You cut one launch video. Then you post it to four platforms that disagree about everything — aspect ratios, max lengths, file sizes, even whether you can upload a file at all. This page is the reference: the 2026 specs for X, LinkedIn, Product Hunt and YouTube, with one usage tip per platform.
One caveat up front: platforms change limits without announcing it. Everything below was verified in mid-2026. If a number is load-bearing for you — an ad buy, a paid placement — confirm it against the current platform docs before you render.
X (Twitter)
- Aspect ratios: 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16 all render in-feed; anything between 1:3 and 3:1 is accepted.
- Resolution: 1280×720 minimum; upload 1920×1080 for crisp playback.
- Max length: 2 minutes 20 seconds is the long-documented free limit, though X has been quietly raising it for some accounts (reports of ~10 minutes on desktop web). Premium stretches to around 4 hours. For a 15-second teaser it's academic either way.
- Max file size: 512 MB on free accounts; 16 GB with Premium (web and iOS).
- Format: MP4 (H.264 video, AAC audio), up to 60 fps. MOV also works.
- Autoplay: on, and muted.
The tip: X is the fastest feed of the four. Videos autoplay muted while the thumb is mid-scroll, so the first frame is doing most of the work — if it's a logo on a black background, you've already lost. This is where the three-second hook earns its keep: open on the claim, the number, or the product doing its best trick.
- Aspect ratios: anything from 2.4:1 to 1:2.4 is accepted; in practice 16:9, 1:1 and 4:5 are the choices that render cleanly.
- Resolution: 256×144 up to 4096×2304 supported; upload 1920×1080.
- Max length: 15 minutes when uploading from desktop, 10 from the mobile app.
- Max file size: 5 GB for native posts.
- Format: MP4 is the safe bet. LinkedIn accepts a long list (MOV, WebM, MKV, AVI…) but MP4/H.264 never surprises you.
- Autoplay: on, muted by default — and B2B viewers are typically at work, with sound off.
The tip: upload the file natively instead of pasting a YouTube link. LinkedIn's feed treats native video as a first-class citizen and external links as an exit door. And design for silence without apology — across feeds, the large majority of video views happen with sound off. Nobody unmutes in an open-plan office.
Product Hunt (the odd one out)
Product Hunt doesn't host your launch video at all. The gallery video is a YouTube embed, which changes the rules completely.
- Video: a YouTube link only — the full URL, not a shortened one, and the video must not be private.
- Placement: if you add a video, it becomes the first item in your gallery. It is your first impression.
- Playback: muted by default. Assume nobody hears a thing.
- Gallery images: 1270×760 recommended, and every asset under 3 MB.
- GIFs: allowed in the gallery, but they don't autoplay — they animate on hover. The first frame is the thumbnail, so make it a real frame, not a fade-from-black.
The tip: because the video is a YouTube embed, cut it in 16:9 at 1080p and upload it to YouTube a day or two before launch — then verify the link loads in your gallery preview. Launch mornings are not the time to debug a private-video setting. We wrote up the full playbook on the Product Hunt launch video page.
YouTube
- Standard videos: 16:9, 1920×1080 recommended (up to 4K accepted). Max 12 hours or 256 GB, whichever comes first.
- Shorts: 9:16 vertical, 1080×1920. Max 3 minutes.
- Format: MP4 with H.264 is the standard recommendation.
- Shorts are served at a maximum of 1080p no matter what resolution you upload.
The tip: for a launch, YouTube is mostly infrastructure — it's the host for your Product Hunt embed and the player on your own site. Upload the standard 16:9 master there. A vertical Shorts recut is a nice extra distribution channel, but it's a derivative, not the launch asset.
The cheat sheet
- X — 16:9 or 1:1 · 1080p · at least 2:20 free (512 MB) · MP4 H.264 · autoplays muted.
- LinkedIn — 16:9, 1:1 or 4:5 · 1080p · up to 15 min · 5 GB · MP4 · autoplays muted, upload natively.
- Product Hunt — YouTube link (full URL, public) · first gallery slot · plays muted · images 1270×760, under 3 MB · GIFs animate on hover only.
- YouTube standard — 16:9 · 1080p or better · up to 12 h / 256 GB.
- YouTube Shorts — 9:16 · 1080×1920 · up to 3 minutes.
The one spec that works everywhere
Read the cheat sheet again and a pattern falls out. Every launch surface on this page — Shorts excepted, and Shorts is a derivative, not the launch asset — accepts 16:9 at 1080p. Every feed autoplays muted. Every limit is comfortably above fifteen seconds. So the master format for a launch is: 15 seconds, 1920×1080, MP4, designed to work in total silence, with the hook landing inside the first three seconds. Cut that once and it covers every launch surface here without a single re-render.
That's not a coincidence — it's the spec behind ShipTeaser's URL-to-video engine. But the specs are the easy part. What actually decides launch day is what happens inside those fifteen seconds — and that's a different article.