Colourlab AI Alternative: Leumos vs Colourlab AI 4 (2026)

Leumos is a Colourlab AI alternative for filmmakers who want to import footage, match a shot to a reference image, carry that look across the edit with Match shots, and export the video from a desktop browser, with nothing to install. Colourlab AI 4 is the better fit if you work in DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or Avid on an Apple Silicon Mac and want the match to run on your own machine. The useful comparison is how each fits your project, not which one promises the most automation.

When Colourlab launched AI 4 on 21 October 2026, it required an Apple Silicon Mac, and Colourlab said "Windows and Intel Mac support are coming soon" (Get started page, checked 21 October 2026). Leumos is a browser-based alternative that grades and exports video in Chrome or Edge on Windows, or Chrome, Edge or Safari on a Mac, and its Free plan exports 1080p video with no watermark.

Checked 21 October 2026, after Colourlab's launch event, against Colourlab's own pages (its new homepage, pricing page, AI 4 product page, Get started page, version 3 page and Resolve workflow page, the older AI 4 beta page, its documentation FAQ and its system requirements page). This is a documentation-based comparison, not a hands-on review of Colourlab AI 4. We make Leumos, a competing product. Leumos is not affiliated with or endorsed by Colourlab or Color Intelligence Inc.

What Leumos does

• Nothing to install, on Windows or Mac. Leumos runs in a desktop browser, so the same studio opens on a Windows PC or a Mac.
• A free plan that exports. The Free plan renders real video with no watermark, with no card and no end date; its monthly match allowance and export size are in the plan table. Colourlab AI 4's listed prices and trial are below.
• One grade across the edit, then a file. Match a selected shot to a still, refine it, then use Match shots to carry that graded shot across the rest of the edit. Review each cut, refine exposure, color and skin where needed, and export the timeline as a video.
• A LUT per shot. On Lite and Studio, the arrow beside Export downloads a .cube LUT of a shot's grade for use in your editor. A LUT carries the color, not grain, glow, people protection or face areas; the download says what it leaves out.
• Log footage from 16 camera makers through ACES, including Apple Log and Apple Log 2, S-Log3, C-Log3, V-Log, F-Log2, N-Log, LogC3/LogC4, Log3G10 and Blackmagic Film Gen 4 and 5. Pick the profile that matches the recording before you add a look.

Test Match shots and the LUT download on your own clips before you promise a client anything.

What Colourlab AI 4 is, as of 21 October 2026

Colourlab held AI 4's launch event on Wednesday, 21 October 2026 (16:00 UTC); what it announced is in the next section. Its new pricing page says of AI 3 owners: "Pro users upgrade free. Creator customers have an upgrade path to the full package; a fee may apply."

What the vendor says about AI 4:

• Platform: the AI 4 product page says "Built for Apple silicon." and "Windows and RAW media support are coming soon." Its Get started page says "Windows and Intel Mac support are coming soon.", and its version 3 page says "Windows users should continue with version 3." The system requirements page says AI 4 runs "on Apple Silicon Macs only" with macOS Sonoma 14 or later and 16 GB of RAM at minimum. All four pages were checked on 21 October 2026.
• Where it runs: "All matching on your device. Never in the cloud." Clip analysis, matching and grading run on the Mac; a detailed analysis of reference images uses cloud credits (100 a month on the free trial, 800 on a subscription or perpetual license, top-ups of 800 for $19).
• Editors: its AI 4 product page says "Bring your sequence into Colourlab, develop the grade and return to your editing workflow." It lists a direct Fetch & Push with DaVinci Resolve Studio, OTIO with rendered media for DaVinci Resolve Free, OTIO for Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer, and XML for Final Cut Pro, with direct links to Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro planned (checked 21 October 2026). Test the round trip to your editor before you rely on it.
• Export in the beta: its own Export panel writes ProRes 422, ProRes 422 HQ or H.264 video, PNG, JPEG or TIFF stills of the current frame, and "current frame's grade as a LUT".
• Tools: a one-click Balance pass (exposure, white balance, contrast), Match with separate shadow, midtone and highlight matching, a Style that applies one set of instructions across related shots, AI Grading from a text prompt, anchoring that finds similar shots, and a library of thousands of looks.
• Color management: the FAQ says the color space is "currently fixed" during the public beta, with configurable color management on the roadmap.
• Sign-in: "Use Apple or Google. Email-and-password sign-in is not available." (Get started page, 21 October 2026). Its pricing page says "Downloads, trials and purchases are managed through Houston."
• Price: the pricing page lists Colourlab AI 4 at "$49/month or $399/year" and says "A $799 perpetual option is also available.", with a 14-day trial (checked 21 October 2026). It says "The subscription includes Colourlab Ai 4, Look Designer, Astra Film, Cine IS, all free and premium Astra profiles, expanding look libraries and user-shared looks." On the Creator edition, Colourlab says: "Version 4 has no Creator tier." Its AI 3 pages sit on 3.colourlab.ai.

