DaVinci Resolve 18 free: Enough features for most enthusiasts.(Image credit: James Abbott) (opens in new tab)

Incidentally, a DaVinci Studio license is included free with many Blackmagic products, including cameras.

So, once you have a license you can enjoy updates forever, making it the best value for money professional NLE over the long term. But there’s an important point here, the Studio version costs £306 / $295 / €354 / AU$479, and this is for a lifetime of updates. If you require the features and functionality not available in the free version, some of which we’ll cover here, Davinci Resolve Studio is less expensive than Adobe Premiere and only slightly more expensive than Final Cut Pro. Simple, right? That kind of is the case, but it’s not quite as simple as that because while one version is completely free to use, albeit with reduced functionality and features, the Studio version is arguably the most competitively priced professional non-linear editor (NLE) available.

You may be wondering why we’d begin with cost because one version of Davinci Resolve is free while the other comes at a cost. So, let’s take a look at some of the key differences and similarities between the two versions of the software to see which is best for you. Professional videographers would undoubtedly purchase a license for DaVinci Resolve Studio to access all of the advanced features, but even this isn’t as expensive as you’d think. But what you do get is most of the tools you need to edit your videos, which is perfect for enthusiasts. Of course, the free version isn’t as fully featured as DaVinci Resolve Studio, which is the paid version of the software. Well, these use the paid version, but it’s still impressive that you can use essentially the same software and incredible colour grading tools as industry professionals, but for free.ĭaVinci Resolve Studio is certainly one of the best video editing software products for professional users, but its remarkably powerful free version is definitely the best free video editor – but only if you're ready for a pretty steep learning curve. And to put this into context, some of the biggest Hollywood movies and TV shows are edited using this software. You may be asking yourself if you read that correctly, but yes, one of the industry-leading video editing programs can be yours for the princely sum of zero.

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