Getting started with Reelsta
Reelsta is a scheduler that happens to make the videos. You describe a topic once, and from then on the product writes a script, narrates it, generates the visuals, burns in the captions and publishes the finished vertical video to your connected accounts at a time you chose. This page covers the whole arc from signing up to your first published video.
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What the product actually does
A Reelsta account is organised around a series. A series is a standing instruction: this topic, this narrator, this visual treatment, posted at this time. Once it exists you are not asked to do anything per video — the scheduler creates the next one on its own, the renderer builds it, and the publisher pushes it to the accounts you connected.
Every video is produced the same way. A script is written from your niche brief, an Inworld narrator reads it in the language and voice you picked, still images are generated in your chosen art style and animated, captions are burned in using your chosen caption style, and optional background music is mixed underneath. The output is a vertical short in 9:16. There is no timeline, no editor and no footage to supply — the format is fixed and the product fills it.
You do not need to appear on camera, record audio, or own any source material. The only assets Reelsta needs from you are a topic description and permission to post to your accounts.
What you need before you start
Three things, and only the first is strictly required to get through setup:
- A paid plan
- Reelsta has no free tier. Hobby, Daily and Pro are $19, $39 and $69 a month respectively — promotional rates against a $27, $56 and $99 list. Your series is created at the moment payment succeeds, using the answers you gave during setup.
- At least one social account you can authorise
- TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are included with every plan. You can complete setup without connecting anything, but nothing will publish until at least one account is linked, and generation itself pauses if you never connect one.
- An Instagram account that is Creator or Business
- Instagram does not permit third-party apps to publish to Personal accounts. If Instagram is part of your plan, switch the account type in the Instagram app before you try to connect it. TikTok and YouTube have no equivalent account-type requirement.
The order things happen in
Setup runs as an eight-step flow. Five steps take a required answer — niche, language and voice, art style, caption style, and the final details step where you name the series and pick a posting time. Three are optional and can be skipped outright: background music, visual effects, and choosing which platforms you intend to publish to.
Connecting accounts is deliberately not part of that flow. You select platforms as an intention during setup and authorise them afterwards from the social accounts screen in the dashboard, because the OAuth handoff to TikTok, YouTube and Instagram is a separate journey through each provider.
Once the series exists, the scheduler takes over. It works out the next posting appointment from your publish time and your plan, and starts building the video for it at least six hours in advance. That six-hour head start is why a brand-new series does not produce something instantly — the first video appears in your library a few hours before the first appointment it is intended for, not the moment you finish setup.
Reviewing before anything goes out
By default a series runs in automatic mode: a finished video is published at its appointment without asking you. If you would rather see everything first, switch review mode to manual in Settings. In manual mode a finished video sits at Pending Review and no posting job is created at all until you approve it — which also means a video you never look at never publishes.
Either way, every video is visible in the dashboard before and after it goes out. You can read and rewrite the title, description and hashtags, including separate copy per platform, download the file, or delete it.
Where everything lives once you are in
The dashboard has four screens that matter for day-to-day use. Series is where you edit the standing instruction, pause it, duplicate it or delete it. Videos is the library, with list and calendar views, status filters and bulk download or delete. Social accounts is where you connect, disconnect and toggle auto-posting per account. Settings holds review mode, your profile and password, and everything billing.
Common questions
How long after signing up does the first video appear?
Not immediately. Reelsta builds each video against a specific posting appointment and starts work at least six hours before it. Your first video therefore shows up in the library a few hours ahead of the first slot that falls after your setup, not at the end of setup itself.
Do I have to approve every video?
Only if you choose to. Series run in automatic mode by default and publish without asking. Switching review mode to manual in Settings holds every finished video at Pending Review until you approve it.
Can I change my mind about the answers I gave during setup?
Most of them, yes. Name, niche brief, art style, caption style, voice, language, publish time, timezone, target platforms and review mode are all editable on the series afterwards. Video length, background music and the visual effect toggles are set during setup and are not exposed for editing later.
Do I need to record a voice or supply any footage?
No. Narration comes from a synthetic voice you pick from the catalogue, and the imagery is generated. There is nothing to upload and no camera involved.