Is there a Zella app for iPhone?
Yes - Zella for iPhone is a full editor, not a companion viewer. It records with the camera or the screen, cuts, captions, grades, removes backgrounds, mixes audio and exports, entirely on the device. It is the same editor as the Mac app, rebuilt for touch, and on the phone that means a multi-clip timeline with an Audio tool, picture-in-picture overlays with free-form resize, 25 transitions, 42 colour looks, 9 caption presets, 19 callouts, on-device Auto-Polish and the AI Assistant. Everything runs on-device - nothing is uploaded, and it works in airplane mode. See /ios for the full feature list, or the iPhone chapters of the docs.
Do I have to buy Zella twice for Mac and iPhone?
No. Zella Pro is a Universal Purchase: one $89 payment unlocks Mac and iPhone together, tied to your Apple ID. Buy it on whichever device you happen to be using and the others unlock when you sign in. The same is true of Zella Founder. And every new install - on any of those devices - starts with Pro Week: seven days of the complete Pro feature set, with no card and nothing to cancel.
Does the iPhone app need the internet or a subscription?
Neither. Recording, editing, captions, background removal, voice polish and export all run on the device itself, so the app works on a plane and nothing you shoot leaves your phone. There is no account and no subscription. Three optional features use the network if you choose them: the AI Assistant (which sends only your typed prompt, using your own API key) and stock-footage B-Roll (Auto B-Roll also has a keyless mode that generates cutaway cards entirely on-device). The captions model downloads once, about 145 MB, over Wi-Fi.
Can I start a video on my iPhone and finish it on my Mac?
Yes. Export the project package from the phone and open it on the Mac - clips, cuts, captions, titles, callouts and effects come across. It is the practical workflow for shooting on the go and finishing on the bigger screen. See the export & handoff chapter in the docs for the exact steps.
Is Zella free?
Yes. Zella Free is free forever - not a trial. It records unlimited length and exports up to 2 minutes, runs 100% locally with no account, and includes the complete editor plus all the AI: Auto-Polish, one-tap Make it Viral, the AI Assistant (with your own key), Auto B-Roll, on-device captions and AI background removal, all 25 transitions and 42 colour looks. Exports are watermark-free. The only limits are on export: up to 2 minutes, at up to 1080p - and 1080p is free forever. That is already more than Loom, Descript, or CapCut give you on a paid plan. Zella Pro ($89 one-time) lifts those two ceilings and adds pro export formats, batch export, saved templates and the depth toolset.
What is the difference between Zella Free and Zella Pro?
Free gives you unlimited local recording, the complete editor and all the AI - Auto-Polish, one-tap Make it Viral, the AI Assistant (bring your own key), Auto B-Roll, on-device captions, AI background removal, all 25 transitions and every colour look (42 on iPhone, 43 on Mac) - with watermark-free export up to 2 minutes at up to 1080p. 1080p is free forever. Pro ($89 one-time) is exactly six things: unlimited export length; 4K (plus 8K on Mac); pro export formats (transparent background, 60 fps, custom bitrate); batch export (the multi-aspect queue); saving your own templates; and the depth toolset (keyframe curves, luma scopes, Color Match, feathered masks, speed ramps, per-drum Beat Sync). One purchase covers Mac and iPhone. Zella Founder ($299) is an optional supporter tier on top of Pro, led by every future major version free - plus three Founder-exclusive cinematic grades (Teal & Orange, Kodak 2383 and Film Noir - three more grades on top of the base catalogue, on Mac and iPhone), priority support, early access, and Family Sharing for up to five more people.
Does Zella upload my recordings to the cloud?
No. Zella is local-only on every plan and on every device. Recording, editing, AI cleanup, and captions all run on your Mac or iPhone - nothing is uploaded, and there is no account to sign into.
Is this a subscription?
No. Zella Free is free forever, and Zella Pro / Founder are one-time purchases with free updates within the major version. No monthly bill - unlike Loom, Descript, CapCut, and Camtasia, which are all subscriptions.
Where do I buy it, and who handles the payment?
Zella is distributed on Apple's App Store - the Mac app coming to the Mac App Store, and Zella for iPhone coming to the App Store. You download it free, and Pro/Founder are in-app purchases billed by Apple to the card already on your Apple ID - Zella never sees or stores your payment details. Pro is a Universal Purchase, so one payment covers both.
What do I need to run it?
On the Mac: macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel - Zella ships as a universal binary. On mobile: any iPhone running iOS 18 or later. No account and no internet connection are needed to run either one.
Do the AI features need internet?
No - on any device. Auto-captions, filler-word removal, silence removal, and background removal all run on-device. The optional AI Assistant (free - bring your own key) is the one feature that calls out to a language model, and only if you add your own API key.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. Because purchases go through the App Store, refunds follow Apple’s standard policy - request one at reportaproblem.apple.com. We’re also happy to help if something went wrong; see the contact page.
Which platforms can I export for?
Export MP4, MOV, GIF or M4A at 1080p (free) or 4K with Pro - plus 8K on the Mac - with one-click presets for TikTok/Reels/Shorts (1080×1920), YouTube (1920×1080) and Instagram (1080×1350). The same presets are on iPhone.
Can I record system audio and my mic at the same time?
Yes - capture system audio, mic, or both, and Auto-Duck can lower music under your voice automatically.
Does it work on Intel Macs?
Yes. The Mac app ships as a universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel. Vision-based face auto-track runs on both: Apple Silicon takes the fast path, and Intel runs it on the CPU, which is slower but fully supported.
Can I export captions separately?
Yes - export SRT, VTT, or CSV alongside your video, or burn captions in with any of the caption presets.
How are long recordings protected?
On the Mac, Zella writes fragmented MP4 and recovers automatically after a crash, and long takes are safe across sleep. On iPhone, takes are written in segments, so a phone call or a flat battery never costs you the recording.
Do captions work the same on Mac and iPhone?
Both transcribe entirely on-device, with no upload, and both offer the same 27 spoken languages. The Mac uses Apple’s built-in engine for English and its own on-device model for the rest; iPhone use WhisperKit, which transcribes verbatim. iOS 18 or later adds one thing the Mac does not have: rewriting a finished caption track into 19 other languages, also on-device.