# Final Cut Pro

25 Hacker News commenters recommended Final Cut Pro and 23 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Fast, smooth editing workflow many editors prefer, sold as a one-time purchase with free desktop updates. Critics say it trails DaVinci Resolve and Apple drops older versions.

## Why people recommend it

- Fast editing and smooth workflow (2 comments): "The one thing I will say is for speed cutting, it's probably the best." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603116)) "FCP is just faster to edit and has a smoother end-to-end workflow." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48395936))
- One-time purchase that lasts years (4 comments): "if you paid the one-time price back then, you're still getting free updates today (at least on desktop)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46604045)) "I bought all of these apps back in like ~2013 and have been using them for literally 13 years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601486)) "long term they do hold value compared to paying Adobe a subscription" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601432))
- Handles 4K and multicam footage (3 comments): "Final Cut Camera on iPhones along with Final Cut on an iPad allow for full multi camera controls" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47226330)) "I edited my 30-45 min long 4k race videos in FCP on that air just fine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47351092)) "I edit 4K ProRes and H.265 footage, sometimes with multicam" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49434312))
- Runs well on modest Macs (2 comments): "I edited my 30-45 min long 4k race videos in FCP on that air just fine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47351092)) "even Final Cut run perfectly fine in 8Gb" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47249425))

## What people warn about

- Trails rivals in features (3 comments): "FinalCut lost big time against DaVinci for all semi-professional users which are exactly FinalCut's main target group." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46605003)) "It's been a LOOOONG time since final cut pro was a killer app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48139138)) "I felt that FCP was underpowered for compositing and grading" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48397605))
- Old versions stop working on new systems (3 comments): "The issue that stands out to me was the once in 17 year 2019 cut-off for 32 bit apps with a lacking Quicktime X and Final Cut X" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47868375)) "Can't even download Final Cut on it anymore because Apple won't let me pull the latest supported version" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48353435)) "it's been woefully supported the last few years and no one should be on it anymore" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601461))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Kdenlive](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kdenlive.md): 56 recommend
- [Mosaic agentic video editing](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mosaic-agentic-video-editing.md): 25 recommend
- [OpenShot Video Editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openshot.md): 25 recommend
- [Cardboard video editor](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cardboard-agentic-video-editor.md): 22 recommend
- [Adobe Premiere Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/adobe-premiere.md): 17 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Final Cut Pro", https://hackerapproved.com/p/final-cut-pro/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).