Pro post-production software, compared.
Resolve is the best value and covers the most ground. Avid still dominates long-form editorial. Flame and Baselight are specialist finishing systems for high-end work. Premiere and Final Cut are fast general-purpose editors.
Prices are USD list, October 2026. They change; check before you budget.
At a glance
| DaVinci Resolve | One app for edit, colour, VFX (Fusion) and audio (Fairlight). Its colour tools are the industry reference, and the free tier is genuinely capable. |
| Avid Media Composer | The standard for feature and episodic editing. Bin-based media management and shared-storage collaboration are the reasons. |
| Avid Symphony | Media Composer plus advanced colour and finishing. Now bundled in Media Composer Ultimate, and also sold as an add-on. |
| Autodesk Flame | High-end compositing, VFX and finishing for commercials and premium work. Costly, and operators are hard to find. |
| Baselight | Premium grading for top features and streaming series. Turnkey hardware, or a plug-in for Avid, Nuke and Flame. |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Cross-platform editor for broadcast, web and documentary. Its advantage is the Creative Cloud workflow around it. |
| Final Cut Pro | Mac-only magnetic-timeline editor. Very fast on Apple silicon, and a one-time purchase. |
What they cost, and what they are for
Prices span free to over $5,000 a year. Resolve and Final Cut are the only two you buy once.
| Tool | Platforms | Pricing (USD) | Primary use | Biggest strength | Biggest drawback |
|---|
| DaVinci Resolve | macOS, Windows, Linux | Free; Studio $295 one-time | All-in-one edit, colour, VFX, audio | Industry-reference colour at a one-time price | Heavy GPU demands; Fusion has a steep learning curve |
| Avid Media Composer | macOS, Windows | Free "First" tier; $39.99/mo or $259.99/yr; Ultimate $539.99/yr | Feature and episodic editorial | Media management and multi-editor shared projects | Dated interface; colour and effects are weak without Symphony |
| Avid Symphony | macOS, Windows | Included in Media Composer Ultimate | Editorial finishing and conform | Secondary colour and Universal Mastering inside the Avid timeline | Grading depth is well behind Resolve or Baselight |
| Autodesk Flame | Rocky Linux (main), macOS 14+ | $650/mo or $5,215/yr; Flame Assist and Flare $2,775/yr | High-end compositing and finishing | Fast client-attended finishing; deep node compositing | Very costly; few operators; needs powerful hardware |
| Baselight | Linux turnkey; macOS; plug-ins for Avid, Nuke, Flame | Quote only; Student edition free | Premium feature and episodic grading | Top-tier colour science; layer-based grading; HDR | No public pricing; turnkey suites cost six figures |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | macOS, Windows | $22.99/mo annual; Creative Cloud Pro $69.99/mo | Broadcast, web, documentary, corporate | Integration with After Effects, Audition and Photoshop | Subscription only; less stable on very large projects |
| Final Cut Pro | macOS only (15.6+) | $299.99 one-time, or Creator Studio $12.99/mo | Fast solo editing, social, documentary | Speed and efficiency on Apple silicon | Mac-only; weak interchange (FCPXML); less common in facilities |
The Flame figures come from a third-party pricing guide. Baselight turnkey pricing is quote-only.
Where each one sits in the pipeline
Most high-end films cut in one tool and finish in another. These are not seven answers to the same question.
DaVinci Resolve
Its Cut, Edit, Fusion, Colour, Fairlight and Deliver pages let one person take a project from ingest to final master. Colourists, independent filmmakers and YouTubers all use it, and more facilities use it for conform and grading every year. The free version handles up to UHD at 60fps in 8-bit; Studio adds 10-bit, higher resolutions, 120fps and the Neural Engine tools. Blackmagic Cloud covers multi-user work.
Avid Media Composer
Most Hollywood features and scripted television are cut on it. Bins, strict media management, Avid NEXIS shared storage and bin locking make it reliable for teams of assistants and editors. Ultimate adds ScriptSync and PhraseFind for dialogue-heavy shows. Its effects, titling and colour are basic next to the others, and that is the trade it makes.
