Answering How Long Can a Video Be on X for Every Account Tier

How long can a video be on X?

The documented answer to how long can a video be on X is 140 seconds and 512 MB for a free account, and under 4 hours and 16 GB for an X Premium subscriber uploading on x.com. Both numbers come from X's help page "How to share and watch videos on X", which states: "If you aren't a Premium subscriber, you can still upload videos up to 140 seconds long with a maximum file size of 512MB."

That sentence is the one to plan around if you post from a free account. It is also the smallest figure any X page publishes for a post video. Everything above 140 seconds depends on which X page you read, and X publishes three of them that disagree.

Where X states it	Account	Max length	Max file size
Video help page	Free	140 seconds	512 MB
Video help page	Premium, 1080p	Shorter than 4 hours	16 GB
Video help page	Premium, 720p	2 to 4 hours	16 GB
X Premium page	Premium (web and iOS)	Up to ~3 hours, 1080p	8 GB
X API media best practices	Default (no Premium)	20 minutes	8 GB
X API media best practices	Premium or verified	125 minutes	16 GB
X API media best practices	Any, minimum	0.5 seconds	n/a

If you only want the upload steps, the walkthrough for uploading video to X covers the composer on desktop and mobile. This page is about the ceiling itself and why X's own numbers argue with each other.

Why does X list different limits for Premium video?

X lists different Premium limits because three of its pages each carry their own number. The video help page, the X Premium page and the developer docs give separate figures, and none of them mentions the others.

The video help page gives two sentences back to back: "Premium subscribers are able to upload videos shorter than 4 hours at 1080p with a maximum file size of 16GB. Premium subscribers are also able to upload videos above 2 hours and under 4 hours at 720p with a maximum file size of 16GB." Read literally, the first sentence already covers 1080p up to 4 hours, so the second one has no job to do. The reading that makes both sentences true is 1080p up to 2 hours and 720p from 2 to 4 hours. X does not say that.

The X Premium page says something else again: "Premium subscribers can upload videos up to ~3 hours long and up to 8GB file size (1080p) (on x.com and X for iOS only)." That is a lower length, half the file size, and a platform restriction the video help page leaves out. An Android user on Premium does not get the longer upload at all by this account.

My advice is to treat the Premium page as the floor you can count on and the video help page as the upper bound X has not confirmed elsewhere. A 90-minute file under 8 GB, uploaded from x.com by a Premium account, satisfies every Premium figure X publishes.

Which X account tiers get longer videos?

Every paid X Premium tier gets longer video uploads, including Basic, the cheapest one. X's Premium page lists "longer video uploads" among the Basic features, next to editing posts and longer posts, so you do not need the checkmark tier to upload more than 140 seconds.

Tier	Web price in the US	Longer video uploads	Where it works (Premium page)
Free	$0	No, 140 seconds	n/a
Basic	$3/month	Yes	x.com and X for iOS
Premium	$8/month	Yes	x.com and X for iOS
Premium+	$40/month	Yes	x.com and X for iOS

The full X Premium feature breakdown covers the rest of each tier. For video length, the tiers above Basic add nothing. Media Studio, which Basic lacks, is a library for managing uploads and does not change the cap.

Does the X API allow longer videos than the X app?

The X API documents longer default videos than the X app does: 20 minutes and 8 GB for an account without Premium, and 125 minutes and 16 GB for a Premium or verified account. Those figures sit in the size and duration table on X's media upload best practices page, and they apply to both tweet_video and amplify_video.

The same page then adds a line that contradicts the help centre: "Post-video caps match the X app." They do not match what X's help centre tells app users, which is 140 seconds for a free account. Twenty minutes and 140 seconds are not the same cap. I cannot tell you which page is out of date, and X does not say.

Two details on that page decide what happens in practice. First, "Limits follow the authenticated user (X Premium / verified status), not your developer API plan." Paying for a higher API tier does nothing for video length. Second, "Upload limits and Post-create limits are separately enforced." A video can pass initialize, append and finalize, then fail when you attach it to a post, and X documents the refusal as a 403 with the text "This user is not allowed to post a video longer than N minutes."

The category you upload under matters too. Sending a post video as dm_video drops the cap to 140 seconds, or 10 minutes with Premium. The media_category values and their ceilings are listed in full on our API reference post.

Where the video length cap lands, by account and path

Free, web upload140 sec

API, no Premium20 min

API, Premium or verified125 min

Premium page, x.com/iOS~3h

Video help page, Premium 1080punder 4h

What else decides whether X accepts a video?

Resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate and bitrate decide whether X accepts a video once its length passes. X's help centre lists the web limits as a minimum resolution of 32 x 32, a maximum of 1920 x 1200 (and 1200 x 1900), aspect ratios from 1:2.39 to 2.39:1 inclusive, a maximum frame rate of 40 fps and a maximum bitrate of 25 Mbps.

