Zella for iPhone: The Whole Studio, In Your Pocket

Zella running on iPhone - the whole on-device studio in your pocket

Quick answer: Zella for iPhone is the same on-device studio as the Mac app, rebuilt native for iOS - record your camera or screen, then cut, caption, grade, add AI b-roll and reframe entirely on the phone. No cloud, no account, nothing uploaded. It’s out now on the App Store. One Zella Pro is a Universal Purchase: buy it once and it unlocks Mac and iPhone together.

On this page: what it is · what you can make · on-device & private · install · Universal Purchase · iPhone vs Mac · FAQ

Your first seven days: Pro Week

Every new install runs the complete Pro feature set for its first seven days - unlimited export length, 4K, transparent-background export, the multi-aspect queue, saved templates and the depth toolset. There is no card to enter, no account to make and nothing to cancel.

A quiet Pro Week chip in the home header counts the days. On day eight the app becomes the permanent free tier: no countdown banners, no “your trial has ended” popup, and nothing you made stops working. Free is not a trial - it is the product, and it stays watermark-free with unlimited recording, capped only on export (2 minutes, up to 1080p).

If you decide you want the ceilings lifted, Zella Pro is one payment of $89 that covers your iPhone and Mac together.

What is Zella for iPhone?

Zella for iPhone is a native recorder and AI video editor that runs the whole Record → Edit → Ship workflow on your phone. It’s the mobile twin of the Mac app: the same timeline, the same one-tap Auto-Polish, the same on-device captions and background removal - rebuilt for touch and for Apple’s Neural Engine.

It is an iPhone app and requires iOS 18 or later. It runs on iPad in iPhone compatibility mode; the layout is built for the phone. Everything happens on the device - there’s no account to create and no footage to upload.

What can you make?

TikTok / Reels / Shorts, shot and finished on your phone
Talking-head clips with a live blurred or replaced background
Screen recordings and app demos captured with ReplayKit
Quick edits of footage already in your Photos or Files
Captioned, color-graded social videos without a laptop

Is it really 100% on-device?

Yes. Recording, transcription for captions, background removal, color grading and export all run on the device itself - on Apple Silicon and the Neural Engine. Nothing is sent to a server, there’s no account, and no footage leaves your phone.

Two features are opt-in and clearly network-based, exactly like on the Mac:

Auto B-Roll generates cutaway cards on-device with no key and no network. Only the optional stock-footage path sends a keyword from your captions to Pexels or Pixabay - never your video.
The AI Assistant sends your typed prompt plus a short project summary (including caption text) to whichever language-model key you add - never your video.

If you never touch those two, Zella is entirely offline. See On-device AI for the details.

How do I install it?

Zella for iPhone is out now on the App Store. You get it the normal way:

Open the App Store on your iPhone.
Search for Zella.
Tap Get to install (the app is free).

Until then, the iPhone page shows a “on its way” badge. Grab the Mac app in the meantime - your Pro unlock will carry over to the phone automatically (see below).

One purchase unlocks every Apple device

Zella Pro is a Universal Purchase. That means one payment - the same one-time $89 Pro - unlocks Mac and iPhone at once. Buy it on any device you own and it just works on the others signed into the same Apple ID. There’s no subscription and no per-device fee.

Free is generous on the phone too: unlimited recording, the full editor, on-device captions, background removal, 25 transitions and 42 color looks, and 1080p export with no watermark (free exports run up to 2 minutes each). Pro adds unlimited export length, 4K export, transparent-background export (HEVC with alpha), 60 fps, custom bitrate, the multi-aspect queue, saved templates and the depth toolset. See Export & handoff and Pricing.

iPhone or Mac?

Use the phone to capture in the moment and cut a clip on the spot; use the Mac for long-form, precision work on a big screen. They hand projects back and forth as .zella files, so you can start on one and finish on the other. See iPhone vs Mac for the full picture.

iOS getting started FAQ

What does it cost to download? Nothing. Zella for iPhone is out now on the App Store as a free download, and Zella Free is the complete editor with no watermark on any export.

Does it need an account or the cloud? No. Like the Mac app, it’s 100% on-device with no account and no upload.

Which devices run it? Any iPhone on iOS 18 or later. It also runs on iPad in iPhone compatibility mode.

If I bought Pro on the Mac, do I pay again on the phone? No. Zella Pro is a Universal Purchase - one payment unlocks Mac and iPhone.

Is it a stripped-down version of the Mac app? No - it’s the same studio rebuilt for touch: the same timeline, Auto-Polish, captions, background removal and AI Assistant.

Pro tips & gotchas

Free has no watermark. You can ship a finished, captioned, graded clip on the free tier - Pro is only for 4K and the power tools.
Buy Pro once, anywhere. The unlock follows your Apple ID across Mac and iPhone.
Offline by default. Only the optional stock-footage b-roll and the AI Assistant reach the network, and only for a keyword or a prompt - never your video.
Hand off to finish big. Export a .zella file to open the same project on the Mac.