Comparison

iMovie vs Splice

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

iMovie

Easily create stunning Hollywood-style trailers and beautiful movies with intuitive gestures and streamlined design. Features like Magic Movies and Storyboards simplify video creation, while advanced tools allow for detailed editing and effects.

Highlights
  • Create Magic Movies with a few taps
  • Use Storyboards for guided video creation
  • Design Hollywood-style trailers with templates
  • Edit movies with themes, filters, and titles
  • Add picture-in-picture, green screen, and split screen effects
  • Utilize soundtracks that adjust to video length
  • Transfer projects between Apple devices
Read full description

With a streamlined design and intuitive Multi-Touch gestures, iMovie lets you create Hollywood-style trailers and beautiful movies like never before. Instantly create Magic Movies • With just a few taps, you can create and share a beautiful, custom video • Select an album or group of videos or images and iMovie will create a video for you—no video editing required—with titles, transitions, and music • Easily rearrange or delete clips in the simplified shot list • Apply a different style to change up the look and feel of the whole video Learn storytelling with Storyboards • Choose from 20 Storyboards that help you get started with popular video types • Record video or take photos right into each placeholder clip, or add media from your Photos library • Add, reorder, and delete clips as needed to organize and customize your story • Apply a dynamic visual style that includes title layouts, fonts, filters, color palettes, and music Make Hollywood-style trailers • Choose from 14 trailer templates with stunning graphics and original scores by some of the world’s top film composers • Customize movie studio logos, cast names, and credits • Select videos and photos for your trailer or record video right in iMovie Create beautiful movies • Choose from 8 unique themes with matching titles, transitions, and music • Give your movie the perfect look with 13 Apple-designed video filters • Choose from 11 animated title styles like Split, Reveal or Pop-up • Adjust any title by changing its font, color, size, location, and more • Add solid, gradient, and patterned backgrounds to your movie • Import and edit video captured in Cinematic mode on iPhone 13 or later • Add, adjust, and delete focus points and modify the depth of field effect in video recorded in Cinematic mode* • Easily add picture in picture, green screen, and split screen effects • Select from more than 130 soundtracks that automatically adjust to the length of your movie • Add sound effects, songs from your music library, and your own narration • Connect a keyboard and use simple shortcuts to edit movies quickly • Connect a trackpad or mouse to iPad for fast and accurate moviemaking iMovie everywhere • Transfer projects between your iPhone and iPad using AirDrop or iCloud Drive • Send projects to your Mac via AirDrop or iCloud Drive to finish editing with iMovie or Final Cut Pro • Connect an external display to your iPhone or iPad and choose to mirror the iMovie interface or display your video fullscreen while you edit** Share with friends and family • Send videos with Mail and Messages • Save to your Photos library in resolutions up to 4K at 60 frames per second*** • Export videos optimized for Instagram, YouTube, and other popular video destinations * Requires iPhone XS or later, iPad mini (5th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation or later), iPad Pro 11-inch or iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later) ** External display support requires iPhone 7 or later, iPad (6th generation) or later, iPad Air 3 or later, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) or later *** 4K at 60 frames per second support requires iPod touch (7th generation), iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 7, iPad (6th generation) or later, iPad mini (5th generation), iPad Air 3 or later, iPad Pro 10.5-inch or later

About

Splice

Create professional-looking videos on your mobile device with intuitive editing tools. Easily trim clips, add effects like slow motion and Chroma Key, and customize soundtracks with royalty-free music or your own audio. Share your creations directly to social media platforms or save them to your camera roll.

Highlights
  • Trim, cut, and crop video clips
  • Adjust playback speed and apply speed ramping
  • Overlay clips with masks and Ken Burns effect
  • Remove backgrounds with Chroma Key
  • Access 6,000+ royalty-free music tracks
  • Add narration and custom sound effects
  • Direct sharing to social media
Features
Read full description

