7+ Best Color Grading Software for Video: Free & Paid [2024]

Trying to figure out what color grading software you want to use can be tricky. There’s so many great options out there, but which one is right for you?

As an indie filmmaker myself, I know the importance of color grading and color adjustments for my movies. Giving your video a professional look is essential and color grading software can help you do just that.

Luckily, there’s a ton of powerful and easy-to-use coloring software out there today!

When my production company was doing the color grading for our feature film, Spin The Wheel, we looked into each of these programs. After tons of research and trials, we ended up using DaVinci Resolve for our film, and we really liked it! But, to be fair, there are lots of other options as well.

In this article, we’ll cover the 7+ best color grading software options available right now – covering both free and paid options so you can find the perfect one for your needs.

What Is the Best Color Grading Software?

If we’re talking color grading and correction under one roof, Adobe Premiere Pro is the way to go. If we’re talking strictly color grading, DaVinci Resolve is the ultimate solution.

To help you make an informed decision, I’ve reviewed Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and a bunch of other highly rated color grading and correction tools, both free and paid.

So, read on to find the right software for your needs.

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Overview

DaVinci Resolve is a node-based software that lets you map your color grading in layers. This helps keep you more organized and lets you go back to tweak or turn off certain layers.

Another feature that sets this coloring apart is face-tracking, which tracks any feature like the whole face or just the eyes so you can change the color effects on just that area. You can also use an auto-balancing effect, along with a whole library of FX plugins.

Top Benefits

• Top-notch motion tracking (Seriously, it’s the best motion tracking I’ve ever used. You can use motion tracking in Adobe Premiere Pro, but it’s waaaay less accurate.)
• Super advanced color-grading effects
• Even the free version gives you a wide range of capabilities, you might not even need the paid version
• One-off payment; no monthly subscriptions that end up costing an arm and leg
• TONS of online tutorials that can show you all the tips and tricks

Pricing  

DaVinci Resolve costs a flat fee of $295, which gives you lifetime access, even with any future updates.

BUT I will say, I’ve been using the free version of DaVinci for years on a several of my projects and I’ve never felt like I needed to pay for the full version. The paid software gives you access to advanced features like noise-reduction effects and exporting at 32K.

My Experience Using DaVinci Resolve

Not only does DaVinci Resolve have impressive coloring capabilities, but it’s also FREE?! Literally, when I saw all that the free version could do, my mind was blown!

Okay yes, I did need to watch an hour long YouTube tutorial on how to use DaVinci to color grade, but once I got the hang of it, it was seriously impressive.

In fact, our post-production team used DaVinci’s color grading tools on our feature film, Spin the Wheel, and we were thrilled with the cinematic look we achieved with it.

I really liked having the nodes so you can see exactly what each effect is doing. There’s also a ton of LUTs you can choose from if you want to work from one of those.

The tracking ability in DaVinci really sets it apart, as you can easily track someone’s face throughout the entire scene and then add a mask to lighten just their face.

Bottom Line  

DaVinci Resolve is best for anyone who wants to do expert and detailed color grading, especially if you’re working with RAW or LOG footage.

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Overview

You can use Adobe Premiere Pro to not only edit professional videos, but also to easily color them. Their coloring tools in the Lumetri Color panel offer a wide range of customizable color wheels, curves, and more.

This software is the most popular for a reason: it’s a one-stop shop with a user-friendly interface that allows you to edit videos, add effects and motion graphics, edit audio, add color grade, etc.

Top Benefits  

• Intuitive interface that’s easy to navigate (MANY tutorials on Premiere out there as well)
• Users gain access to Adobe’s extensive stock library
• Auto reframe for different aspect ratios so you can post on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and more
• Has the ability to integrate seamlessly with all Adobe platforms
• Great for video editing AND color grading on one software
• Broad format support, including VR and 360º

Pricing  

For individuals, Premiere Pro costs as little as $22.99/month if you sign up for the yearly plan, or $34.49/month if you want the option to cancel anytime. The best deal would be to pay for the yearly fee upfront at $263.88.

If you want access to other popular Adobe platforms like After Effects, Photoshop, Lightroom, Acrobat, etc., you can sign up for their Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps plan for $59.99/month.

Check back during holidays and sometimes they have good discounts going on for their subscriptions.

My Experience Using Adobe Premiere Pro

I know many filmmakers and editors who use Adobe Premiere Pro for their video needs.

It’s easy to learn, and the interface is pretty straightforward and intuitive.

When editing videos for social media, the coloring tabs are very capable of doing what I need. Like with Davinci, I enjoy having one platform to do everything video related.

