Bluesky Raises Video Limit to 10 Minutes, Triples Upload Speed
Bluesky has increased its maximum video length to 10 minutes and raised the file size cap to 300MB, the platform announced on August 26, 2026. The company also reported that video uploads are now 2-3x faster than before. (Engadget)
The change traces a steady escalation in Bluesky's video capabilities. Videos were originally capped at 60 seconds. On March 10, 2025, Bluesky began rolling out support for uploads up to three minutes long, coinciding with the release of version 1.99 of the app. (TechCrunch; Bluesky) The current 10-minute limit was signaled in late July 2026, when a Bluesky engineer outlined plans to raise the default size limit for stored media files, called "blobs" in the AT Protocol, to 300MB. That ceiling accommodates roughly 10 minutes of video at 3 Mbit/s by default. (Bluesky)
Because Bluesky runs on the AT Protocol, an open federated network, the infrastructure change benefits more than Bluesky's own client. Other apps on the network, including Bluescreen, Reelo, and Skylight, can also host longer videos following the update. (Engadget)
The new 10-minute ceiling puts Bluesky on par with TikTok, which also allows uploads up to 10 minutes. Meta's Threads caps video at five minutes. X allows free users 140 seconds, while paid subscribers can upload hours-long videos up to 16GB in size. (Engadget)
The video expansion arrives amid a period of significant growth and structural change for Bluesky. The platform has grown from 13 million to over 43 million global users since its Series A round, and raised $100 million in Series B funding in April 2025, led by Bain Capital Crypto. (Bluesky) In March 2026, Jay Graber stepped down as CEO and transitioned to the role of Chief Innovation Officer. Toni Schneider, who had held the interim CEO position since that transition, was named permanent CEO on July 10, 2026. (Bluesky)
Bluesky has also been working to expand the AT Protocol ecosystem beyond microblogging. The company partnered with AT Protocol blogging platforms Offprint, Leaflet, and pckt.blog to offer 25% off annual plans for summer 2026. The platform experienced service interruptions in April 2026 due to an ongoing DDoS attack. (Bluesky)
The broader context here is that video has become a competitive fault line among social platforms, and the parameters that matter are not just raw duration but the combination of length, file size, upload speed, and how the underlying infrastructure handles media at scale. Bluesky's decision to raise the storage limit at the protocol level, rather than build a separate video pipeline just for its own app, is consistent with the AT Protocol's design philosophy. On the AT Protocol, media files are stored on Personal Data Servers (PDS) and referenced by records, so raising the default storage ceiling is a lever that benefits any client built on the network, not just Bluesky's own app. That distinguishes the change from a closed-platform feature drop. Whether independent AT Protocol clients will build compelling video experiences on top of this infrastructure is an open question, but the foundation is now there.
The 2-3x upload speed improvement, if sustained under load, matters more for user retention than the length increase itself. The difference between a 60-second ceiling and a 10-minute one is visible to content creators evaluating platform fit; the difference between a 90-second upload and a 30-second one is felt by every user who posts a clip. Scaling that improvement as user counts and media volume grow will be the real test.
