What is iMovie used for?

iMovie is Apple's free video editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad, for creating and sharing movies from personal video clips. It is a good fit for families editing home videos and students producing class projects.

Is iMovie open source?

No. iMovie is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to iMovie include Shotcut, OpenShot and Kdenlive.

What are some alternatives to iMovie?

iMovie competes with Final Cut Pro, Microsoft Clipchamp and CapCut. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source iMovie alternatives.

iMovie: features, pricing and alternatives

About iMovie

iMovie is a video editing app from Apple that comes at no cost for Mac, iPhone and iPad. It is designed for everyday users who want to turn clips into finished movies without learning a professional editing suite.

Users create and fine-tune a movie by adding video, sound effects and other media, then share the result. iMovie works with a range of third-party digital video and still cameras, can store its library on an external drive to save space on a Mac, and can update projects made in earlier versions.

Because it belongs to the Apple ecosystem, it suits families, students and casual creators on Apple hardware. People who outgrow it often move up to Apple's own Final Cut Pro or another editor.

Key features

Movie editing on Mac, iPhone and iPad
Sound effects and audio additions
Movie sharing options
Support for many third-party cameras
Library storage on external drives
Updating projects from older versions

Good fit for

→Families editing home videos
→Students producing class projects

Tags: video-editing; apple; macos; ios; free; beginner-friendly

iMovie: questions and answers

What is iMovie used for?: iMovie is Apple's free video editor for Mac, iPhone and iPad, for creating and sharing movies from personal video clips. It is a good fit for families editing home videos and students producing class projects.
Is iMovie free?: Yes. iMovie is free to use.
Is iMovie open source?: No. iMovie is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to iMovie include Shotcut, OpenShot and Kdenlive.
What are some alternatives to iMovie?: iMovie competes with Final Cut Pro, Microsoft Clipchamp and CapCut. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source iMovie alternatives.