Compare. Contrast. Decide.

When navigating the world of professional video editing software, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. All pro software comes with a large set of features, tons of pros, and of course some cons. We’re here to guide you through two of the best – VEGAS Pro Suite and Adobe Premiere Pro. We’ll compare features and take an honest look at the pros and cons of both.

AI video editing tools

Z-Depth

VEGAS Pro Suite

The Z-Depth plugin creates a 3D map out of your 2D footage, determining foreground and background elements, allowing you to create video composites in between those layers. That kind of compositing can otherwise only be done through extensive rotoscoping.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro has no comparable function. You can use extensive masking tools in Premiere Pro to composite objects between foreground and background elements in an image, but you must manually rotoscope elements separately, using several layers of video.

Text to Speech

VEGAS Pro Suite

Text to Speech (in VEGAS Pro Suite 365) creates realistic voice narrations from text, offering a variety of voices, moods, and styles, as well as the ability to translate the text into other languages.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro does not offer this functionality.

Smart Mask tracking

Smart Mask tracking

VEGAS Pro Suite

With Smart Mask, AI identifies different objects within and image and automatically creates trackable Bézier masks around them. You can then add effects only to those elements, which would otherwise require manual rotosoping.

Adobe Premiere Pro

The AI Background Remover will automatically create masks around foreground objects, to which you can apply effects, and then automatically track the masks with Mask Track.

AI colorization effect

AI colorization effect

VEGAS Pro Suite

Colorization analyzes monochrome images and maps realistic colors based on common tonal areas such as skies, grass, etc., which brings black and white photos or archival footage or images into modern living color.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro currently offers no automatic colorization feature.

Summary: While Premiere Pro offers professional AI features, VEGAS Pro pulls ahead with Z-Depth estimation, Text to Speech, and colorization.

Video editing

Timeline

Timeline

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro offers an intuitive timeline, designed for extreme flexibility and speed. It’s fully customizable; you can rearrange audio and video tracks at will., with audio and video tracks intermingled. Take advantage of full drag-and-drop clip import. VEGAS Pro makes creating transitions easy with automatic crossfades when you push clips together; then you simply drop your desired transition into the crossfade.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro operates more like traditional nonlinear editors, working most efficiently with twoand three-point editing styles. Drag and drop clips to the timeline, which is split into video and audio tracks. Create transitions the traditional way, dragging handles in your clips.

GPU accelaration

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro detects multiple GPUs, and leverages Nvidia, AMD, and Intel graphics cards. It comes equipped with a library of GPU-enabled effects for smooth timeline playback with no rendering, as well as using the GPU to decode H.264/AVC and HEVC for real-time playback.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro takes advantage of Intel, AMD, and Nvidia graphics cards to decode H.264/AVC and HEVC for real-time playback. It utilizes GPU acceleration in its Mercury Playback Engine for real-time effects rendering on the timeline

Storyboards

VEGAS Pro Suite

Storyboards in VEGAS Pro make creating a rough cut easy and quick. You select and arrange the order of clips in the project’s media pool, just like arranging photos on a desk, for an intuitive way of making an initial rough cut before going to the timeline. VEGAS Pro offers multiple storyboards for multiple sequences and allows you to play back a sequence right from the media pool. Once on the timeline, the main storyboard automatically updates according to changes you make on the timeline and vice-versa.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Storyboards in Premiere Pro facilitate efficient and tidy project management, with a lot of the work done before you ever go to the timeline. Storyboards make the art of creating a rough cut simple and easy, likewise allowing you to arrange and rearrange clips in the Project Media panel. Lay out separate sequences in multiple storyboards, then bring them into the timeline for fine edits.

Automatic scene detection

VEGAS Pro Suite

When working with previously rendered video files, VEGAS Pro automatically detects when scenes change, making splits or subclips, or inserting keyframes in the video file at the scene changes – saving you a lot of time you’d otherwise use scrubbing and editing.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Scene Edit Detection uses AI to find the original edit points in rendered video, marking cut points for easy editing on the timeline. You can apply cuts directly to the video, create a bin of subclips, or add clip markers rather than cuts.

Cloud and storage collaboration

VEGAS Pro Suite

Store your file libraries on VEGAS Hub instead of the hassling with external storage devices. Upload to your Hub collections from mobile devices and have your footage added automatically to your projects. Access your files from wherever you are, and allow other users to access your media and project files for seamless remove collaboration.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe’s well-established Creative Cloud storage lets you keep your media at your fingertips without cumbersome physical storage. You and your team can access the Cloud from anywhere and work on your projects together from separate and remote locations.

