Video specs by platform
Aspect, size, length, frame rate, file size and loudness for YouTube, Shorts, Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn and X, with the official page and the date read.
This page lists the video limits of six platforms. Every row names the platform page that states the limit and the date the page was read. Where a platform publishes no number, the cell says “not published”. A blog figure never fills a gap.
Platform limits change. Read the platform page again before a launch. The guides for each platform tell you the vawe commands: YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok and LinkedIn. A film for X uses the same commands as the others; the X row below gives its limits.
The table
All pages were read on 2026-10-31 and read again on 2026-11-01. Reels, TikTok and LinkedIn rows mix limits for ads and for posts: the “Kind” column says which.
| Platform | Kind | Aspect and size | Length | Frame rate | File size | Loudness | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | upload | 16:9 is the standard on a computer. A square or vertical upload of 3 minutes or less is a Short (next row). 1080p SDR bitrate: 8 Mbps at 24 to 30 fps, 12 Mbps at 48 to 60 fps | 12 hours, or 15 minutes for an unverified account | Same as the recording rate | 256 GB, or 12 hours, whichever is less | not published | encoding, limits |
| YouTube Shorts | upload | Square or vertical. Maximum resolution 1080p. No pixel size is published | Up to 3 minutes | not published | not published | not published | three-minute Shorts, Shorts upload |
| Instagram Reels | ad | 9:16, 1440 × 2560 | 0 s to 15 minutes | Fixed frame rate, no number | 4 GB | Stereo AAC, 128 kbps or more. No LUFS target | Meta Ads Guide, Reels video |
| Instagram Reels | post | not published (help page did not load; see the note below) | Instagram recommends Reels of 3 minutes or less to people who do not follow you. A Reel can run up to 20 minutes | not published | not published | not published | Instagram creators FAQ, Reels feature page |
| TikTok | ad | 9:16 at 540 × 960 or more (recommended), 16:9 at 960 × 540 or more, 1:1 at 640 × 640 or more | Up to 10 minutes | not published | 500 MB or less | not published | TikTok Ads help, in-feed ads |
| TikTok | post | not verified: 720 × 1280 or more (excerpt) | not verified (see the note below) | not published | not verified: 10 GB (excerpt) | not published | TikTok creator tools (did not load) |
| ad | 16:9 (640 × 360 to 1920 × 1080), 1:1 (360 × 360 to 1920 × 1920), 4:5 (360 × 450 to 1080 × 1350), 9:16 (360 × 640 to 1080 × 1920) | 3 seconds to 30 minutes. In-stream ads: up to 90 seconds | Less than 30 fps | 75 KB to 500 MB | AAC or MPEG4 audio. No LUFS target | LinkedIn video ad specifications | |
| post | 256 × 144 to 4096 × 2304, aspect 1:2.4 to 2.4:1 | 3 seconds to 15 minutes | 10 to 60 fps | 75 KB to 5 GB | not published | Video sharing troubleshooting, Page video specifications | |
| X | post | 16:9 or 1:1 recommended. 1280 × 720, 720 × 1280 or 720 × 720. Dimensions 32 × 32 to 1280 × 1024. Aspect 1:3 to 3:1 | 0.5 seconds to 20 minutes (125 minutes for Premium or verified accounts) | 30 or 60 fps recommended, 60 fps or less | 8 GB (16 GB for Premium or verified accounts) | AAC LC at 128 kbps or more. No LUFS target | X API media best practices |
Notes on the rows:
- YouTube Shorts. The page “three-minute Shorts” states that a video with a square or vertical aspect ratio, up to three minutes long, is a Short, for uploads from 2024-10-15 (2025-12-08 for Official Artist Channels). The older Shorts upload page says only “vertical”.
- Instagram Reels, post. The Instagram help page for Reel sizes (
help.instagram.com/1038071743007909) did not load text on 2026-10-31. A search excerpt of that page gives a ratio range of 1.91:1 to 9:16, at least 30 fps and at least 720 px. Read the page before you rely on those numbers. On length, the feature page says that you can record up to 20 minutes, and that Instagram does not recommend a Reel over 3 minutes to new audiences. The creators FAQ gives the same 3 minutes. - TikTok, post.
support.tiktok.comanswered 503 on 2026-10-31 and on 2026-11-01, so no post number in the row is verified. Search excerpts disagree on length: one gives 10 minutes, and a TikTok Creator Academy page gives 60 minutes at 720p or more and 10 GB. Read the TikTok upload screen or help page before you rely on a length. - LinkedIn, post. The two LinkedIn help pages disagree. The video-sharing page gives 15 minutes and 5 GB. The Page video page gives 10 minutes. Use 10 minutes if you post from a Page. The 3-second minimum is for desktop; the video-sharing page gives 2 seconds on mobile.
- X. The numbers come from the X API media guide. They are the limits for an upload through the API, which follow the Premium or verified state of the account. The X help pages (
help.x.com) answered 403, so the app limits are not verified. - Loudness. No platform page above states a LUFS target for an upload. Do not copy a number from a blog. Loudness and the mix shows how to measure and set the level of a film.
- Frame rate in vawe.
bin/vawe shiprenders at 60 fps and has no fps flag. A 60 fps film fits every row except the LinkedIn ad, which asks for less than 30 fps. See the LinkedIn guide.
The vawe settings
These values come from bin/vawe and core/layout/aspects.js. Read Aspect ratios for the layout rules.
| Film | Aspect flag | Final size |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube, X, wide LinkedIn | --aspect 16:9 | 1920 × 1080 |
| Shorts, Reels, TikTok, tall LinkedIn | --aspect 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 |
| Square feed post | --aspect 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 |
| LinkedIn feed post | --aspect 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 |
Every final is H.264 High profile, yuv420p, with the moov atom at the front of the file (+faststart) and AAC audio at 48 kHz. Ask bin/vawe ship --help for the flags. ship also writes a small .web.mp4 beside the master: do not upload that copy.
Aspect ratios
Loudness and the mix
Ship
From the blogHTML video aspect ratio: 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1