Windows 11's built-in video editing app is a subscription service

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Windows 11's new built-in video editing app is an expensive subscription service; iMovie still free

By Rich Woods

Published Mar 10, 2022

Microsoft is going to start pre-installing a new video editing app on Windows 11 called Clipchamp but you'll have to pay for it to be useful.

When Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview build 22572 yesterday, it added a couple of new inbox apps to the OS. One of them is called Clipchamp, a service that Microsoft acquired back in September. It's a cloud-based video editing service, and it's the first real push at a video editor that Microsoft has made since the days of Windows Movie Maker.

But as it turns out, it's not cheap. If you install the latest Dev channel build of Windows 11 and decide to play around with Clipchamp, you'll soon find that your options are very limited. Before having to fork over some cash, you're allowed to export video at 480p, also known as standard definition.

After that, there's a 'Creator' plan, which offers 720p (HD) exports. Following that are Business and Business Premium plans for $19 and $39 a month, which offer 1080p (FHD) exports, along with some other perks.

Screenshot of Clipchamp subscription prices

It's worth noting that not only is this an upsell, but it's not even a competitive upsell. Apple has been giving away iMovie for ages now, and that lets you export your movies in 4K, something Clipchamp doesn't even have a tier for. iMovie doesn't even have ads; it's just a perk of being in Apple's ecosystem.

And iMovie isn't the only free or less expensive option. Even Adobe Premiere Pro, one of the most powerful video editing solutions that exists, comes in at $20.99 a month. Then there are apps like DaVinci Resolve, and countless mobile solutions for iOS and Android, such as LumaFusion.

Navigating the creator landscape has never been one of Microsoft's strengths. After killing off Windows Movie Maker, it had a Metro app for Windows 8 that never came out of beta, and then Story Remix came to Windows 10 with the Fall Creators Update. But still, the series of Creators Updates never seemed focused on what creators actually wanted to do. The firm was focused on things like Paint 3D and Windows Mixed Reality, rather than offering competing solutions to what Apple used to call iLife, including iMovie, and Garage Band.

We've reached out to Microsoft to find out if these prices are going to stick. It's entirely possible that these tiers have been around for a while, and that the Redmond firm plans to revamp them before it goes live to the general public. We'll update this when we have more information.

Update: Microsoft has confirmed that these prices aren't changing.