Adobe Premiere Pro vs. iMovie

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Premiere Pro
Score 9.0 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.
$20.99
per month
iMovie
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Apple offers iMovie as a video editing platform supporting video creators with high quality effects, support for 4k resolution, audio editing, and other features supporting the creation of videos and movies.
$0
Pricing
Adobe Premiere ProiMovie
Editions & Modules
Premiere Pro Single App
$20.99
per month
Adobe Creative Cloud - All Apps
$52.99
per month
Adobe Creative Cloud - Students and Teachers
$52.99
per month
Adobe Creative Cloud - Business
$79.99
per month
Free Tier
$0.00
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe Premiere ProiMovie
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe Premiere ProiMovie
Considered Both Products
Adobe Premiere Pro
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Obviously, Premiere Pro has so many more features than iMovie and is better for professional use. But iMovie is a free service. Final Cut Pro would be more difficult to start with than APP.
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Premiere has many more features for the power user than either of these alternatives, and is available cross platform unlike iMovie. It can handle more formats than Camtasia and gives more exporting options than either.
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Compared to Final Cut Pro X and iMovie, Adobe Premiere is the only software available for Mac and PC. Premiere also provides a much more complete and extensive set of editing tools and utilities compared to other software. Alternatively, iMovie provides the most user-friendly …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
iMovie: great for home videos, putting together quick, simple projects. I truly love it for its simplicity and ability to learn with almost no knowledge of nonlinear video editing, easily publishing to YouTube or Vimeo, etc.

Premiere Pro: this (or something of similar scale) is …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
iMovie is okay for "family video" editing if you aren't getting overly involved. My biggest issue with iMovie was in making changes. It was not a good tool for that. Now it's been a number of years since I worked in iMovie, so perhaps they have made changes to it, to improve …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Product not included: Avid Media Composer. I've used Premiere, FCPX, and Avid (not bothering to include iMovie as it is not necessarily considered a "professional" product), but have most experience with Premiere. There's a laughable debate between Premiere and FCPX (Avid still …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is so much better than iMovie, but iMove is great for people who are just starting out and want a slimmed-down version of Adobe Premiere Pro. Adobe Premiere Pro does have a learning curve and is not as easy to pick up and learn in comparison to iMovie.
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Not even close. iMovie is a good starter set, Adobe Premiere Pro is the real deal. iMovie is a great entry point for you to learn the basics, but when you are ready to take your editing to the next level, Adobe Premiere Pro is the way to go.
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
iMovie is great for video editing unless you want to make money in video production. If you've got the income and a lot of reasons to learn editing techniques, I recommend learning Premiere Pro before touching iMovie.
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro has all the tools you are looking for. It is easy to find things, you can save unfinished projects in a location. Other applications do not have all the available transitions, tools similar to Adobe Premiere Pro. Blender has for example a complex interface …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Premiere has the capability to edit audio, video, and graphics. While we still use Adobe After Effects for more complicated motion graphics and animation, Premiere is where we do most of our work and final exports.
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Other tools are okay, but they all tend to fall short at some point and they are nearly impossible to pick up and properly edit as a package after they have been created and rendered. They tend to look a bit amateurish. My thoughts on Adobe Premiere Pro are that you either do …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
I didn't see it listed in the dropdown, but I've also used the stripped down Adobe program, Adobe Premiere Rush, which is also excellent, although you probably need to use it in conjunction with Premiere Pro for unfettered use. Although my introduction to the video production …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro is certainly one of the more useful and reliable NLE out there. I would be comfortable editing nearly any project on it and have confidence it would handle nearly any format in a stable and efficient manner.
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro, for me, is the one with better workflow and easier to learn user interface. One of the reasons for that, is that it takes the same UI/UX path of other Adobe tools that we already use, so the mastery of using it is integrated with the mastery of using these …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is truly its own program that doesn't really compare. I wish that it was combined with After Effects instead of needing both programs to truly create quality material. But it's a strong program for basic cutting and editing of videos, and I'm able to use it …
Chose Adobe Premiere Pro
In my opinion, recent times there is an equal competition between those two. If you want to decrease the cost of machine acquisition on windows that can decrease your investment cost since Macs are pretty expensive.
iMovie
Chose iMovie
While iMovie worked for our organization for a while, we eventually moved to other software to create our video media content. iMovie was a great fit for entering into the realm of video content creation, but lacked the functionality provided by Final Cut Pro X and Adobe …
Chose iMovie
Other tools are available but most of them are paid while iMovie is free. iMovie is easy to learn and anyone can get started quickly with it. Some built-in effects are available with one-touch import so you can import them and just needed to add context in it, you are ready to …
Chose iMovie
iMovie is just as good and a lot cheaper than the competition. For my simple projects, it works well. For more advanced tasks, I outsource the work to better video editors and they usually work with Final Cut or Adobe Premiere. There’s no need for me to upgrade to anything else …
Chose iMovie
iMovie is not a pro video editor like FCPX or Adobe - however if you are entry level and not looking to advance further, I'd recommend staying there. If you plan to get more experienced in the industry, I'd leave it behind in an instance and move on to a pro editor.
Chose iMovie
This can be a bit overly complex to a novice and iMovie tends to be more beginner. We are not classically trained video people so that helps us do a better job with iMovie.
Chose iMovie
Adobe Premier is complicated for the non film student. Can you get it to work well for you? Of course, but not without considerable learning.
Chose iMovie
iMovie is kind of like Premiere Pro Lite. You can create videos, easily, and export them, but you don't get the fine tuning and control that you get with Premiere Pro. That being said, Premiere Pro is much more expensive, and takes a much longer time to learn. It made more …
Chose iMovie
iMovie compares very well with Premiere's and Final Cut's basic video and audio editing and for simple transitions. For the heavier lifting, you'll need a better application. iMovie isn't meant to be a Hollywood-level application but it can hold its own for most things. It's …
Chose iMovie
Though iMovie lacked some features and functionalities compared to the competition, the main reason we went with this product was that it was totally free and our business had the ability to trial run and accomplish needed things for shorter projects. Compared to other products …
Chose iMovie
iMovie is much simpler to use, I tried for hours to figure Premiere pro out and failed.
Chose iMovie
iMovie is just not a professional software, and Apple doesn't advertise it as such.

