Adobe Premiere vs DaVinci Resolve

Updated October 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Adobe Premiere

Adobe's professional timeline video editor, formerly Premiere Pro, sold through Creative Cloud.

Paid

Visit Adobe Premiere Adobe Premiere profile

DaVinci Resolve

Blackmagic Design's editing, colour, effects and audio suite, with a very capable free version.

Free plan + paid

Visit DaVinci Resolve DaVinci Resolve profile

The short answer

Pick Adobe Premiere if you work in Creative Cloud, collaborate with other Premiere editors or rely on After Effects. Pick DaVinci Resolve if you want professional tools without a subscription, especially for colour grading. The biggest difference is how you pay: Premiere is subscription only, while Resolve has a capable free version and a one-time Studio licence.

Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve: our take

Both are full professional editors, but they come from different places. Premiere is a track-based editor that sits at the centre of Adobe's suite, sharing projects and assets with After Effects, Audition and Photoshop. Its recent additions lean on AI: text-based editing builds rough cuts from a transcript, object masking tracks subjects, and Firefly-powered tools extend clips. Resolve started as a colour grading system and grew into an all-in-one application with separate pages for cutting, editing, colour, Fusion effects and Fairlight audio. Its colour tools are the industry reference, and having effects and audio in the same app means fewer round trips.

Pricing is the clearest split. Desktop Premiere is subscription only, with a 7-day free trial and a 14-day refund window after it, and generative features consume credits. Resolve's free version handles up to Ultra HD at 60fps and is enough for a lot of professional work; Studio adds the AI Neural Engine features, extra Resolve FX and higher resolutions for a one-time price that includes future updates. Resolve also runs on Linux, while Premiere covers Windows and macOS plus a free mobile app for social video.

In practice, Premiere is easier to hire for and has more tutorials and templates, which matters for agencies and teams that hand projects around. Resolve has a steeper learning curve across its many pages and wants a strong GPU, and Premiere is also heavy on hardware for complex timelines.

Choose Premiere if you already pay for Creative Cloud, need tight After Effects integration, or work with clients who expect Premiere projects. Choose Resolve if you want to avoid a subscription, care most about colour, edit on Linux, or are starting out and want a free editor you will not outgrow.

Choose Adobe Premiere if…

Professional editors and teams already working in Adobe Creative Cloud
Industry-standard editor with a large talent pool and tutorials
Tight integration with After Effects, Audition and Photoshop

Choose DaVinci Resolve if…

Editors and colourists who want pro tools without a subscription
You want a free option (Adobe Premiere is paid only)
You need Linux, which Adobe Premiere doesn't list
Free version is enough for most professional work
Industry-leading colour grading

What is Adobe Premiere?

Adobe Premiere, called Premiere Pro until its 2026 rebrand, is one of the most widely used professional video editors, common in YouTube channels, agencies, newsrooms and documentary work. It is a non-linear, track-based editor with multicam, colour grading, captions, motion graphics templates and audio repair, and it shares projects and assets with After Effects, Audition and Photoshop. Recent versions lean on AI: text-based editing builds rough cuts from a transcript, object masking tracks subjects, and Firefly-powered generative tools extend clips and fill gaps. Shared review links collect time-stamped feedback that shows up in the timeline. It runs on Windows and macOS, and a free Premiere mobile app for social video replaced Premiere Rush. Desktop Premiere is subscription-only, either on its own or in the Creative Cloud bundle, with a short free trial and a refund window. The subscription and Adobe's cancellation terms are the main complaints, and it is more than casual editors need.

What is DaVinci Resolve?

DaVinci Resolve began as a high-end colour grading system and is now a complete post-production application, with separate pages for cutting, editing, colour, Fusion visual effects and motion graphics, and Fairlight audio. Its colour tools remain the industry reference, and the free version is unusually generous: it handles most 8-bit formats up to Ultra HD at 60fps, with multi-user collaboration and HDR grading. DaVinci Resolve Studio adds the AI Neural Engine features, extra effects, advanced noise reduction, higher resolutions and frame rates and wider format support, for a one-time price that includes future updates, and it is bundled with many Blackmagic cameras. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and there is an iPad version. The learning curve is steep, especially across the Fusion and Fairlight pages, and it wants a strong GPU. For anyone prepared to learn it, it is the best value in professional editing.

Side by side

Attribute	Adobe Premiere	DaVinci Resolve
Pricing	Paid	Free plan + paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	Windows, macOS, iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS
Best for	Professional editors and teams already working in Adobe Creative Cloud	Editors and colourists who want pro tools without a subscription
Status	Active	Active