Every platform that shows vertical video publishes its own limits, and they move. YouTube has counted a square or vertical video of up to 3 minutes as a Short since October 15, 2024, and Instagram lets a reel run to 20 minutes but says it will not recommend one over 3 minutes to people who do not follow you yet. A length or a size copied from a roundup can be out of date by the time you export.
So each guide on this shelf quotes the platform's own help pages, lists them under its sources and prints the day they were checked. Where a platform publishes no figure, as Instagram does not for the safe zone of an ordinary reel, the guide says so and gives the nearest official one rather than a guess.
Start with the length limits when you are deciding where a clip should go, and with the reel size guide when you are about to export. Snipri renders every vertical clip at 1080 × 1920, the full 9:16 frame, and its auto reframe keeps the speaker in that frame when the recording is wide. Shorts made from a long recording are on the YouTube Shorts maker page.
YouTube Shorts Size: Dimensions and Aspect Ratio
Export YouTube Shorts at 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16). Square and vertical videos up to 3 minutes count as Shorts, and a Short's thumbnail is 2160 × 3840.
How Long Can Instagram Reels Be? 2026 Limits
Instagram Reels run up to 20 minutes, but reels over 3 minutes are not recommended to new audiences. The limits, the ads cap and how to plan a reel's length.
How Long Can YouTube Shorts Be? 2026 Limits
YouTube Shorts can run up to 3 minutes, but a Short over a minute with an active copyright claim is blocked. The rules, the dates and how to plan clip length.
Instagram Reel Size: 1080 × 1920 and Safe Zones
Export Instagram Reels at 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16). Instagram accepts 1.91:1 to 9:16 at 720p or more and 30 fps, and the cover is 420 × 654.


