Instagram’s first video-sharing feature allowed clips up to 15 seconds.
Instagram began as a photo-sharing service, but in June 2013 it added video posts with a maximum length of 15 seconds. Users could record clips inside the app, combine segments, and apply video filters before sharing them. The launch expanded Instagram beyond still photography while preserving its short, highly edited format.
The timing mattered because Vine, another popular short-video service, had helped make brief looping clips a major social-media format. Instagram’s 15-second limit gave it a direct way to compete for that audience, while its existing followers and photo-editing tools provided a built-in advantage.
This limit is often confused with Vine’s six-second maximum, or with later Instagram limits. Instagram subsequently extended feed-video length to one minute in March 2016, and later introduced additional video products and formats. Thus, 15 seconds is the canonical answer for Instagram’s original video-sharing feature, not its later video limits.