Instagram launches Edits, a fresh, creator-friendly answer to CapCut

It’s been a long time coming, but Instagram has officially rolled out Edits, its new video editing app for iOS and Android phones. First teased by Instagram head Adam Mosseri earlier this year, Edits arrives as the platform’s most ambitious move yet into the creator tools space, and yes, it’s free.

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Think of Edits as your content companion: an intuitive, timeline-based video editor that’s deeply woven into the Instagram ecosystem. Whether you’re trimming clips, playing around with trending audio, or applying viral effects, it’s all doable without ever leaving the app. And that’s precisely Instagram’s pitch – a streamlined space where ideation, creation, and publishing happen in one flow.

Instagram Edits: From concepts to captions, all in one place

What sets Edits apart from popular rivals like CapCut isn’t just the tight Instagram integration (though that helps), it’s the creative-first features. You can bookmark Reels you love, scribble sticky notes of content ideas, and even keep tabs on custom sounds you want to remix later. It’s like a mood board meets a video studio.

There’s also a focus on helping creators plan, not just post. Need to juggle multiple concepts? Edits lets you organise and track different projects in a way that feels more personal than professional; exactly the kind of vibe mobile-first creators are after.

Instagram Edits: AI tools meet high-quality capture

If you’re already using Reels religiously, you’ll love the addition of an enhanced in-app camera, which promises better quality footage straight from your phone. No more hopping between apps to shoot and edit; you can now do it all in one place.

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Editing tools include the expected basics like trimming, splitting, text overlays, and voiceovers, but there’s some AI magic too. The Cutouts feature lets you isolate people or objects in a frame (great for dynamic storytelling), and Animate appears to breathe life into still images, likely with some Meta AI muscle under the hood.

Instagram Edits: Looking familiar? That’s the point

Yes, the layout bears a striking resemblance to CapCut, and no one’s pretending otherwise. You’ve got your timeline, layered audio and text tracks, and a minimalist UI that puts focus front and center. But what Instagram hopes to offer is something more holistic.

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No watermarks, up to 10 minutes of editing freedom, and built-in insights from your Reels performance? That’s a tempting package for creators who are tired of exporting back and forth.

What's next for Instagram Edits?

Instagram says this is just the beginning. Upcoming updates promise AI-powered video prompts, collaborative editing features, new fonts, filters, and more voice effects. The platform is also crowdsourcing feedback to refine the experience which is a smart move, especially as the creator economy becomes more vocal about its needs.

Whether you’re a casual Reels scroller with big ideas or a content pro looking to simplify your workflow, Edits looks like a strong new player in the mobile editing arena. And with Instagram steering the ship, it’s likely we’ll see plenty more creator-friendly upgrades ahead.

Ready to try it out? You can now download on both Android and iOS. To be up to date with the latest tech news, stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma.