Shorts time-limit option: Timeline render cost at 15 to 180 s
YouTube is testing a Shorts time-limit option. Timeline bills per output minute rounded up, so 60 s costs $0.10 and 61 s costs $0.20.
HeyOrca reported (read 2026-10-07) a new time-limit option for Shorts. Whatever limit applies to you, the render bill moves in steps, because Timeline 1.0 charges $0.10 per output minute, rounded up.
Cost by length
| Output length | Billed minutes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 15 s | 1 | $0.10 |
| 30 s | 1 | $0.10 |
| 60 s | 1 | $0.10 |
| 61 s | 2 | $0.20 |
| 90 s | 2 | $0.20 |
| 180 s | 3 | $0.30 |
Tips
Trim to 60 s when the story allows; one extra second doubles the render. Timeline plan is an unbilled preflight that you can run first. Video captions have their own cap of 60 seconds, so a longer cut needs a different caption path.
Sources
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