For those who do a lot of video work for their business needs, it’s worth the monthly cost, but it is pricey and it would be nice if it was a flat fee.

Bottom Line  

Adobe Premiere Pro is best for someone wanting to edit and color their videos in one platform.

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Overview

Final Cut Pro features color correction effects that you can use right off the bat to balance your hues and saturation.

One of it’s coolest perks is that it has a button to automatically change the colors of one clip to match the look of another clip. Perfect for color correction! On top of that, it allows you to edit your footage in standard or HLG color spaces.

Top Benefits  

• It has several color points and wheels for the ultimate customization
• Many ‘one-click’ buttons to automatically adjust the color
• It’s highly rated for rendering quicker than most other software
• People love Final Cut Pro for it’s intuitive and easy-to-use interface (Aka you won’t need to spend a whole day watching YouTube tutorials)

Pricing  

Final Cut Pro costs $299.99 – a one-time payment that includes upgrades for life.

Before making a purchase, you can try the latest version of the software for free for up to 90 days. I’d say that’s a pretty good time period to really test it out to see if it’s the right software for you.

My Experience Using Final Cut Pro

Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of color grading on Final Cut Pro. Maybe it’s because I’m used to Premiere and DaVinci, but I thought the options were a little limited.

You had to click through different tabs to find the color wheels, curves and basic adjustments. Then, I tried to start the color over and I had to go through each tab and reset each minor adjustment I had made.

If you’re doing very basic color enhancements on regular footage, I’d say this is all that you need. But I’m willing to bet those Hollywood films that were edited in Final Cut were color graded somewhere else!

Bottom Line  

Final Cut Pro is best for beginners wanting to do some color grading using their macOS.

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Overview

Lightworks has been around for over 30 years, and it was used to edit some iconic Hollywood movies, including Pulp Fiction, Braveheart, 28 Days Later, and more.

Top Benefits  

• Pro-level color correction and grading, including custom LUTs
• Easy-to-use social media templates
• Very intuitive interface, perfect for beginners

Pricing  

Lightworks is available in three different versions: Free, Create, and Pro.

The Create version starts at the low price of $9.99/month and is geared toward content creators, and educators. The Pro version starts at $23.99/month and is geared toward Hollywood-level editing.

My Experience Using Lightworks

I actually had a great experience with Lightworks!

After installation, it provided a 15-minute tutorial on how to use the platform (the perfect length). And even after watching the tutorial, it gave me little callouts on everything I clicked on to help me understand how to use all the features.

It was easy to find the color correction window and play with the tools, which even had keyframes.

But keep in mind, the window says ‘color correction‘ for a reason. In order to get to the color grading features, I would need to upgrade from the free version to the Create version.

So while I can’t speak on the color grading features specifically, I was really impressed with the follow-along approach provided by Lightworks.

Bottom Line  

Lightworks is best for beginning creators looking to enhance their color grading and post-production skills on a budget.

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Overview

Avid Media Composer offers plenty of automatic color correction tools for quick and efficient adjustments. You can use them to set accurate white and black values, as well as remove unwanted color casts.

Though you can use Avid Media Composer for basic color grading, its strongest selling suit is its powerful color correction capabilities. It’s available for macOS and Windows, though it requires some hefty specs.

Top Benefits  

• A lot of automatic one-click color adjustments
• Highly customizable interface, so you can arrange it to suit your needs
• Comes with a cloud collaboration feature

Pricing  

Avid Media Composer is available in three different versions: Standard, Ultimate, and Enterprise.

The Standard version is suited for independent video editors, and it starts at $23.99/month for a 1-year subscription, or $239 for the year. The Ultimate version is geared toward collaborative workflows for industry professionals. It starts at $49.99/month for a 1-year subscription, or $499 for the year (The photo above shows it for a limited time discount at $399).

The pricing of the Enterprise version is custom. You’ll need to contact Avid’s sales department and provide them with some information to get a custom quote.

There is a 30-day free trial of the Ultimate version, but you’ll need to google it to find it, as it’s really hard to find on their website.

Bottom Line  

Avid Media Composer is the best video color grading software in terms of customization.

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Overview

Movavi’s color grading tools let you adjust the saturation, temperature, brightness, contrast, and other aspects as well.

This color correction and grading software has a wide range of filters that you can use for quick results. And if you’re not satisfied with what you have, you can buy additional creative packs from the Movavi Effects Store.

