Vegas Pro Review

Vegas Pro is Boris FX's Windows desktop editor, sold either as a yearly subscription or, for its two lower tiers, bought once as a license you keep permanently. What decides whether it suits you is whether you're on Windows at all, since it has no Mac version, and whether you'd rather own a copy outright or pay by the year.

What is Vegas Pro?

Vegas Pro is made by Boris FX. It installs on Windows 11 as a desktop application; there is no browser version. You sign in with a Boris FX account to activate it, but all editing happens locally on your machine.

Editing in Vegas Pro

Multicam editing synchronizes and previews footage from up to 32 cameras at once, with real-time shot switching. Color grading runs on RGB and HSL color curves, range-limited color wheels, and Lift, Gamma and Gain wheels, checked against a full scope set of vectorscope, waveform, histogram and RGB Parade views. HDR grading covers HDR10 and HLG inside the ACES 1.3 color space.

Vegas Pro imports Blackmagic RAW, RED RAW and Apple ProRes RAW alongside HEVC and AVC footage, and its online user guide describes a proxy workflow for editing on systems with limited processing power. Planar motion tracking is built in, and Vegas Pro Plus and Ultimate add Mocha Vegas or Mocha Pro for more advanced planar tracking. Compositing and effects run on the same timeline, with track compositing modes, 3D plane positioning, Bezier masking and chroma key; Ultimate adds Boris FX's Continuum VFX plugins and Mocha Pro. Third-party OFX video plugins and VST2 and VST3 audio plugins extend it further.

What the AI does

Smart Mask identifies objects in a scene and creates masks to isolate them, for dropping in a different background or applying an effect to just that object. Text-based editing lets you cut a dialog-heavy rough cut by editing an AI-generated transcript, with the footage on the timeline updating to match. Auto Reframe reformats footage for different social media aspect ratios, and the same transcript engine drives auto subtitles on a new track. Text to Speech generates narration from typed text in a choice of language and voice. CrumplePop's AI audio cleanup and speech-enhancement tools, included in Vegas Pro Plus and Ultimate, remove background noise and sharpen dialog clarity.

Working with other people

Vegas Pro runs on Windows only, with no Mac version. An application scripting API automates editing operations, letting you build tools around Vegas Pro rather than working through the interface by hand. Royalty-free footage, sound effects and music are available through Storyblocks inside the Explorer window, though that library needs a subscription tier rather than a perpetual license.

Vegas Pro pricing: what you actually pay

Vegas Pro costs $99.95 a year or $219.95 as a one-time purchase you keep permanently. Vegas Pro Plus costs $149.95 a year or $299.95 as a one-time purchase. Vegas Pro Ultimate is sold only as a subscription, with no perpetual option. All three tiers are billed yearly rather than monthly, and none carry a watermark on exports. A 15-day free trial gives full access to every feature before you buy.

Privacy and support

Vegas Pro edits on your own machine, so your footage never leaves your computer; the Boris FX account is only needed to license the software. Boris FX is regulated under GDPR for the data tied to that account. Support runs through email, live chat, phone and a community forum and Discord.

Who Vegas Pro suits

Vegas Pro suits Windows editors who want a full grading toolset with proper scopes, multicam up to 32 cameras, and a choice between paying yearly or buying a license outright. It also suits anyone who wants AI tools like Smart Mask, transcript-based editing and Auto Reframe built into the same timeline as the rest of the edit.

It suits less well anyone on a Mac, since there is no Mac version, and anyone who wants Vegas Pro Ultimate without committing to a subscription, since that tier has no one-time purchase option.

Frequently Asked Questions