How To Make Reddit TikTok Videos For Free (NOT 11Labs)

Reddit TikTok videos are getting tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of views. You have seen them. Someone reads a post from a subreddit while Subway Surfers plays in the background. The voice is not human. The captions pop up word by word. The whole thing takes less than a minute to watch and somehow you sit there until the end. People are building real audiences with this format, and right now you can make your own version for completely free without using 11Labs or paying for any voice tool.

Alston Godbolt put together a step-by-step walkthrough that covers every part of this process from finding a story worth telling to exporting a finished TikTok-ready video. This post breaks down everything he covered in the video so you can follow along, pause when you need to, and start making your first Reddit TikTok today.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear method for finding Reddit stories that spark engagement
A legal, royalty-safe approach to background video you can use right now
Step-by-step instructions for turning any Reddit text into a voiced video using the free version of CapCut
Tips for formatting, captions, and effects that make TikTok videos look polished
An honest look at how this gets monetized and what risks come with it
A clear picture of what Alston recommends and what he warns about before you start
A way to figure out which content format fits your situation at finder.platformproof.com

What Reddit TikTok Videos Are (and Why They Pull So Many Views)

If you have spent any time on TikTok, you have seen the format. Someone copies a Reddit post, usually a story or a rant that a lot of people relate to, and an AI voice reads it out loud while a looping background video plays underneath. The text pops up as captions in sync with the voice. The whole thing is short, punchy, and designed to get people agreeing or arguing in the comments.

The reason this format works is that Reddit already has the content. The writing is real. Real people wrote real things they felt strongly about. When a lot of viewers have felt the same way, they stay to hear the whole story, they comment, and they share it. You are not inventing content from scratch. You are finding content that already has proof of resonance and giving it a new surface to live on.

Alston is upfront that this is a format a lot of people are currently running. He is not claiming to have invented it. He spotted it working, wanted to show exactly how to do it for free, and put together this walkthrough so anyone could try it. Whether it keeps working long-term is something he leaves as an open question, and he says that plainly in the video.

Step 1: Find a Subreddit Where People Already Care About the Topic

Reddit is broken into subreddits, which work a lot like topic-specific groups. There are over a million of them. Your job in this step is to find two or three subreddits where people are posting things that others respond to strongly. The goal is emotion: frustration, surprise, shared experience, or a situation a lot of people have found themselves in.

The subreddit Alston highlights is r/antiwork. It is a community where people come to vent about work culture, bad bosses, unfair pay, and the broader frustration of feeling like the system is not designed for regular people. The top posts regularly pull thousands of comments and upvotes because the frustrations there are ones most working adults share. A story from that subreddit is not just one person’s bad day. It is a story that stands in for everyone’s bad day.

When you are looking for a subreddit for your own channel, think about a target audience that has a problem and comes to Reddit to talk about it. Ask who is asking lots of questions, who is venting, who is looking for validation. Find two or three subreddits that serve that group and you have a long-running source of story content. Then look for posts with high engagement, strong comments, and reactions that suggest a lot of people see themselves in the story.

Step 2: Source a Background Video You Can Actually Use

The background video in a Reddit TikTok is there to give the viewer something to watch while the story plays. Subway Surfers is the game most commonly associated with this format, and you have probably seen exactly that in videos you have come across on TikTok. The reason that game is popular is partly that it moves quickly and keeps the eye busy, and partly that a lot of creators have already normalized it for this exact type of video.

If you want to use Subway Surfers or any other game footage, Alston’s advice is to go to YouTube and filter your search to Creative Commons content. Creative Commons licenses let you use, remix, and share other people’s videos without running into copyright strikes or takedown notices. You change the filter settings on YouTube to show only Creative Commons results, find a gameplay clip that works, copy the URL, and use a YouTube downloader to save it to your computer. Alston notes he does not want to walk through the download step in full detail since it sits in a gray area, but the Creative Commons filter is the key safeguard.

You can also find Creative Commons content on TikTok itself if you prefer a platform-native clip. Alston also mentions that Call of Duty backdrops and surfing footage are used by creators doing this same format. The principle is the same regardless of which game or clip you choose: look for content that explicitly allows reuse, and you will not run into problems down the line.

Step 3: Copy the Reddit Story Text

Once you have picked a Reddit post worth turning into a video, copy the full text. Alston recommends aiming for around 2,000 words of input. Most finished videos run about a minute in length, and a longer source text gives the tool more material to generate from. That said, he worked with around 1,100 words in the demonstration and still got a complete, ready-to-use video out the other side.

You are not rewriting the post. You are not summarizing it. You copy it as written, which keeps the original voice intact and preserves what made the post resonant in the first place. If the story has follow-up comments or a clarifying edit that adds to the narrative, you can include those too. Just keep it readable and coherent as a block of text before you move to the next step.

