Final Cut Pro pricing

Is Final Cut Pro free?

No. Final Cut Pro has no free version. Apple offers a one-month free trial of Apple Creator Studio, the subscription that includes it, or three months with a new Mac or iPad.

If you want a free Apple editor, that's iMovie. Projects started in iMovie can be opened in Final Cut Pro later.

Buy it once, or subscribe?

The one-time price equals about 23 months of the subscription. If you only edit on a Mac and expect to keep editing for two years, buying it once is cheaper. If you want Final Cut on an iPad too, or Logic Pro for music, the subscription is the way to get them.

Either way, you're buying a professional editor. It's quick once you know it, and learning it is the real cost.

Which should you pay for?

Pay for Final Cut Pro if you have a Mac and want a fast, polished professional editor you can buy once. It only runs on Mac and iPad, it's a professional timeline to learn, and nothing in it assembles the edit for you.

Pay for Krafto if you film yourself talking and the editing is what you want gone: it makes the first cut from your clips, with the pauses and retakes out and the captions on. No free plan or trial, no phone app, and no template library: you film, Krafto cuts, and you check the result in a browser.

Where Krafto fits

Krafto works differently from every editor on this page: you upload your clips and say what you want, and it cuts the retakes and pauses, adds captions and hands you a first cut. You change things by asking, and the timeline is still there if you want it. It costs $25 a month. There's no free plan, so it only makes sense if editing is the part you want off your plate.