Final Cut Pro

Final Cut is the fastest editor on Apple silicon by a clear margin, and you buy it once. In our benchmark on an M-series Mac it played back and exported the multicam interview noticeably quicker than Premiere or Resolve on the same machine — Apple optimising for its own hardware is not marketing, it is measurable.

The commercial case is equally strong. A single £299 payment against Premiere's perpetual subscription pays for itself inside six months and then keeps paying. Updates within the version are free, the software cannot be taken away, and there is no monthly line item to justify. For a solo editor on a Mac this is the cheapest professional path after Resolve.

The magnetic timeline divides people genuinely rather than superficially. Clips ripple and rearrange automatically, which is fast once internalised and infuriating for editors trained on track-based timelines — our reviewers split almost evenly, with little middle ground. It is also Mac-only, its collaboration story is much weaker than Premiere's, and the third-party plugin market is smaller.

Our guidance: excellent for solo editors and small Mac studios who value speed and hate subscriptions. Avoid if you work on Windows, collaborate across a large team, or already think in tracks.