Types of TikTok Ads: Every Format With the Specs TikTok Documents
By Sofia Vance··9 min read
Seven formats, one spec sheet. The two facts most people arrive looking for: an auction in-feed video can run up to 10 minutes, and TikTok's own feed does not run single-image ads — images go in as a Carousel, or as image ads on the CapCut, Fizzo and TikTok Ad Network placements. Every number below is from TikTok's help-center spec pages, and where TikTok leaves something undocumented the table says so.
The formats
In-feed video (auction)
For You feed, bought in Ads Manager at auction
The default. A vertical video with caption, display name, profile photo and CTA, up to 10 minutes long. Non-Spark ads use a creative uploaded to Ads Manager.
Best for: Any objective, any budget above the $20/day ad-group minimum
Spark Ads
Same feed slot, built from an existing organic post
Boosts a real post — yours or a creator's, with their authorization — so engagement lands on the post and the profile and sound stay clickable. No spec limits beyond the post already existing.
Best for: Creator partnerships, posts that already performed
Carousel
Feed, and Search Ads; also TikTok Ad Network
2–35 images with required looping music, one caption and one CTA for the set. The only way to run still images in TikTok's own feed.
Best for: Product sets, step-by-step offers, catalog-powered VSA Carousel
TopView
Shown on opening the app: 3-second full-screen takeover, then in-feed
Reservation buy, 5–60 seconds, 9–15 recommended, pre-approval through a sales representative. Vertical only, no plain white in the first 3 seconds.
Best for: Launches and mass reach with a sales contact
Reservation in-feed (Reach & Frequency)
Feed, at a fixed price with a frequency cap
Same slot as auction in-feed but bought on reservation. Tighter spec: 5–60s, bitrate ≥2,500 kbps, sound required, 25 CTAs.
Best for: Predictable reach for a planned flight
Search Ads
Results for the keywords you choose
Video, carousel or catalog product creatives served against search queries. Specs match in-feed, so feed creative can be reused.
Best for: Capturing intent you can name
Image ads (Global App Bundle, TikTok Ad Network)
CapCut, Fizzo and Pangle inventory — not the TikTok feed
Single still image with brand or app name, skip button, landing URL and CTA. 9:16, 16:9 or 1:1 JPG/PNG up to 100 MB.
Best for: App installs across TikTok's partner apps
Spark Ads deserve their own page because the mechanics — authorization, what stays clickable, the deletion rule — are where campaigns go wrong. Our Spark Ads guide covers them; this page covers the file you upload.
Video specs by buying type
| Auction in-feed | Reservation / R&F | TopView | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 (recommended), 16:9, 1:1 | 9:16 (recommended), 16:9, 1:1 | 9:16 only |
| Minimum resolution | 540×960, 960×540, 640×640 | 540×960, 960×540, 640×640 | 540×960 |
| File formats | .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, .avi | .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp | .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp |
| Duration | Up to 10 minutes | 5–60 s, 9–15 s recommended | 5–60 s, 9–15 s recommended |
| File size | ≤ 500 MB | ≤ 500 MB | ≤ 500 MB |
| Bitrate | ≥ 516 kbps | ≥ 2,500 kbps | ≥ 2,500 kbps |
| Sound | Not stated | Required | Required, not fully silent, no harsh sounds in first 3 s |
| Spark Ads (Pull) | No duration limit; .mp4 or .mov | No spec limits if already on TikTok | No duration limit |
The bitrate line is the one that catches people moving a creative from auction to a reservation buy: 516 kbps passes on auction, and the same file is rejected at reservation's 2,500 kbps floor. Export for the stricter spec once and both accept it.
How long can a TikTok ad be?
Up to 10 minutes for an auction in-feed video, and with no restriction for a Spark Ad built from a post that already exists. The reservation formats are the tight ones: TopView and Reach & Frequency in-feed accept 5 to 60 seconds and TikTok recommends 9 to 15.
What TikTok does not say. There is no published recommended length for an auction in-feed video — only the 10-minute ceiling. The 9–15 second figure that circulates as "TikTok's recommendation" is its guidance for TopView and reservation in-feed, where it is documented. Treat it as a sensible default, not a rule for auction.
The number that should decide length is not the ceiling but how TikTok counts views: a 6-second video view needs 6 seconds of play, or the whole video if it is shorter, or an interaction inside those 6 seconds. The benchmarks guide covers what that does to CPM.
Text, name, photo and CTA limits
| Ad caption | Up to 4 lines shown before “See more”. TopView: max 100 characters. Reservation Spark Pull: max 150. Auction: no numeric limit published; recommended ≤100 characters (≤50 for Chinese, Japanese, Korean). |
|---|---|
| Caption restrictions | Auction captions are white, uniform font, no clickable links, no @ symbols, no hashtags. “{ }” is not allowed anywhere. Emojis count as 2 characters on TopView. |
| Display name | One line. Max 20 characters, or 10 for Chinese, Japanese, Korean. Recommended 4–10 (2–5 CJK). No emojis. Used as the in-app browser heading on landing pages; pulled from the app store for app ads. |
| Profile photo | 98×98 px, 1:1, .jpg/.jpeg/.png, under 50 KB. Keep the key element inside the central 66×66 px. Spark Ads use the post owner’s photo. |
| CTA button | Required on everything except video-view ads. Colour auto-matched, text from TikTok’s fixed list (Learn more, Shop now, Download, Sign up, Watch now and the rest). 25 options on reservation; a shorter app-download set of 4. |
| Ad name | 512 characters. Internal only, never shown. |
| Ads per ad group | 50 on auction (exempt: Reach & Frequency, Smart Creative, split tests). 20 on TopView. |
Safe zones are the part of the spec that is not a number. TikTok publishes downloadable overlays — standard left-to-right and Arabic right-to-left, each with an anchor variant — and the usable area shrinks with caption length and any Interactive Add-on. Anything outside it may be covered by the caption, buttons or the logo. Check the overlay before approving the edit, not after the rejection.