The example Alston uses in the video is a post about taxes: “What exactly are we paying taxes for? No healthcare, no infrastructure, no free education, no free job prospects in most countries.” That kind of post works because it states something clearly, a lot of people feel the same way, and the short punchy sentences fit perfectly into the TikTok caption format. When you are picking your post, look for that combination: clear statement, shared frustration, short sentences.

Step 4: Use CapCut’s Script-to-Video Feature to Build the Video

CapCut is a free video editing tool, available on desktop and mobile, and it has a feature called script-to-video that does the heavy lifting here. You open the tool, click script-to-video, paste your Reddit text into the input field, and let it run. CapCut will generate an AI-voiced video with auto-matched scenes, which means it picks visuals to go with your text automatically so you do not have to do that manually either.

Before you hit generate, you can choose a voice. CapCut offers several free options in the tool, and the ones Alston names include Werewolf, Zombie, Jesse, Good Guy, and Chill Girl. Some voices inside the tool are labeled Pro, which means they require a paid plan. All the voices without that label are free. Alston uses the smart generation setting so that CapCut builds the scene matches automatically rather than requiring you to assign each one by hand. Once you click generate, the video is typically ready in about a minute or less.

Alston also mentions that ChatGPT has a CapCut plugin that could let you generate a short script around a topic first, then bring that into CapCut rather than using a raw Reddit post. He describes this as something he wants to try in a future video rather than a tested workflow, but it is worth knowing the option exists if you want more narrative control over what the AI voice actually says.

Step 5: Customize Captions, Swap the Background, and Export

After CapCut generates the video, you land in the desktop editing dashboard. The first thing to check is the aspect ratio. By default, CapCut may produce a 16:9 video, which is the standard widescreen format. TikTok lives in vertical, so you need to switch to 9:16. Do that in the dimension settings, then highlight all of your caption blocks and resize them to fill the screen properly.

Auto captions come pre-loaded, and Alston points out they are already popular with this format because viewers often watch TikTok with the sound off. You can change the caption style from the default system look to something like Typewriter, which pops each word onto the screen as it is spoken. You can adjust the vertical position of the captions by entering a position value, move them higher or lower on the screen, and change the font or color if you want something more eye-catching.

If you want to use the Subway Surfers background clip you downloaded in Step 2, this is where you swap out the AI-generated scenes for your own footage. Delete the default background and drop your clip in. Then go to the effects panel and add a visual effect to give the video a little extra pop on the screen. Alston keeps this step optional but recommends trying at least one effect. When everything looks right, click export and save the file to your computer. Your video is ready to upload to TikTok.

Not sure if Reddit TikToks are the right format for where you are right now?

There are dozens of ways to make money online, and the right one depends on your skills, your schedule, and what you already know. Find yours at finder.platformproof.com.

How This Gets Monetized (and What Alston Says About the Risk)

The main monetization path for this format right now is the TikTok Creator Fund. TikTok pays creators based on views, and this style of video is designed to rack up views quickly because the format is already familiar and the topics tend to get strong reactions. Alston mentions that the Creator Fund has recently gone through some changes and he is not certain whether those changes affect how well it pays out for this type of content. He is honest that he does not know.

What he does say clearly is that you could realistically make two, three, four, or five of these videos per day if you have the time. The process is fast once you have your workflow down. That volume is part of what makes it worth doing: you are not betting everything on a single video performing. You are building a catalog of short content quickly and letting the numbers work in your favor over time.

Alston says outright in the video: do this at your own risk. He describes it as something that is working right now, something he has seen a lot of people talk about and try. But he is clear that he does not know if it will still be working six months from now. That is not a disclaimer meant to scare you off. It is an accurate description of how short-form content trends behave. Formats rise, get saturated, and change. If you go in knowing that, you are not going to be blindsided when it shifts.

Honest Drawbacks Before You Start

Alston calls this low-effort work, and he means that as a description of what it is, not as a reason to avoid it. Here is what the drawbacks actually look like in practice:

The TikTok Creator Fund has changed recently. Alston flags this in the video. The payout structure and eligibility requirements have shifted, and he is not certain how much that affects this type of content going forward.
The format is already common. A lot of creators are running this exact playbook. Getting views in a crowded field requires more consistency and volume than it did when the format was new.
You do not own the underlying content. The Reddit posts you are using belong to their authors. Using someone else’s writing for commercial content without permission is a risk worth thinking through before you scale up.
Background video sourcing requires care. Alston specifically says to stick with Creative Commons material. Going outside of that opens you up to copyright strikes on the platform.
Longevity is unknown. Alston says he does not know if this works six months from now. That is the most honest thing he says in the video, and it should be the thing you keep in mind before investing heavily in this method.

