YouTube Shorts vs Reels vs TikTok: the differences

A Short, a Reel and a TikTok look so alike that people mix them up: a vertical video, an endless feed, a flick of the thumb to reach the next one. The differences are in what surrounds the video. We collected what each platform says about itself, and what the press reported where the platform published nothing. Pages read on 15 October 2026.

Who owns what, and since when?

Sources are listed below. Two cells carry no figure because we found no official page giving the current limit, and press articles contradict each other. A blank is better than an outdated number.

YouTube Shorts: a format attached to a huge library

YouTube launched Shorts in India in mid-September 2020, as a beta with 15-second clips. The US launch was announced for March 2021, alongside 3.5 billion daily views that YouTube reported.

Today YouTube classes as a Short any square or vertical video of three minutes at most, uploaded since 15 October 2024. A 16:9 video stays long-form. In June 2025 its CEO put the figure at 200 billion views a day; Tubefilter notes that YouTube counts every appearance in the feed as a view. That is a platform’s own number, and it exists first to sell its format.

What is particular: Shorts live next to long videos on the same channel. YouTube shares the ad revenue of the Shorts feed in a common pool, of which creators receive 45%.

Instagram Reels: the vertical feed of a photo network

Instagram tested Reels in Brazil in November 2019, under the name Cenas, then launched them in more than 50 countries on 5 August 2020, with 15-second videos. They appeared in a space within Explore, on a tab of the profile, and could be shared to Stories.

Instagram now accepts reels of up to 20 minutes, but does not recommend those over 3 minutes to new audiences. To reach people who do not follow you, that is the real limit. Facebook adopted the format: Reels reached the US in September 2021, then more than 150 countries on 22 February 2022, with a 60-second maximum at the time. That limit has changed since, and we did not find the Meta page that states the current one.

TikTok: owned by ByteDance

TikTok belongs to ByteDance. Its Chinese app, Douyin, dates from September 2016; the international version followed in September 2017. ByteDance bought musical.ly in November 2017, and the two apps merged on 2 August 2018 under the TikTok name.

The limit depends on the gesture: 10 minutes at most for a video filmed in the app, up to 60 minutes for one you upload.

LinkedIn and Snapchat: two special cases

LinkedIn tested a feed of vertical videos in March 2024 and now describes it in its help pages: you cannot post to that feed directly; you post a video as usual, and it may be picked up depending on its relevance and results. LinkedIn’s limits are covered in LinkedIn video: formats, length and captions.

Snapchat Spotlight was introduced on 23 November 2020, with a payment fund for creators. Snap is the company behind Snapchat, whose app played a part in the rise of vertical video, as the history of vertical video tells.

What really changes when you post

The file does not change: a vertical 9:16 video, 1080 × 1920 pixels, which we cover elsewhere along with safe zones. What changes:

• The useful length. Three minutes fit the limits of YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. For the length to aim for, see How long should a short be?.
• The audience. A Short is shown to YouTube viewers, where your long videos also live. A Reel appears in Explore and on your profile. On LinkedIn, the video arrives in a professional feed mixed with text and images.
• The post text. It does not read the same on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Pasting the same text everywhere is the most common shortcut, and the least effective.
• The pay. It exists on YouTube (45% of the Shorts revenue pool), and each network sets its own conditions. For a freelancer selling expertise, that is not the point: the video is there to get you chosen, not to pay you.

Do you have to pick a platform?

Not as long as one video will do. The same vertical file can go everywhere, with a text adapted to each network. The choice matters mostly for your clients: post where they look for you. For a consultant or a coach, that is often LinkedIn first, then YouTube.

Dailies Studio starts from your calls, held in French or in English, turns them into vertical shorts of 30 to 90 seconds and publishes them on the day and hour you picked on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn and TikTok, with a text proposed for each network. See what Dailies Studio is.

Key takeaways

• The format is the same everywhere: vertical, full screen, 9:16.
• Google, Meta, ByteDance, Microsoft and Snap each have their own feed; the best-known ones launched between 2016 and 2021.
• Three minutes keep you within the limits of the four main platforms.
• View and growth figures are published by the platforms themselves: they sell their format.

Sources

Pages read on 15 October 2026.

• YouTube: three-minute Shorts, Shorts revenue sharing.
• Digital Music News, launch in India, 15 September 2020; Tubefilter, arrival in the US, 16 February 2021; Tubefilter, 200 billion views, 18 June 2025.
• TechCrunch: Reels launch, 5 August 2020; Facebook Reels worldwide, 22 February 2022.
• Instagram, recording a reel; TikTok, video length.
• Wikipedia, TikTok and Musical.ly: dates for Douyin, TikTok and the merger, which cite the press of the time.
• LinkedIn, sharing videos and vertical video; Engadget, test of the vertical feed, 29 March 2024.
• Snap, Introducing Spotlight, 23 November 2020.