive options for creation.
• Works similar to video editing platforms.

Cons

• Certain features are not easily explained.
• No music generator.
• Lack of an official user forum.
• 15-day fully functional trial.

Our verdict

There are more features than you will initially use, and you should spend time learning these features.

6. PhotoStage Slideshow

Best Movie Maker For Mac

PhotoStage Slideshow allows you to make vibrant slideshows from photos on Windows 10 quickly. This software offers roughly 30 transition effects, but there are no backgrounds, filters or themes. This tool not only allows you to crop and rotate your photo but also lets you adjust the contrast, hue and brightness.

Pros

• It's easy to use.
• It comes with effects and multimedia presentations.

Cons

• The free version is for non-commercial use only.
• You have to buy technical support plans to access email support.

Our verdict

It offers a variety of input and output options as well as editing tools for images and music.

7. CyberLink MediaShow

CyberLink MediaShow, free slideshow maker, not only can make photo slideshow but also helps you tag and categorize your images and videos. This photo slideshow maker offers 31 transition effects to help you create a cool slideshow. This tool lets you add an audio track to give your presentations an entertaining touch.

Pros

• It is a very versatile and powerful application.
• It gives you quick links, so you can share media with websites, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Flickr.

Cons

• Occasionally crashes while editing.
• CyberLink charges for phone support.

Our verdict

There are many features available in the free version of the video slideshow maker, and it performs all tasks with ease and at fast speed.

8. Photostory Deluxe

Photostory Deluxe helps you easily personalize your photo slideshow because of its extensive editing and creation tools. Photostory Deluxe helps you enhance your photos and videos before you publish them, making it is a perfect choice for serious photographers or GoPro users.

It covers all the basic slideshow features necessary to make beautiful projects. It has an extensive toolset featuring advanced editing tools there are not found in many competing programs.

This photo slideshow maker offers over 300 transition effects, more than 370 backgrounds and filters. Besides, there is an in-store app where you can purchase additional graphics, music and transitions. And, you can use the advanced editing tools to make your photos stand out.

This tool has so many tools, thus beginners might feel a little daunted by all of the options.

Pros

It has hundreds of transition effects and a wide variety of useful tools.

Cons

• You have to pay extra to receive technical support over the telephone.
• It is one of the most expensive slideshow programs.

Our verdict

Photostory Deluxe is one of the top photo slideshow maker. It makes HD-quality slideshows and has one of the most extensive photo and music editing toolsets we saw. But, it might take a while to figure out how to use everything since there are so many tools.

9. Photostory Easy

Photostory easy is a simplified version of Photostory Deluxe. This simple photo slideshow maker offers 72 transition effects and 27 backgrounds to help you customize your slideshows.

Windows Movie Maker For Mac

This tool allows you to adjust the hue, saturation, brightness and contrast of your images, and lets you record audio or fade music in and out.

Photostory easy includes an in-store app with a huge library of effects including fun decorations like bunny ears, sunglasses and party balloons. You can add these effects to your images to add more fun to your photo slideshow.

Besides, you can add animated titles and captions for your slides via its specific text templates.

With this photo slideshow maker, you not only can burn your projects to DVD, Blu-ray or interactive CD but also can post your projects directly to YouTube, Flickr and Facebook from the program.

Pros

Program Like Windows Movie Maker

• It has an easy-to-use interface.
• It’s compatible with all of the most common file types.
• It can burn to both DVDs and Blu-rays.

Cons

• Some of the support options are difficult to use.
• You cannot post your slideshows directly to Twitter.

Our verdict

Photostory easy is a good photo slideshow maker for new users because of its simple interface and built-in wizard. But, this tool does not come with all the extras our higher-ranked applications offer.

10. iMovie

Last but not least, iMovie, the best slideshow maker for Mac, has been around for a long time and has always focused on one philosophy: ease of use in a clean and elegant interface.

With iMovie for iOS and macOS, you can browse your clips and create Hollywood-style trailers and stunning 4K-resolution movies. It offers you two main options: a Movie or a Trailer. You can easily create fun, Hollywood-style movie trailers from all that footage if you don’t know anything about video editing.

This best photo slideshow maker is very well optimized on modern Macs, and it works very quickly, especially on a MacBook Pro. You can import, edit and scrub through a 4K video smoothly without any problems.

Cons

• Simple interface.
• Professional-looking themes and trailers.

Pros

• Limited to two video tracks.
• Not many filters, transitions and titles.
• Interface is not customizable.

Our verdict

The best slideshow maker for Mac can turn your footage and photos into impressive productions although it doesn’t give you many customization options.

Now, It’s Your Turn to

Choose the best photo slideshow maker to turn your photos into a movie. If you are a new user, you are suggested to choose a simple and free photo slideshow maker like MiniTool Movie Maker.

Software Like Windows Movie Maker For Mac Free Version

Should you have any question, please feel free to contact us! If you have another good photo slideshow maker, please recommend us!

Photo Slideshow Maker FAQ

1. Import your files into the best free slideshow maker, MiniTool Movie Maker.
2. Drag and drop pictures to the timeline.
3. Edit these pictures including add transitions, change the color of pictures, add text to tell your story.
4. Export the slideshow.

1. Launch MiniTool Movie Maker.
2. Import your picture files and music files into the free slideshow maker.
3. Drag and drop these media files into the timeline.
4. Add transitions between video clips, and add animated text to clips.
5. Merger audio files, edit audio files like fade in or fade out music.
6. Export the slideshow with music on your PC and share it with friends.