FASTPIX FOR SHORT-FORM VIDEO
Video APIs for UGC and short-form video apps
One API to build UGC feeds and vertical video experiences, without assembling upload, encoding, playback, moderation and analytics yourself. From a phone upload to a feed that stays ahead of the swipe.
$25 in signup credits. No credit card, no per-user fee, no minimum commit.
TRUSTED BY PRODUCT TEAMS SHIPPING VIDEO AT SCALE
One API, whole stack
Upload, transcode, playback, moderation, AI and data all come from the same API key.
Built for scale
Multi-CDN delivery scales with the audience, so a clip that takes off runs on the same setup as everyday load.
Vertical by default
A 9:16 player with swipe and prefetch ships in the SDK, not as a CSS workaround on a 16:9 player.
Analytics built in
Every session reports watch time and playback quality, with no separate analytics product to buy.
Developer reference
Every endpoint a short-video app uses
Everything on this page maps to a documented call, grouped the way a short-video app gets built.
Upload and encode
Playback and access
Players and feed
Analytics
In-video AI
Customer story
“We were proud of our tech stack. But we had too many vendors. One for video, another for AI, another for playout. It created extra work for the tech team and for management.”
Indira Devi Gollapudi
Technical Head, Aadhan Media
Upload
Fast uploads from any device, on any network
Supports upload straight from the camera, pick a file, or paste a link. Resumable uploads keep big files moving on any network, and webhooks keep the progress visible.
Chunked, resumable transfer, so a dropped signal costs seconds rather than the whole upload. Explore
Straight from the handset with iOS, Android and web SDKs, or a URL pull for anything already hosted. Explore
No file-size ceiling, so a 4K capture off a modern phone goes up without being shrunk first. Explore
A webhook the moment it lands, so your feed knows an upload is ready to process. Explore
Processing and encoding
Video transcoding and adaptive bitrate for vertical clips
Per-title encoding builds an adaptive bitrate ladder for every clip, light enough for the feed to prefetch the next one and have it ready the moment someone swipes, so nothing buffers.
Takes whatever your users upload. MOV, MP4 or HEVC straight off a phone, with no conversion step in your app.
Portrait stays portrait. A vertical video is encoded vertical, with no black bars added and nothing cropped off.
Playable in seconds, so the clip is in the feed before the creator has closed the app. Explore
Packaging and delivery
HLS packaging and multi-CDN delivery for a feed
Every asset is packaged for adaptive playback and served from more than 300 locations worldwide, so a clip that takes off is delivered from near the viewer rather than from an origin.
Adaptive bitrate over HLS, dropping a rendition on weak mobile data rather than stalling on it. Explore
Multi-CDN from 300+ locations, so demand that spikes on one clip does not become your problem. Explore
Signed playback URLs with domain and browser rules set on the playback ID. Explore
Preload and prefetch built in, so the next clip is buffered before the thumb moves. Explore
Vertical player
Vertical video player SDK for a swipe feed
A real vertical player, not a landscape one squeezed into a phone. It fills the screen at 9:16, behaves the way viewers expect, and ships as a native SDK on every platform.
9:16 playback, with swipe to next built into the player itself. Explore
Player controls: tap to pause, double-tap to skip, swipe to move on.
Ships natively for web, iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native, driven by one playback ID. Explore
Themed with CSS variables, so the feed looks like your app and carries no vendor mark. Explore
Analytics
Viewer, clip and playback analytics for a short-video feed
Every session reports three things at once: what one viewer did, how a clip performed across everyone, and whether playback got in the way of either.
Engagement metrics
Creator-level data that tells a creator how their audience engaged with a clip.
Watch time. How many seconds of a clip someone actually watched.
Completion rate. The share of viewers who watch a clip all the way through.
Swipe-away point. The second they moved on, which is the feed's core signal.
Replays. How often a clip is watched more than once in a session.
Playback QoE
App-level data that tells the platform owner about video performance.
Video startup time. How long until the first frame, which a feed cannot afford.
Rebuffering ratio. The share of a session spent waiting instead of watching.
Failures by device and network. Whether the problem is your app or their connection.
Built API first
Short-form video API and SDKs
Take an upload, run moderation, open playback and read engagement, all from your backend. Nothing on this page needs a dashboard open.
SERVER SDKS
CLIENT SDKS
Read the API referenceAI video clipping
Turn long video into clips for the feed
Upload a long video and the agent reads the genre, whether vlog, match or lecture, ranks the best moments, then reframes each to 9:16 with captions applied.
