How to make a listing video for your Airbnb or spare room from your phone photos

Choose five to eight of your best phone photos, write a short brief that states only what is true of your place, and turn them into a vertical Photo Reel in Kadapt. You review the plan and the credit quote before it renders, then watch the finished video and check it against your real space before you share it. It is a short reel for your own social feed, separate from the photos on your Airbnb or SpareRoom listing.

Plan and credit details are from kadapt.com/pricing as of 21 October 2026 and can change. Airbnb and SpareRoom set their own rules for listing photos and video; check their current help pages.

A short video is often the quickest way to show a place to someone scrolling past. You do not need a camera crew: the photos on your phone are enough to start. This guide covers the whole path for a holiday let or a spare room.

1. Pick photos that each do a different job

Choose five to eight photos. Aim for an opening view, the bedroom or sleeping area, the kitchen or kitchenette, the bathroom, any shared space guests or housemates can use, and one useful detail such as the entrance or outdoor space. Five views of the same room leave no time for the rest.

• Shoot in daylight with the room tidy and the phone held level.
• Show what a guest or tenant would actually get. Leave out spaces they cannot use.
• Keep the originals. A vertical video crops the sides of a landscape photo, so check that beds, doors and key features stay in frame.

The host photo checklist has a longer list if you are narrowing down a big camera roll.

2. Write a short, factual brief

Write one line per photo: what the space is and one thing that is true about it. Use the facts guests ask about, such as the amenities, the layout and the distance to the nearest station if you know it exactly.

• Describe the place, not the person. State rules that apply to everyone (for example “no smoking”) rather than who you would prefer to host.
• Skip claims you cannot back up, such as “quietest street in town”.
• Do not describe the kind of guest or housemate you are looking for by age, family status, religion, or other personal traits. Housing and rental advertising rules in many places restrict this; if you are unsure what applies where you live, check your local rules.

Our Airbnb photo reel walkthrough has a worked example with a fictional flat, and the free brief builder can help you draft the notes in your browser.

3. Make the reel in Kadapt

1. Open the new-reel form and sign in with your emailed code.
2. Name the reel, for example “Sunny double room”, and add your photos with Photo Reel selected.
3. Choose a length, paste your brief into the optional details box, and pick a style, voice and music.
4. Read the script and shot plan, then check the credit quote before choosing “Approve & render”. Nothing is charged beyond what you approve.

If you are making a spare-room reel, the room walkthrough covers the shared-space details.

4. Check it before you share it

Watch the finished video with the sound on. Check the narration against your real place: every amenity named, every caption spelled correctly, and every space shown actually available. Photo Reels add movement to still photos, so they do not show the real flow of the rooms; do not describe one as a tour. The same discipline applies to any AI-written script, as the guide to fact-checking an AI script explains.

Then download the MP4 and post it where you already share the listing. Your Airbnb or SpareRoom page is edited separately in their own tools.

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, photo analysis, edits and longer reels use more, and the app shows the quote before you render. If you also make explainer videos, Kadapt Creator uses the same credits.

Make a short script that holds attention

Even a 15-second reel is a script: one idea per photo, in order. The principles in how to write a script that holds attention apply directly. Start with the most useful photo, not the entrance.

Ready to try it? Make your first reel from your own photos.

Common questions