Reddit story videos are one of the easiest faceless formats to make: a narrated Reddit post over a background clip, with big word-by-word captions. You can make them completely free and with no watermark using ViralMint — a free, open-source desktop app. The honest catch: ViralMint doesn’t scrape Reddit and doesn’t ship gameplay footage. You paste the story text yourself, and if you want a gameplay-style background you upload your own clip. Everything else — voiceover, captions, music, and the 9:16 export — is automated.

What a Reddit story video actually is

A Reddit story video is three ingredients stacked: a narrated story (usually an AITA or r/relationships post read aloud), a calming background clip (gameplay, satisfying B-roll, or stock footage), and animated word-by-word captions synced to the voice. The captions are the signature — muted autoplay means most viewers read before they hear, so per-word highlighting is what holds retention.

ViralMint’s faceless video generator builds exactly this stack from a script you paste. Here’s the full step-by-step.

How to make a Reddit story video (step by step)

Step 1: Pick a story and paste the text

Find a Reddit post worth narrating and copy the text. Paste it into ViralMint’s Smart Video script box as your script. ViralMint does not fetch Reddit for you — you supply the text. That’s a feature, not a limitation: you decide which story to use, trim it to the punchy parts, and edit anything before it becomes a voiceover. Keep it under roughly 150 words for a tight 30–45 second short.

Step 2: Generate the AI voiceover

Turn the pasted script into narration. You have three voice options:

  • Free Microsoft Edge TTS — 400+ voices across 100+ languages, no cost, runs locally.
  • Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS — paid at $0.12 per 1,000 characters for a more natural read.
  • Your own cloned voice — synthesized on-device, so your reference audio never leaves your machine.

For most Reddit story videos, free Edge TTS is enough. Pick a clear, slightly fast voice — the format leans on pace. If you want to compare options, see the best free AI voice generator rundown.

Step 3: Choose a background

Now the visuals. Two honest paths:

  • Pexels/Pixabay stock — ViralMint keyword-matches royalty-free stock footage to your script automatically. Zero effort, zero cost.
  • Your own gameplay clip — the classic Reddit-story look. Upload a gameplay-style clip through Mix your own clips and it becomes the background. ViralMint does not bundle copyrighted gameplay (Minecraft parkour, Subway Surfers, etc.), so you provide that clip yourself.

You can also sprinkle in optional AI B-roll images (Nano Banana, $0.06/image) for topic-specific shots — but for a plain talking-story short, a single looping background is the norm.

Step 4: Burn word-by-word captions

This is what makes it read as a Reddit story video. ViralMint transcribes your voiceover locally with Whisper to get word-level timestamps, then burns in captions with a preset:

  • viral — yellow highlight, a few words at a time
  • bold — green highlight, big Impact font
  • classic — clean, full-sentence, bottom-aligned

Each word lights up exactly as it’s spoken. It’s the same engine behind the AI caption generator, so timing stays tight to the audio instead of drifting like cloud auto-captioners.

Step 5: Add music and export 9:16

Finally, ViralMint auto-mixes a royalty-free background track (ducked under the voice, faded in and out) and exports an mp4 in 9:16 — the right frame for YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. There’s no watermark. Download the file, then post it manually to your accounts. ViralMint doesn’t auto-upload, so you keep full control of captions, timing, and scheduling on each platform.

What it costs

On the free stock tier — Edge TTS voiceover + Pexels stock + bundled music — a Reddit story video costs essentially nothing, with no watermark and no subscription. AI features do need a free account with pay-as-you-go balance, and there’s a small free daily allowance to start. If you add AI B-roll images, budget roughly 10–30¢ per video depending on how many you use. That’s it — no per-video export fee, no minute caps.

Scaling it up

Once one video works, the format repeats cheaply. Paste a new story, keep the same voice and caption preset, swap the background, export. If you want to run this on a schedule or batch several at once, ViralMint’s pipeline is built for repetition — see faceless YouTube channel automation for the batching approach.

Frequently asked

Does ViralMint scrape Reddit for me? No — you copy and paste the post text yourself, which keeps you in control of what’s narrated.

Is it free with no watermark? Yes, on the free stock tier (Edge TTS + Pexels + bundled music). No watermark, no subscription. AI b-roll images add about 10–30¢.

Can I use gameplay footage? Yes, but you upload your own clip via Mix your own clips — ViralMint doesn’t bundle copyrighted gameplay.

How do the word-by-word captions work? Whisper transcribes your voiceover locally for word-level timing, then ViralMint burns in animated captions in a viral, bold, or classic preset.

Ready to make one? Download ViralMint free — open-source, no watermark, no subscription.