Best Free Visual Effects (VFX) Software

Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline. Cycles is Blender’s built-in powerful unbiased path-tracer engine that offers stunning ultra-realistic rendering. Blender’s comprehensive array of modeling tools make creating, transforming and editing your models a breeze. VFX professionals say: “Probably the best tracker in the market”. Blender includes production ready camera and object tracking. Allowing you to import raw footage, track the footage, mask areas and see the camera movements live in your 3D scene. Eliminating the need to switch between programs. Thanks to the high quality rigging and animation tools, Blender is being used for numerous short films, advertisements, TV series and feature films now.

DaVinci Resolve is an all-in-one post-production software that integrates professional editing, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production into a single platform. Its intuitive interface makes it accessible to beginners while offering advanced tools for professionals, making it the go-to solution for filmmakers, television editors, and content creators. DaVinci Resolve is known for its Emmy-winning color grading capabilities and industry-leading audio processing with Fairlight. The software includes dedicated workspaces for each task—editing, color grading, visual effects, and audio—enabling users to seamlessly switch between tasks. Its powerful features are enhanced by AI tools and real-time collaboration capabilities, allowing teams to work simultaneously on the same project without the need for complex file transfers or conversions.

HitFilm is free video editing software with professional-grade VFX tools and everything you need to make awesome content, films or gaming videos. Perfect for beginners, film students, gamers, YouTubers, or any creative without a budget. You got talent and the drive, so we give you what you need, free video editing software. Why? Because you shouldn’t have to pay to play. And that way, we get to be a part of your origin story — which is pretty awesome. Get access to the world’s most powerful free video editing and VFX software for Mac or PC. Join our growing community of 6 million filmmakers and content creators today. Wanna level up your skills? Masterclass editing and VFX tutorials are made for every brand of hero. Create your own 3D shield-wielding super-soldiers or plunge your audience into the Wild West with a sci-fi twist. We bring opportunity and equality to the creative industry. Together with our community, we develop powerful accessible tools, training, and support.

VideoPad Master's Edition for Windows can create movies and edit videos of many different formats including avi, wmv, .3gp, wmv, divx and more. Create videos or movies easily with the intuitive user interface. Simply drag and drop video clips. Choose from over 50 visual effects and transitions including chroma key or green screen technology. Fine tune color and visual effects. Show your friends by burning to DVD or uploading to YouTube.

LWKS, established in 2020, LWKS is a new creative technology company developing software for content creators and distributors in the media and entertainment industry, including the popular and multiple award-winning Lightworks and QScan products. Lightworks is a non-linear editing system for editing and mastering digital video. For over 30 years, Lightworks has helped every type of video editor and creator imaginable, from Oscar-winning Hollywood legends to YouTubers. QScan, everything you need to automate your media QC. The professional automated media QC platform that takes all the effort out of ensuring video files meet international delivery standards.

EbSynth is a VFX software that transforms videos by editing just a single frame, enabling artists to bring creative ideas to life effortlessly. It allows users to paint over keyframes, and the software automatically applies the artistic style across the entire video. Ideal for animation, retouching, and rotoscopy, EbSynth eliminates tedious manual tracking for fast, high-quality results. Artists can easily add digital makeup, colorize footage, or explore bold visual transformations in minutes. With real-time feedback, it encourages experimentation and creativity without interrupting the workflow. Whether you’re crafting stylized sequences or refining cinematic shots, EbSynth puts professional-grade visual storytelling in your hands.

Riveo by Forge and Form is a video and FX composer for iPhone and iPad that combines professional-grade tools with intuitive controls to let creators build highly polished visuals directly on mobile. It offers fluid simulations, responsive motion effects, layered custom filters, and “Future Text” with bevels, gradients, realistic shadows, and reflections. Transitions are reinvented beyond simple cross-fades, and a suite of pro tools enables remapping time, color tweaking, and detailed keyframe animation with both slider simplicity and advanced control. Features include AI-generated subtitles and masking, text animations, 4K output, 60fps support, filters, stickers, voice recording, GIF creation, precomposing, RGB curves, built-in music, custom shapes, stock footage, AI images, mesh gradients, and speed editing, all previewable via camera integration. Templates and AI enhancements streamline creation while maintaining flexibility for bespoke design.

EffectCraft is a node-based visual-effects (VFX) and motion-graphics application for creating procedural effects and compositing work. Artists can connect effect nodes, arrange layers, adjust parameters, and preview output in a graph editor. The application supports 2D compositing and motion-graphics workflows, with timeline and keyframe controls, reusable effects and templates, and project rendering and export. EffectCraft offers a browser build as well as downloadable desktop builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux; its processing is designed to run on the user's machine rather than through a hosted rendering service. It is aimed at independent creators, motion designers, video editors, and VFX artists exploring node-based workflows. A JSON control interface and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enable compatible tools to interact with the application. The project is described as alpha-stage software, so features and workflows may change between releases.