Frame.io vs Lightworks Comparison 2026
Both cover video editing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Where a client gives notes on the timecode
A film editor with a free tier and no time limit
At a glance
- Lightworks starts cheaper, at $13.99.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Frame.io | Lightworks | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $15 | From $13.99 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Frame.io
Where a client gives notes on the timecode
Frame.io keeps the video and the notes on it together, so a comment lands at 01:12 instead of in an email saying somewhere around the middle. Versions stack, which means a client can see v4 without losing the thing they liked in v3. Two gigabytes free is one project, and storage is what you end up paying for.
Our note
The notes pay for themselves the first time a client says the middle bit rather than 01:12. Storage is the real cost, so archive finished work somewhere cheaper instead of buying the next tier.
Only on this side
- Covers media storage & review
Lightworks
A film editor with a free tier and no time limit
Lightworks has been cutting feature films since long before the web, and the free tier is the whole editor at a capped export resolution with no trial clock on it. Paying raises the export ceiling and opens the formats a delivery spec actually asks for. Three ways to pay sit on the same page, including a single payment for anybody who does not want another monthly line. The interface comes from broadcast rather than from the web, so the first afternoon is spent learning it.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.