What Happened to Filmic Pro? Its 2026 Status, and What to Use Instead
Disclosure first: I build ContentCam, a camera app. Filmic Pro is not really a competitor of mine (it does cinema capture, ContentCam records two framings at once), but I am still an interested party, so every factual claim below is tied to a primary source with the date I checked it. All store figures were read on 21 September 2026.
Filmic Pro spent a decade as the default answer to "what do I film on my iPhone with". It shot Sean Baker's Tangerine, Steven Soderbergh's Unsane and Lady Gaga's Stupid Love, all of which are still listed on its own App Store page. Then the company behind it was bought, the staff were let go, and the internet decided the app was dead. That conclusion is wrong on iPhone and roughly right on Android, and the difference matters if you are deciding what to install today.
Is Filmic Pro still being updated in 2026?
On iPhone, yes. On Android, not for nearly a year.
The iOS listing shows Filmic Pro at version 7.5.35, updated 8 September 2026, published by Bending Spoons Apps ApS. The Google Play listing shows version 7.6.4, last updated 5 November 2025, which is 10 months without an update at the time of writing. The two platforms are not on the same release track and have not been for some time.
The iPhone release notes for 7.5.35 read, in full: "We are glad you enjoy using our app to make your videos even greater! To let you enjoy the app even more, we needed to fix some minor bugs, and.. that's what we have diligently done!" That is maintenance, not development. The app is being kept alive rather than moved forward, which is a different thing from being abandoned.
What actually happened to Filmic Pro?
Three events, in order:
- September 2022: Filmic was acquired by Bending Spoons, the Milan-based app company that has since also bought Evernote (2023), Meetup and WeTransfer (2024), Vimeo and Brightcove (2025) and AOL (2026). The one-time purchase was replaced with a subscription at the same time.
- December 2023: the entire Filmic staff was laid off. This was reported by Daring Fireball on 5 December 2023 and covered by CineD and Videomaker. Development continued inside Bending Spoons with a different team.
- Since then: maintenance on iPhone, silence on Android. The iPhone build was updated on 8 September 2026. The Android build has not moved since 5 November 2025.
If you bought Filmic Pro v6 outright before 25 August 2022, you can still get Filmic Legacy, a separate app that keeps working for those buyers and receives bug fixes but no new features. That is the only route to a non-subscription Filmic today, and it is closed to anyone who was not already a customer four years ago.
How much does Filmic Pro cost in 2026?
It is free to download and subscription only. The in-app purchase list on the US App Store on 21 September 2026 shows Filmic Weekly at $2.99, Filmic Yearly with free trial at $39.99, Creator Weekly at $9.99 and a Cinematographer Kit at $13.99. A weekly subscription on a camera app is unusual, and it is the single thing most of the negative reviews are about.
The rating gap is the clearest number in this whole piece. Filmic Pro sits at 3.7 stars from 10,114 ratings on the US App Store. Every serious alternative rates higher:
| App | Publisher | Version, last updated | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filmic Pro | Bending Spoons Apps ApS | 7.5.35, 8 Sep 2026 | Free, subscription | 3.7 (10,114) |
| Blackmagic Camera | Blackmagic Design | 3.5, 18 Sep 2026 | Free | 4.8 (22,792) |
| Kino | Lux Optics | 1.4.3, 10 Jun 2026 | $9.99 once | 4.7 (1,958) |
| ProCam | Tinkerworks Apps | 15.1.0, 12 Sep 2026 | $9.99 once | 4.6 (35,272) |
| Final Cut Camera | Apple | 2.3, 30 Jun 2026 | Free | 4.6 (3,622) |
| Halide Mark III | Lux Optics | 3.1.2, 11 Jul 2026 | Free, paid unlock | 4.4 (13,482) |
| Moment Pro Camera II | Moment | 1.3.4, 12 Sep 2026 | $9.99 once | 4.4 (451) |
| Protake | Beijing Lingguang Zaixian | 4.2.4, 11 Nov 2025 | Free, paid unlock | 4.5 (1,337) |
US App Store listings, all read 21 September 2026. Protake is included as a warning as much as an option: it has not shipped an update in over 10 months either.
What should you use instead of Filmic Pro?
