There's a Lightworks for everyone

Lightworks / Comparison

FREE

Best for newbies and anyone who needs to be able to easily cut & edit video clips together.

CREATE

Best for YouTubers, gamers and anyone who wants to do more more than cut clips together.

PRO

Best for film makers, broadcasters or anyone who wants to be one. Hollywood-level editing.

Prices from

Free Forever

$9.99 user / mo

$23.99 user / mo

Basics

Import formats

Operating systems

Powerful Timeline

Background processing

Instant auto-saving

No watermark

Effects

Inbuilt Effects, Titles & Transitions

Advanced Transitions

Advanced Titles

Advanced Correct & Enhance Effects

Upgrade to TotalFX

OFX Compatible

Audio

Direct Access to Stock Music

Audio EQ & Mixing

DAW Workstation

3rd party audio plugins

AU, VST, LADSPA

Export

Export Resolution

Up to 720p

Up to 4K

Social Media Presets

YouTube, Vimeo, H.264/MP4

YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, H.264/MP4

Backup

Interchange

AAF, XML, OMF, EDL, Film Cutting Lists, Reaper

Media files

AVI, H.264/MP4, Image Sequence, MOV, MXF and WAV

Physical Media Targets

DVD and Bluray

Camera Formats

AVC-Intra, AVCHD, P2 AVC-Intra, XAVC-Intra, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD

H.264 Bitrate Config

Set Variable/Constant. Set min/max bitrate.

Custom Output Formats

Media

BRaw Clip Settings

RED R3D Clip Settings

Advanced Metadata

Proxy Editing

Proxy Generation

Codec Selection

Apple ProRes, AVID DNxHD (additional codec purchase required), AVC-Intra, Cineform or H.264

Quality Selection

Low/Medium/High

Up to Very High

Size Selection

Up to 720p

Up to 1080p

Up to 4K

Cloud Integrations

Active Cloud Connection

Not limited

Download

Upload

Interoperability

Import Exchange Formats

Export Exchange Formats

Added in 2022.2

Apple ProRes Certified

Decode

Decode & Encode

10-Bit Pipeline

Decode

Decode & Encode

Advanced 10-Bit Support

Advanced Scopes

YCbCr

CIE, YCbCr & Split View

Quick LUTs

In-Edit Video Quality Control

New in 2023

HDR Workflows

Video Mask Effects

Improved Audio Suite

Video FX refinements

Custom UI Layout Templates

Which Lightworks Works Best For You?

$USD

£GBP

€EUR

CREATE

Best for social content creators, filmmakers, marketers, government and education.

Monthly

Yearly

Perpetual

$9.99

user / mo

Licence renews monthly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

$99.99

user / yr

Licence renews yearly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

$154.99

user / life

Outright purchase with no expiry. Locked to v2023.

BUY NOW

Features Include:

High resolution H.264/MP4 export

High resolution timeline rendering

High resolution proxy files

Social Media Export Templates

Advanced Titling and Motion Graphics

BRaw media clip and project decoding

Apple ProRes decoding

Quick LUT support

PRO

Best for professional video editors, broadcasters and production facilities. Hollywood-strength video editing

Monthly

Yearly

Perpetual

$23.99

user / mo

Licence renews monthly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

$239.99

user / yr

Licence renews yearly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

$389.99

user / life

Outright purchase with no expiry. Locked to v2023.

BUY NOW

Everything in Create, Plus:

HQ constant/variable bitrate H.264/MP4 export

Advanced 10-Bit export options

Audio effect plugin support

Video effect plugin support

Support for NewBlue TotalFX plugin

Advanced video effects - enhance, stabilize and more

Advanced custom format creation

Export interchange formats with other applications

Export camera formats

Export media file formats

Export physical media file formats

Export and upload directly to your cloud library

Import directly from up to 5 cloud libraries

More proxy file compression options

More timeline rendering wrapper options

More timeline rendering codec compression options

Third party hardware IO support

Extended Hardware support

In-Edit Video QC

Apple ProRes encoding up to 4K

Advanced Scopes: CIE, YCbCr & Split View

Quick LUT support

RED R3D media clip and project decoding options

Stereoscopic project and export output

CREATE

Best for YouTubers, social media creators and anyone who wants to do more than cut clips together.

