Instagram is testing a long-form video format called Features: horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long, linked from short Reels clips. It is the platform’s biggest move toward long-form video yet, and it comes with a catch most coverage buries: Instagram has announced no ad-revenue share for it, though established creators can still bring their own brand deals. Here is what is actually happening, who gets it, and what is still unknown.
Update, 4 November 2026: since this guide first published, further reporting has added a reported creator-offer detail, the Clips as Reels tool name, and companion announcement elements. They are collected in the new section “What has emerged since the announcement” below. The original guide is otherwise unchanged.
What is Instagram Features?
Features is a new format for long, horizontal videos on Instagram, announced on 26 October 2026 by Instagram head Adam Mosseri and VP Product Tessa Lyons. Selected creators can upload videos up to 90 minutes long. Viewers do not meet the long video first. They meet a short Reels clip, and up to 8 clips can point to a single long video. Tapping “Watch Full Video” on a clip opens the full video without leaving the app. Long videos are also eligible for Explore and other recommendations.
Mosseri’s announcement caption, quoted by Tribune, sets the tone: “It’s early, and we’re testing and listening to feedback as we go. But we’re excited to give creators more room to tell their stories with the communities they’ve already built here.” The use case Instagram names is podcasters, comedians, and other long-form creators: podcasts, interviews, comedy shows, vlogs. Named early participants include Emma Grede, Monet McMichael, Preston Rakovsky, and Donald De La Haye. The format is mobile first, with Instagram for TV expansion planned for a later date.
There is a history worth noting. Mosseri had long been against long-form video on Instagram, on the grounds that watching a 10- or 20-minute video means seeing less from friends and sharing less. Features reverses that stance on long-form, while presenting long-form as complementary to Reels rather than a replacement for short-form. A similar history, and the new 90-minute format’s place in it, is covered by ET Now, and by The National News, which notes an earlier long-form attempt, per ET Now.
Who gets Features right now?
Almost nobody, yet. The test starts with a small group of US creators, and Instagram plans to extend it to tens of thousands of US creators. Instagram earlier tested Features with creators in Brazil. No wide release date has been announced, and it is not yet clear whether it will roll out in the UK and elsewhere. Think of it as a US-only test, not a launch.
What does Features change for small creators?
The practical change is the discovery path. What Features changes is the intended journey: a viewer meets a short clip and taps through to the full video without leaving the app, instead of following a link elsewhere. The table below is our own synthesis of the announcement facts, and it is labelled as our own arrangement, not Instagram’s diagram:
| Step | Without Features | With Features |
|---|---|---|
| Viewer meets | A short clip | A short Reels clip |
| Viewer taps | Usually a link out of Instagram | “Watch Full Video” in the app |
| Viewer watches | Up to 90 minutes elsewhere | Up to 90 minutes in Instagram |
| Clips per episode | No fixed system | Up to 8 clips feeding one long video |
The shorthand version: 8 clips feeding one long video, with the tap staying in the app. “Episode” is just an example (interviews, vlogs, and comedy work the same way), and “0 link-outs” describes the intended journey, not a platform guarantee. For a small creator, the actionable part is not the 90 minutes. It is the 8 clips. A long video that nobody finds is still a long video that nobody finds. Our take, not Instagram’s claim: the creators who benefit first will likely be the ones who treat each clip as a genuine short that earns the tap, which is the same hook craft our Reels hooks guide covers, applied to a longer payoff.
What has Instagram NOT announced?
Three things, and each matters more than the format itself. First, money. Instagram does not currently plan to share ad revenue with creators for Features, according to Tribune. Established creators can still bring their own brand deals, per the announcement. Second, availability. Features is available to a small group of US creators now, with a planned expansion to tens of thousands of US creators. Instagram earlier tested Features with creators in Brazil. No wide release date has been announced, and it is not yet clear whether it will roll out in the UK and elsewhere. Third, format rules. The long-form videos are horizontal, linked from short Reels clips, and eligible for Explore and other recommendations. Instagram has not yet announced a separate revenue share for Features.
One more restraint: some coverage describes Features as a jump from a previous vertical-video ceiling, without citing Instagram’s own announcement. Take that framing as press interpretation, not an Instagram statement. It does not change the core facts: 90 minutes, 8 clips, US-only test, no ad-revenue share yet.
