Guides / Understanding the generation queue
Understanding the generation queue
How Grab Media orders jobs: work already running comes first, then paid jobs, then free jobs, each in the order they were submitted.
Updated 2026-10-11
What the queue is
Grab Media does not download files from other websites. A job is a generation task you start on this site: a short video, an image, a transcript, a voice clip, a lipsync video, or a face swap. Submitting a form creates a row in the scheduler. A worker picks that row up when it reaches the front of the queue and writes the finished file.
The home page shows your own tasks and refreshes while the tab stays open. You can leave and come back. The position shown before you confirm a job is an estimate. Jobs submitted by other people can move ahead of yours before the worker starts.
The order jobs actually run in
A job that is already processing stays ahead of jobs that are still waiting. Among waiting jobs, paid work is taken before free work. Inside each of those groups, older jobs run before newer ones.
Photos to video and audio to text are offered without a catalog price, so they enter as free work. Text to video, text to image, image to text, voice change, face change, and lipsync use a price when one is configured. A remaining free daily allowance lets that job skip checkout. Once the allowance for the day is used, the job waits until payment is recorded and only then joins the queue.
What you can do while you wait
Watch the status on your task list. Completed jobs show a preview and a download while the file is still stored. If a job stays on awaiting payment, open the price step again or check My Payments after you sign in. A failed job does not produce a file. The troubleshooting guide explains what to check before you submit the same work again.
Free and paid jobs share one worker pool. A long video or face-swap clip ahead of you will hold the queue even if your own job is a short transcript. Shorter settings are the practical way to try an idea before you pay for a longer render.
Related: How it works, FAQ, Blog, Contact.
