Ableton Live vs. Adobe Premiere Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ableton Live
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Ableton headquartered in Berlin offers Ableton Live, the company's flagship digital audio workstation and audio editing suite.
$79
Adobe Premiere Pro
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Adobe offers their video editing platform Adobe Premiere Pro, supporting video and audio editing as well as VR presentations, available as part of the company's Creative Cloud suite or as a standalone application.
$22.99
per month
Pricing
Ableton LiveAdobe Premiere Pro
Editions & Modules
Live 10 Intro
$79
Max for Live - Crossgrade
$79
Live 11 Intro
$99
Max for Live
$159
Live 10 Standard - Students & Teachers
$269
Live 10 Standard
$359
Live 11 Standard
$449
Live 10 Suite - Students & Teachers
$449
Live 10 Suite
$599
Live 11 Suite
$749
Live 10 Intro - Push
$799
Push + Live 10 Standard - Students & Teachers
1,068
Live 10 Standard - Push
1,078
Push + Live 10 Suite - Students & Teachers
1,248
Live 10 Suite - Push
1,278
Premiere Pro Single App
$22.99
per month
Adobe Creative Cloud - All Apps
$59.99
per month
Adobe Creative Cloud - Students and Teachers
$59.99
per month
Adobe Creative Cloud - Business
$89.99
per month per seat
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Ableton LiveAdobe Premiere Pro
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts available for student and teacher plan.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Ableton LiveAdobe Premiere Pro
Best Alternatives
Ableton LiveAdobe Premiere Pro
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 8.2 out of 10
iMovie
iMovie
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
iMovie
iMovie
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Vyond
Vyond
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Ableton LiveAdobe Premiere Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(7 ratings)
9.2
(86 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(6 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(3 ratings)
3.2
(16 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Ableton LiveAdobe Premiere Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
Ableton
Ableton Live is a perfect fit for loop-based music like electronic music of all varieties. It is especially suited to minimal techno and IDM, but is really suitable for any style of music that relies extensively on loops and samples. Ableton Live is also well-suited for sequencing out loop-based music through its Live view, while the Composer view allows for enough arranging features that you can take a song from concept to completion fairly easily. Ableton Live is less well-suited for fully recorded music that has no sample-based or looping components. It is less well-suited for non-electronic genres, although it is perfectly fine, but many of the features would not be useful or necessary in these cases.
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Adobe
I have actually recommended Adobe Premiere Pro to many people looking to get into the editing field. It is perfect for any type of video creation. It would not be very useful for someone who isn't serious about video editing and wants to just use something to cut out the beginning or ends of clips. It's too advanced for that and [maybe] confusing for someone not educated in the field.
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Pros
Ableton
  • Session View: This is the biggest advantage of Ableton. It provides you this view in which you can create different tracks for the same part of the song. For example:- If you are making the chorus of the song, you can save one thread. Now if you want to try and listen to a different drum set in a new thread, you can simply do that and listen to the new track while preserving the older one. Once you are satisfied with what you're listening, simple record the same in arrangement view and you are done. You can switch to the arrangement view and listen to the final song.
  • Pre-installed instruments and loops:- Ableton's library which is included with the software itself while you purchase it is amazing. I bet you will ever need third-party plugins for it. It comes loaded with hundreds of loops and number of instruments which are completely professional and free to use.
  • Amazing Graphical User Interface:- Even if you're a beginner in this field, Ableton can be learned within a few hours. The basic functionality of this software is very easy to understand and use. Of course, advanced stuff comes with practice but the basic functioning can be learned and within a few hours you are producing your own music.
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Adobe
  • Premiere is able to import video in almost any format and has a number of excellent export formats and styles.
  • Premiere has a great interface that once learned feels very intuitive.
  • Premiere aligns easily with the other suite of Adobe software allowing for easy integration of graphics and audio.
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Cons
Ableton
  • Version 10 chews up all my CPU but prior versions didn't
  • Midi channel automation isn't intuitive, have to make an instrument group
  • New version install should overwrite older versions
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Adobe
  • Export times: I do a massive amount of exports with intensive graphics. They often need to be done quickly. If export times could be reduced by 90%, my life would improve drastically.
  • Importing errors: Certain video formats are not compatible, such as specific types of MP4s and MKV files. Greater flexibility would be wonderful.
  • End the subscription model. I'd gladly pay one flat fee once and be done with it.
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Likelihood to Renew
Ableton
No answers on this topic
Adobe
There is not better program for your needs than Adobe Premiere Pro. It doesn't matter if it can be hard to learn because this product is the top of the line and you will not find a better video editing program. This is what the professionals use. It is worth the learning curve.
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Usability
Ableton
No answers on this topic
Adobe
Premiere Pro is a very powerful tool, but it's not intuitive - it's virtually impossible to use without some kind of training or instruction. That being said, once you've learned how to use the product so that you can take advantage of its various video editing and creation options, it's an incredible program in terms of features and tools.
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Support Rating
Ableton
I haven't had to reach out to support yet, but they're great at keeping me abreast with updates, compatibility issues, new features, and tons of videos on how to use the software. I feel like they're helping me success by giving me tools I can use in my daily work.
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Adobe
It is a professional team that provides customer service at any time. I think that the team does not rest until they find a solution to your problem. I think this makes this company great because when a company offers a good service, and they treat you well, the customer always returns satisfied.
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In-Person Training
Ableton
No answers on this topic
Adobe
Utilizing one of the many books available on Adobe Premiere Pro, each video editor can learn at their own pace.
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Alternatives Considered
Ableton
I cannot say that the other programs listed aren't capable. They surely are. But for what I do and my workflow environment, Ableton suits my needs better. I know a lot of people that use Pro Tools and Logic Pro. They are both very powerful programs. I have knowledge of how to use them all. Going into different studios and collaborating with people, you need to know at least the basics of them all. But for me and my studio, we will continue to primarily use Ableton for the foreseeable future.
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Adobe
DaVinci Resolve is a powerful editing and color-grading application, and the base version is free. However, I've found that with the Lumetri Color panel in Premiere, I really have no need for Resolve as it meets all of my needs. Additionally, I've found Resolve to be lacking in support for the broad range of file types that Premiere handles gracefully.
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Return on Investment
Ableton
  • Ableton Live allows me to rapidly sequence multitrack music as needed, without getting stuck at any step of the process.
  • Ableton Live also allows me to quickly export or upload to SoundCloud for easy sharing. This is a big time-saver.
  • The only negative ROI I can think of is the cost. There are competitors like Reaper that are much more affordable and have many of the same features.
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Adobe
  • Speed of workflow has increased- specially when coupled with keyboard shortcuts
  • Jobs have had a faster turnover rate which makes clients happy.
  • I have two Adobe accounts, one for work and one for personal use. Both of these accounts are paying for themselves through the work I can provide with the use of Premiere.
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ScreenShots