ReelShort
Key facts
- Operator / parent
- Crazy Maple Studio; COL Group holds 49.24% (SZSE 300364)
- Origin
- China
- Headquarters
- Sunnyvale, United States
- Launched
- August 2022
- Category
- App · Global (China-origin)
ReelShort is a vertical-drama app operated by Crazy Maple Studio, a US-based studio in which the Shenzhen-listed COL Group holds 49.24%. It sells coin packs and in-app purchases and offers ad-unlocked episodes, with the United States supplying most of its revenue. Sensor Tower ranked it first by revenue for 2024 and for the first quarter of 2025, and second, behind DramaBox, in the first quarter of 2026. On 14 July 2026 it announced a partnership with WWE.
ReelShort revenue and key figures
Reported revenue: CNY 5.72bn (about $805m) FY2025, +97% (official, Crazy Maple Studio parent filing)
| Metric | Figure | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | CNY 5.72bn (about $805m) FY2025, +97% | official | Crazy Maple Studio parent filing |
| In-app purchase revenue | $130m in Q1 2025 | estimate | Sensor Tower |
| Downloads | about 71.4m in FY2024 | estimate | Diandian |
| Downloads | cumulative 50m+; a separate count of about 120m worldwide also circulates, and the two are not reconciled | no basis given | — |
| Monthly active users | 50-55m | estimate | third-party estimate |
| Monthly active users | more than 70m, claimed 14 July 2026 | company | ReelShort |
| Time spent | 35.7 min/day | estimate | Omdia; the same figure is also credited to Adjust × Sensor Tower |
| Revenue per download | about $2.59; the United States accounts for about 69% of revenue | estimate | third-party estimate |
Profile
- Markets
- United States-led, at about 49-69% of revenue, and global. Germany is served in German through reelshort.com/de, German app-store listings and the German-language YouTube channel @reelshortapp-de. The company claimed more than 100 countries on 14 July 2026.
- Content
- Original and licensed live action; AI-assisted production.
- Genres
- Werewolf and alpha romance, billionaire and CEO, revenge.
- Monetisation
- Coins and in-app purchases; ad-unlock.
- Profitability
- Not profitable. Crazy Maple posted an FY2025 net loss of more than CNY 85m, per parent filings.
- Backers
- COL Group; Crazy Maple Studio. The parent is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
People
- Joey Jia — Founder and CEO, Crazy Maple Studio (founded 2017)
- Tong Zhilei (童之磊) — Founder, Chairman and CEO, COL Group (中文在线), which holds about 49% of Crazy Maple Studio as an equity-method associate
Sources
Corrections and updates
Correction, : The profile gave Beijing as the seat of control over ReelShort. COL Group's filings account for Crazy Maple Studio, ReelShort's operator, as an equity-method associate with 49.24% of the equity, not as a controlled subsidiary.
Update, : The profile called ReelShort the largest microdrama app in Western markets by revenue. Sensor Tower ranked it first by revenue for 2024 and for the first quarter of 2025, and second, behind DramaBox, in the first quarter of 2026.