Top Benefits  

• It comes with a built-in library of effects and filters
• You can directly upload to YouTube and other social media platforms
• There are no high-end computer specs required
• Several auto-adjustment features
• AI integration to help you edit smarter and faster

Pricing 

Movavi Video Editor Plus costs $94.95 for a 1-year subscription, or you can buy a lifetime package of the Video Suite + Photo Editor for $124.95. If you decide to stick with Movavi after using the free 7-day trial, you might as well pay the extra $30 to have lifetime access.

My Experience Using Movavi Video Editor Plus

Overall, Movavi was super easy to set up and start using.

When first opening the software, they provide callouts explaining all the tools and steps required to start editing.

I was super impressed with their AI background remover effect which was able to remove the background from one of my video clips in 10 seconds. I was trying to do this same edit last week in After Effects and it took a long time rotoscoping to remove the background. So that was a win here!

As far as coloring goes, it doesn’t have advanced coloring features, but if you’re using Movavi to edit social media videos, then the color correction tools it does have will do the job just fine.

Bottom Line 

Movavi Video Editor Plus is best for social media content creators.   

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Overview

If you’re looking to add a cinematic touch to your footage, FilmConvert Nitrate is a perfect choice. It has ready-made presets that you can use right away, along with several saturation and color adjustment tools.

Top Benefits  

• Integrates into popular video editing software, like Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro
• Remarkably fast rendering speed
• Plenty of cinematic presets and color adjustment options

Pricing  

For individual use, FilmConvert Nitrate costs $174 for all platforms or $125 for particular platforms (e.g., DaVinci Resolve, Adobe, and Final Cut Pro X). The pricing is slightly lower for academic bundles.  

My Experience Using FilmConvert Nitrate

The free trial of FilmConvert Nitrate was fairly easy to download and then it automatically popped up in my Premiere Pro effects panel when I opened it next.

Along with the ability to do regular color correction, FilmConvert provided a bunch of different cinematic film LUTs that you could overlay onto your footage. It even went a step further and gave many customization options to control what the grain looked like.

If you’re making any kind of film or video and you want it to look like a cinematic masterpiece shot on film, FilmConvert Nitrate can help you do just that!

Bottom Line  

FilmConvert Nitrate is the best plugin for color grading and adjustment.  

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Overview

The Red Giant Magic Bullet plugin allows you to use RGB curves, LUTs, beauty overlays for skin, denoising tools and so much more.

Top Features  

• Powerful color correction system + more
• Integrates seamlessly with Adobe Premiere Pro & After Effects
• Customizable UI elements

Pricing  

To use Colorista, along with other Magic Bullet plugins, you need a Red Giant subscription, which starts at $49.91/month (billed annually).

This lets you have access to EVERYTHING in Red Giant, which includes advanced motion graphic and VFX tools. That’s not a bad price for everything you get! (If you take advantage of all it has to offer.)

My Experience Using Red Giant Magic Bullet

I was easily able to download Red Giant and start the free 14-day trial. I installed Magic Bullet which automatically came up in my Premiere Pro effects panel.

From there, I had the option to use any of the effects from the Magic Bullet suite.

I started with Colorista and was impressed by all the color grading options. It even gave you a neat little intro on how to balance your shot.

Then, I played with their Cosmo effect, which lets you pick out skin tones and use tracking to blur out harsh lines and blemishes. If you’re creating a film with female leads, this beautifying effect is a must!

Overall, Red Giant is a fantastic tool for someone who is creating professional or indie films.

Bottom Line  

Red Giant Magic Bullet is best for professional Premiere Pro and After Effects users.

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What Are Color Grading Software?

Color grading software allows you to adjust a video’s colors, contrast, brightness, saturation, and other aspects to achieve a certain look or mood. 

Though most professional video editing tools allow you to carry out some basic color correction, some programs are designed specifically for professional-grade color grading.

Color Grading vs. Color Correction?

Though the terms color grading and color correction are sometimes used interchangeably, they’re usually two different stages of the video editing process.

Color correction comes first, as it’s the process of correcting the colors of the footage to make it look more even and natural. If you shoot in two different rooms but want it to look like the same room, you’ll need to tweak the colors until they look as similar as possible. You’ll also need to tweak contrast, exposure, white balance, etc.

Color grading usually happens after the picture is locked, and it’s the process of creating a certain mood or color palette for the entire video. You can also make smaller changes, like desaturating a bright red jacket.

Final Thoughts

Picking the right color grading software for your needs can be a bit overwhelming, as there are plenty of great options to choose from, whether you’re an amateur or a professional.

At the end of the day, the choice will boil down to your budget, experience, workflow, as well as the color grading features you’re looking for. So, I recommend experimenting with different options until you find the color grading tool you like the most.

Common Questions (FAQs)

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