Ranked, not random. CHAIN scoring surfaces what performs in short-form, with weights tuned per genre. Explore
AI reframe into 9:16, 1:1, 4:5 and 16:9, rendered with your brand template and captions.
Clip by timecode yourself when you already know the moment, with no re-upload and no second encode. Explore
Moderation and safety
NSFW detection and content moderation for user uploads
Content from strangers is untrusted by default. Create the asset private, let moderation score it, then open playback once the result comes back under your threshold.
How it comes together
What it takes to build a short-video app like TikTok or Instagram Reels
Five steps between a phone upload and a feed people keep swiping.
Take the upload
Accept a resumable upload from a phone in whatever format the camera produced, then encode it once.
GuideScreen it before anyone sees it
Create the asset private, run moderation, and open playback only when the result clears your threshold.
GuideBuild the vertical feed
Render 9:16 full bleed with swipe to next, and prefetch the following clip while the current one plays.
GuideDeliver it anywhere it is opened
Multi-CDN playback that adapts down on mobile data rather than stalling on it.
GuideFeed the ranking model
Read completion, replays and swipe-away per clip, and send them wherever your recommendation logic lives.
GuideScripted vertical series with a paywall? See microdrama. One creator, many followers? See creator platform.
Go deeper
Go deeper on short-form video
Build guides, cost, moderation and engagement, for teams shipping a vertical feed.
How to build a short-video app like TikTok
Upload, feed, moderation and playback, walked through end to end.
TutorialWhat a short-video app costs to build
Where the money goes across encoding, delivery and storage in 2026.
BlogSystem design for a TikTok-like app
How ingest, delivery, feed and ranking fit together at scale.
BlogHow to moderate user uploads
NSFW and profanity detection, and where the threshold decision belongs.
BlogHow to keep short-form viewers engaged
Scaling a feed without losing the people already in it.
BlogChoosing a tech stack for a UGC app
The decisions that are hard to reverse once creators are uploading.
BlogTest your feed with FastPix
Send us a handful of real creator uploads. We will show you how FastPix handles ingest, moderation, the 9:16 feed and engagement data, from one API.
Prefer to try it yourself? Start free with $25 in credits
Questions developers ask
Short-form video questions, answered
Can I build a TikTok-style feed with FastPix?
Yes. The player fills the screen at 9:16 with swipe to next and prefetch of the following clip, and there is a documented React recipe for the feed itself. FastPix supplies upload, encoding, playback, moderation and engagement data. The ranking model and the social graph stay in your product.
Does moderation stop a clip going live on its own?
No, and this catches teams out. FastPix creates the asset, runs analysis over sampled frames and audio, then fires an event with scores from 0 to 1 across 13 categories. Your application has to create the asset private and open playback once the result clears the threshold you decide. There is no threshold setting on our side.
How fast does the next clip start when someone swipes?
That is a prefetch question rather than a delivery one. The player buffers the following clip while the current one plays, so a swipe lands on a frame rather than a spinner. Startup time for a cold first clip is reported per session in Video Data, alongside rebuffering and errors.
Can users upload from a phone on a weak connection?
Yes. Uploads are resumable from iOS, Android and the web, so a dropped signal continues where it stopped instead of starting over. The source can be whatever the camera produced, and per-title encoding builds a rendition ladder matched to each clip.
Pricing
Per minute encoded, delivered, and stored
No platform fee, no per-seat charge, no separate invoice for each surface. See full pricing.
ENCODING
Pay per minute encoded
$0.0267/min 1080p
Per-title ABR encoding across H.264.
STREAMING
Pay per minute streamed
$0.00067/min 1080p
Multi-CDN delivery from 300+ POPs.
STORAGE
Pay per minute stored
$0.00268/min 1080p
Assets stored and CDN caching, lifecycle handled.
Three ways to get unstuck
Whatever kind of help you need, there is a path.
Engineering support
Talk to a video engineer.
Stuck on an API call, a webhook signature, or a player integration? Reach the engineering team directly. Response within hours, not days.
Contact engineeringIntegration help
Docs, code samples, video tutorials.
Self-serve resources for the most common integrations. Quickstart guides, SDK examples, recorded walkthroughs on YouTube, and detailed playback logs in your dashboard.
Browse the docsSolution architect
Plan the rollout with a human.
New integration, migration off another platform, or a complex multi-tenant build. Book a session with a FastPix solution architect or join the Slack community to compare notes with other teams.
Join the Slack community