What is a viral score?
A viral score predicts how well a video is built to catch and keep attention in a fast-scrolling feed. It isn't a view count and it can't see the future. It's a read on the things you control: the opening, the pacing, the picture, the sound and the words.
Different tools use the term for different jobs. AI clipping tools give a "virality score" to rank short clips they cut out of a long video. Our viral score rates the finished short you're about to post, for the app you're posting it to, and comes with the edits that would raise it.
What is a good viral score?
Scores fall into five bands. A score of 65 or more is a solid base, and 80 or more means the video has what short-form viewers reward. Below 50, start with the opening: that's where most videos lose people.
- 80–100: Strong scroll-stopper. This has what short-form viewers reward. Post it.
- 65–79: Good — a few tweaks away. Solid base. The fixes below could push it higher.
- 50–64: Average. Viewers may not stick around. Start with the top fix.
- 35–49: Likely to be scrolled past. The opening needs work before this goes out.
- 0–34: Rework before posting. Several basics are missing. The fixes below are your checklist.
Viral score, hook score and hold estimate
Your report has three headline numbers. The hook score rates the first seconds alone: will someone stop scrolling? The hold estimate is the share of viewers likely to watch to the end. The viral score is the overall read, with the hook counting most.
If you pick more than one app, each gets its own viral score. The same video can score differently on Reels, Shorts and TikTok, because each app covers a different part of the screen with its buttons and captions, and each rewards slightly different things.
How to raise your viral score
The fixes in your report are ranked by how much they should help. The ones that come up most often:
- Start on movement or speech in the first second. Cut any intro, logo or slow lead-in.
- Put the promise on screen as text in the first two seconds, so people watching on mute know why to stay.
- Cut dead air, long pauses and filler words. The one-click fix on paid plans does this for you.
- Change the shot every few seconds on a talking head: a punch-in zoom, a cut-away or new text.
- Keep text clear of each app's buttons and caption.
- Bring the volume up to a steady level so the first word isn't lost.
How accurate is a viral score?
Honestly: it's a prediction, not a promise. Two videos with the same score can do very differently, because topic, timing, your audience and luck all matter. What the score is good at is catching the problems that sink a video before anyone sees it, like a slow start, text under a button or a quiet first line.
We check scores against what really happens: creators can tell us how a video did against their usual views, and we use that to keep the score honest. For a step-by-step pre-post check, read how to tell if a video will go viral.