Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve are both excellent video editors on Mac, and both are dramatically cheaper than Premiere Pro's subscription. Final Cut Pro is the fastest editor on Apple Silicon; DaVinci Resolve is the most complete professional tool available for free. Choosing between them is a question of priorities.
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro wins for speed and the best Apple Silicon performance in editing. DaVinci Resolve wins for color grading, audio production, and all-in-one post-production workflows.
Specs Comparison
| Spec | Final Cut Pro | DaVinci Resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $299.99 one-time (+ 90-day trial) | Free / $295 one-time (Studio) |
| Platform | Mac only | Mac, Windows, Linux |
| Apple Silicon performance | Best-in-class | Excellent but slower |
| Color grading | Good | Best-in-class |
| Audio (DAW) | Basic | Fairlight (full DAW) |
| ProRes RAW native | Yes | Studio only |
Apple Silicon Performance
Final Cut Pro is engineered specifically for Apple hardware and Apple Silicon. On an M-series Mac, Final Cut renders effects in real time, handles ProRes RAW natively, and exports faster than any other editor. Tom's Guide and MKBHD have consistently shown Final Cut Pro outperforming DaVinci Resolve on export benchmarks on M1/M2/M3 Macs.
DaVinci Resolve has strong Apple Silicon support and gets better with every release, but it's cross-platform software. It's optimized for many GPU vendors and hardware configurations, which means it doesn't extract every ounce of Metal/ProRes acceleration the way Final Cut does.
Editing Paradigm
Final Cut Pro's Magnetic Timeline is controversial — it snaps clips together without tracks, which many editors love and some hate. Once you commit to the paradigm, editing is fast. Keyboard-driven workflows are quick.
DaVinci Resolve uses a traditional track-based NLE on its Cut and Edit pages. This is familiar to editors coming from Premiere or Avid. The learning curve for the Color and Fairlight pages is steeper, but the edit experience maps to industry norms.
Pricing
Final Cut Pro is $299.99 one-time from the Mac App Store — now with a 90-day free trial. DaVinci Resolve is free for the full editor; Resolve Studio is $295 one-time. They're essentially the same price at the paid tier.
Apple introduced a subscription option for Final Cut Pro at $4.99/mo in 2023 (iPad version). The desktop remains one-time purchase.
Final Cut Pro Strengths
- Fastest Apple Silicon performance in any video editor
- Native ProRes RAW support
- Intuitive Magnetic Timeline for fast editing
- 90-day free trial before purchase
DaVinci Resolve Strengths
- Free tier is a complete professional editor
- Best color grading in any NLE
- Fairlight DAW included — full audio production
- Cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux)
Final Cut Pro Weaknesses
- Mac only — no Windows or Linux version
- Magnetic Timeline can frustrate track-based editors
- No audio production suite as strong as Fairlight
DaVinci Resolve Weaknesses
- Slower export than Final Cut on Apple Silicon
- Steeper learning curve for the page-based interface
- Collaboration tools require Studio version ($295)
Best For
- a: Mac-first editors who want the fastest possible export pipeline and ProRes-native workflows for YouTube, social, and broadcast
- b: Filmmakers who need professional color grading and audio production in one app, especially if they work across Mac and Windows
FAQ
Can Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve exchange projects?
Not natively — there's no direct project exchange. Some editors use XML roundtripping (via Pro Import FCP in Resolve), but it's imperfect. Most workflows stay in one editor throughout.
Is there a free trial for Final Cut Pro?
Yes — Apple introduced a 90-day free trial in 2021. It's the full version with no feature limitations, which is one of the most generous trials in professional software.