The developer docs publish a different set for API uploads: dimensions between 32x32 and 1280x1024, aspect ratio between 1:3 and 3:1, and a frame rate of 60 FPS or less. The two lists share only the 32 x 32 minimum. A 1920 x 1080 file fits the help centre's ceiling and exceeds the API's 1280x1024, while a 50 fps file breaks the help centre's 40 fps rule and passes the API's.

A few other rules shape a video post:

• A post holds "up to 4 photos, 1 animated GIF or 1 video", so one video per post and no mixing with images.
• Videos of 60 seconds or shorter loop automatically, per the help centre.
• Clickable timestamps work only on posts with exactly one video, with a maximum of 50 per post.
• Videos do not count toward the post's character limit.

How do you check a video before posting it to X?

Check a video against the smallest limit that applies to your account and upload path before you post it. Use this order:

1. Confirm the account tier. Free accounts stop at 140 seconds and 512 MB on the web.
2. Confirm the device. Premium's longer uploads work on x.com and X for iOS only, according to the Premium page, so do not plan a long upload from Android.
3. For a Premium upload, keep the file under 8 GB and under 3 hours. That is the lowest Premium figure X publishes.
4. Check the resolution and aspect ratio against the help centre table, or against the API table if a tool uploads for you. Where the two differ, meet the tighter value on each row.
5. If the video goes through the API, handle the 403 on post creation even when finalize succeeded.

Where AdaptlyPost fits

AdaptlyPost publishes one video per post to X, in MP4 or MOV, up to 140 seconds and 512 MB. AdaptlyPost publishes that one limit with no higher Premium tier, so a 10-minute video has to go up natively on x.com. X will not take a video mixed with images in one post, and AdaptlyPost keeps the two apart. The Twitter posting API lists those rules along with the 280-character text check and the four-image ceiling, and you can queue video posts ahead of time with the Twitter/X post scheduler.

The 140-second cap matches the free-account number on X's help page, the lowest post-video limit X publishes, so a clip that fits AdaptlyPost fits every X account. If the same clip goes to TikTok as well, TikTok's video length rules differ, so trim to the shortest network first.

Frequently asked questions

How long can a video be on X without Premium?

A free X account can upload a video of up to 140 seconds, which is 2 minutes and 20 seconds, with a maximum file size of 512 MB. X states this on its "How to share and watch videos on X" help page. The X API docs list a 20-minute default, but the help centre figure is the one X gives app users.

How long can a video be on X with Premium?

X's video help page says Premium subscribers can upload videos shorter than 4 hours with a 16 GB maximum. The X Premium page says up to ~3 hours and 8 GB at 1080p, on x.com and X for iOS only. Plan for the lower pair, 3 hours and 8 GB, to stay inside both.

Does X Premium Basic include longer video uploads?

Yes. X's Premium page lists longer video uploads among the Basic tier features, alongside editing posts and longer posts. Basic starts at $3 a month on the web in the US, so the checkmark tier is not needed for longer videos.

Can I upload a long video to X from Android?

X's Premium page says the longer uploads work "on x.com and X for iOS only". An Android user on Premium should upload long videos from x.com in a browser instead. The video help page does not repeat this restriction, but it describes the web upload flow.

What is the minimum video length on X?

The minimum is 0.5 seconds. X's API documentation states it as a floor for every video category, including post videos and DM videos. The help centre does not give a minimum.

Why was my X video rejected even though it uploaded?

X enforces upload limits and post limits separately, so a video can finish uploading and still fail when it is attached to a post. Through the API the refusal is a 403 reading "This user is not allowed to post a video longer than N minutes." Check the account's Premium status and the media category used for the upload.

Can I post a video and photos together on X?

A single X post holds up to four photos, one animated GIF, or one video, never a combination. Attaching a video to a post rules out adding any images alongside it. AdaptlyPost applies the same rule when it queues a post for X, keeping video and images apart.

Do X videos count toward the character limit?

Videos on X do not count toward a post's character limit, according to X's help centre. The caption keeps its full character allowance whether or not a video rides along with it.

Do short videos on X loop automatically?

X's help centre states that videos of 60 seconds or shorter loop automatically once they finish playing. That sits alongside the one-video-per-post rule and the character-limit exemption as one of the few post-level behaviors X documents outside the length and file-size tables.

Can I add clickable timestamps to a video post on X?

Clickable timestamps work only on a post that carries exactly one video, and X caps them at 50 per post. Timestamps in a post without a video, or in a post with a video and an image, are not clickable. X's help centre also says timestamps are clickable only on iOS for now, with Android and web still to come.