ShortMax Review: Is It Worth Downloading?

ShortMax is one of the few short drama apps that most of its users seem happy with. Its US App Store listing averages 4.6 stars over more than 180,000 ratings, and 385 of its 500 most recent reviews give it five stars. People like the stories, the range of languages and the volume of new titles. The complaints that remain are the ones every app in this category gets: what episodes cost, how often ads interrupt, and how hard it is to stop a weekly charge.

We read ShortMax’s terms of service, both store listings, its website and those 500 reviews to work out what it costs and who it suits.

What is ShortMax and who is it for?

ShortMax is a free app for vertical short dramas, run by SHORTTV LIMITED, a Hong Kong company. Its terms of service give a registered address in Mong Kok, Kowloon, and SHORTTV LIMITED is the seller on the App Store. On Google Play the developer name shown is SHORTMAX LIMITED, with SHORTTV LIMITED’s Hong Kong address under “About the developer”.

It is one of the biggest apps in the category. Google Play shows more than 100 million downloads and a 4.4 rating from 2.15 million reviews, and the US App Store shows 4.6 from 180,473 ratings. The app has been on the App Store since September 2023, and version 2.28.0 came out on October 20, 2026. It is rated 17+ on the App Store and Teen on Google Play, which lists both ads and in-app purchases.

ShortMax suits viewers who want more than the standard American billionaire romance. Its listing claims “50,000+ trending short dramas and movies in 19 languages”, including American, Korean, Chinese and Japanese series, with multilingual subtitles and dubbing. That is ShortMax’s own figure and we can’t count it, but the language range is real: the app is offered in 19 languages and its website runs in 16.

ShortMax’s content library: genres, dubbed dramas and AI

Genres on ShortMax

The listing names the genres it leans on: Contemporary Romance, Werewolf Romance, CEO stories, Mafia drama, Revenge, Payback, Time Travel, Reborn, Secret Identity, Hidden Marriage, Contract Marriage and Marriage Before Love. ShortMax’s website sorts its catalog into categories such as Urban Stories and tags each title with tropes like “Reversal of Fortune” and “Tit for Tat”.

Dubbed and international dramas

A large share of what ShortMax shows on its own homepage is dubbed. On the day we looked, 28 of the 77 dramas linked from the homepage had “dubbed” in their address, from apocalypse and bodyguard stories to system-power fantasies. If you want dubbed Asian dramas in English, ShortMax puts them front and center. If you only want English-language originals, expect to scroll past many dubbed titles.

Episode counts and credits

The website shows each drama’s episode list and credits a creator. The example we checked, I Built Her Empire, She Betrayed Me, runs 20 episodes. ShortMax doesn’t show on its website which episodes are free or what each one costs.

AI-made dramas

Eleven of the 500 recent reviews mention AI. One reviewer complained of “inconsistent AI footage” with scenes “stitched together with little attention to continuity”, and another asked why the app uses AI “when you can use real people”.

The ShortMax app: features and playback

The listing promises HD playback, adjustable speed, Picture-in-Picture so you can keep watching in the background, and offline downloads. The iOS app needs iOS 15.1 or later and is about 160 MB.

Most reviewers have no complaints about how it runs. Fourteen of the 500 mention glitches, crashes or loading, and only five of those give one or two stars. Search gets some complaints: one reviewer typed a full title and got results “not near the title I typed”.

How much does ShortMax cost? Coins, bonus coins and Weekly Pass Pro

How ShortMax coins work

Locked episodes are paid for with coins. ShortMax’s terms of service describe two kinds: gold coins, which you buy, and bonus coins, which you earn or receive with purchases. The terms set the order: “Gold coins will be used first when watching dramas, if not enough, bonus will be used automatically.” Bonus coins expire on a date shown in My Wallet and are cleared once they do. That order works against you, because the free bonus coins wait behind the paid ones and can expire before you reach them.

The US App Store lists one-time purchases at $3.49, $4.99, $9.99, $14.99, $19.99 and $24.99, but the listing doesn’t say how many coins each one buys, and we found no coin store on ShortMax’s website. So, unlike GoodShort or KalosTV, we can’t tell you what a dollar buys.

What does an episode cost?

ShortMax doesn’t publish episode prices. Its website lists every episode of a drama but shows no prices or lock markers. App Store reviewers do name prices. Of the 11 reviews in the US, UK, Canadian and Australian stores that give one, 8 say 60 to 80 coins an episode, most often 80. Reviewers describe about 100 coins per dollar, so expect roughly 80 cents an episode. One complained you “can’t check to see how much the episodes cost before you start watching”, so you won’t know a series’ exact price until you reach it.

Weekly Pass Pro

The App Store lists Weekly Pass Pro at $9.99 and at $19.99. The terms also mention monthly and annual passes. Subscriptions renew automatically 24 hours before they expire, and you can cancel any time before a renewal goes through.

Some reviewers say the pass didn’t give them what they expected. One wrote that it “will only release one episode a day even though you paid weekly”, and another that “it only goes so far then stops and asks for more money”. Read the pass’s terms in the app before you buy it, and don’t assume a weekly pass unlocks everything.

Can you watch ShortMax for free?

