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If you‘re a Mac user looking to buy the industry-standard video editing software Adobe Premiere Pro, you probably have questions about pricing, system requirements, how it compares to Apple‘s Final Cut Pro, and if it‘s optimized for M1 Macs. As a seasoned video editor who has used Premiere Pro on Macs for over a decade, I‘ll break down everything you need to know about Premiere Pro‘s pricing, plans, and Mac performance for 2024.
Adobe Premiere Pro Pricing
As for 2025, Adobe Premiere Pro is only available via subscription. Adobe ended perpetual licenses for Premiere Pro in 2017. Subscribing ensures you always have the latest features and updates, but you must keep paying monthly or annually to retain access.
There are two main plans for individuals:
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Premiere Pro Single App | $20.99/month or $239.88/year | Premiere Pro, 100GB cloud storage, Adobe Fonts, Adobe Portfolio |
| Creative Cloud All Apps | $54.99/month or $599.88/year | 20+ Adobe apps including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, 100GB cloud storage |
The Premiere Pro single app plan is the cheapest way to get Premiere Pro standalone. The Creative Cloud All Apps plan is a better value if you use other Adobe apps, since it‘s over 60% off the cost of subscribing to each app separately.
Business and Student Pricing
Adobe also offers plans tailored for businesses with volume discounts, collaborative features, unlimited cloud storage, and more. Pricing is not public and requires contacting Adobe‘s sales team.
Students and teachers can prove eligibility to get a huge discount on the All Apps plan. It‘s $19.99/month for the first year and $29.99/month after that, and includes all the same apps and benefits as the regular $54.99/month plan.
Free Trial
You can test out the full version of Premiere Pro free for 7 days. The trial lets you export projects and use all of Premiere Pro‘s features. After 7 days, you‘ll be prompted to start a paid subscription to continue using the app.
Buying Options
The main way to buy Premiere Pro is through Adobe‘s website. You choose a plan, create an account, and enter payment info to begin your subscription. You can cancel online anytime with no fee.
Some retailers like B&H Photo and Amazon also sell 12-month Premiere Pro subscriptions via prepaid serial number cards. However, they are usually the same price as subscribing through Adobe.com.
You cannot buy a used or transferred Premiere Pro license. Subscriptions are always tied to the original purchaser‘s Adobe account.
Is Premiere Pro Worth the Cost?
So is paying $20.99+/month for Premiere Pro worth it? If you are at all serious about video editing on a Mac, absolutely.
Premiere Pro is an incredibly powerful, versatile, and industry-standard app for editing everything from YouTube videos to Hollywood films. It has a huge depth of features that justify its price tag, such as:
- Support for 8K, HDR, and high frame rate footage
- Unlimited multicam angles
- AI-powered tools like auto reframe and color matching
- Built-in visual effects and color correction
- Responsive speed controls for remapping clips
- Open workflows with other Adobe apps and services
Subscribing to Premiere Pro, you get continuous updates with new features and improvements every few months, without needing to pay for upgrades. Your projects are also safely backed up to the cloud and accessible across devices.
While Apple‘s Final Cut Pro has a strong Mac-focused featureset for a flat $299, it simply can‘t match Premiere Pro‘s depth, advanced tools, and interoperability with the full Adobe ecosystem. Final Cut is also Mac-only, while Premiere Pro works across Mac and PC.
According to a 2022 survey by Postperspective.com, Premiere Pro was the most-used NLE by post production professionals, beating out Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid Media Composer:
| NLE | Usage Share |
|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | 64% |
| Apple Final Cut Pro | 39% |
| DaVinci Resolve | 36% |
| Avid Media Composer | 28% |
So Premiere Pro is dominant in the professional space. Its pricing reflects its powerful capabilities and brand recognition in the industry. For prosumer and enthusiast editors, $21/month is very fair for what you get.
Mac System Requirements
Before subscribing to Premiere Pro, make sure your Mac meets the minimum specs required for smooth editing, rendering, and exporting.
As for 2025, Adobe recommends at least:
- macOS 10.15 or later
- 8 GB of RAM (16 GB or more recommended for HD and 4K)
- 8 GB of available hard-disk space for installation
- 1280×800 display
- OpenGL 3.3 capable GPU
- Optional: Adobe-recommended GPU for GPU-accelerated performance
Premiere Pro runs well on recent Intel Macs and M1 Macs. However, for 4K and higher resolutions, a discrete graphics card is recommended over integrated graphics.
in 2025, Premiere Pro now natively supports Apple M1 chips without Rosetta translation. This means faster exports and rendering on M1 machines.
Premiere Pro also added support for encoding to Apple ProRes on Mac, allowing you to export masters in the efficient ProRes 422 codec. However, ProRes encoding requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later.
How to Save on a Subscription
While Premiere Pro‘s pricing is reasonable for what you get, here are some ways to save money on a subscription:
- Choose an annual plan instead of month-to-month. You save about 10% by paying for a year upfront.
- Take advantage of the free 7-day trial before buying
- If you are press, Adobe sometimes offers a 40% discount through its Creative Cloud for Individuals plan
- Students and teachers should absolutely sign up for the education discount to save over 60%
- Watch for sales around Black Friday, back to school, and NAB in the spring.
- Some employers will subsidize or fully cover Creative Cloud subscriptions
Premiere Pro Alternatives
If you can‘t afford Premiere Pro or don‘t like the subscription model, there are alternatives for Mac users:
- Final Cut Pro: $299 one-time purchase, Mac-only, aimed at YouTubers and solo creators
- DaVinci Resolve Studio: $295 perpetual license for editing, color, VFX, and audio tools
- iMovie: Free on all Macs, very basic features, good for beginners and simple edits
However, Premiere Pro‘s depth, industry ubiquity, and continuous updates still make it the top choice for most professional Mac editors.
Premiere Pro Pricing Over Time
Finally, let‘s examine how Premiere Pro‘s pricing has changed over its history:
| Year | Pricing Model | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 2003-2012 | Perpetual license | $699-$799 standalone, $199-$399 upgrades |
| 2013-2017 | Perpetual license and Creative Cloud subscription | CC subscription $19.99/month, perpetual license $799 |
| 2017-2022 | Creative Cloud subscription only | $20.99/month single app, $52.99/month All Apps |
| 2023 | Creative Cloud subscription only | $20.99/month single app, $54.99/month All Apps |
Adobe‘s shift to subscription-only in 2017 was controversial among users who preferred perpetual licenses. But the lower monthly cost and included updates made Premiere Pro accessible to more people than the previous $799 perpetual license.
The Bottom Line
For Mac users asking "How much does Premiere Pro cost?" the answer as for 2025 is $20.99/month for all the latest features, paid monthly or yearly. The alternative is $54.99/month or $599.88/year to get Premiere Pro bundled with all of Adobe‘s creative software.
Students and teachers can score a significant discount, bringing the cost down to $19.99/month for the entire Creative Cloud in the first year.
While Premiere Pro‘s subscription pricing may deter some casual editors, it‘s a very worthwhile investment for anyone using a Mac for professional video work or serious filmmaking. The cost is more than justified by Premiere Pro‘s industry-leading capabilities, regular updates, and optimizations for the latest Mac hardware and software technologies.
And by subscribing through Adobe‘s website, you can cancel anytime if you no longer need Premiere Pro, making it a low-commitment way to access professional editing tools compared to FCP‘s $299 upfront cost.
Hopefully this in-depth look at Premiere Pro pricing for Mac users has helped you weigh the costs and benefits in 2025. Let me know if you have any other questions!