Monthly

Yearly

Perpetual

£7.99

user / mo

Licence renews monthly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

£79.99

user / yr

Licence renews yearly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

£119.99

user / life

Outright purchase with no expiry. Locked v2023.

BUY NOW

Features Include:

High resolution H.264/MP4 export

High resolution timeline rendering

High resolution proxy files

Social Media Export Templates

Advanced Titling and Motion Graphics

BRaw media clip and project decoding

Apple ProRes decoding

Quick LUT support

PRO

Best for broadcasters and film makers or anyone who wants to be one. Hollywood-level editing.

Monthly

Yearly

Perpetual

£15.99

user / mo

Licence renews monthly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

£159.99

user / yr

Licence renews yearly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

£249.99

user / life

Outright purchase with no expiry. Locked to v2023.

BUY NOW

Everything in Create, Plus:

HQ constant/variable bitrate H.264/MP4 export

Advanced 10-Bit export options

Audio effect plugin support

Video effect plugin support

Support for NewBlue TotalFX plugin

Advanced video effects - enhance, stabilize and more

Advanced custom format creation

Export interchange formats with other applications

Export camera formats

Export media file formats

Export physical media file formats

Export and upload directly to your cloud library

Import directly from up to 5 cloud libraries

More proxy file compression options

More timeline rendering wrapper options

More timeline rendering codec compression options

Third party hardware IO support

Extended Hardware support

In-Edit Video QC

Apple ProRes encoding up to 4K

Advanced Scopes: CIE, YCbCr & Split View

Quick LUT support

RED R3D media clip and project decoding options

Stereoscopic project and export output

CREATE

Best for YouTubers, social media creators and anyone who wants to do more than cut clips together.

Monthly

Yearly

Perpetual

€8.99

user / mo

Licence renews monthly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

€89.99

user / yr

Licence renews yearly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

€139.99

user / life

Outright purchase with no expiry. Locked to v2023.

BUY NOW

Features Include:

High resolution H.264/MP4 export

High resolution timeline rendering

High resolution proxy files

Social Media Export Templates

Advanced Titling and Motion Graphics

BRaw media clip and project decoding

Apple ProRes decoding

Quick LUT support

PRO

Best for broadcasters and film makers or anyone who wants to be one. Hollywood-level editing.

Monthly

Yearly

Perpetual

€19.99

user / mo

Licence renews monthly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

€199.99

user / yr

Licence renews yearly on date of purchase.

BUY NOW

€319.99

user / life

Outright purchase with no expiry. Locked to v2023.

BUY NOW

Everything in Create, Plus:

HQ constant/variable bitrate H.264/MP4 export

Advanced 10-Bit export options

Audio effect plugin support

Video effect plugin support

Support for NewBlue TotalFX plugin

Advanced video effects - enhance, stabilize and more

Advanced custom format creation

Export interchange formats with other applications

Export camera formats

Export media file formats

Export physical media file formats

Export and upload directly to your cloud library

Import directly from up to 5 cloud libraries

More proxy file compression options

More timeline rendering wrapper options

More timeline rendering codec compression options

Third party hardware IO support

Extended Hardware support

In-Edit Video QC

Apple ProRes encoding up to 4K

Advanced Scopes: CIE, YCbCr & Split View

Quick LUT support

RED R3D media clip and project decoding options

Stereoscopic project and export output

Lightworks Features
Compare Versions

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Multicam

Switching clips directly in the timeline
Unique Sync Group feature
Live Cut – cut between angles during playback
Sync to Lock Frame or Timecode
Sync with Edits
Unlimited Sources
Mixed Sources – resolution, format and frame rate
Auto edit sync group sources as one sequence

Stereoscopic

Support for complete stereoscopic workflow*
Individual Left and Right eye media
Automatic sync on import
No change in editing workflow
Realtime Adjustment toolset for Alignment, Scaling and Colour Correction
Multiple output options – Anaglyph, Side-by-side, Chequerboard, Individual Left and Right Eyes
Monitor desktop, secondary display and SDI outputs
Export options for various formats

Colour Correction

New preset colour looks templates, just drag and use
Real time (GPU accelerated) Primary colour correctors
Real-time multiple Secondary colour correctors
Colour image control filters
New Curve colour correction editor

