Adobe Premiere (formerly Premiere Pro)

Adobe Premiere is Adobe's professional video editing application, known as Premiere Pro from 2003 until January 2026. It is one of the leading professional editors, alongside DaVinci Resolve, and in 2026 it became the most aggressive of the major editors in putting generative video inside the timeline. As of October 2026 the current release is Premiere 26.5 (September 10, 2026), sold by subscription as part of Adobe's Creative Cloud.

From Premiere to Premiere Pro and Back

The original Adobe Premiere, released in December 1991, was one of the first computer-based non-linear editing systems. Adobe rewrote it in August 2003 and renamed it Premiere Pro, and over the next two decades it became a standard in broadcast, online and feature work; films cut on it include Gone Girl, Deadpool, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Anora. On January 20, 2026, with version 26.0, Adobe dropped the "Pro" suffix after 23 years and went back to calling it Adobe Premiere. A mobile app for iPhone launched in September 2025, and an Android version followed on September 22, 2026.

AI Features as of October 2026

  • Generative Media. Premiere 26.5 can create video clips and sound effects from text descriptions without leaving the app, using Adobe Firefly or partner models; Firefly's partner roster includes models from Runway, Kling, Luma, Google's Veo and ElevenLabs.
  • Generative Extend. Adds frames to the head or tail of a shot, now from 360p up to 4K at any aspect ratio.
  • Transcript tools. The Text panel has let editors cut by editing a transcript since 2023, with filler-word and pause detection, and 26.5 added Paper Edit, which builds a rough cut from sentences selected in the transcript (see transcript-based editing).
  • AI Assistant. A chat panel, in public beta since June 18, 2026 across Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, Frame.io and InDesign, that organizes bins, renames clips, sets markers, syncs multicam and assembles rough cuts. During the beta, paid users don't spend credits on it, subject to a daily limit.
  • Assistive tools. Enhance Speech, visual search across media and object masking.

Premiere 26.5 also reads high-end camera formats such as ProRes RAW and ARRICORE, and Frame.io review is built in.

Agents and Integrations

Adobe's approach to agentic video editing brings an assistant into the app rather than opening the app to outside agents. Its "Adobe for creativity" connector for Claude, launched on April 28, 2026, reaches Premiere only for resizing and repurposing videos for social platforms; outside agents cannot yet edit a Premiere timeline the way they can drive Resolve through its MCP server (see video editing MCP servers). Timelines move to other tools through XML and other interchange formats; reports conflict on whether Premiere's OpenTimelineIO support has left beta (see timeline interchange).

Price

As of October 2026 the single-app plan costs US$22.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly, with 25 monthly generative credits, 100 GB of cloud storage and Frame.io. Creative Cloud Pro, at US$69.99 a month, adds more than 20 apps and 4,000 monthly generative credits, which matters for heavy use of generative video. The mobile apps are free, with paid upgrades. There is no free desktop tier.

How It Compares

Against DaVinci Resolve, Premiere trades a one-time license and stronger color and audio finishing for Creative Cloud integration (After Effects, Photoshop, Audition), mobile apps and generative tools in the timeline. Against Descript, it is picture-first rather than words-first, with far more finishing depth but less agent access. Against CapCut, it is the professional standard against a free, AI-heavy short-form editor. Detailed comparisons: Adobe Premiere vs DaVinci Resolve, Descript vs Adobe Premiere and CapCut vs Adobe Premiere. For the wider field, see AI video editing.

Further Reading