Subscription or one-time purchase: what does editing software really cost?
Some editors are paid every month, others once. Enter your editors and a period of 1 to 3 years to see the total for each option and what switching would save.
Your editing team
Total per seat and for your team
Seats: 1 · period: 36 months.
| Tool | Per seat for the period | Team for the period | Notes | vs now for the period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere | €974.88 | €974.88 | annual plan, billed monthlyincl. VAT | |
| Adobe Creative Cloud Pro | €2,925.72 | €2,925.72 | annual plan, billed monthlyPremiere, After Effects, Photoshop and 20+ appsfirst year €45.50/month for new subscribersincl. VAT | |
| DaVinci Resolve | $0 | $0 | free versionone-time purchase | |
| DaVinci Resolve Studio | $295 | $295 | on sale now: $236one-time purchase | |
| Final Cut Pro | $299.99 | $299.99 | Mac onlyone-time purchase | |
| Apple Creator Studio | $387 | $387 | $129 per yearMac only | |
| Avid Media Composer Standard | €776.88 | €776.88 | €259 per yearon sale now: €207 | |
| Avid Media Composer Ultimate | €1,647 | €1,647 | €549 per yearon sale now: €368 | |
| Filmora | $150.12 | $150.12 | $49.99 per year | |
| CapCut Pro | €1,259.64 | €1,259.64 | price shown 'for reference only'monthly billing only |
Where these prices come from
Prices per seat in each vendor's own currency, read on the official pages on 8 Nov 2026 (visitor in Greece). Regular prices are used; current sales are shown as notes. Adobe shows prices including VAT. Upgrades of one-time purchases are not counted.
Paste this snippet into a blog post, Notion or Confluence page.
How it works
- Subscriptions: price per seat per month × months. One-time purchases: the price once, whatever the period.
- Monthly billing uses the no-commitment price; where a vendor only sells a yearly plan, that is used and marked.
- These editors differ in features and platform (Final Cut Pro is Mac only): compare your workflow before switching. Training is not counted.