How many photos and what order for an Airbnb or SpareRoom listing video

For a 15 to 30 second reel, use roughly five to eight photos, each doing a different job, and put the strongest view of the place first. A sensible order is the best overall view, the sleeping area, the kitchen, the bathroom, any shared or outdoor space, then one practical detail. Cut near-duplicates and anything a guest or housemate cannot actually use, then check the finished video against your real space.

Plan and credit details are from kadapt.com/pricing as of 22 October 2026 and can change. Airbnb and SpareRoom set their own rules and layouts for listing photos; check their current help pages.

A gallery on a listing page is browsed. A video plays in the order you set, and someone scrolling past decides in the first second or two whether to keep watching. So the order of your photos matters more in a reel than in a gallery, and the count matters because every photo only gets a moment on screen.

How many photos

Work backwards from the length. In a 15 to 30 second reel, five to eight photos gives each one a couple of seconds, enough to register a room without lingering. Take that as a working guide, not a rule from Airbnb or SpareRoom.

• Under five and you run out of things to show, so the reel starts repeating itself.
• Over eight and each photo flashes by before a viewer can read the room.
• Having 40 good photos does not mean you need 40 in the video. Keep the full set for your listing and pick the best few for the reel.

A simple order that works

Use this as a default and change it to suit your place.

1. Best overall view. The photo you would show someone if you could only show one: the main room, the view or the front of the building. It goes first because it is what stops the scroll.
2. Where you sleep. The bedroom or sleeping area, with the bed made and the light on or the curtains open.
3. Kitchen or kitchenette. Show what guests or housemates can use.
4. Bathroom. Say whether it is private or shared.
5. Shared or outdoor space. A living room, garden, balcony or workspace, only if it is genuinely available.
6. One practical detail. Something people ask about, such as the entrance, the laundry setup or storage.

For a spare room, move the shared spaces up. Someone looking for a room cares about what they share as much as what they sleep in; the room walkthrough has an example.

What to cut

• Near-duplicates. Two angles of the same bedroom use up two of your eight slots.
• Photos that mislead. A wide-angle shot that makes a small room look large will not survive the viewer arriving in person. Choose the honest frame.
• Spaces guests cannot use. If the garage, the owner’s room or a neighbour’s garden is off limits, leave it out.
• Dark or blurry shots. Retake them in daylight rather than hoping the video hides it. The host photo checklist covers what to reshoot.

Check the vertical crop

A reel is tall and most phone photos are wide. Before you upload, look at each photo cropped to a narrow vertical strip. If the bed, the window or the feature you want to show falls outside the middle, retake it with the phone held upright.

Turn the set into a reel

Once you have the photos in order, write one factual line per photo in a short brief, as in the step-by-step guide. Then:

1. Open the new-reel form and add your photos with Photo Reel selected.
2. Paste the brief, choose a length, style, voice and music.
3. Read the script and shot plan. If the order is not what you want, change your brief and plan again.
4. Check the credit quote, then approve. Nothing is charged beyond what you approve.

A Photo Reel adds motion to still photos. It is not walkthrough footage, so do not describe it as a tour. When it finishes, watch it with the sound on and check each claim against your real place, as in the guide to fact-checking an AI script.

What it costs

New accounts get 25 free credits with no card. The pricing page lists Starter at $14.99 a month with 200 credits and illustrates a 15-second Photo Reel at 5 picture credits plus 1 narration credit when the plan is prepared. Planning, edits and longer reels use more, and the app shows the quote before you render.

The reel is a separate video you download and share yourself. It does not replace the photos on your Airbnb or SpareRoom listing, which you manage in their own tools.

Ready to try it? Make your first reel, or see Kadapt Creator for other video types.

Common questions