Looking to elevate your video editing skills but not sure whether to go for Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro? Look no further. We’ve put together a side by side breakdown of the two industry-leading applications that are perfect for beginners and those wanting to master the entry-level basics of pro footage editing and stunning film creation.
Interface User Experience
You might be familiar with basic video editing features from free editing software platforms and mobile apps, but how easy is it to navigate and use the multi-tool pro-level interface?
| Premiere Pro | Final Cut Pro |
|---|---|
| Premiere Pro’s interface is straightforward and intuitive. The timeline lets you drag and drop video files, and there’s instant access to plenty of effects and filters to edit your video. It’s an interface you can master quite quickly and is also suited for beginners. | For Mac users, Final Cut Pro’s interface is second nature — overall, it has a slick and straightforward layout, with plenty of space that showcases the clip and a neat bottom bar where you can arrange all your clips, apply the editing tools and easily adjust audio levels. |
Price: subscription vs single purchase
Premiere Pro runs on a subscription model which is great if you want to try things out. On the other hand, Final Cut Pro is a bigger upfront investment but you’ll never have to pay again — so in the long run it’s definitely the cheaper option. One caveat though you will find though is that Final Cut Pro is exclusively for Mac Users.
| Premiere Pro | Final Cut Pro |
|---|---|
| US$20.99/month: Subscription | US$299.99: One-time purchase |
Features: the difference between Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro
How do the specific graphic, animation and essential editing tools of each application stack against one another?
| Features/Effects | Premiere Pro | Final Cut Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Video editing |
Advanced. If you want to do a bit of everything from splicing clips to adding transitions and soundtracks or effects, Premiere Pro is the way to go. It’s intuitive and ultimately delivers what the tool sets out to do. |
Advanced. Final Cut Pro has what it calls a Magnetic Timeline for seamless editing and experimentation. It’s easy to use for basic trimming and movement of video clips and adding effects. There’s a choice to add audio or synchronise it automatically with footage. A nice touch is the Auditions tool, where you can test out multiple takes of the same set of clips in the timeline. |
| Audio editing and sound effects |
Advanced. Premiere Pro makes audio editing and adding sound effects easy and efficient. |
Advanced. Final Cut Pro makes it easy to add sounds, remove background noise and adjust audio levels. |
| 3D motion graphics |
Basic. Premiere Pro has recently made quite a lot of advancements offering templates for basic motion graphics, but it’s still a limited offering. |
Advanced. Final Cut Pro has the motion graphics tool specially designed for titles, transitions and special effects. There’s also a host of motion graphics plugins and templates available for the application, giving it an extra edge. |
| Text animation |
Basic. In Premiere Pro, you can only create 2D text animation since it doesn’t have 3D text creation capabilities. |
Advanced. Final Cut Pro allows you to animate 2D and 3D texts and titles. |
| Cartoon animation | — Not possible in Premiere Pro. |
Advanced. You can choose from six different comic effects presets in Final Cut Pro. |
| Color correction |
Advanced. One of the main features of Premiere Pro: easily color correct with the Lumitri Color panel. |
Advanced. A core feature of Final Cut Pro is its advanced colour grading toolkit and colour curves. |
| Removing video background |
Advanced. You can easily remove and/or replace a video’s background in premiere Pro using the Unscreen extension. Learn more about how to remove video backgrounds in Premiere Pro here. |
Advanced. Removing and/or replacing a video’s background in Final Cut Pro with the Unscreen extension is simple. Find out more about how to remove video backgrounds in Final Cut Pro here. |
Which is better: Final Cut Pro or Premiere Pro?
When it comes to Final Cut Pro vs Premiere Pro, there’s not much difference on the overall toolkit, but Final Cut Pro ups the stakes on more advanced features and available plugins. Yet, there’s still a few other things that might sway your decision, depending on what you need and what computer you use.
If you don’t have Mac IOS, Final Cut Pro is not an option since it doesn’t work on a Windows PC system. Premiere Pro’s more straightforward interface is better for a quicker workflow for projects that don’t require too many ultra-advanced edits. But if you have a larger, more complex project and clips of a large size, like 4K and 8K, then Final Cut Pro wins over Premiere Pro for faster rendering, real-time effects and exporting.
Ready to level up your video footage?
Using more advanced video editing tools can really help level up your creativity. From title animations, cinematic transitions and special effects, it’s easy to get started with beginner tools like Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro. It’s why they are two of the most popular applications on the market.
Curious about more advanced post-production and image compositing software platforms? Then check out our comparison guide on Adobe After Effects vs Blackmagic Fusion.
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