Instagram announces a blatant CapCut clone

By The Verge | Created at 2025-01-19 20:33:08 | Updated at 2025-01-19 23:17:46 3 hours ago

Instagram head Adam Mosseri just announced a video editing app called Edits. Mosseri said the app is meant to rival CapCut, a video editing app that went offline along with TikTok. Edits is available for preorder on the iOS App Store.

“There’s a lot going on right now, but no matter what happens, it’s our job to provide the best possible tools for creators,” Mosseri said in a video posted to Instagram. He goes on to describe the app:

Edits is more than a video editing app; it’s a full suite of creative tools. There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another for keeping track of early ideas, a much higher-quality camera (which I used to record this video), all the editing tools you’d expect, the ability to share drafts with friends and other creators, and — if you decide to share your videos on Instagram — powerful insights into how those videos perform.

This is what Edits will look like.

Image: Meta

The insights he mentions include “a live insights dashboard,” a breakdown of follower and non-follower engagement, and metrics for how often users skip specific ones. It will also include editing tools that let people use green screens and video overlays, both common features of TikTok videos, according to its App Store listing.

In a reply to The Verge’s Chris Welch on Threads, Mosseri said Meta has been working on the app “for months.” He also said it will “end up pretty different than CapCut,” adding that “Edits will have a much broader range of creative tools and probably a smaller addressable audience.”

While Mosseri doesn’t say as much in his video, the announcement feels like a clear push to get the app into people’s minds as the future of TikTok and other ByteDance-owned apps like CapCut remains in question. Edits will be available starting March 13th, 2025.

Update, January 19th: Added a reply from Mosseri.

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