Turn a podcast into Instagram Reels, free and without a watermark

How to turn a podcast episode into a Reel

1. 1. Add the episode

   Paste the episode’s YouTube link, or upload the video file (up to 5 GB). For an audio-only episode, upload the audio file in the app. FastClip then adds a moving waveform.

2. 2. Pick the moment

   For a YouTube episode, FastClip opens on the part viewers replay most. Otherwise AI reads the transcript and suggests moments that make sense on their own. You can also select the exact words in the transcript, or set the start and end on the timeline.

3. 3. Make it vertical

   Turn on the full-screen 9:16 crop. It can follow the speaker’s face automatically. Where the speaker changes, you can move the frame yourself with keyframes.

4. 4. Caption it and post

   Word-timed captions are burned in, in the language spoken. Connect your Instagram account in Settings and post the Reel from FastClip. The free plan includes one direct post to Instagram. After that, download the MP4 and upload it yourself.

Where captions go on a Reel

Instagram draws buttons, the account name and the post text over a Reel. Meta’s guide for Reels ads says how much of the frame to keep clear (Meta Ads Guide, read September 28, 2026):

• Top: at least 14% of the height. On a 1080 × 1920 frame that is about 269 pixels.
• Bottom: at least 35% of the height, which is 672 pixels.
• Sides: at least 6% of the width on each side, about 65 pixels.

This guide is for ads. Instagram publishes no pixel zone for normal Reels, but they use the same screen. Keep the captions and the speaker’s face in the middle area, and set the caption position in FastClip’s Settings. More on captions: captions guide.

Instagram’s rules for Reels

From the Instagram Help Center: Reels resolution and size (read October 14, 2026), recording a reel and Recommendations on Instagram (read October 2, 2026).

• Format. A reel can have an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 9:16, at least 30 frames per second and at least 720 pixels. FastClip’s full-screen crop exports vertical 1080 × 1920.
• Over three minutes loses new viewers. A Reel can be up to 20 minutes, but Instagram says “Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences”.
• Unoriginal content may not be recommended. Instagram lists “unoriginal content that is largely repurposed from another source with only minor, immaterial edits, without adding material value” among content that may not be eligible for recommendations.

In practice: keep a podcast Reel under three minutes and fill the vertical frame. A clip of your own show is your own content. For another show’s episode, get permission first and add your own work.

Which part of the episode to use

Start with the moment a listener would repeat to a friend: a clear claim, a story with an ending, a fast answer. Start the Reel on the first sentence of that thought. End where it lands. Our guides on hooks, finding moments and clip length go deeper, and Instagram Reels for clippers covers accounts and originality.

Questions

More ways to clip a podcast

Posting to other apps too? See podcast to TikTok and podcast to Shorts. Starting from a YouTube video that is not a podcast? See YouTube to Reels. For the caption tools, see the podcast clip maker.