Blackmagic Camera, for most people. It is free with no subscription and no unlock, it is maintained by a company whose actual business is cinema cameras, it shoots Apple Log and ProRes, and at 4.8 stars from 22,792 ratings it is the highest rated app in the category by a wide margin. It updated three days before this post went up. If you were paying Filmic Pro $39.99 a year for manual video control, you can stop.
Kino, if the Blackmagic interface is too much. Also from Lux Optics, $9.99 once, built around getting a good-looking take without a settings panel. Its frame rate and shutter handling is opinionated on purpose. Worth noting it last updated 10 June 2026, so it is on a slower cadence than Blackmagic.
Final Cut Camera, if you already live in Apple's tools. Free, from Apple, and it hands off to Final Cut Pro cleanly.
ProCam, if you want stills and video in one app for one payment. $9.99 once and 35,272 ratings, the largest rating count of any app in the table.
On Android, Blackmagic Camera is the answer, if your phone is on the list. This is the part most Filmic Pro coverage gets wrong. Blackmagic Camera for Android exists, is free, has passed 1 million downloads with 14.4K reviews, and was updated on 3 September 2026. The free alternative is more current on Android than the paid incumbent, by 10 months. The catch is device support: Blackmagic restricts the app to specific Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel models, and its own listing warns that "some features are device dependent and may not be available on your device". Check it installs before you plan around it.
Kino, Halide, ProCam, Final Cut Camera and Moment Pro Camera II are iPhone only. If Blackmagic Camera will not run on your Android phone, you are down to the manual mode in your phone's own camera app, Open Camera, and the smaller set of third-party apps that ship on both platforms.
Which app replaces which part of Filmic Pro?
| What you used Filmic Pro for | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Log and ProRes for grading | Blackmagic Camera (free) |
| Manual exposure, focus and white balance | Blackmagic Camera or ProCam |
| A simple camera that looks good by default | Kino |
| Stills and video in one paid app | ProCam |
| Handing footage straight to an editor | Final Cut Camera |
| Filming one take for TikTok and YouTube at once | ContentCam (see below) |
| Anything at all on Android | Blackmagic Camera if your phone is supported, otherwise your phone's pro mode |
Where does ContentCam fit?
Nowhere near the cinema end of this list, and I want to be straight about that. ContentCam does not shoot Apple Log or ProRes, and if you are grading footage for a short film, Blackmagic Camera is the better tool and it costs nothing.
ContentCam solves a different problem: recording vertical and horizontal at the same time from one take, so the wide version is a real wide shot rather than a crop of a tall one. That problem did not exist when Filmic Pro was designed, which is part of why a decade-old cinema app is not the obvious default for someone posting to four platforms a week. It runs on iPhone and Android, and unlike Filmic Pro it keeps a one-time lifetime option alongside the subscriptions.
Frequently asked questions
Is Filmic Pro discontinued? No. The iPhone app was updated on 8 September 2026 and is actively listed. The Android app has not been updated since 5 November 2025.
Who owns Filmic Pro now? Bending Spoons, which acquired Filmic in September 2022. The App Store seller is listed as Bending Spoons Apps ApS.
Can I still buy Filmic Pro outright? No. It has been subscription only since the 2022 acquisition. Filmic Legacy remains available to people who bought v6 before 25 August 2022.
Why did everyone say Filmic Pro was dead? Because the entire team was laid off in December 2023 and the reporting at the time treated the app's future as uncertain. Development continued inside Bending Spoons, at maintenance pace.
What is the best free alternative to Filmic Pro? Blackmagic Camera. Free, no subscription, Apple Log and ProRes, 4.8 stars from 22,792 ratings as of 21 September 2026. It exists on Android too, updated 3 September 2026, but only for specific Samsung Galaxy and Pixel models.
Does Filmic Pro still work on the newest iPhones? The listing requires iOS 14.1 or later and was updated this month, so it installs and runs. Whether it exposes the newest camera hardware's capabilities is a separate question, and the maintenance-only release notes are not encouraging on that point.
Try ContentCam free. If your problem is posting one take to TikTok and YouTube rather than grading Log, record both framings at once. On iPhone and Android.
Every version number, price, rating and update date above was read from the US App Store and Google Play listings on 21 September 2026. App store figures drift; if something here is out of date, email me and I will correct it. Related: Blackmagic Camera settings explained · iPhone manual camera controls for video · dual-format recording apps compared · phone teleprompter apps compared · Android camera settings for video.