What to watch next
Watch three things in order: the pace of the US expansion (tens of thousands is still a test, not a rollout), the first word on monetization (the moment Features gets an ad-revenue share, its economics change completely), and the TV expansion (long-form viewing on big screens is where Lyons says the deep viewing is expected). Until the ad-revenue question is answered, the smart move for a small creator is to keep making the short clips that already work, and treat Features as a distribution option to test when it arrives, not a strategy to rebuild around today.
What has emerged since the announcement
Three reported details arrived after this guide first published, and each changes the picture a little. First, money. PetaPixel, citing a Business Insider report, says Instagram offered some YouTube creators 50,000 dollars and others up to 500,000 dollars to post Features videos. Meta confirmed to Business Insider only that it is funding Features content directly with some creators right now, and said the details of those deals are confidential, according to the same report. Treat the dollar figures as reported offers to selected creators, not as a payment program you can apply for: neither TechCrunch nor PetaPixel identifies a public application process, standard payment rate, or eligibility list for these reported deals.
Second, the tooling now has names. Instagram is testing a tool called Clips as Reels, which lets creators make Reels out of long-form content, with those Reels linking viewers to the longer video, according to TechCrunch. Viewers can also save the longer video to send to the Instagram app on their TV, according to the same report. The same announcement also included improved discovery features for Live video and a hub on a creator profile for episodic Reels, meaning a series of connected Reels. Counted together with Features, Clips as Reels, and TV viewing support, that is five elements of one announcement by our own tally from the TechCrunch report, not a number Instagram published.
Third, the monetization wording got sharper. A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch: “It is too early to share a long-term monetization model, but we are exploring ways for creators to earn from brands, fans, and Instagram, including performance-based incentives.” That is an exploration, not a rate card. By contrast, eligible YouTube Partner Program creators who accept the Watch Page Monetization Module receive 55 percent of net revenue from ads displayed or streamed on their public videos’ Watch Pages, according to the same report. Instagram has no equivalent announced arrangement for Features.
One piece of history puts the test in perspective. TechCrunch notes Instagram already tried longer video eight years ago with IGTV, which it describes as now defunct. The difference this time is the bridge between short and long, not just the length. Mosseri opened the announcement with a reversal in his own words: “For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram.”
For creators without access, the practical advice from the newer reporting is to steal the funnel, not the format. If you already record anything longer than a Reel, cut one self-contained moment from it and post that moment as a Reel with a clear promise of what the full version contains, naming the full episode in the caption and directing viewers to a clickable destination such as the link in your bio or a Story link sticker. That is the broader strategy behind the behaviour Clips as Reels is testing. It is not an exact replica of its built-in link, since captions do not generally make ordinary URLs clickable. Think in series, not singles: a clearly numbered series could make related Reels easier for viewers to follow than five unrelated posts, and that habit costs nothing and survives whether Features ever reaches your account. And do not chase the reported payouts: buying followers, views, or engagement to look eligible for a deal breaks the organic growth this site stands for, and purchased engagement is not reliable evidence of genuine audience demand.
Is Instagram Features available to everyone?
No. It is a limited test starting with a small group of US creators, which Instagram plans to extend to tens of thousands of US creators, after an earlier test in Brazil. No wide release date has been announced.
Can you earn money from Features videos?
Not through an ad-revenue share. Instagram does not currently plan to share Features ad revenue with creators, though it has not ruled out changing that as the test grows. Established creators can bring existing brand deals to Features, and Instagram is working on deals with some early creators.
How do viewers find a Features video?
Through short Reels clips: up to 8 clips can point to one long video, and viewers tap “Watch Full Video” to open it in the app. Long videos are also eligible for Explore and other recommendations.
Does Features replace Reels?
No. Features sits alongside Reels, Series, Live, and TV in Instagram’s own framing. Reels clips are the discovery mechanism that feeds a Features video.
Sources (press coverage of the 26 October 2026 announcement, cited as press, not as Instagram’s own page): The Hollywood Reporter via The National News; ET Now; Tribune; FastCompany; GSMArena; PodSubs. Note on sourcing: the announcement itself is Mosseri and Lyons’ 26 October 2026 video post; its direct post link had not surfaced at publication time, so the facts above are cited to the outlets that reported it, and no official URL has been invented or guessed. Internal reading: Instagram Reels Hooks. Last verified: 28 October 2026.
