Free tool
Free YouTube Title Generator
Type your topic and choose Shorts or long-form. You get 10 titles under 60 characters, each tagged with the angle it uses, plus three short thumbnail text ideas that add to the title instead of repeating it.
How to use the title generator
Describe the video, not the niche. "Why wombat poop is cube-shaped" gives the tool a subject and a question to work with. "Animal facts" gives it nothing to promise.
Choose the format honestly. Shorts are mostly found by swiping, so the hook does most of the work and the title should name the subject plainly. Long-form videos are chosen from a title and thumbnail side by side, so the title has to carry more of the curiosity.
- Type the question the video answers, in plain words.
- Pick Shorts or long-form. The tool changes how much it leans on curiosity versus clarity.
- Shortlist one title from each of three angles. Different angles teach you more than three versions of one.
- Check that the video delivers the title's promise in its first seconds. If it doesn't, change the title.
- Pick thumbnail text that adds something the title doesn't say.
The five title angles, with weak and stronger versions
Each title the tool returns is tagged with one of five angles. The weak versions below are what most first drafts look like: a topic, not a promise. The stronger ones name something concrete and open a gap.
| Angle | Weak | Stronger |
|---|---|---|
| Curiosity gap | Interesting Facts About Wombats | Why Wombat Poop Comes Out as Cubes |
| Number | Octopus Facts You Didn't Know | 3 Hearts and Blue Blood: How Octopuses Work |
| Contradiction | The Truth About Napoleon | Napoleon Wasn't Short. A Cartoonist Made Him Short |
| How / why | Tickling Explained | Why You Can't Tickle Yourself |
| Stakes | NASA's Mars Mistake | The Unit Mix-Up That Lost a Mars Spacecraft |
How long should a YouTube title be?
YouTube allows up to 100 characters in a title, but long titles often get cut off on phones and in search. That is why the tool keeps every title under 60 characters, and why the subject and the twist should sit in the first 40 or so.
Trimming a title is mostly about deleting the setup. Compare these.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| In This Video We Explore the Surprising Reason Why Wombats Produce Cube-Shaped Droppings | Why Wombat Poop Comes Out as Cubes |
| The Real Story of How a British Cartoonist Changed How We Remember Napoleon's Height | Napoleon Wasn't Short. A Cartoonist Made Him Short |
| Everything You Need to Know About Why People Can't Tickle Themselves (Science Explained) | Why You Can't Tickle Yourself |
Title, thumbnail and hook: three jobs, no repeats
The title asks, the thumbnail shows, the hook adds. If all three say the same thing, two of them are wasted. That is why the tool returns thumbnail text as well: two to four words that push the title further.
For "Why Wombat Poop Comes Out as Cubes", thumbnail text like "NOT A SQUARE BUTT" adds a joke and a myth to bust, and the hook can open with where in the gut the cube forms. More on images in thumbnails for explainer videos, and on pairing titles with hooks in YouTube titles for explainer videos.
For long-form videos, YouTube Studio lets you test up to three titles and thumbnails and picks the winner by watch time, not clicks. A misleading title can win the click and still lose the test. The feature is not available for Shorts, so compare title angles across many Shorts instead.
From a title to a finished video
If you have a title and no video yet, StickTale can build the rest. Give it the question your title asks, and it researches the topic, writes a retention-planned script, draws one consistent stick-figure character in every scene, narrates in one take, adds captions and exports a 1080p MP4, for Shorts or long-form. It is in private beta, so you join a waitlist first, and there is no free plan for the video app (plans from $19 a month).
Questions
How long should a YouTube title be?
YouTube allows 100 characters, but keep most titles under about 60 so they don't get cut off on phones, and put the subject and the surprising part in the first 40 or so characters. Every title this tool writes is under 60 characters.
What makes a good YouTube title?
A concrete subject, a gap between what the viewer expects and what is true, and an honest promise the video keeps. "Why You Can't Tickle Yourself" does all three in five words.
Should Shorts titles be different from long-form titles?
Yes. Shorts are mostly found by swiping, so the hook does the heavy lifting and the title should name the subject clearly. Long-form titles compete next to a thumbnail in browse and search, so they need to create more curiosity on their own.
Can I A/B test YouTube titles?
For long-form videos, yes: YouTube Studio can test up to three titles and thumbnails and picks the one with the most watch time. It is not available for Shorts, so for Shorts, compare which title angles perform best across many uploads.
Is the title generator free?
Yes. It is free with no signup, with a fair-use limit per person per hour and per day. It works best in English and writes titles in the language you type the topic in. Titles are drafts, so edit them to fit your video.
Should I put keywords in my YouTube title?
Use the words a viewer would actually search, like "wombat poop" or "tickle yourself", near the front. Don't stack extra keywords: one clear subject reads better and makes a stronger promise than a list.
Updated October 23, 2026
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