DaVinci Resolve vs Adobe Premiere Pro: Which Video Editor Fits You?

DaVinci Resolve suits people who want a free professional editor with color grading, effects and audio in one application, on Mac, Windows or Linux. Adobe Premiere Pro suits people who already work with Adobe tools such as After Effects, and who need a mature timeline editor on Windows or macOS that they can pay for by subscription. The Adobe Premiere Pro vs DaVinci Resolve comparison sets out the same contrasts in one table, and the sections below cover what each does better and where it is harder to use.

Quick comparison

Both editors appear in the best video editing software ranking. The table uses only the two listings and the ranking's own attributes and best-for lines.

	DaVinci Resolve	Adobe Premiere Pro
Made by	Blackmagic Design	Adobe
Price model and free plan	Freemium. Free version, with a paid Studio edition that adds features	Subscription, sold alone or in Creative Cloud. No free plan, though a free trial is offered
Platforms	macOS, Windows, Linux	Windows, macOS
Open source	No	No
Key design difference	Editing, color grading, visual effects and audio in one application	A multi-track timeline that links to After Effects and other Adobe tools
Best for	Color grading and free professional editing	Professional editing in Adobe-based workflows

The ranking's overview describes DaVinci Resolve as the one that combines editing, color and effects in a single program. Premiere Pro is the timeline editor that most Adobe workflows already use. The how the rankings work page explains how the scores are set, and they reflect editing depth, platform reach, cost and learning curve. They do not measure render speed or output quality on a specific machine, so test both editors on your own footage before you commit.

Pricing and free plans

DaVinci Resolve's free version runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. The paid Studio edition adds features beyond the free version, and the ranking's FAQ describes the free version as the most complete free option among the editors it covers. Check Blackmagic Design's pricing page for the current Studio price.

Premiere Pro is subscription-only. It is sold as a Creative Cloud subscription, either alone or as part of Creative Cloud, and a free trial is offered. Its listing names the subscription as a drawback, which matters for anyone who edits only occasionally.

A subscription and a free edition behave differently over several years, and software pricing models explained covers that difference. The subscription cost calculator can help you estimate the total cost of a subscription over time.

Platforms and sync

Premiere Pro runs on Windows and macOS only, so people on Linux cannot use it. DaVinci Resolve runs on all three desktop systems, and the ranking's FAQ notes that Linux builds exist for it, alongside Shotcut, Kdenlive and Lightworks.

Neither listing mentions cloud sync for projects. Premiere Pro lists team projects as a feature, which is the closest either listing comes to shared work. Its listing also notes that high-resolution editing needs a capable computer.

For editors who work across operating systems, the platform difference settles the question before price does. Other Linux-capable editors in the ranking are Kdenlive, Shotcut and Lightworks, covered below.

Features that set them apart

• Color and finishing. DaVinci Resolve puts color grading, visual effects and audio mixing in one program, with dedicated pages for Fusion, Fairlight and Color. A project does not have to move between separate apps for those steps.
• Adobe links. Premiere Pro links to After Effects through Dynamic Link, and its listing names Audition for sound. A team that already edits in After Effects gets a tighter handoff than it would with a separate editor.
• Interface. DaVinci Resolve's interface has many pages and panels. Its listing says that makes the first week harder than with simpler editors. Premiere Pro's listing describes it as one of the most common tools in post-production.
• Format support. Premiere Pro is described in its listing as supporting a wide range of camera formats. DaVinci Resolve's listing does not make the same claim, so check the formats your camera records before you choose.

Who should choose DaVinci Resolve

• Editors on Linux, since Premiere Pro does not run there.
• Someone who wants a free editor that covers color grading and effects in one application.
• A person who works on longer projects or color-heavy work, and who accepts a denser interface.
• A user who may later need the Studio edition's extra features and wants to start on the free version first.

Who should choose Premiere Pro

• People who already use After Effects or Audition and want the timeline to link to them.
• A team already working in Adobe workflows, where the same tools run across the group.
• A user who needs Premiere Pro's wide camera format support and mature timeline tools.
• Someone who accepts a subscription and wants a free trial before committing.

Other options worth a look

The DaVinci Resolve alternatives and Adobe Premiere Pro alternatives pages list more products. From the same ranking:

• Final Cut Pro: a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, with strong performance on Apple silicon and ProRes acceleration. It runs only on Mac and iPad.
• Avid Media Composer: the editing system that film, TV and news studios use. It has a free Media Composer First tier, and paid tiers are annual subscriptions.
• Kdenlive: a free GPL-3.0 editor for Linux, Windows, macOS and BSD, built on the MLT Framework. Its interface is dense.
• Shotcut: a free, open-source editor for Windows, macOS and Linux that edits media without importing it first.
• Lightworks: a long-established desktop editor with a free tier that has no time limit, plus paid Create and Pro plans.

Each of these has a head-to-head page with one of the two main editors, including DaVinci Resolve vs Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro vs Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve vs Kdenlive, Adobe Premiere Pro vs Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro vs Shotcut.

Related rankings and guides

• Best video editing software: the ranking both editors come from, with the criteria behind each score.
• Adobe Premiere Pro vs DaVinci Resolve: the full side-by-side comparison page for these two editors.
• How to choose video editing software: the questions to answer before picking an editor.
• Best open source alternatives to paid software: useful if the open-source editors on the ranking appeal to you.