DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve is a post-production video editor that combines cutting, colour grading, visual effects, motion graphics and audio mixing in one application. It is used for everything from YouTube and social media videos to feature films and streaming television.
#11 in Video & Audio ToolsVideo EditorsFree plan
Who it's for
Best for
Hobbyist and independent editors who want pro tools without a subscription
Colourists and finishing artists grading films and streaming shows
Not for
Editors stuck on older laptops who need smooth playback of long 4K timelines
Linux editors on Ubuntu or Fedora who need working audio and native codecs
Features
All-in-one post-production
Combines editing, colour correction, visual effects, motion graphics, audio post production and photo editing in one application.
Dedicated page per task
Work is split into Media, Photo, Cut, Edit, Fusion, Color, Fairlight and Deliver pages, each a dedicated workspace for one task.
Multi-user collaboration
Project libraries support real-time local and remote collaboration, and Blackmagic Cloud hosts projects and media for parallel work on one project at the same time.
Fusion node compositing
Fusion brings node-based compositing, true 3D animation, deep pixel compositing and virtual set extensions into the timeline.
Fairlight audio post
Fairlight handles real-time audio post with Elastic Wave retiming, Fairlight FX, plugins and voice isolation.
What users say
Pros
- The free version stays capable enough for years of real editing before any paid upgrade is needed.
- A single purchase buys a perpetual licence, and major version updates keep arriving without further payment.
- Colour grading is the standout strength, with a film-print look reachable from flat footage by dropping saturation and a green curve.
- Exports finish far faster than in Premiere, with a nine-hour project completed and delivered in under a day.
- AI tools transcribe speech, level audio and detect music beats locally, cutting a one-hour edit down to about two hours.
Cons
- The interface is hard to pick up, with basic cuts needing a search and colour nodes taking years to master.
- Playback lags or crashes mid-edit on laptops, and long videos start chugging once the timeline fills up.
- The version 21 update slowed colour work to a crawl on M1 Macs and broke exports such as DCP.
- On Linux, only Rocky Linux is officially supported, and audio playback and recording break on other distributions.
- Source audio in AAC or from VR recordings must be converted before the timeline accepts it.
A selection of the review sources we used:
Summarized from public user reviews and community discussions. View details
Global Traffic Rank
Top 50k
Alternatives
Rank#11 in category#3 in category#7 in category#27 in category
Free planYesNoYesYes
ProFree version, perpetual licence, top colour tools, fast exportsFast editing, strong multicam, one-time price, base-Mac performanceEasy social-video editing with templates and auto-editsQuick auto subtitles and an easy browser editor
Better forCreating short social clips quickly with ready-made templates, stickers and auto-captions.Quick browser-based video editing and screen recording without installing heavy software.
Weaker atAdvanced colour grading, node-based visual effects and comprehensive audio post-production.Managing large video projects, complex multi-track timelines and deep colour grading.