Witches, covens and spells that cost more than they promise.
We track 24 magic & witches series across the apps we cover. Every one below starts with free episodes.
Where these live: most of this list sits on StardustTV, ReelShort and GoodShort. All are free to download.
Six from the list with their synopses in full, so you can judge the writing before installing anything. Tap any poster below for the same detail on the rest.
The Roman God of War, framed by the emperor and a wizard, lost his family and fell from a cliff. He awoke as a slave. In a deadly gladiator match, his divine power returned. He tore the hellhound, destroyed the fake God of War, killed traitors, overthrew the tyrant, and married the noblewoman who saved him, reclaiming his glory.
On StardustTV · starts with free episodes
"I had been switched at birth for seventeen years. When my wealthy biological parents finally found me, they showed up in patched shirts, pretending to be poor. Together with the fake heiress, Seraphina, they threw me into a condemned building and forced me to repay them fifty thousand dollars every month. Then one day, my mother publicly cursed whoever had framed me, saying they would “go blind and have their legs broken.” The next morning, on the red carpet at a ball, Seraphina’s eyes bled and both her legs snapped. Only then did they fall to their knees before me, screaming, “Who the hell are you?” I lowered my eyes. A flash of dark gold passed through my pupils. “The witch who didn’t burn on the Salem stake three hundred years ago.”"
On ReelShort · starts with free episodes
Three days before my marking ceremony, someone set fire to the bridal shop while I was inside trying on my ceremonial dress. Alpha Marcus threw the arsonist into the pack prison, sentencing them to the harshest punishment our laws allowed. I lay in the hospital bed, my body covered in third-degree burns, refusing to wake fully as the reality of my disfigurement sank in. In my semi-conscious state, I heard Marcus speaking with the pack's healing witch. "Alpha, we can still heal her completely with the ancient magic. If we wait any longer, Sarah will bear these scars for life! You just want Miss Rachel to be your Luna at the marking ceremony. This is cruel beyond measure!" "Let her keep the scars. I'll provide for her for the rest of her life, but if she's healed, she'll definitely cause trouble at the marking ceremony." "I promised Rachel that her pup would be welcomed into the pack with full honors. Only when Sarah is completely disfigured will she be grateful enough to raise Rachel's child as her own. The scars are necessary - at least this way, she won't dare mistreat the pup." In the corner of the room, where no one was watching, a tear slid down my burned cheek. So this was the truth. The marking ceremony I'd dreamed of was nothing but a lie. The mate bond I longed for would be my death sentence. If that's how it had to be, I would give him what he wanted.
On GoodShort · starts with free episodes
I'm a fraud who snuck into the most elite magic academy in existence.I'm a fraud who snuck into the most elite magic academy in existence. Everyone here wields real power — vampires, werewolves, dragon clan, witches — while I survive on street performer tricks and sleight of hand. If I'm exposed, what awaits me is worse than death. But I had to come: my sister died here. The academy called it an "accident." I know better — her killer is somewhere on these grounds. I kept my head down, stayed invisible. It wasn't enough. The blood heir, the wolf clan's little prince… the most powerful men in this academy are closing in on me one by one, marking me, declaring in front of everyone: "You're mine." Are they falling for me — or have they already uncovered my secret?
On ReelShort · starts with free episodes
Hazel loves her boyfriend deeply. When he falls gravely ill, she doesn't hesitate to stay by his side, even making a dark deal with a witch—trading her own heart's blood and life force just to buy him a chance to live. But fate takes a cruel turn when she takes on an extra job serving a powerful werewolf pack. There, her world shatters: the "penniless, dying" boy she thought she knew is actually Renzo, the noble and untouchable son of the Alpha! Her desperate sacrifices and profound love were nothing but a sick game and a casual bet to him. Heartbroken and utterly destroyed, Hazel resolves to leave him forever. It is only after losing her that Renzo realizes the devastating truth: he has already fallen irrevocably in love with her...
On Playlet · starts with free episodes
Abandoned as a baby by his father because of his strange appearance, Rex was raised by an Immortal into the ultimate monster hunter. Years later, his search for kin leads him to the Radiant Knights. His mother instantly recognizes him, but his commander father rejects him, despising his hunter status. When the Templar Order crushed the Radiant Knights in a surprise attack, leaving his mother dying. Rex’s sister reveals the truth of his heritage—prompting him to step in and turn the tide.
On ReelShort · starts with free episodes
Witches, covens, spells with a price. Small in volume and distinct in tone: where werewolf and dragon stories are about hierarchy, magic stories are about cost.
The format handles it better than you would expect. Because there is no room for a rules explainer, the good magic shorts show you the cost instead of describing the system, so you learn what a spell takes, who pays and what it leaves behind. That is more efficient storytelling than a lot of full-length fantasy manages.
The failure mode is magic as a plot solvent, a power that appears whenever the story needs an exit. Watch the first four or five episodes for whether the rules stay consistent when they are inconvenient. If they do, it usually holds up.
Of the 24 magic & witches series we track, the largest share sits on ReelShort — 13 titles, 54% of the list. After that it is GoodShort (3) and Playlet (2). The remainder is spread across 5 other apps, which is worth knowing before you commit: no single app has this theme cornered.
For context on the leader, ReelShort carries 31,446 series in total across 22 languages, and added 1,857 new titles in the last thirty days. Whether that shelf keeps growing matters more than its size today — our full write-up goes into what it costs and where it falls short.
83% of these carry our Mature story rating (15+) — sustained violence, threat or dark themes such as abuse and grief; stronger language. That is a rating for violence, threat and dark themes, not for romance; the two run independently, so a series can be Mature with barely a kiss in it.
Most of these ratings are provisional: derived from the official synopsis rather than from us watching the series, and marked as such wherever they appear. They deliberately round up, because under-rating a dark plot costs a viewer more than over-rating a gentle one costs us. How our ratings work.
14 of these landed since the start of July 2026, so this is not a static shelf. New titles arrive weekly across the apps, and the monthly round-up tracks what is new.
Two things decide whether you finish a short drama, and neither is the synopsis. The first is how many episodes you get free — every series here opens with some, but the number varies by app and by how heavily a title is being promoted that week. The second is where the paywall lands relative to the first real turn: a series that hooks you at episode three and charges at episode four is a different proposition from one that gives you ten.
Because the apps are free to install and each gives free episodes, the cheapest way to judge is to start the same theme on two of them. Our ranked app comparison covers which ones respect your money and which have the pushiest billing prompts.