15Consecutive PCMag Editors’ Choice awards, 2011–2025
5.0Exemplary, PCMag’s highest rating, held since 2022
#1Best Overall and the only 5.0, The Best Video Editing Software We’ve Tested for 2026
PowerDirector 365
PCMag Editors’ Choice.
15 Years Running.
PowerDirector has won PCMag’s Editors’ Choice every year since 2011, and it still holds it: Best Overall in The Best Video Editing Software We’ve Tested for 2026. It’s the only editor on the list rated 5.0 Exemplary.
Editors’ Choice is PCMag’s highest recommendation, decided by hands-on testing in its own labs.
The Record
15 Editors’ Choice Awards
One publication. One independent testing team. One product that kept winning.
| Year | Version | Rating | Award | Verdict | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025CURRENT · REVIEWED NOV 15, 2025 |  PowerDirector 365 | 5.0Exemplary |  Best Overall | “PowerDirector is the prosumer video editing software to beat and a rare five-star Editors’ Choice winner thanks to its superb usability and unbeatable capabilities.” | PCMag2026 round-up (live) |
| 2024REVIEWED OCT 26, 2024 |  PowerDirector 365 | 5.0Exemplary | Best Overall | “CyberLink PowerDirector 365 is fast and full of exceptional features, giving you pro-level video editing tools in a user-friendly design.” | PCMag (archived) |
| 2023NAMED BEST OF THE YEAR 2023 |  PowerDirector 365 | 5.0Exemplary |  | “It’s the video editing software we recommend most.” | Best of the Year 2023 (live) |
| 2022REVIEWED DEC 22, 2022 |  PowerDirector 365 | 5.0Exemplary |  | “CyberLink PowerDirector 365 for Mac and Windows is fast and full of features, giving you pro-level video editing tools with consumer-level ease.”This is the cycle the rating moved to 5.0. | PCMag (archived)Best of the Year 2022 (live) |
| 2021REVIEWED NOV 9, 2021 |  PowerDirector 365 | 4.5Outstanding |  | “PowerDirector is a fast, full-featured consumer-level video editing program. It offers macOS and Windows users all the latest technology support yet is surprisingly easy to use.” | PCMag (archived)Best of the Year 2021 (live) |
| 2020REVIEWED OCT 28, 2020 |  PowerDirector 365 | 4.5Excellent |  | PCMag’s 2020 round-up calls PowerDirector “our Editors’ Choice” and notes it was the first product in the group to add new-format support. | PCMag (archived)Best of the Year 2020 (live) |
| 2019REVIEWED OCT 11, 2019 |  PowerDirector 18 Ultimate | 4.5Excellent |  | “PowerDirector is the fastest and most full-featured consumer-level video editing program available.” | PCMag (archived)Best of the Year 2019 (live) |
| 2018REVIEWED SEP 19, 2018 |  PowerDirector 17 Ultimate | 4.5Excellent |  | “PowerDirector 17 Ultimate remains PCMag’s Editors’ Choice for enthusiast-level video-editing software.” | Best of the Year 2018 (live)Verdict from CyberLink internal record |
| 2017REVIEWED OCT 4, 2017 |  PowerDirector 16 Ultimate | 4.5Excellent |  | “CyberLink PowerDirector 16 Ultimate remains PCMag’s Editors’ Choice for enthusiast-level video-editing software.” | Best of the Year 2017 (live)Verdict from CyberLink internal record |
| 2016REVIEWED JAN 2017 |  PowerDirector 15 Ultimate | 4.5Excellent | | “PowerDirector is the fastest and most capable consumer-level video editing software for Windows around, and it’s the first to support 360-degree VR footage.” | CyberLink internal record |
| 2015REVIEWED SEP 30, 2015 |  PowerDirector 14 Ultimate | 4.5Excellent |  | “Its wealth of powerful tools would be enough to give it a strong recommendation, but the speed with which PowerDirector handles editing and rendering really gives it the upper hand.” | CyberLink release |
| 2014REVIEWED NOV 2014 |  PowerDirector 13 Ultimate | – | | “[PowerDirector] consistently outpaces the competition in speed, features, and ease of use.” | CyberLink internal record |
| 2013REVIEWED DEC 27, 2013 |  PowerDirector 12 | – |  | “A long time favorite among prosumer video editors. It offers impressive performance, an intuitive interface, and lots of editing goodies.” | CyberLink release |
| 2012REVIEWED JAN 2013 |  PowerDirector 11 Ultra | – | | “Not only is CyberLink PowerDirector 11 the fastest video editing software to use, but it also can boast the deepest arsenal of tools and yet remain among the easiest to use, with a clear, intuitive interface.” | CyberLink internal record |
| 2011REVIEWED DEC 5, 2011 |  PowerDirector 10 | – | | “We are excited that PowerDirector has been awarded Editor’s Choice by PC Magazine for three years.”The same release notes PowerDirector won PC Magazine’s Technical Excellence Award in 2010. | CyberLink release |
PCMag’s verdict
In PCMag’s Own Words
Their lab, their testing, their ratings, and the review each line came from.