Avid Symphony
The finishing layer of Media Composer: secondary colour correction, relational colour, and Universal Mastering, which delivers several frame rates and formats from one timeline. It suits online editors finishing broadcast without leaving Avid. Most high-end features still send the cut out to Resolve or Baselight for the grade.
Autodesk Flame
The finishing system for premium commercials, music videos and high-end VFX cleanup. Timeline, node compositing, 3D tracking, keying and AI-assisted tools in a client-attended suite. Flame Assist and Flare are cheaper seats sharing the same projects. Users are mostly specialist boutiques; it is rarely worth buying as an individual.
Baselight
FilmLight's grading system, used on many top features and streaming dramas. Known for its colour science, layer-based grading and strong HDR and multi-deliverable workflows. Baselight Editions puts the grade inside Avid, Nuke or Flame; Daylight handles dailies. Most installs are turnkey Linux suites sold by quote.
Adobe Premiere Pro
The common editor for agencies, broadcast promos, news, documentary and corporate work. Dynamic Link to After Effects and Audition, Team Projects and Frame.io review are the real advantages. Some long-form editors find it less stable than Avid on very large projects.
Final Cut Pro
The magnetic timeline and Apple-silicon optimisation make it the fastest option for a solo editor, and it suits social, event and some documentary work. It runs only on macOS, and FCPXML interchange is weaker, so it is rare in multi-editor facilities. Workflow Extensions and tools such as X2Pro fill some of the gaps.
Capabilities by discipline
Resolve is the only one rated strong or better everywhere. The rest are specialists, and that is not a criticism. These ratings are editorial judgement, not measurements: ●●●● best in class, ●●● strong, ●● capable, ● basic.
| Tool | Editing | Colour | VFX | Audio | Collaboration | Interchange |
|---|
| DaVinci Resolve | ●●● | ●●●● | ●●● | ●●● | ●●● | ●●● |
| Avid Media Composer | ●●●● | ● | ● | ●● | ●●●● | ●●●● |
| Avid Symphony | ●●●● | ●● | ● | ●● | ●●●● | ●●●● |
| Autodesk Flame | ●● | ●●● | ●●●● | ● | ●● | ●●● |
| Baselight | — | ●●●● | ●● | — | ●●● | ●●● |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | ●●● | ●● | ●●● | ●●● | ●●● | ●●● |
| Final Cut Pro | ●●● | ●● | ●● | ●● | ● | ● |
Baselight conforms rather than edits, and has no audio stage — hence the dashes. Premiere's VFX and audio scores assume After Effects and Audition alongside it; Final Cut's VFX assumes Motion.
What to actually buy
For most independent and small-shop work, Resolve Studio at $295 is the default. Use Avid when you join a long-form team. Flame or Baselight only when a client is paying for that tier.
| If you are | Buy | Because |
|---|
| An independent filmmaker, solo or small crew | DaVinci Resolve (free, then Studio) | Edit through delivery in one app, for a one-time cost |
| A solo Mac editor working fast | Final Cut Pro | Fastest cut on Apple silicon; bought once |
| An agency already on Adobe | Premiere Pro and After Effects | Dynamic Link, Frame.io, shared Creative Cloud assets |
| Cutting a feature or series with assistants | Media Composer Ultimate | Industry standard; NEXIS sharing; ScriptSync |
| Finishing broadcast inside Avid | Media Composer Ultimate (Symphony) | Secondary colour and Universal Mastering in the cut |
| Finishing premium commercials with clients in the room | Autodesk Flame | Compositing, cleanup and conform in one client-facing suite |
| Grading a high-end feature or streaming series | Baselight, or Resolve Studio | Baselight for top-tier colour pipelines; Resolve for cost |
The common hybrid is to cut in Avid or Premiere, send an AAF or XML to Resolve or Baselight for the grade, and pass picture to Flame for final VFX cleanup.
Sources
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