A Simple Step-by-Step Summary

Here is the full process in order so you can come back to it as a quick reference:

Go to Reddit and find two or three subreddits where your target audience vents, asks questions, or shares strong opinions (r/antiwork is Alston’s example for work frustration topics)
Find a high-engagement post that many people can relate to, with short punchy sentences that will read well as captions
Source a Creative Commons background video from YouTube or TikTok, Subway Surfers-style gameplay or any clip with an open license
Copy the Reddit post text, aiming for around 1,000 to 2,000 words
Open CapCut for free, go to script-to-video, paste the text, choose a free voice, enable smart generation, and hit generate
In the CapCut editor, switch the format from 16:9 to 9:16, resize captions to fill the screen, and optionally swap the background for your downloaded clip
Add a visual effect from the effects panel, then export the finished file to your computer
Upload to TikTok, monitor engagement, and repeat the process to build a consistent upload schedule

Find Your Platform

Reddit TikTok videos work for some people and not others. Whether it fits you depends on your schedule, your comfort level with video, and what you are actually trying to build. If you are not sure whether this is the right starting point for you, finder.platformproof.com walks you through a short set of questions and points you toward the approach that makes the most sense for where you are right now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to pay for anything to make these videos?

No. Alston specifically built this method around tools that cost nothing. CapCut’s script-to-video tool is free, and the voices he demonstrates are all on the free tier. Any voice labeled Pro inside CapCut does cost money, but there are enough free voices available that you can skip those without losing much. The background video can be sourced for free using Creative Commons clips from YouTube or TikTok. The only cost involved is your time.

Why does Alston say NOT 11Labs in the title?

11Labs is a popular AI voice tool, but it is not free. A lot of tutorials on this format recommend it, which can make beginners feel like they need to pay to get started. Alston’s point is that you do not. CapCut includes AI voice generation at no cost, so you can produce the same style of video without spending anything upfront. The “NOT 11Labs” in the title is a direct signal to people who have seen other tutorials and gotten the wrong impression about what this costs.

Which subreddit should I start with?

Alston recommends r/antiwork as a starting point because it generates high-engagement posts that a lot of people relate to, specifically around work frustration, unfair treatment, and the feeling that the current setup does not work for regular people. That said, any subreddit where people are emotionally invested in the topic can work. Think about who your target viewer is, find where that person goes to vent or ask questions on Reddit, and start there. Look for posts with strong comment counts and upvotes as a signal that the story resonates.

Is it legal to use Reddit posts in my videos?

Alston does not give a legal opinion on this in the video. Reddit’s own terms allow content to be read and shared broadly, and many creators run this format without issue. That said, the post’s original author still wrote it, and using someone else’s writing in commercial content without permission is an area worth thinking through carefully before you scale up your operation. At minimum, do not take posts from private or moderated communities where sharing is restricted.

Do I have to use Subway Surfers as the background?

No. Subway Surfers is just the most commonly used game in this format right now. You can use any background video as long as it has a Creative Commons license that permits reuse. Alston mentions that Call of Duty backdrops and surfing footage are also used by creators doing this format. CapCut will also generate its own background scenes automatically if you prefer not to source your own footage at all, which makes it even easier to get started without hunting down a separate clip.

How long does it take to make one video?

Fast. Alston shows that once you have your text ready, CapCut generates the video in roughly a minute. Add a few minutes to find the Reddit story, copy the text, adjust the captions and format in the editor, and export. Alston suggests you could make two, three, four, or five of these in a single day if you have the time. The bottleneck is finding good stories, not the production process itself.

How do you make money from these videos?

The main path Alston mentions is the TikTok Creator Fund. TikTok pays eligible accounts based on views. The fund has changed recently and Alston is upfront that he does not know exactly how those changes affect payout rates for this format. Views-based income with any platform fund tends to be modest unless you are generating very high volume consistently. The real play here is volume: making many videos regularly rather than waiting on any single one to perform.

Will this still work in the future?

Alston does not know, and he says so directly in the video. He saw the format working, showed how to do it, and told viewers to do it at their own risk. Short-form content formats tend to shift as they get crowded. What gets strong engagement now may get less once the format becomes common and viewers start tuning it out. Going in without treating this as a guaranteed long-term income is the right mindset. Use it while it works and pay attention to whether the results justify the time you are putting in.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “How To Make Reddit TikTok Videos For Free (NOT 11LABS)”: https://youtu.be/pcxxvKAKWko
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com
CapCut (free video editing and script-to-video tool): https://www.capcut.com
r/antiwork subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork

Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.