DaVinci Resolve 21 (2026) review: Our top free video editing app gets big improvements and a new Lightroom-style Photos tool for color-grading images

Date:
Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:58:43 +0000

Description:
DaVinci Resolve has just released its latest version: 21, and with it comes a brand new Page, dedicated to Photos. Does it provide the tools you need to work with images inside a video project, or on their own?

FULL STORY ======================================================================I consider Blackmagics DaVinci Resolve to be among the best professional-grade desktop non-linear video editing software out there.

You'll find it a core part of our guides to the best free video editing software and best video editing software we've ever tested. So, I was keen to see what the latest version (21), offers. And to say I was surprised would be an understatement. This is one of those tools that just keeps getting better. And as its latest major update has just been officially released, I thought
it would be a great opportunity to see what Resolve 21 has to offer.

You can download the free app by clicking here . DaVinci Resolve 21: Pricing
& plans Powerful free version One-off fee for more advanced tools
Professional tools at an absolutely unbeatable price This is going to be a quick section: DaVinci Resolve is free.

There are no one-off fees, and certainly no subscription costs. Nothing.
Nada. Zilch. We all know of Adobes continuous (and pricy) subscription plans, and even Apple are now embracing the subscription model with its Apple
Creator Studio collection. But Resolve bucks the trend, and remains a bright beacon of hope in a dystopian subscription landscape.

Now there are limitations to Resolve, but these are generous: your exports
are limited to 4K and 60fps, and any hardware acceleration is throttled, for instance. Thats because Blackmagic also have Resolve Studio, which unlocks export resolutions up to 32K and 120fps, offer more advanced color
correction, additional effects, and also introduces a slew of AI-driven
tools, all for a one-off price of $300. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me
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But dont let that put you off: Resolve should fit most peoples needs, this review will focus on the free version. Score: 5/5 DaVinci Resolve 21: Interface (Image credit: Future) Conceals complexity behind multiple interfaces called Pages Only shows the tools you need when you need them
Great for beginners and veterans to use the same interface Before we delve into whats new, if youre unfamiliar with what DaVinci Resolve is, lets take a broad look at what it offers. Yes, its a video editor, but how good can it be considering its free? I mean, have you seen Windows Movie Maker? And iMovie used to show so much promise, but has now fallen by the wayside.

But Resolve is so much more than a basic and limited video tool. Despite it being free, it should really be compared to Apples Final Cut Pro and Adobes Premiere Pro. Within a single program, you can catalogue your clips, build your edit, apply transitions and titles, create complex effects, perform advanced color correction, perfect the audio, and finally export your completed project.

No need to venture into After Effects or Audition, or anything like that (unless you want to of course): pretty much everything can be done within Resolve. In order to achieve this, Resolve is divided into sections, which
are referred to as Pages.

Media is where you ingest and organise your clips, Cut and Edit are two ways to build your project - Cut having a simplified interface, while Edit offers more versatile options. I see Cut as ideal for newcomers to the editing
world, but I also love the fact you can effortlessly move from one Page to
the other and although you might not be able to alter the more advanced functions in Cut, if you added them while in Edit, youll still be able to preview them while in Cut'. (Image credit: Future) Next is Fusion' - which is probably the trickiest Page. Its where you create special effects, but rather than dragging a function onto a clip, Fusion uses the concept of nodes: you add effects to your worktop then connect clips to those effects. Its an incredibly versatile and powerful way of working - once you get used to it.

And getting used to it you must, as that concept is also present in Color, Resolves color Correction section, where you can perform anything from basic alteration to more advanced options used by professionals (not surprising, since Resolve started out solely as a color grading tool), and finally, the Fairlight Page is for working on the audio.

Whether youre using Resolve or Resolve Studio, you have access to all the
same Pages. The major difference is all the added tools Studio brings to the table.

You could very easily start your journey in Resolve, primarily focussing your efforts in the Cut Page, and as you grow in confidence, start exploring the other sections, maybe even graduating to Resolve Studio in time - all without having to pay a penny - at first. If only I had such tools when I myself started out as a struggling editor. Score: 5/5 DaVinci Resolve 21: Photo Page (Image credit: Future) Photo is a new dedicated space to work on your images Think of it as a sort of Lightroom replacement The color correction tools are relatively simple through Resolves powerful Color Page Everything you could
do to video clips, you can now do to photos. Its not that you couldnt use photos in your video projects before, but now, they have their own dedicated Page, sitting between Media and Cut. So what can you do with it? Pretty much everything youd expect from a dedicated image organiser tool.

Resolves Photo is compatible with common RAW formats from Canon, Sony and Nikon, as well as a host of others. Put it this way: I didnt come across a format Resolve couldnt handle. Working on an image is a fully non-destructive process: no matter what you do, the original file is never altered.

Any photo thats added via the Media Page will be found here, but you can also drag others straight onto the Pages 'Media Pool sidebar. To the right in an Inspector, where youll find a histogram, cropping tools, various color adjustments, even pitch and yaw sliders to rectify errors like fish-eye distortions for instance. You can also mark photos as good (represented with
a heart), or reject (with an x). Its all there, but its all pretty basic. Put it this way, Lightroom wont be having sleepless nights over this inclusion. (Image credit: Future) But thats only part of the story. In order to perform more advanced alterations, you need to add photos to an album (which is conveniently located where the timeline usually is). Once thats done, you can venture to Resolves Color Page, and have access to all the power and versatility (and complexity) that comes with that incredible color grading tool. Just like Fusion, Color' works with nodes.

You add them in sequence or parallel, reorder them, disconnect them, all of this will affect how each node affects your image, and once you go back to Photo, those alterations will be visible from there. This powerful
versatility could be something Lightroom might have some concerns about, especially since this is but the first version of this few functionality. Score: 4.5/5 DaVinci Resolve 21: AI tools (Image credit: Future) Packed with more and more AI tools I repeat, tools - not slop: this is the good stuff
Only available for paying Resolve Studio users A new Page is always a big thing to talk about when it comes to a new version of Resolve, but another
new trend is the increasing addition of AI tools.

But theres a caveat: theyre reserved for paying customers. In the free version, that menus either greyed out, or if you click on the AI Clip
Analysis icon, a popup window encourages you to pay the one-time fee to gain access to all the goodies in Resolve Studio.

And goodies there are, like IntelliSearch, which allows you to search for
that specific element inside a clip, or the ability to transcribe whats being said in a clip, detect faces, transform said faces, remove blemishes, remove motion blur, and so much more. Sadly, all these are out of bounds - theyve
got to entice you to upgrade somehow, right? Should I try DaVinci Resolve? (Image credit: Future) Try it if...

Youre looking for a powerful professional-grade video editor with an impressive amount of complex and versatile features, which now includes a dedicated section for cataloguing and grading your photos all for free.

Don't try it if...

Youre totally wedded to the likes of Apple or Adobe and have invested so much in those software ecosystems that you cant be prised away from them, even at the prospect of a powerful and free video editing tool. For more creative software, we've tested and reviewed the best video editing software for beginners and the best video editing apps for mobile devices.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/software-services/davinci-resolve-21-2026-video- editing-software-review


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