Summary: Premiere Pro operates like traditional non-linear editors going back to the early days of video editing, so longtime professionals will find the environment familiar. VEGAS Pro offers better storyboard functionality and a more flexible, intuitive timeline which lets you edit your own way. Both have excellent GPU acceleration and cloud storage options.

Color correction

Color grading panel

VEGAS Pro Suite

The Unified Color Grading panel provides you with wheels, sliders, color and HSL curves, contrast and exposure controls, and many other tools right at your fingertips. Access and import camera and look LUTs from inside the panel.

Adobe Premiere Pro

The Lumetri Color panel controls a powerful set of tools for grading, providing the same functionality as the VEGAS Pro Unified Color Grading panel, and boasts even more features, such as denoise, vignettes, and video limiters.

HDR support

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro utilizes the HDR10 and HLG HDR formats, the Rec. 2100 color space, and lets you check your accuracy with HDR-ready video scopes.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro supports HDR10 in the Rec. 2020 color space, HLG in Rec. 2100, and also provides HDR-ready scopes.

Color management

Color management

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro operates in the ACES 1.2 environment, which is the Academy Color Encoding Systems standard developed by the MPA, which was designed to be the industry standard

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro allows you to use Display Color Management, a robust, but non-ACES, environment.

LUT support

LUT support

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro supports import and export of LUTs in .cube format, so you can import and share color looks with industry-standard equipment and software. It also offers a built-in library of camera and look LUTs.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro also supports import and export of LUTs in .cube format, so you can share color looks with collaborators across a wide array of professional software and equipment.

Summary: With the Lumetri Panel, Premiere Pro offers a more powerful set of color correction and color grading tools, while the ACES 1.2 environment in VEGAS Pro lets you work within industry-standard color management. The programs compare well in HDR and LUT support, though VEGAS Pro offers a built-in library of preset camera and look LUTs.

Effects

Motion tracking

VEGAS Pro Suite

Planar Motion Tracking in VEGAS Pro automatically adjusts the shape of masks as objects in the image change shape, such as the shifting perspective of a building as the camera moves past it. It also lets you pin to objects in the video even with changing perspective, so you can place a poster on a wall of that building and the poster will change perspective to match the changing perspective of the wall.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro lets you apply effects masks which follow objects in your video, but it doesn’t let you pin objects automatically, and does not account for perspective changes.

Mesh warp tool

Mesh warp tool

VEGAS Pro Suite

With the Mesh Warp Tool in VEGAS Pro, you can map objects onto one another in your image (such as a moving ticker on a building marquee), correct all kinds of faults in your video or even create distortions for fantastical effects

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro does not offer a native mesh warp tool, requiring the user to go to outside software for the functionality.

Chroma key

VEGAS Pro Suite

The Boris FX Primatte Studio plugin included in VEGAS Pro Suite offers a set of professional chroma key tools used in blockbuster Hollywood films. It automatically analyzes green or blue screen footage and adjusts lighting to correct unevenly lit screens, and it employs powerful edge correcting, light wrapping, and manual transparency tuning to insert your subjects into the background of your choice.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Ultra Key started as an advanced standalone keying program, now integrated directly into Premiere Pro. It incorporates many advanced chroma key tools such as matte generation and cleanup, spill suppression, and color correction for smoothing the range of the key color.

Adjustment tracks

VEGAS Pro Suite

Apply effects to Adjustment Tracks in VEGAS Pro, and the effects will also apply to the contents of any tracks below. Be more precise with Adjustment Clips, where added affects only apply to the area directly below the clip.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adjustment Layers in Premiere Pro function similarly to Adjustment Clips. Lengthen Adjustment Layers to apply to entire tracks.

Summary: Premiere Pro comes equipped with a large array of standard effects, but it requires you to go to external software for many of the advanced effects built right into VEGAS Pro. For advanced effects accessed without leaving the timeline, VEGAS Pro stands out above Premiere Pro.

Audio

Complete multitrack editing environment

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro comes equipped with all the tools of a full digital audio workstation (DAW). Record and automate audio in a multitrack environment with input buses, professional metering, punch-in recording, and more.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro features multitrack audio tools and metering but sends you elsewhere for the full DAW environment.

Extensive audio effects

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro provides a full set of audio effects needed for a robust soundtrack. Select from equalizers, compressors, reverb, noise gates, and more to perfect your sound.

Adobe Premiere Pro

The wide array of audio effects in Premiere Pro also includes compressors, reverb, equalizers, noise gates and other effects needed for professional sound treatment.

Audio buses

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro allows up to 32 auxiliary audio input, and effects buses. You can assign tracks to buses in any combination, then apply effects or volume changes to the bus and affect all the assigned tracks at once. You can even assign buses inside other buses.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro lets you assign tracks to submixes, but does not offer true buses.