TikTok image ads: Carousel in the feed, single images elsewhere
TikTok's ad-creation documentation is blunt about it: TikTok supports video ads, and a Carousel ad can display images. A single still image never appears in the For You feed. If the brief says "image ad", the choice is a Carousel on TikTok or a single-image ad on the partner-app placements.
Carousel (TikTok feed)
| Number of images | Upload 2 to 35; 2 to 20 actually shown. The shown cap applies to standard and catalog-powered VSA Carousel alike |
|---|---|
| Formats | JPG, JPEG, PNG |
| Resolution | 1200×628 horizontal, 640×640 square, 720×1280 vertical |
| File size | ≤ 100 KB per image suggested |
| Music | Required and loops. ≥ 2 s, .mp3 only, up to 10M. Commercial Music Library or upload on TikTok; upload only on TikTok Ad Network — a CML track there runs silent |
| Copy | One caption, one CTA and one URL for the whole set (VSA Carousel: one URL per product) |
Single-image ads (Global App Bundle, TikTok Ad Network)
| Where it runs | Global App Bundle: CapCut (app open, feed, banner, interstitial) and Fizzo (app open, interstitial, native). Also TikTok Ad Network (formerly Pangle) |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio / resolution | 9:16 ≥ 720×1280 (recommended), 16:9 ≥ 1280×720, 1:1 ≥ 640×640 |
| Formats | JPG, JPEG, PNG |
| File size | Within 100 MB |
| App name | 4–40 Latin letters or 2–20 Asian characters, no emojis |
| Brand name | 2–20 Latin letters or 1–10 Asian characters, no emojis |
| Ad description | 1–100 Latin characters or 1–50 Asian characters. No emojis, no “{ }”, no “#” |
The music rule on Carousel is the one that silently breaks campaigns. A Commercial Music Library track plays on TikTok and is muted on TikTok Ad Network, so an ad set to both placements runs silent on one of them. Upload your own track, or split into a TikTok-only ad with CML music and a network-only ad with an upload.
Before the first upload
None of this matters until the ad account clears review — ads do not run before approval, and TikTok says most reviews take under 24 hours. Setting the account up right is a one-time job covered in our TikTok Business account guide, and what each format costs to actually run is in the TikTok ads cost guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of ads are there on TikTok?
In TikTok's own documentation the in-feed video family covers auction in-feed, Spark Ads, reservation in-feed (Reach & Frequency), TopView, Top Feed and TopReach, plus the Pulse suite, Branded Mission and Branded Buzz. On top of those sit Carousel ads, Search Ads, Interactive Add-ons, and shopping formats tied to TikTok Shop. Outside the TikTok app, Global App Bundle (CapCut, Fizzo) and TikTok Ad Network run video and single-image ads. For a first self-serve campaign the realistic choices are auction in-feed video, Spark Ads and Carousel.
How long can TikTok ads be?
Up to 10 minutes for an auction in-feed video, with no restriction at all for a Spark Ad built from an existing post. Reservation in-feed and TopView are tighter: 5 to 60 seconds, with TikTok recommending 9 to 15. TikTok does not publish a recommended length for auction in-feed video; the 9–15 second figure is its guidance for the reservation formats, not a general rule.
Does TikTok have image ads?
Not as a single still image in the TikTok feed. Images run in the feed only as Carousel ads — 2 to 35 images with music that loops. Single-image ads exist, but on Global App Bundle placements (CapCut and Fizzo) and TikTok Ad Network, under a separate spec: 9:16, 16:9 or 1:1 JPG or PNG within 100 MB, with a 100-character description.
What are the TikTok video ad specs?
For auction in-feed: 9:16 at 540×960 or larger (16:9 at 960×540 and 1:1 at 640×640 also accepted), .mp4/.mov/.mpeg/.3gp/.avi, up to 10 minutes, 500 MB or less, bitrate 516 kbps or more. Reservation and TopView raise the bitrate floor to 2,500 kbps, cap duration at 60 seconds and require sound.
What is the character limit for TikTok ad text?
It depends on the format. TopView captions are capped at 100 characters, reservation Spark Pull captions at 150. For auction in-feed TikTok publishes no numeric cap, only that up to 4 lines display before “See more” and a recommendation to stay within 100 characters (50 for Chinese, Japanese and Korean). Display names are 20 characters, or 10 in CJK languages.
Which format should a first campaign use?
Auction in-feed video, or a Spark Ad if you already have a post that earned attention organically. Both run on the same $20-a-day ad-group minimum and need no sales contact. TopView and Reach & Frequency are reservation buys with pre-approval and a sales representative, and image ads never reach the TikTok feed.
Do these specs apply to Spark Ads?
Mostly not. A Spark Ad uses a post that already exists on TikTok, so there is no file-size, bitrate or duration limit to meet — the caption, up to 4 lines, is pulled from the post and cannot be edited in Ads Manager. The post must still pass ad review, and the organic account's profile photo is used.