Adobe Premiere vs DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve scores 9.3 to Adobe Premiere's 8.0 among the professional video editors we rate, and is the better pick for 1 of the 4 kinds of buyer below.
DaVinci Resolve wins, 9.3 to 8.0
DaVinci Resolve has a free edition that never expires and no subscription at all; Resolve Studio is a one-time $295 purchase. Premiere is subscription only, at $22.99 a month, with no free tier and no way to buy a licence outright. Premiere generates new footage with Generative Extend and translates captions, features DaVinci Resolve does not have. Premiere also has a built-in stock media panel; DaVinci Resolve has none.
Pick Adobe Premiere if you want generative footage extension and built-in stock media.
Pick DaVinci Resolve if you want a free permanent editor or to own Studio outright.
Best for
Who each one suits, decided on the criteria that matter to that buyer and the checked facts where the two differ.
- Generates new frames or footage: Adobe Premiere yes, DaVinci Resolve no
- Translates captions or audio: Adobe Premiere yes, DaVinci Resolve no
- Built-in stock media: Adobe Premiere yes, DaVinci Resolve no
- Where it runs: Windows, Mac, iOS against Windows, Mac
- Free edition you can keep using: DaVinci Resolve yes, Adobe Premiere no
- Sells a licence you own outright: DaVinci Resolve yes, Adobe Premiere no
- Cheapest way to pay, monthly: $0 against $22.99
How they score
Both are scored the same way, against the other professional video editors we rate, from facts on each vendor's own pages. DaVinci Resolve leads on 2 of 5 criteria.
Where they differ
Every point where the two vendors' published facts disagree, with a link to where each fact was read. "Not published" means the vendor does not say either way.
Published by only one of them
Where they match (14)
Pricing, plan by plan
Every plan each vendor publishes, monthly and yearly where both are offered.
Adobe Premiere
DaVinci Resolve
Pros and cons
From each tool's full review, written from the same checked facts.
Adobe Premiere
- Object Mask masks and tracks a subject with just a hover and a click, instead of manual rotoscoping.
- Generative Extend can extend clips, add frames and generate missing ambient sound using Adobe's cloud AI.
- Team Projects and an included Frame.io let multiple editors collaborate on the same project.
- Adobe Stock's music and footage panel is built in, with AI that auto-fits a track to your clips before you license it.
- There is no perpetual license: Adobe Premiere is sold only as a subscription.
- There is no free tier for the desktop app, only a seven-day trial.
- Generative AI use is capped at 25 monthly credits on the Premiere plan, far below the 4,000 on Creative Cloud Pro.
DaVinci Resolve
- The free edition never expires and includes editing, color correction up to Ultra HD, visual effects, motion graphics, audio post and multi-user collaboration.
- Studio is a one-time $295 purchase rather than a subscription, so you own it once you buy it.
- Color grading includes professional scopes such as a waveform monitor and vectorscope alongside HDR color wheels, power windows and a node editor.
- Workflow integration and encoding APIs let you connect DaVinci Resolve to your own asset management and production tools.
- Magic Mask, advanced HDR grading and the AI Fairlight audio effects only unlock in the paid Studio edition.
- There is no built-in stock media library, so footage, music and graphics have to come from elsewhere.
Adobe Premiere vs DaVinci Resolve: common questions
Which is better, Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve?
DaVinci Resolve scores 9.3 and Adobe Premiere 8.0 out of 10 among the professional video editors we rate. DaVinci Resolve is ahead on workflow and teams and pricing. Adobe Premiere is ahead on aI in the editor.
Is Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve cheaper?
Adobe Premiere's cheapest paid plan is $22.99/mo billed annually (Premiere single app) and DaVinci Resolve's is Free. Compare what each plan includes below before going on price alone.
What can Adobe Premiere do that DaVinci Resolve cannot?
On the facts both vendors publish: generates new frames or footage, translates captions or audio and built-in stock media.
What can DaVinci Resolve do that Adobe Premiere cannot?
On the facts both vendors publish: free edition you can keep using and sells a licence you own outright.