What launched on 21 October 2026

Colourlab presented Colourlab AI 4 at its online launch event on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, at 16:00 UTC. Each line below quotes Colourlab's own pages, checked between 16:50 and 16:51 UTC that evening.

• Status: "14-day trial · Apple silicon Mac · From $49/month" (homepage).
• Platforms: "Built for Apple silicon." (AI 4 product page). On Windows, Colourlab says "Windows and Intel Mac support are coming soon." (Get started page).
• Price: "$49/month or $399/year" for AI 4 (pricing page, 21 October 2026). The same page says "A $799 perpetual option is also available." and "Start with a 14-day trial through Houston."
• Also on its new pages:
  • Claude and MCP: "Connect Claude through MCP and use natural language to direct supported operations." (AI 4 product page).
  • Houston: "Meet Houston, the free app that brings all your Colourlab products together." (Get started page).
• What you need to run it: "You'll need a Mac with an Apple Silicon chip (M1 or later) running macOS 14 Sonoma or later." (Get started page). The system requirements page lists 16 GB of RAM at minimum.

Leumos runs in a desktop browser, with nothing to install, and its Free plan exports 1080p video with no watermark. For how the two fit different projects, see which one should you pick.

Where Colourlab AI is better

• You work in an editor on a Mac. Colourlab works with Resolve, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer, and its AI 4 product page now lists a way back to each of them (21 October 2026), so test the round trip first. Leumos is a separate browser studio that takes a Final Cut Pro 7 XML of the cut and gives you back a rendered video (and a .cube per shot on Lite and Studio), not a graded timeline inside your editor.
• You want the match on your own machine. Colourlab matches on-device. Leumos runs its matching on Leumos's servers, so your footage is uploaded for the match and the export. For confidential footage, read the privacy policy and your client's requirements first.
• You cut multicam. Colourlab's Resolve workflow page says a multicam clip comes in as its active camera (checked 21 October 2026). Leumos has no multicam timeline: a multicam clip in an imported XML is skipped and listed in the import report, so flatten multicam before you export the XML.
• You want looks from a text prompt or a large look library. Colourlab's AI Grading and Look Library do that. Leumos has twelve built-in Looks, Smart Grade's eight suggestions around your shot, and a reference-image match; it has no text-prompt grading.
• You already own Colourlab AI 3. Colourlab's pricing page says "Pro users upgrade free. Creator customers have an upgrade path to the full package; a fee may apply." (checked 21 October 2026). Its version 3 page adds that version 4 is a new application and that projects cannot be shared between the two versions.

These are documented capabilities. They do not show how well either tool will match your footage; only a test on your own clips does.

Workflow comparison

Which one should you pick?

• You finish in Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut Pro or Avid on an Apple Silicon Mac: try Colourlab AI 4 first; its pricing page lists a 14-day trial (checked 21 October 2026). Keeping your timeline where it is may matter more than any matching feature; test the round trip to your editor before you rely on it.
• You work on Windows, or you don't want to install anything: try Leumos on a short, representative clip. Check the match in motion and the exported file in your intended player or editor.
• You want one look carried across a sequence in the browser, with nothing to install: try Leumos's Match shots with a graded anchor shot and real footage from the job.
• You handle confidential footage that may not leave the building: Colourlab's on-device matching fits that rule. Leumos uploads the footage to match and export it.
• You need a LUT for your editor: Leumos exports a .cube per shot on Lite and Studio. Colourlab's FAQ lists a LUT of the current frame's grade as a beta export.
• You're comparing beyond Colourlab: see our fylm.ai review for video for how a stills-first tool stacks up against video-native ones, the browser color grading tools compared, or the best AI color grading tools in 2026.

