The short answer
Most car reels work best between 8 and 30 seconds. Every platform takes far longer videos now, so length is your call: keep the car on screen, put the price in the first seconds, and end on how to reach you.
- Instagram: reels up to 3 minutes, since January 2025.
- Facebook: no length limit on reels, announced June 2025.
- TikTok: uploads of 10 minutes or more. YouTube Shorts: up to 3 minutes.
The limits in 2026
| Platform | Longest | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels | 3 minutes, up from 90 seconds | January 20, 2025 |
| Facebook Reels | No length limit: every video is shared as a reel (it was 90 seconds) | Announced June 17, 2025, rolled out over months |
| TikTok | 10 minutes for uploads, longer for some accounts | February 28, 2022, for 10 minutes |
| YouTube Shorts | 3 minutes, square or vertical | October 15, 2024 |
- Longest
- 3 minutes, up from 90 seconds
- Since
- January 20, 2025
- Longest
- No length limit: every video is shared as a reel (it was 90 seconds)
- Since
- Announced June 17, 2025, rolled out over months
- Longest
- 10 minutes for uploads, longer for some accounts
- Since
- February 28, 2022, for 10 minutes
- Longest
- 3 minutes, square or vertical
- Since
- October 15, 2024
The right length for each car post
8 to 10 seconds
Just arrived
The car, the price, the km. Long enough to read, short enough to watch twice.
20 to 30 seconds
Walkaround
Outside, inside, the details. The one post worth half a minute.
10 to 15 seconds
Pick of the week
Its best angles, with the price at the start and the end.
10 to 20 seconds
New style, same car
A second reel from the same photos, for everyone who scrolled past.
Price drop
6 to 10 seconds
Price drop
The new price in the first second. Nothing else needs saying.
6 to 8 seconds
Sold
Short and proud. It shows your lot moves cars.
What makes a short reel work
- Rule 1
The car in the first second
No logo intro and no title card. The car is why they stopped.
- Rule 2
The price early
Buyers scroll past what they can’t afford. The ones who stay are the ones who can.
- Rule 3
One idea a reel
A walkaround, a price drop or a Sold post, not all three at once.
- Rule 4
End on who to call
Your name, your number, your logo. StudioOS ends every reel on a card with your logo and dealer number.
Reel lengths in StudioOS
StudioOS makes reels from 4 to 40 seconds from your photos of the car. The free credits, Basic and Lifetime make reels up to 10 seconds (Basic can extend one to 15), Starter up to 20, and Pro and up to 40. Every reel comes vertical for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, or square, 4:5, 4:3 or wide for everywhere else.
3.7 min
Median time from tap to finished reel in StudioOS: 24 reels, September 30 to October 23, 2026. Half took between 2.6 and 6.1 minutes.
StudioOS’s own records. Most were test reels made by StudioOS.
10 s
Median time for a photo post, across 38 made in the same weeks.
StudioOS’s own records, same period.
Sources
- Instagram introduces three-minute Reels, Social Samosa, January 20, 2025.
- Facebook announces that all videos on its platform will soon be shared as reels, TechCrunch, June 17, 2025.
- TikTok expands max video length to 10 minutes, up from 3 minutes, TechCrunch, February 28, 2022.
- Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts, YouTube Help, checked October 24, 2026.
Try it on a car from your lot.
Add a few photos, or paste the listing link.
20 free credits. No card.