Partly. The app is free, every series starts with free episodes, and you can earn bonus coins from a daily check-in and a daily allowance of rewarded ads. Reviewers describe a check-in of about 25 to 30 coins and several ads a day worth about 25 coins each, though the numbers vary between accounts. Ads are a common complaint: 43 of the 500 reviews mention them, and one reviewer described “the same ad 7-8 times on a row”. Our ShortMax free coins guide covers the free route in detail.

Is ShortMax worth the money? ShortMax vs Netflix

For comparison, Netflix’s US plans cost $8.99 a month with ads and $19.99 for Standard after the March 2026 price rise. The $19.99 Weekly Pass Pro costs the same as a month of Netflix Standard, but for one week, and if it renews it adds up to about $87 a month. A pass makes sense only for a one-week binge that you cancel straight away.

What recent App Store reviews say

The 500 most recent US reviews, posted between September 29 and October 24, 2026, are positive overall: 385 give five stars and 39 give four. Praise for the stories comes up in 279 of them.

The complaints are concentrated. Subscriptions and cancelling come up in 43 reviews, 28 of them one or two stars, with an average of 2.4. Reviewers describe being charged again after a week they meant to be the last, a cancel button that doesn’t seem to work, and support that answers with automated emails. “Impossible to cancel the subscription!” one wrote. Coin prices come up in 70 reviews, but most of those are four or five stars from people who like the app and wish it were cheaper. We can’t verify what any single reviewer experienced, but the pattern is the same as on other apps: the billing, not the content, causes the anger.

Refunds and support

ShortMax’s terms say refunds or changes “will not be entertained unless the paid product/service is unusable for the reason of ShortMax”, and your account balance can’t be transferred or refunded. If you’re charged for a subscription you meant to cancel, your best route is the store you paid through: Apple or Google Play, not ShortMax.

ShortMax pros and cons

Pros:

• Free to download, with free episodes at the start of every series.
• A huge, international library in 19 languages, with dubbed and subtitled dramas.
• Picture-in-Picture, adjustable speed and offline downloads.
• Strong ratings: 4.6 on the US App Store and 4.4 on Google Play, and recent reviews agree.
• Few complaints about crashes.

Cons:

• Episode prices aren’t published, and reviewers report very different figures.
• The App Store doesn’t say how many coins each purchase buys.
• Paid coins are spent before bonus coins, so the free bonus can expire unused.
• Weekly Pass Pro renews automatically, and cancelling is the main subject of one-star reviews.
• Heavy ads on the free route.
• AI-made dramas, which several reviewers dislike.

ShortMax vs ReelShort vs GoodShort

ShortMax wins on range: 19 languages, many dubbed and international dramas, and playback features like Picture-in-Picture and offline downloads. It loses on price transparency, because neither its store listing nor its website tells you what coins buy or what an episode costs. GoodShort is the most open about price and ReelShort gives the most free episodes in our tracking. For the details, see our ReelShort review, GoodShort review, DramaBox review, KalosTV review and the ranking of the best short drama apps.

ShortMax review: our verdict

ShortMax is a well-liked app with one of the biggest and most international libraries in the category, and the app itself works well. What holds it back is how little it tells you about price: no published episode cost, no coin amounts on its store purchases, bonus coins that expire behind paid ones, and a weekly pass that some reviewers found didn’t unlock what they expected.

Our rating: 3 out of 5. A 4 for content and the app, pulled down by price transparency and by how often people struggle to stop the weekly charge.

Download ShortMax if you want dubbed and international short dramas or watch in a language other than English. Stick to the free episodes and the daily bonus coins until you find a series worth paying for. If you take Weekly Pass Pro, cancel renewal in your store account the same day. When you’re ready, open ShortMax and start with the free episodes.

FAQ

Is ShortMax free?

The app is free to download and every series starts with free episodes. After that you need coins, which you buy or earn through the daily check-in and rewarded ads, or a Weekly Pass Pro.

How much does ShortMax cost?

The US App Store lists one-time purchases from $3.49 to $24.99 and Weekly Pass Pro at $9.99 or $19.99. ShortMax doesn’t say how many coins each purchase buys, and it doesn’t publish episode prices.

How much does a ShortMax episode cost?

ShortMax doesn’t publish episode prices. App Store reviewers most often report 80 coins an episode, with 8 of 11 naming 60 to 80. That’s roughly 80 cents. The exact price is only shown in the app.

Who owns ShortMax?

SHORTTV LIMITED, a company registered in Hong Kong, runs ShortMax and sells it on the App Store. Google Play shows the developer as SHORTMAX LIMITED with the same Hong Kong address.

How do I cancel ShortMax Weekly Pass Pro?

Cancel in the store you paid through, at least 24 hours before the pass renews. On iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. On Android, open Google Play, tap your profile, then Payments & subscriptions, then Subscriptions. Deleting the app does not cancel the pass.

Do ShortMax bonus coins expire?

Yes. ShortMax’s terms say bonus coins have an expiration date shown in My Wallet. Paid gold coins are spent first, so bonus coins can expire before you use them.

Sources

ShortMax’s store listings, terms of service and website were read in October 2026. Review counts come from the 500 most recent US App Store reviews in Apple’s public review feed.

• App Store listing (seller, ratings, version, in-app purchases, features): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/shortmax-short-dramas-tv/id6464002625
• Google Play listing (downloads, rating, developer address, ads and in-app purchases): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=live.shorttv.apps
• ShortMax terms of service (company, coins and bonus order, expiry, renewal, refunds): https://www.shorttv.live/Temsof