Shopping for DaVinci Resolve plugins can leave you with six tabs open, each one a feature list that reads like the other five.
A feature list tells you what a plugin claims to do. I also want to know whether it runs in my edition of Resolve and what it costs in year three. And when I'm grading at 2am on a deadline, I want controls I can still make sense of.
I build DCTL and OFX plugins for a living, so I have a stake in this. I'll walk through the formats and license costs, then explain what my tools add to Resolve's built-in controls. We'll use those differences to work through a buying checklist.
What are the types of DaVinci Resolve plugins?
For color grading there are two plugin formats in Resolve, plus two things people often call plugins that aren't.
DCTL. A DCTL (DaVinci Color Transform Language) file is a short program that Resolve compiles and runs on your GPU. You apply it to a node: on the Color page, open Effects, search for DCTL, drag it onto a node, and pick the file from the DCTL list. It behaves like any other node in your tree. DCTLs are Resolve-only.
OFX. An OFX plugin is a compiled effect built on the OpenFX standard. It shows up as its own entry in the OpenFX section of the Effects library, and you drag it onto a node the same way. An OFX plugin can also provide a custom interface beyond the standard controls available to a DCTL.
LUTs. A LUT is a fixed table that maps input colors to output colors. It's fast and portable, but the table itself has no adjustable parameters. You can change the image going into it or blend its output; neither changes the table.
PowerGrades. A PowerGrade is a saved node tree you can apply to any clip, and every node in it stays adjustable. It can include plugins, but it doesn't carry their licenses. I wrote a full guide to PowerGrades.
A DCTL suits a color transform in one node. OFX also allows a custom interface. Some products, including a few of mine, include both formats in one purchase, so you can use either as your setup changes.
Do plugins need DaVinci Resolve Studio?
Third-party OFX plugins generally run in both the free edition of Resolve and Studio. DCTLs are different: all DCTLs require Studio. If you grade in the free edition, my OFX versions run there too.
Subscription or one-time license: what does it cost over three years?
- A $20/month plan is $720 over three years.
- Dehancer's Business Studio plan lists a $49/month equivalent, billed at $588 yearly (checked October 2026). Three years at that annual rate totals $1,764.
- A one-time license is paid once. Mine run from $64.99 to $449.99.
Dehancer's Business Studio plan covers all its video and photo plugins. It also lists individual plans and a lifetime option. Compare the license that fits your work, including its renewal terms.
Read the update policy too. On my plugins, updates are free for the version you own, and a new major version is a paid upgrade with a discount for owners. Other sellers do it differently. FilmConvert, for example, lists the Resolve version of Nitrate at $119 and an all-platforms license at $179, with its Halation feature sold as an add-on.
What's out there
I group color-grading plugins into four categories.
Film emulation. These tools model how film responds to light: negative and print response, halation, grain. Dehancer and FilmConvert Nitrate are two names you'll see in this lane. My own entry is Film/Emulsion™, a DCTL with an OFX version in the Pro tier. I covered how a film chain works in How Film Emulation Really Works.
Look and color-shaping tools. Plugins that do one job very well in one node: a split tone, a hue shift, a dye-transfer look, a contrast curve. Prime/Grade™, Three/Strip™, Split/Tone™, Hue/Shift™ and Filmic/Contrast™ live here, next to tools from a lot of other developers.
Exposure and monitoring tools. False color, middle-gray references, and exposure controls that tell you where you are before you start shaping. Exposure/Tool™ lives here.
One-click preset tools. Fast finished looks with a few sliders. Presets are a real use case on a deadline. Before you buy one, check whether its controls cover the changes your footage needs.
Why not just use Resolve's built-in tools?
For my tools, the reasons to pay are film behavior measured from real stocks and grading controls grouped with tools for checking the image.
Film emulation built from measured stocks
Film/Emulsion™ starts from measured film. The stocks were shot and profiled, and the halation and grain are modeled from the physics and computed on every frame. I explain the film chain in How Film Emulation Really Works.
One colorist put the two side by side on a finished feature:
"I recently ran a series of tests on a feature I had just completed grading, comparing the look I originally crafted using Resolve’s Film Look Creator with a new pass built utilizing Film Emulsion Pro DCTLs. [...] I found the resulting aesthetic even more compelling than my initial look."
A full primary in one node
Prime/Grade™ combines contrast, fill, saturation and white balance with Skin Checker and false color in one node, with controls named for what they do to the image. That's what we mean by better grades in fewer nodes. Jose Antonio Esteban put it this way:
"So great to have contrast, fill, saturation, white balance all in one node along with Skin Checker, and a false color that works in different color spaces. So much of your basic grade can be fleshed out in half the time!"
A buying checklist that isn't a feature list
Before buying, we'll work through these questions in order.
- Does it run in the edition of Resolve you grade in?
- Is it DCTL, OFX, or both, and does that match how you build your tree?
- Is it one-time or recurring? Run the number for 36 months.
- Which updates are included, and what does the next major version cost?
- Are the sliders named for what they do to the image, in units you can reason about, or is it a black box you can only turn up or down?
- Can you try it on your own footage? Every paid plugin I sell has a free watermarked demo for exactly this reason.
- How many machines does one license cover? Mine cover three.
- Does it work with the tools you already own, or fight them?
Mike Steck described how his tools worked together in his Exposure/Tool™ review:
"I have spent a lot of $$$$ on plug-ins and LUTs. The problem is that when you have an extremely complicated node tree with different plug-ins from different sources, they can fight against each other and degrade your project. Recently, I have reduced multiple DCTLs and nodes with PixelTools, as they are designed to work together."
When this advice doesn't fit you
I favor tools I can own and keep. A shorter project or a different editing app can change that recommendation.
If you cut in Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro and only open Resolve now and then, a Resolve-only plugin, DCTL or OFX, is the wrong purchase. Buy for the app you live in.
If you need a look for one short project and then you're done, a subscription can cost less than a license. Compare the payments the subscription requires, including any minimum billing term, with the price of the tool you need.
And if you're on the free edition, DCTLs won't run for you. The OFX versions will: Phosphor™ is OFX-only, and Film/Emulsion™ Pro and Three/Strip™ ship OFX versions.