Whichever way you lean, run the trial on the job you actually get paid for, not on a hero frame:

• Wedding: mixed cameras and changing reception lighting, plus one shot where warm practicals and a colored wash land on the same face.
• Corporate or branded: an interview body, a B-cam, a drone establisher and a phone insert in one sequence, so you see how far apart the encodings start.
• Real estate: a kitchen wide and its reverse from the same property, then a clip from last week's listing that the new one has to match.
• Music video: a neon-and-practical setup, which is where automated matching can pick the wrong neutral.
• Short film: a reverse angle and a difficult skin tone.

Price comparison

Colourlab AI 4: its pricing page lists AI 4 at "$49/month or $399/year" and says "A $799 perpetual option is also available." (checked 21 October 2026). It also says "Start with a 14-day trial through Houston." and "Version 4 has no Creator tier." Reference analysis uses credits: 100 a month on the free trial, 800 a month on a subscription or perpetual license, and top-up packs of 800 credits for $19 (documentation FAQ, 21 October 2026).

Colourlab AI 3 prices: the AI 3 pages moved from colourlab.ai to 3.colourlab.ai. On 21 October 2026 its Resolve product page listed Creator at $29 a month or $290 a year and Pro at $49 a month or $490 a year, and its pricing page still showed a $299 perpetual offer for Ai 3 Creator.

Leumos: three monthly plans, Free, Lite and Studio. The plan table is the maintained source for every price and limit: matches a month, export resolution and bit depth, the ProRes master on Studio, and the LUT download on Lite and Studio. None of the plans adds a watermark. Start with Free before paying for capacity you have not tested.

Frequently asked questions

Is Colourlab AI 4 free?

Colourlab now sells it after a trial. Its pricing page says "Start with a 14-day trial through Houston." and lists AI 4 at "$49/month or $399/year", or $799 perpetual (checked 21 October 2026). For AI 3 owners it says "Pro users upgrade free", and its version 3 page says projects cannot be shared between the two versions.

Does Colourlab AI 4 run on Windows?

Not at launch. On 21 October 2026 Colourlab's Get started page said "Windows and Intel Mac support are coming soon.", and its version 3 page said "Windows users should continue with version 3." Leumos runs in a desktop browser on Windows and Mac.

Colourlab AI vs DaVinci Resolve: do I need both?

Colourlab AI 4 works with Resolve rather than replacing it: its AI 4 product page lists a direct Fetch & Push with DaVinci Resolve Studio and OTIO with rendered media for DaVinci Resolve Free (checked 21 October 2026). Resolve stays your editor and finishing tool. Leumos is a separate route: a browser studio that takes a Final Cut Pro 7 XML from Resolve and returns a rendered video, plus a .cube per shot on Lite and Studio.

Can Leumos grade log footage like Colourlab AI does?

Yes. Leumos converts log footage from 16 camera makers through ACES, including Sony S-Log3, Canon C-Log3, Panasonic V-Log, Apple Log and Apple Log 2, ARRI LogC3 and LogC4, and Blackmagic Film Gen 4 and Gen 5. Choose the profile that matches your recording before refining the grade. A supported log transform does not mean camera RAW can be imported; BRAW, R3D and ARRIRAW cannot. The log reference tool shows published log code values and the exposure error from decoding one log format as another.

How does Leumos fit a Premiere or Resolve workflow?

Leumos is a standalone browser studio. Import a Final Cut Pro 7 XML of the edit from Premiere or Resolve with its source media, grade and match the sequence, then export finished video. On Lite and Studio you can also download a .cube LUT per shot and apply it in your editor; making a LUT from your grade covers what the file can and can't carry. See the online workflow.

Will Leumos handle ACES like Colourlab AI?

Leumos converts log input through ACES to an SDR Rec.709 picture, with selectable ACES2065-1, ACEScc, ACEScct and ACEScg inputs. That is color management, not an ACES project interchange or HDR mastering workflow; Leumos does not deliver HDR. Colourlab's FAQ (checked 21 October 2026) says its color space is fixed during the public beta, with configurable color management on the roadmap, so compare the input, working and delivery settings your project needs.

Try the browser workflow

Start free in Leumos, no install: the Free plan renders real video with no watermark and no card (limits in the plan table). Bring a short clip and a reference still, match the selected shot, review it in motion, refine the grade, and check your export before committing a whole project.