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What a short drama costs to finish and how much of it is free. Source: GASP, from the apps' public pages.
Monthly US Google searches for DramaBox and ReelShort, August 2024 to August 2026. Source: Google Ads data, compiled by GASP.
GASP, the independent guide to short dramas and AI films.
GASP's public dataset on 7,572 short dramas also shows DramaBox has passed ReelShort in US searches, with 110,000 a month against 90,500.
DE, UNITED STATES, October 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Finishing a typical drama on ReelShort costs $28.14 when paid for episode by episode with coins, and only 17% of a typical drama can be watched before payment starts, according to a public dataset kept by the independent guide GASP.
The dataset, "Short dramas in numbers," is published on GASP's research page and covers 7,572 dramas on ReelShort, DramaBox, ShortMax and GoodShort. It is built from what each app publishes about its own dramas, read every day, together with Google's monthly search counts for the United States.
On price, the current edition finds that a one-week pass is the cheaper way to finish 712 of the 833 ReelShort dramas that could be priced. The free part is 17% of a typical ReelShort drama and 18% of a typical DramaBox drama.
On audience, more people in the United States now search Google for DramaBox than for ReelShort: 110,000 searches against 90,500 in August 2026. Two years earlier the two apps were level at 27,100. Searches for the term "vertical drama" rose from 210 a month in August 2024 to 5,400 in August 2026, 26 times as many.
The dataset also looks at what people search for after a drama's title. Of the 1,313 drama titles that people type into Google, 89% bring up a search suggestion that points to an unofficial copy.
"Short dramas are sold one episode at a time, so nobody sees the full price until they have paid it," said a spokesperson for GASP. "We read the public pages every day and add the numbers up, so a viewer can see what a drama costs before starting it."
The spokesperson added: "The search suggestions tell the same story from the other side. When nine titles in ten lead people toward an unofficial copy, the price and the small free part are a large part of the reason."
For each drama, GASP's site lists the number of episodes, how many are free, the cost to finish and where it can be watched. GASP also publishes a price comparison across apps.
How the figures are produced: search counts are Google's own monthly figures for the United States, published through Google Ads, which rounds them into bands. Search suggestions show what people type, not how often. Prices, free episodes and release dates are read from each drama's public page on the app's own website. The dataset does not cover what happens inside the apps, and DramaBox does not publish a price per episode. The tables can be downloaded and quoted with a link.
About GASP
GASP (https://gasptv.com) is an independent guide to short dramas and AI films. It tracks what the short drama apps release, what each drama costs and how much of it is free, and it curates AI films from any tool and any country. It is run by working AI filmmakers and channel operators; GASP says the channels its team has built reach more than 3.8 million followers on Facebook. GASP does not run an app or sell a tool, and is not affiliated with the apps it covers. Logos and facts for editors are at https://gasptv.com/press/.
Benny Yu
GASP
hello@gasptv.com
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