Audio

Realtime Pre and Post Audio waveform display
Analogue-style multi-track audio scrubbing
Subframe-accurate audio keyframing
Realtime audio adjustments during playback
Clip and Track Gain controls
OMF audio export with pan and volume levels
Real-time, software-based audio normalization
Onscreen multi-track mixing console
Multiple mix Bus routing
External Mackie control surface support
Real time fader automation
Real-time audio filters and effects
Parametric EQ
Mixed bit-rates and samples on timeline
Audio level meters per track
Pan controls
Mute and solo controls
Direct to timeline Voice Over recording

Collaboration

Project Sharing:

Multiple users working in the same project at the same time, sharing the same media
Edit permissions handled within Lightworks: quickly transfer permission from user to user
Edit changes instantly saved and updated for each user without having to save or exit Lightworks
Bins can be shared between users and are updated in realtime

Media Sharing:

Support for EditShare shared storage servers
Support for a wide variety of third party shared storage (NAS and SAN)

AAF Interchange*:

Export AAFs to Avid Media Composer, ProTools and Resolve with AAF export presets

Film

Import RED media and DPX sequences directly*
Include timecode and keycode in the same list
Support for 35mm 3-perf, 35mm 4-perf, and 16mm-20 and mixed film formats
View feet and frames in edit
View keycode and ink number overlays on video
24-fps EDL import and export
24-fps EDL conversion to and from 29.97 fps
Import ALE, FLX, and CSV files
Track key numbers, ink numbers and timecodes
Output Cut list, Change list, Optical list, Pull list,
Dupe list, Audio EDL

Third Party Support

Boris FX (64bit Windows and Mac OS X only)
Boris Graffiti (64bit Windows and Mac OS X only)
Adobe After Effects Plugins (Windows 32bit only)
Premiere Plugins (Windows 32bit only)
Blackmagic Fusion (7.5 and higher)
GenArts Sapphire (Windows 32bit only)

Media Management

Media management at edit or project level
Powerful search capabilities
Content Management
Comprehensive metadata for granular search
Bins or edits can be created from search results
Take media direct from search to the timeline
Rename Clips to match media and vice versa
Low-res to Hi-res workflow for offline / online
Maintain master clips across multiple projects
Clip colors in edit (match by source, reel or timecode)
Custom comment fields
Custom Bin views – show, hide and re-order
EDL and AAF import/export for metadata exchange
Instant Automatic Save – no need to save project
Automatic Edit backup facility
Project Archive – Logs, Picture and Sound
Batch export

Tools

New interface scaling with Retina display support
Magnetic placement of all panels
New viewer controls on source and edit viewers
Real-time video analysis, hardware accurate video vectorscopes and waveform monitors
Multitrack Audio Mixer with multiple mixes
Keyboard and user interface customization tool with templates for Avid and FCP keyboard mappings
On-screen console controls
Voice Over tool for adding narration to timeline
Shot Sync - sync two sources for comparison
Customisable BITC timecode and film footage
Customizable realtime letterboxing
Create and edit your own Macros to simplify worflow

Application

Full-screen, real-time SD, HD, and 2K preview on single or secondary display
Multiple timelines open simultaneously
Customisable Undo levels
Unlimited video and FX tracks
User preferences can be moved system to system
Customizable keyboard and user interface buttons
Customizable real-time effects settings
Customizable render settings
Customizable layouts
Customizable track layouts
Full Unicode support

Please note: The software specifications stated above are subject to change without notice.

* only available in Lightworks Pro
** Separate one-off license fee required

Plans

FREE

PRO monthly

PRO yearly

Outright

Quick Description!

Best for newbies and anyone who needs to be able to easily cut & edit video clips together.

Best for YouTubers, gamers and anyone who wants to do more more than cut clips together.

Best for broadcasters and film makers or anyone who wants to be one. Hollywood-level editing.

Best for Video Pros who know that they'll be creating videos forever.

Cost Per User Per Month

FREE

$23.99

$239.99

$389.99

START NOW

Boris Graffiti Plugin

Boris FX

All Import Formats

720p Export

4k UHD Export

Export to ALL Formats and Resolutions

User Definable Project Locations

Advanced Project Sharing

Timeline Rendering

AJA, Blackmagic, Matrox, and Mackie Mixer Support

Avid DNxHD Codec Support**

Stereoscopic (3D) Output

Lightworks Console