The catalogue that grew fourfold in twelve days

People used to complain above all that the Shorts catalogue was small. We said the same, right here, in the first version of this article. Twelve days on, the catalogue was more than four times bigger, and the complaint was plainly wrong.

This piece is therefore about a number that keeps changing, and about the unit people measure it in, which was the wrong unit even back when the number was small.

The count, with its date

On 6 October 2026 the grid held 129 live series, counted across every tab with the infinite scroll run all the way down.

The same count on 10 September gave 24. This isn’t us fixing a miscount: both times we loaded the entire grid. In twelve days the catalogue really did grow from 24 to 108, and it hasn’t stopped since.

That is why any figure about this platform, ours among them, needs a date attached. A catalogue count you find anywhere without one is just decoration.

The comparison everyone makes

The natural reaction is to set that count against a tube site, with its tens of thousands, and decide there is nothing here. The reaction makes sense, but the comparison doesn’t work, because the two figures count different things.

On a clip site each entry is a single video. Here each entry is a series: a premise, a cast and numbered episodes watched in order, extended over time as new ones get made. Most series have five episodes, the strongest have fifteen. On a card, the pink New Episodes flag shows a series that has grown since your last visit.

A total of 129 series therefore adds up to much more viewing than 129 videos, by a factor that depends on the series you choose — and the product still shows no episode count on its cards, the one figure that would settle the matter. Leaving it out was a fair criticism when the catalogue had 24 entries. At 129, the problem is bigger, not smaller.

What really limits you

It isn’t the total. The limit is how many of the 129 you yourself want to watch.

Above the grid sit thirteen category filters. Turn on the one or two that fit what you are after, and the catalogue shrinks from 129 to a shortlist. That shortlist is its true size, and it is what people are responding to when they say it feels thin.

With 24 series, the shortlist was often just a handful, and you could get to the end of it. With 129, for most tastes, you won’t. If you turned this down in early September because the catalogue was too small, that reason no longer holds.

The grid shows only part of the catalogue

This is the bit we needed two tries to get right, and why the count above deserves an asterisk. Of the 24 series in our first count, five no longer appear on the candyshorts.com grid. We thought they had been taken down. They hadn’t.

They have the platform’s Spicy tag, and Spicy series never appear on the candyshorts.com grid: that site lacks the filter altogether. They exist inside candy.ai, under a tag you need to know about. Seven series are there, unseen by anyone counting on the other site.

So 129 is the honest figure for the grid you can browse, but not for the catalogue. That drawback is more awkward than a small library would be: a small library can be assessed before you pay, whereas a catalogue with a hidden shelf means what you judge isn’t what you buy.

In practice: base your judgement on what the grid shows today, and don’t choose a twelve-month plan just for one particular series you are after.

How to judge it before paying

Here the platform does well. Browsing is fully open: you can see every card, title, badge and premise without subscribing, much of it without even an account. Set your filters and count your own shortlist before spending a thing.

On every series we checked, episode one is also free, and episode two plays straight away or after a free sign-up, though no card tells you where the paywall begins — where exactly the line falls has a page to itself. With both, you can answer the one question that counts, whether there are enough series here you want to watch, without paying.

The same reasoning goes for the plan you choose. For €3.99 a month on the annual plan, 129 series give you plenty to watch for the price. The turnover, though, is a reason to start monthly regardless: check that what you want to watch stays available.

Count taken on 6 October 2026, when the total was 129; on 10 September it was 24. If this figure has gone stale, as it will, tell us and we’ll count again and update the date.