Best Color Grading Software (2026): 9 Tools for Video

Colour grading is where a video stops looking like it came off a phone and starts looking like a film. It's also where people waste the most on plugins they don't need yet, because a look pack can't rescue footage that was never balanced in the first place.

This list covers full grading suites, editor plugins and film look tools. If you're still choosing an editor, my guide to editing video with professional-style software is the place to start, and if grading is part of how you earn, my piece on making a living as a freelance filmmaker covers the business side.

Color grading tools at a glance

Here's what each tool is, what it's good for and whether its own site names a free plan, a trial or neither. The list is alphabetical and in no particular order.

Tool	Type	Good for	Free plan
3D LUT Creator	LUT building	Custom looks to use in any editor	Trial only
Baselight	Pro grading	High-end film and TV finishing	Yes
Color Finale	Editor plugin	Deeper grading in Apple's editor	Trial only
Colourlab Ai	Shot matcher	Matching shots across cameras fast	Trial only
DaVinci Resolve	All-in-one editor	Full grading suite at no charge	Yes
Dehancer	Film emulation	Analogue film looks on digital footage	No
FilmConvert	Film stocks	Camera-matched film looks	Trial only
Final Cut Pro	Video editor	Cutting and grading on a Mac	Trial only
Premiere Pro	Editing	Grading inside an Adobe workflow	Trial only

Grading suites, plugins and look tools

3D LUT Creator

Best for: Colourists who like building their own looks by bending colour grids, then exporting LUTs to use across several editing apps.

Baselight

Best for: Post houses and serious colourists working on film or broadcast jobs who need a dedicated finishing system with a free licence to learn on.

Color Finale

Best for: Editors on Apple's Mac editing app who want log wheels, layers and masks without leaving their timeline for another program.

Colourlab Ai

Best for: Editors juggling footage from several cameras who want shots matched automatically before they start the creative grade.

DaVinci Resolve

Best for: Anyone learning colour seriously, since the free version includes the same colour page many professional colourists work in every day.

Dehancer

Best for: Filmmakers chasing a real film stock look, with grain, halation and bloom, inside the editor they already use.

FilmConvert

Best for: Shooters who want film stock looks built from camera profiles, added as a plugin inside the editor they already cut in.

Final Cut Pro

Best for: Mac users who edit and grade in one place and want colour wheels and curves built into a fast editing app.

Premiere Pro

Best for: Teams already working in Adobe apps who want to do their colour correction in the editor they cut in every day.

Correction first, then the creative grade

1. Set up colour management, so the software knows which camera and colour space your footage came from.
2. Balance each shot: exposure, white balance and contrast, before you touch any look.
3. Match the shots in a scene so skin tones and skies stay consistent from cut to cut.
4. Apply the creative look, whether that's a LUT, a film emulation or your own grade.
5. Check on a calibrated display and export to the colour space your client or platform asked for.

What Rec. 709 means for your exports

The International Telecommunication Union's Recommendation BT.709 sets the parameter values for the HDTV standards for production and international programme exchange. That's the Rec. 709 you'll see in delivery specs, and it's still what most HD broadcast and online deliveries expect.

In practice, that means grading on a display set to Rec. 709, reading your scopes rather than trusting your eyes on a bright laptop screen, and exporting in the colour space the brief asks for. Get that wrong and a lovely grade can look washed out or crushed the moment it plays somewhere else.

Plugins or a full grading suite?

A plugin lives inside your editor, so it's quick to add and easy to learn. A full suite gives you nodes or layers, shot matching, tracking and scopes, but you'll often move your project between apps to use it. If you grade a handful of videos a month, a plugin inside the editor you already know is usually enough. If grading is the job, learn a full suite.

Film emulation tools sit on top of either. They add grain, halation and the colour response of real film stocks, which is gorgeous on short films and music videos and wasted on a talking-head tutorial.

Grading mistakes I see on small projects

• Grading before correcting, so every shot needs a different fix later.
• Using one LUT on every shot and expecting it to match footage from different cameras.
• Pushing saturation until skin tones turn orange.
• Grading at night on a laptop with the brightness turned down, then wondering why it looks dark in daylight.
• Forgetting to check the export on a phone, where most people will watch it.

Most of these are fixed by slowing down for the correction pass. It's the dull bit, and it's the bit that makes the creative grade look professional.

A simple grading setup for a small studio

You don't need a dedicated grading suite to do good work. A reasonably colour-accurate monitor, a calibration device and a room where the light doesn't change through the day will take you most of the way. Put the brightness at a sensible level and leave it there, so you're judging every project the same way.

If you grade often, a small control panel speeds things up, because you can move wheels and contrast together instead of dragging sliders one at a time. It isn't essential at the start, and I'd only buy one once you're grading every week.

Do you make color grading software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.

My advice on choosing color grading software

Learn grading in a free suite first. Once you can balance and match shots quickly, you'll know whether you need a plugin for your editor, a film look tool or a specialist system, and you won't buy something just because a tutorial used it.

If you're delivering to clients, ask for their delivery spec before you start. Knowing the colour space and format at the beginning saves you regrading a whole project at the end.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best color grading software for beginners?

A full grading suite with a free version is the easiest place to learn, because you get scopes, colour wheels and shot matching without committing to a subscription. Add plugins later once you know what you're missing.

Is color grading the same as color correction?

No. Correction balances exposure, white balance and contrast so shots look natural and match. Grading is the creative look you add afterwards.

Do I need a calibrated monitor for colour grading?

For client or broadcast work, yes. A calibrated display set to the right colour space means your grade looks the same once it leaves your edit.

What is Rec. 709?

It's the ITU's Recommendation BT.709, which sets the parameter values for HDTV production and international programme exchange. Most HD deliveries are graded and exported to it.

Are LUTs enough for colour grading?

A LUT is a starting point, not a grade. You still need to correct each shot first, because the same LUT looks different on footage shot in different light.