SOUND FORGE Audio Studio

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro Suite includes SOUND FORGE Audio Studio, a powerful, feature-packed audio editing program that seamlessly integrates with the VEGAS Pro timeline.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro comes with no separate dedicated audio app.

Summary: While Premiere Pro offers a robust set of audio tools, the built-in DAW capabilities of VEGAS Pro, as well as the seamless integration of SOUND FORGE Audio Studio into the VEGAS Pro timeline, provide unmatched audio editing power.

Export

Wide format support

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro renders to many professional formats, including AVCHD, MP4, H.264, HEVC, Apple Pro Res, Sony XDCAM, and Panasonic P2.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro exports to AVCHD, MP4, H.264, HEVC, Apple Pro Res, and Avid DNxHD.

GPU acceleration

VEGAS Pro Suite

VEGAS Pro supports Nvidia and AMD graphics cards for encoding into AVC and HEVC formats, cutting render times up to half.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro leverages the graphics card to render effects. Hardware video encoding is available for AVC/h.264 and HEVC. HEVC 4:2:0 10-bit requires an Intel processor.

Summary: Premiere Pro has the advantage of exporting to more professional codecs like Avid DNxHD, but it also requires an Intel processor for HEVC 10-bit encoding. VEGAS Pro leverages all hardware encoding with either Intel or AMD processors. For export, choose the program which best fits your equipment and your project needs.

Pricing

Purchase and subscription options

VEGAS Pro Suite and VEGAS Prio Suite 365

  • Month-to-month: $34.99
  • Annual plan: $191.88 (equivalent of $15.99/month)
  • SmartScription: $383.76 for 2 years subscription (equivalent to $191.88/year) PLUS a perpetual license to keep at the end of subscription period
  • One-time purchase: $299.00

Adobe Premiere Pro

  • Annual plan: $35.99/month or
  • Annual plan: $431.88 for full year

Summary: VEGAS Pro Suite offers both full purchase and subscription plans, with one plan priced for month-to-month and one paid up front for a full year for less than half the equivalent monthly price, while Premiere Pro is available through subscription only, paid yearly, or paid monthly with an annual commitment for the same overall price. VEGAS Pro comes in at a more attractive price point and with greater flexibility to decide what you want to spend based on your needs.

Conclusion - Which software is right for you?

VEGAS Pro vs. Adobe Premiere Pro – Pros and Cons

VEGAS Pro Suite

Pros

  • Intuitive timeline
  • Faster editing
  • GPU decoding for more real-time playback
  • ACES 1.2 environment
  • Extensive native VFX
  • Full digital audio workstation
  • GPU encoding for faster renders

Cons

  • Non-traditional
  • Doesn't integrate with Adobe apps
  • Windows-only
  • Fewer professional export options

Adobe Premiere Pro

Pros

  • More like traditional editors
  • Integrates seamlessly with other Adobe programs
  • Lumetri color panel
  • Wider format support
  • Better titler
  • Multi-platform (Windows & Mac)

Cons

  • Harder to learn
  • Less flexible timeline
  • Fewer VFX tools
  • Fewer audio tools

VEGAS Pro vs. Adobe Premiere Pro - Recommended for

VEGAS Pro is recommended for

  • Content creators
  • People making the jump up to pro software
  • Small and large video production companies
  • Editors who work on the fly
  • Post-production professionals
  • Independent feature-film producers
  • People needing an all-in-one solution
  • Audio editors

Adobe Premiere Pro is recommended for

  • People who need to work in the Adobe environment
  • People who work primarily with ProRes or DNxHD
  • Multi-platform users (Windows & Mac)
  • Feature-film and television editors

We believe VEGAS Pro is an excellent Premiere Pro alternative – download demos of each version and see for yourself!

Try a Free trial version and find the perfect video maker for your video editing needs.

VEGAS Pro Suite 21
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VEGAS Pro Suite 365+
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VEGAS Pro Suite Integrated tools for content creators
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VEGAS Pro Suite 365 Integrated tools for content creators
C$299.00 Regularly C$768.00
Available until March 26, 2024
  • Only now for free in this offer:
  • NEW! ActionVFX - Pro X Pack (C$129 value)
  • NEW! ActionVFX Action Pack 2 (C$340 value)
C$199.00 Regularly C$299.00
Available until March 26, 2024
C$383.76 / 2 years Regularly C$512.76 / 2 years
Available until March 26, 2024
  • Only now for free in this offer:
  • NEW! ActionVFX - Pro X Pack (C$129 value)
C$119.88 / year Regularly C$191.88 / year
Available until March 26, 2024
C$34.99 / month

Compare VEGAS Pro with other video editing software