Searching for the edits app gets you Edits, Instagram's free video-editing app for iPhone and Android. Meta launched it on April 22, 2025, and it records, edits and exports short vertical videos (Meta newsroom, checked 22 Oct 2026).
Price and watermarks are covered. The App Store listing says "Free · In-App Purchases", and Meta says you can export and post anywhere with no added watermark. What is left for a talking-head affiliate is the time you spend trimming each take by hand, and the worked example below puts a number on it.
If you would rather skip the trimming, upload a raw take and get the first clip cut free, no card.
What is Edits and who makes it?
Edits is made by Meta, the company behind Instagram. It is a phone app for short vertical video, and it runs on iOS and Android. As of 22 Oct 2026 the App Store listing shows 4.8 stars from 96K ratings. It needs iOS 16.3 or later and is about 340.7 MB.
Is the edits app really free?
Yes to download and use, with one caveat. The App Store lists it as "Free · In-App Purchases" (App Store, checked 22 Oct 2026). I did not check what sits behind the in-app purchases, so look in the app before you pay for anything.
Export is the part affiliates ask about:
- Exports are 4K with no watermark.
- You can export the file and post it on any platform, so a TikTok upload works.
- You can record clips up to 10 minutes long.
- Meta's launch post says you can also share straight to Instagram and Facebook.
Sources: Meta newsroom and the App Store listing, both checked 22 Oct 2026.
What can Edits do?
This is what Meta's own pages list, checked 22 Oct 2026. Sources are the App Store, Meta's Edits page and the one-year post.
| Tool | What Meta says |
|---|---|
| Timeline | Single-frame precision |
| Audio Enhance | Clearer voice, less background noise |
| Automatic captions | Listed in the App Store description |
| Teleprompter | In-app, with adjustable text size and speed |
| Storyboards | Plan scripts and teleprompter cues (Dec 17, 2025 update) |
| Visual tools | Green screen, cutout, overlay, fonts, filters, stickers, sound and voice effects, AI image animation, templates |
| Insights | Live dashboard and real-time feedback such as skip rate |
Two details matter if you post on TikTok.
- Insights are Instagram numbers. They are reel metrics, so they tell you nothing about how a clip does on TikTok.
- The app changes often. Version 452.0 on the App Store, about two days before 22 Oct 2026, added Carousels, 50+ new effects, Kits (saved colors, text, caption styles and audio) and Audio links.
Worked example: your week of trimming
Everything below is an assumption you can change. Use your own numbers.
Step 1: takes per week. You film 3 talking-head takes a day for a $30 product and post 5 days a week. That is 3 × 5 = 15 takes a week.
Step 2: minutes of hand-trimming per take. Call it N. On the timeline you find each pause, "um", retake and spoken slate, split the clip and delete the piece. Time yourself on two takes this week and use your average. Here are three values of N:
| Minutes per take (N) | Minutes per week (15 × N) | Hours per week | Hours per 4 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 75 | 1.25 | 5 |
| 10 | 150 | 2.5 | 10 |
| 15 | 225 | 3.75 | 15 |
Step 3: commission on a $30 sale. Commission per sale = $30 × your rate. Look up your rate in your own TikTok Shop affiliate account. The rates below are made up for the arithmetic and are not TikTok's:
| Hypothetical rate | Commission per $30 sale |
|---|---|
| 10% | $3.00 |
| 15% | $4.50 |
| 20% | $6.00 |
Step 4: put the two side by side. Pick an hourly value for your own time. Say $15, as a hypothetical. At N = 10, your 2.5 weekly trimming hours are worth $37.50. At a hypothetical 10% rate ($3.00 a sale), you need 12.5 sales, so 13, to cover that time. At 20% ($6.00 a sale) you need 7. This does not predict your sales. It shows what the editing hours cost against what one sale pays.
Swap in your own N, rate and hourly value. The trimming hours scale with every take you add.
If those hours look too big, upload a raw take and get the first clip cut free, no card.
What Meta's feature lists leave out
Meta's feature descriptions describe a timeline, automatic captions, audio Enhance, templates and a teleprompter. Automatically cutting pauses, filler words or retakes is not listed in Meta's official feature descriptions as of 22 Oct 2026. The app updates often, so check the current version and its release notes yourself.
Until you confirm otherwise, plan on trimming those by hand on the timeline, as in the worked example.
For comparison, this site's editor does that one job. You upload one raw take from your phone's camera roll or your computer, and get back a cut clip. It cuts pauses, filler words such as "um", retakes, and spoken "Clip N" slates. A take can be up to 5 minutes long and up to 2 GB. The finished clip is 1080×1920 (vertical 9:16) with sound in sync, ready for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
It does not add captions, music, b-roll, effects or transitions. If you want captions, Edits lists automatic captions.
Steps for using Edits on your phone today
- Install Edits from the App Store or Google Play and log in with Instagram.
- Record the take in the app, or import one you already filmed. Recording runs up to 10 minutes.
- Open the timeline and zoom in on the first pause.
- Split the clip at the start and end of each pause, "um" and retake, and delete the pieces. Do the same for any spoken slate at the start.
- Play the whole clip once to check the joins.
- Tap Enhance on the audio. Meta's listing describes it as a clearer voice with less background noise.
- Optional: generate automatic captions and read them through before you export.
- Export in 4K with no watermark and upload the file to TikTok.
Time step 4 with a stopwatch. That is your N for the worked example.
Before you rely on it for daily batches
Each store review is one user's report on one phone and one app version. Read the newest ones for your phone before you plan a week of posts around it. Keep every raw take in your camera roll until the clip is posted.
Test with one take first. Trim it, export it and upload it to TikTok. Then you know your N and whether the file looks right on your own account.
Try one take without the trimming
The first clip is free, with no card needed. After the first clip, plans are monthly and listed on the pricing page. Uploaded videos are deleted 7 days after upload and finished clips 30 days after they are made, so download your clips.
For more creator workflows, see the blog.
Film your next product take, then upload the raw take and get your first clip cut free, no card.