Video Ad Specs by Platform: The 2026 Master Cheatsheet
Every video ad spec you need in one place: aspect ratio, resolution, duration, bitrate, file size and caption rules for Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and Snap.
Every editor keeps a half-remembered mental map of platform specs, and it's always a little out of date. This sheet replaces the mental map: exact ratios, resolutions, duration windows, bitrate targets and caption rules for every major ad surface, kept current as platforms update them.
Why spec mistakes are the most avoidable losses in paid social
A video that gets letterboxed, cropped wrong, or rejected for being 40MB over the cap never gets a chance to fail on creative merit — it fails on paperwork. Spec errors are the only category of ad failure that costs you money for zero learning. Before you argue about hooks or offers, make sure the file itself is correct: right ratio, right resolution, right duration window, under the size cap, captions burned in where the platform expects them. This guide sets up the categories; the table unlocks the exact numbers per platform.
The seven fields every platform spec actually needs
Cut through marketing pages and you need seven numbers per placement: aspect ratio, pixel resolution, minimum and maximum duration, the duration 'sweet spot' the algorithm and audience actually reward, maximum file size, recommended bitrate, and the caption/safe-zone rule. Most creators only track the first two and get burned by the rest — a file that's technically valid but over-compressed looks worse than one shot on a phone at the right bitrate.
One export tree covers almost every placement
You don't need a unique render per platform. Export at 1080×1920 (9:16) as your master for TikTok, Reels, Stories and Shorts, then a 1080×1350 (4:5) and 1080×1080 (1:1) pass for Meta feed placements, and a 1920×1080 (16:9) pass for YouTube in-stream. Three to four exports from one edit covers essentially every surface. Klip Kanvas renders all of these ratios from a single product URL automatically, which is the fastest way to avoid a spec mismatch entirely.
How to use the table below
The locked table groups specs by platform family: Meta Feed, Meta Stories & Reels, TikTok, YouTube (Shorts and in-stream), and Pinterest & Snapchat. Each row gives you the ratio, resolution, duration range, sweet spot, file size cap, bitrate target and caption rule for that surface, so you can QA an export in under a minute before you spend a dollar on it.
5 platform tables — Meta Feed, Meta Stories & Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts & in-stream, and Pinterest & Snapchat — each with ratio, resolution, duration, file size cap, bitrate and caption rule.
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