The battle in the video editing world has historically been between Apple's Final Cut Pro X and Adobe's Premiere. The two companies have leapfrogged each other for years when it comes to the war for video editors' hearts. But in 2024, there are a lot more wallet-friendly (read: free) options out there, and two of those duking it out right now are CapCut and DaVinci Resolve. But which one is worth giving a shot?
While his usual stock-in-trade is 360 video commentary and reviews, YouTuber Ben Claremont has shared a comparison video he made comparing the features of the free version of CapCut with the also-free version of DaVinci Resolve. It's just nuts that in 2024 you can get video editing software with a full feature set that's more expansive than the Avid video editing setup I had as a professional working at a newspaper, and it costs nothing.
To be clear, there are some limits here. For instance, the free version of CapCut limits you to exports under 15 minutes, and the free version of DaVinci Resolve tops out at 4K resolution and doesn't offer GPU acceleration. But, in the grand scheme of things, these are small limitations for most people. You can remove these limitations from CapCut for $8 a month or a one-time charge of $295 for DaVinci Resolve (which also adds a laundry list of other professional features).
But, once the wow-factor of the (lack of) cost is gone, which one actually helps you produce better work? While the results are exactly what you'd expect, given that DaVinci Resolve was born from professional color-correction workflows and CapCut came of age in the era of social media, there are still some surprises to be had here. DaVinci Resolve has a more professional bent to it while CapCut emphasizes ease of use and speed. None of that is a secret, and I can attest that it took me a bit of time to learn how to navigate DaVinci's interface even with years of Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X under my belt.
While Final Cut Pro X has and will always have my heart, the truth is, there are a lot of alternatives out there. Claremont goes into a detailed and deep dive into the features and pros and cons of each part of these two giants in the video-editing space, so be sure to take a look at the video above if you're considering making the switch from Adobe or Apple.
Do you have thoughts on CapCut or DaVinci Resolve? Leave a comment below.