You'll find the usability of something like Premiere Pro to be far more forgiving and useful than iMovie.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Adobe Premiere ProiMovie
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 9.2 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
iMovie
iMovie
Score 9.1 out of 10
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Presenter
Adobe Presenter
Score 9.0 out of 10
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe Premiere ProiMovie
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(80 ratings)
9.9
(30 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
3.2
(16 ratings)
8.1
(6 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe Premiere ProiMovie
Likelihood to Recommend
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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Apple
iMovie is a great editing tool for beginners and users with little to no experience. If you are looking for a simple, straight forward way to edit your videos without having any training, this is the tool for you. If you are looking for a robust and very advanced editing platform, you may wish to look elsewhere.
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Pros
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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Apple
  • iMovie allows users to upload their own clips and edit them together. You're able to add in more clips as you're working on your project which is great as some film editing software don't allow add ons of video clips once you've begun the editing process.
  • iMovie continually saves as you're working on your project and syncs with your devices so you can work on your project from other like computers.
  • iMovie is quick to update changes which allows time to be saved during the editing process. It's very helpful when you need to adjust 1-2 things and don't want to spend hours waiting for the changes to go through.
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Cons
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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Apple
  • Audio for video editing is a bit limiting. A pro user would feel limited, but the average person can pretty well do what they need in iMovie and that's what matters for this platform.
  • The design of the UI could use some updating so it doesn't feel so bubbly. This may purely be an aesthetic concern, and maybe the old style makes it more approachable, but i'd prefer to see a more slick design so you don't feel like you are using a kids program.
  • If you ever want to share the project or manually manage files, it can be a bit difficult to figure out. Fortunately Apple allows you to import a project from iMovie into FCPX if you ever want to be upwardly mobile.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
Adobe Premiere Pro saves time and cost and it does a great job. When you see the output you know that you have made the right investment in the right application. Adobe does not require a lot of support to work good. There are thousands of videos in case you are looking for a particular thing to do during your work on your videos therefore it is well supported.
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Apple
No answers on this topic
Usability
Adobe
Adobe Premiere Pro can be VERY overwhelming at first (especially if you are new to video editing).
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Apple
I'd give it a higher rating but there seems to be some things that are so over-simplified that it's tough for an experienced user to work backwards when needed. That said, it certainly is easy enough for a 7 year old to pick up and use without much instruction or training.
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Support Rating
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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Apple
Apple does a great job supporting its products. I have never encountered trouble that could not be solved through chat or email. The knowledgebase section of the website, video tutorials online and various user forums also help with most issues. If after using all of these avenues you still have an issue, it may be time for you to outsource your project to a professional!
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In-Person Training
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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Apple
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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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Apple
Not as easy to use as iMovie, and a similar cost structure. iMovie is easier for Apple users / and MS users, to both get proficient at. Movie Maker isn't bad, it just isn't as slick as iMovie. We actually used MovieMaker for a couple of years before migrating most users over to iMovie. We have not regretted the move.
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Return on Investment
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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Apple
  • iMovie is a very inexpensive alternative to other video editing software.
  • It's very easy to train new users on iMovie, so time is saved there.
  • We started a project where we were tasked to create a new 5 minute video every week. We started with little to no knowledge of video editing, but iMovie was so easy to pick up and use that we were able to start filming and putting together videos right away. If we had to learn a more complex program, like Premiere Pro, it would have pushed our timeline back considerably.
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ScreenShots