| What PCMag said | Review |
|---|---|
| Holds PCMag’s Editors’ Choice, rated 5.0 Exemplary, PCMag’s highest rating. | PCMag, CyberLink PowerDirector 365 Review, updated 15 Nov 2025 |
| Best Overall in The Best Video Editing Software We’ve Tested for 2026. | PCMag 2026 category round-up |
| The only video editor rated 5.0 in The Best Video Editing Software We’ve Tested for 2026. Next highest on that list: Adobe Premiere, 4.5. | PCMag 2026 category round-up |
| Editors’ Choice on every PowerDirector release PCMag has reviewed since 2011. 15 years, 15 awards. | PCMag reviews and CyberLink internal records, 2011–2025 |
| “PowerDirector is the prosumer video editing software to beat and a rare five-star Editors’ Choice winner thanks to its superb usability and unbeatable capabilities.” | Michael Muchmore, Lead Software Analyst, PCMag |
| “CyberLink’s PowerDirector 365 bridges the gap between professional and enthusiast video editing software better than any other product we’ve tested. It continues to lead the category in support for new formats and technologies, which lately means lots of generative AI features.” | PCMag, 15 Nov 2025 |
Why the streak matters One Good Review Is Luck.
One Good Review Is Luck.
15 in a Row Is a Track Record.
Your Subscription Keeps Its Value
A single award tells you a product was good once. 15 tell you the team behind it keeps shipping, which is what actually matters when you are paying every month.
The Award Is Re-Won, Not Inherited
PCMag retests the category and decides Editors’ Choice again each cycle. Nothing carries over. PowerDirector’s own rating moved from 4.5 to 5.0 in December 2022, which is what a live verdict looks like. Every one of those awards means it was re-judged against a new field of challengers.
You Are Not Betting on a Newcomer
Video tools launch and disappear constantly, and a subscription only pays off if the software is still being developed next year. A decade and a half of continuous releases, each one reviewed, is the clearest signal you have that it will be.
Two More Independent Reviews
TechRadar and Creative Bloq tested PowerDirector too, and both recommend it.
“CyberLink PowerDirector 365 remains one of the best video editing software for beginners, as well as intermediate editors. It’s packed with all the tools most general users will need for content creation.”
TechRadar
4.0 out of 5
Reviewed 14 Jan 2026
“PowerDirector 365 is a powerful video editor that offers all the tools you’d expect to edit clips together ... but is also stuffed with many AI features to give your work a more unique look.”
Creative Bloq
8 out of 10
Reviewed Jun 2025
PowerDirector Awards Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. PowerDirector has held PCMag’s Editors’ Choice every year since 2011, 15 years running from 2011 through 2025, and the award still stands in the 2026 round-up. In the current review, updated 15 November 2025, PCMag rates PowerDirector 365 a full 5.0, its Exemplary tier, and names it Best Overall in The Best Video Editing Software We’ve Tested for 2026.
Editors’ Choice is PCMag’s highest recommendation. PCMag’s analysts test products hands-on in their own labs and give the award to the products they consider the best in a category. It is editorial, not paid placement, and it is re-decided each time a category is retested.
PCMag names CyberLink PowerDirector 365 Best Overall in its 2026 video editing round-up. It is the only video editor on that list rated 5.0. Adobe Premiere is rated 4.5; Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple iMovie, DaVinci Resolve and Wondershare Filmora are rated 4.0; Adobe Premiere Elements and Microsoft Clipchamp are rated 3.5.
On PCMag’s 2026 list PowerDirector 365 is rated 5.0 and Adobe Premiere 4.5. PCMag credits PowerDirector with fast project rendering, leading support for new formats and technologies, and generative-AI features that often arrive ahead of Adobe.
Every PCMag review of PowerDirector has ended in Editors’ Choice, 15 years in a row, from PowerDirector 10 in 2011 to PowerDirector 365 in 2025, and the award is still in force in the 2026 round-up.
Yes. PowerDirector 365 offers a free download so you can try the editor before subscribing.
About these awards. All ratings, award names and quotations on this page are the published work of the named publications and are reproduced without alteration. CyberLink does not pay for editorial review outcomes. Where the original review is still online, each entry links to it so you can check it yourself.
PCMag, PCMag.com, Editors’ Choice and Best of the Year are trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC. Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Premiere Elements are trademarks of Adobe Inc. Final Cut Pro and iMovie are trademarks of Apple Inc. DaVinci Resolve is a trademark of Blackmagic Design. Filmora is a trademark of Wondershare. Clipchamp is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. TechRadar and Creative Bloq are trademarks of Future plc. Used here for identification and comparison only.