Simple yet powerful, Splice makes it easy to create fully customized, professional-looking videos on your iPhone or iPad. Imagine the performance of a desktop editor, optimized for your mobile device. Just tap to trim clips, add slow motion effects, and overlay multiple clips to create beautiful videos you’ll love to share. It’s never been easier to edit like a pro on the go. POWERFUL EDITING TOOLS MADE SIMPLE + Trim, cut, and crop your photos and video clips. + Refine your clips by adjusting exposure, contrast, saturation, and more. + Adjust playback speed for fast or slow motion, now also with speed ramping. + Overlay photos or videos and apply masks to create incredible effects. + Remove background with Chroma Key. + Animate your clips with the Ken Burns effect. + Apply filters and adjust background colors, orientation, and more. + Add amazing effects: glitch, chroma, vintage, and lots more. + Choose your transition style and control the speed between transitions. + Add title slides, text overlays, and a custom outro. + Bring your photos to life and create slideshows with pan and zoom effects. CUSTOMIZE THE PERFECT SOUNDTRACK + Choose songs from 6,000+ royalty-free tracks from Artlist and Shutterstock libraries. + Trim and mix multiple audio tracks with precision. + Use a song from your own iTunes collection (subject to iTunes terms). + Add narration or custom sound effects with the built-in voice recorder. EASILY SHARE + SAVE YOUR VIDEO + Share right to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Mail, Messages, and more. + Save videos to your camera roll. SUBSCRIPTION INFO: Subscribe to take advantage of the features described above. • Subscription length: weekly, monthly, yearly • Your payment will be charged to your iTunes Account as soon as you confirm your purchase. • You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal from your Account Settings after the purchase. • Your subscription will renew automatically, unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • The cost of renewal will be charged to your account in the 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. • When canceling a subscription, your subscription will stay active until the end of the period. Auto-renewal will be disabled, but the current subscription will not be refunded. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when purchasing a subscription.

Screenshots

iMovie4 screens
Splice4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iMovie at none against Splice's 10. Splice's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 7 months) and review sentiment (71% vs 59%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Splice sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days. iMovie asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Splice holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 322K and 431K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of iMovie's written reviews are positive against 71% of Splice's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iMovie ships an update every 7 months, Splice fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
iMovie versus Splice: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriMovieSplice
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (322K ratings)4.6 (431K ratings) — better
Positive reviews59.0% of reviews71.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings322K431K — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#16 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS27.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size670 MB162 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAppleBENDING SPOONS OPERATIONS SPA

Customer experience

iMovie

All ratings318,086 ratings
Positive85.0%
Neutral4.9%
Negative10.1%
Written reviews5,892 reviews
Positive59.0%
Neutral11.0%
Negative30.0%

Splice

All ratings430,871 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.0%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews5,541 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral6.0%
Negative22.6%

User reviews

iMovie

From 322K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎥 Great for making movies and trailers
  • 💻 Works well on both mobile and desktop
  • 🎨 Lots of creative features and effects

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and glitches
  • 🗂️ Takes up a lot of storage space
  • 🔇 Limited music/audio options
  • 🔍 Difficult to find and delete old projects

Splice

From 431K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Variety of editing tools
  • 🎶 Good music selection
  • 💡 Allows video and photo editing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy performance
  • 🔒 Paywall for basic features
  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate
  • 🔇 Audio issues

Bugs and requests

iMovie

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Videos and audio getting out of sync after exporting
  • Inability to move or edit green screen clips
  • Freezing and crashing when working on longer projects
  • Deleted videos/photos still affecting existing projects

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more customization options for text, transitions, and backgrounds
  • Improve video/audio syncing and editing tools
  • Allow portrait mode and better support for vertical videos
  • Integrate with more music/audio sources like Spotify

Splice

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Videos fail to export properly
  • App crashes during editing
  • Syncing issues with audio and video
  • Laggy performance on older devices
  • Inconsistent behavior with photo/video imports

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more transition options
  • Allow importing custom music
  • Improve text editing capabilities
  • Implement layers and compositing
  • Provide better export options

In-app purchases

None

iMovie

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Splice

Subscriptions6
  • Movie creator and clip editing7 Days trial$9.997 Days
  • Splice4 variants$9.997 Days
  • Splice Weekly With Free Trial14 Days trial$9.997 Days
Show 3 more
  • Splice Bundle7 Days trial2 variants$9.997 Days
  • Splice Weekly With Free Trial7 Days trial$9.997 Days
  • Splice Bundle$9.997 Days

Questions

Is iMovie free?
iMovie is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Splice free?
Splice is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iMovie or Splice?
Splice is rated higher. iMovie averages 4.4 out of 5 from 322K ratings, while Splice averages 4.6 from 431K ratings.
Do iMovie or Splice have ads?
Neither iMovie nor Splice shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iMovie or Splice?
iMovie ships an update every 7 months, and Splice fortnightly. Most recently, iMovie was updated on November 10, 2026 and Splice on November 10, 2026.

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