Lightworks
Ranked 20 of 20 video editors by recommenders
A video editor people call respectable and reliable, with a perpetual license option. Critics say its color correction is less flexible than DaVinci Resolve.
A video editor people call respectable and reliable, with a perpetual license option. Critics say its color correction is less flexible than DaVinci Resolve.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Respectable program overall
“Lightworks is a respectable program but I can't really see picking it over resolve studio tbh”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “Blender 5.0” Perpetual license option
“Lightworks is quite good, and offers a perpetual license”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “Blender 5.0” Works flawlessly
“LightWorks works flawlessly on the other hand.”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “DaVinci Resolve 21.1”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Less flexible color correction
“is a lot less flexible in color correction”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “DaVinci Resolve releases Photo Editor” Not clearly better than Resolve
“Lightworks is a respectable program but I can't really see picking it over resolve studio tbh”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “Blender 5.0” Linux support doesn't match claims
“it already rubs me the wrong way that they classify themselves as cross OS compatible, but a bunch of stuff doesn't work on Linux”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows”
Other video editors people recommend
The four most recommended other video editors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DaVinci Resolve | 175 | 66 | 73% | 11 | 3 yrs14 owners | Approved |
| Kdenlive | 56 | 25 | 69% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Final Cut Pro | 25 | 23 | 52% | 9 | — | — |
| Mosaic agentic video editing | 25 | 13 | 66% | 5 | — | — |
| LightworksThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“LightWorks works flawlessly on the other hand.”
“is a lot less flexible in color correction”
“it already rubs me the wrong way that they classify themselves as cross OS compatible, but a bunch of stuff doesn't work on Linux”
“Lightworks is a respectable program but I can't really see picking it over resolve studio tbh”
“Lightworks is quite good, and offers a perpetual license”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.