Canva alternative · Video editing
A Canva alternative for the video half of the work.
Canva is a design tool that can put clips on a timeline. This is a video editor: multitrack, keyframes on every parameter, keying, stabilisation and 8K export — free, and with no account.
For posters, decks and layouts, Canva is still the right tab. That part is further down.
The difference
A timeline you cut on, rather than a timeline you arrange on.
Design tools lay elements out in time. An editor is built around the cut, and the difference shows up in the first ten seconds.
- Ripple trim
- Splice and close the gap
- Snapping
- Loop a region while you tune
- Six tools, one key each
- Frame-by-frame accuracy
- Unlimited tracks
- Undo as far back as you like
What you get by using an editor for the video
All of it free, and none of it behind a plan.
A timeline built for cutting
Unlimited video and audio tracks, ripple trim, splice with the gap closing behind it, snapping, loop regions, and frame-by-frame accuracy. Picture and sound stay linked unless you separate them.
Keyframes on everything with a number on it
Position, scale, rotation, opacity, volume, and every control on every effect. A curve editor with eight easings, and handles you can drag if none of them is the shape you want.
172 effects and transitions, all GPU
Compiled shaders running on your graphics card, so a stack of ten on one clip still scrubs in real time. None of them is locked, and none of them is a preview.
Green screen keying, properly
Nine keyers and four matte tools: choke the edge, soften it, stop it flickering, and take the screen's bounce back off hair and shoulders.
A stabiliser that tracks the shot
It measures where the camera actually went, smooths that path, and warps the frames back onto it, cropping only as far as you allow.
Export up to 8K, unwatermarked
MP4, WebM or MKV, 480p through 8K, full-quality audio, written into a folder you choose.
Motion
Animation with a curve on it.
The gap between an element that moves and an element that moves well is the shape of the easing, and that is an editable curve here.
Every property that carries a number keyframes, including the controls on effects you add later. It keys itself as you tune: move the playhead, change the value, and the key is written.
The curve editor is where the timing gets decided. Eight easings to pick from, and bezier handles for the times when none of the eight is the movement you had in mind.
Shapes
Twelve aspect ratios, and clips that re-fit when you switch.
Reels, Shorts, square, and everything up to Cinemascope.
The other direction
Five things Canva does that this does not.
If one of these is the reason you opened Canva, keep it open. This replaces one half of the job.
Templates and stock
A library of designs, footage, music and photography to start from. There is none of that here — you bring your own files and cut them.
Everything that isn't video
Posters, decks, documents, thumbnails, logos, print. Canva is a design tool and this is not one. If the job is a layout, it is the right tab.
Brand kits and teams
Shared fonts, palettes, approvals, comments, and several people in one document. Nothing here is collaborative, because nothing here is on a server.
Editing anywhere
Phone apps and a design that follows you between devices. This is desktop browsers only, and projects stay in the browser you made them in.
Generative tools
Background removal without a green screen, image generation, magic resize and the rest. This editor has no AI features at all.
Before you switch
- It is not a design tool
- No templates, no stock, no brand kit, no poster or deck editor. Text, shapes and a canvas are here for titles and masks, not for layout work.
- Nothing imports from Canva
- A design cannot be opened here. Your own video, audio and image files open normally, so bring the media and rebuild the edit.
- Nothing is shared or synced
- No team, no comments, no link to send. That is the direct cost of projects living on your own machine rather than in an account.
- Desktop browsers only
- Chrome and Edge get the full export; Firefox and Safari save to Downloads. The tab has to stay open while an export runs.
Questions people ask when they arrive
- Is bentocut a replacement for Canva?
- For video editing, yes. For design work — posters, presentations, documents, social graphics — no, and it is not trying to be. If you use Canva for both, this replaces one half of that and you keep using something else for the other.
- Is it free, and is there anything locked?
- Free, with every effect, every resolution and every export unlocked from the start. No watermark, no export cap, no account and no card. Paying only removes ads from the app.
- Do I need an account?
- No. There is no sign-up at any point, including export. The tab opens straight into the editor.
- Does my footage get uploaded?
- No. Decoding, effects and export all run in the browser tab on your machine. Nothing is transmitted, which is also why there is no upload wait and no file-size limit.
- Can I open a Canva design here?
- No. There is no importer for another tool's project or design format. Video, audio and image files open normally.
- Can it make vertical video for social?
- Yes. Twelve aspect ratios, including 9:16, 4:5 and 1:1, and clips re-fit themselves when you switch. Text has its own track with animation and keyframes.
- Does it do automatic subtitles?
- No. There is no speech recognition. Subtitles are typed onto a text track and timed by hand.
Open a tab and cut something properly.
Open the editorFree, no account, no watermark, and nothing uploaded.