Heartbeat vs YouTube Clips

4:07 A Heartbeat moment and a YouTube Clip both point at the best part of a video, but they work differently: a Clip is a 5 to 60 second loop made and kept on YouTube, while a moment is a start time that anyone can save in any YouTube video, with its own page on h.ki, a title, and a place in a list beside the video. Heartbeat also works with YouTube's own chapters rather than against them: in the Dec 25, 2023 features video George Vanous shows Copy as YouTube Chapters, which turns your moments into chapter lines to "paste into your video description and voila you have all your chapters in one click". Which is better depends on what you want to do with the highlight.

Quick facts

Side by side

YouTube's side comes from YouTube Help ("Create & share clips" and "Video chapters", read Nov 7, 2026); Heartbeat's from h.ki's pages and Freedom!'s videos.

Where moments do more

4:24 Chapters from comments. Heartbeat imports a video's chapters "from the description or the comments", so the timestamps a fan posted in a comment become a clickable list beside the player. On a moment page the list's source menu offers them by origin: "From video description", "From comment 1", "From comment 2". YouTube's chapters come only from the description.

0:14 That import was the first thing Heartbeat Moments did, at its Aug 18, 2023 launch: the moments of a long music video were "not in YouTube chapters", they were "in the comment", and the extension put them "into a handy little Chrome extension that lets you jump to those moments in the video right away" instead of scrolling back to the comments.

0:23 Anyone can make them, in any video. Click + Moment or press H, as in George's Nov 12, 2023 video, and the moment is yours, in someone else's video. h.ki/how-to-heartbeat answers "Are moments the same as YouTube Chapters? No!": chapters have no link of their own and only the uploader can make them.

They gather. Moments go into playlists, favorites, your profile and vikis, and a moment page lists everyone's moments of that video under "Community" (Moment Pages, Playlists, Vikis).

Where YouTube's tools do more

• No second site. Clips and chapters live on YouTube, in YouTube's apps, with no account anywhere else. Heartbeat has no app of its own that we could find, and saving a moment needs a Google sign-in on h.ki (Sign-in and Accounts).
• A loop of exactly the part. A Clip plays only its 5 to 60 seconds, again and again. A Heartbeat moment usually has no end and plays on; looping needs ?play=loop on the link (Share and Loop a Moment).
• Built into the seek bar. Chapters mark the seek bar itself; moments sit in a list beside the player.
• The creator decides. A creator can turn clipping off, and only the uploader writes chapters. On Heartbeat anyone can mark a moment of anyone's public video, which suits fans more than creators who want control.

Our verdict

We think the two answer different needs. For sending one funny 20 seconds to a friend inside YouTube, a Clip or a "Start at" link is quicker and needs nothing new. For anything you will build on (a list of the best moments of a long stream, the tracks of a three-hour music mix, highlights from several videos in one place), Heartbeat moments do what YouTube's tools cannot: anyone can make them, they can be fixed after saving, and they collect. The best use of all may be the bridge between them: make the moments on Heartbeat, then Copy as YouTube Chapters into your own video's description.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Heartbeat moment the same as a YouTube Clip?

No. A Clip is a fixed 5 to 60 second loop on YouTube; a moment is a saved start time, with an optional end, on its own h.ki page, and it can be edited later.

Can I make chapters for someone else's video?

Not on YouTube, where only the uploader adds chapters. On Heartbeat anyone can make moments in any video, and Heartbeat imports chapters fans posted in comments.

Can I turn my Heartbeat moments into YouTube chapters?

Yes. Copy as YouTube Chapters in a moment list's More menu copies them as chapter lines to paste into your video's description.

Can a creator stop people making moments of their video?

YouTube lets a creator turn Clips off. No public Heartbeat page describes a way for a creator to block moments.

What happens to a moment if the video is deleted?

It plays in YouTube's player, so it cannot play once the video is gone or private. YouTube removes Clips in the same case.

Sources

• Heartbeat features - No fluff, Freedom!, Dec 25, 2023 (video)
• Heartbeat Moments 1.0 is here - Free for you!, Freedom!, Aug 18, 2023 (video)
• No video ads! - YouTube vs Heartbeat - h.ki, Freedom!, Nov 12, 2023 (video)
• Create & share clips, YouTube Help, read Nov 7, 2026
• Video chapters, YouTube Help, read Nov 7, 2026
• Share videos and channels, YouTube Help, read Nov 7, 2026
• How to Heartbeat, h.ki, read Nov 7, 2026
• A moment page on h.ki, h.ki/morxesfsh, read Nov 7, 2026
• Vi.ki's YouTube guides: Clips and Chapters