How Much Does It Cost to Make an Explainer Video?
Short answer: anything. You could film yourself talking into your iPhone for free or you could pay nine figures, fly to Antarctica, hire half of Hollywood, and film the greatest explainer video in the history of marketing.
Sorry, that wasn’t very helpful.
This blog will put a rest to the "how much does it cost to make an explainer video" question by doing two things.
1) Outlining all the various factors that go into influencing an explainer video price.
2) Giving examples and pricing for pretty much* any type of explainer video you might want.
*Your explainer video can take many forms. But in this blog, we’ll stick to the forms that have traditionally been favored in an online marketing context – i.e. what you’re probably looking for.
How Much Does it Cost to Make an Explainer Video? Part 1:
The factors that will influence the price of your expaliner video
How much research and time is dedicated to the script?
The typical rate for a basic explainer video script is usually no more than $650. If you look on freelance sites, you’ll even see plenty of people offering explainer scripts for less. Maybe $100-$200. For any of these price brackets what you’ll usually be getting is - at best – an explanation of what your product does and why your audience should buy it. At worst you’ll receive something half decipherable that makes bad infomercial scripts look like the next summer blockbuster.
Once you get past the $650 mark though, you’ll start to touch upon what really makes a script, and an explainer video as a whole, truly effective. The more you pay the more research you’ll get. Pay $1000+ and you’ll get the kind of care and craftsmanship from a copywriter that would go into creating a quality landing page or email sequence.
FYI, at Bullseye this is the kind of script we specialise in. If you really want to go all-in on your script and pay say 2-3k, you’ll get something that takes into account voice of customer data, what the competition is doing and even alternative intros and CTAs if you’re looking to test multiple versions. A script can make or break a good explainer video so investing in a good one is often the most important factor if we’re talking straight ROI here.
Will it be live-action or animation?
Live-action being regular, filmed with a camera video. (Sorry if I insulted your intelligence there, it’s just that some people are unfamiliar with the term, anyway…) Both live-action and animation can be cheap, expensive and everything in between. One thing is for certain though: anyone can make a live-action explainer for free. We’ve all got cameras in our pockets and there’s plenty of free, easy to use editing software available. The other thing about low budget live-action is that cheap doesn’t always come across badly. Picture the following.
You film something simple and informal in your office or your garden. You talking to camera about the product, and voila, you’ve got yourself a simple, authentic video. If you want to spend a little more, you could even get a decent videographer/editor for $350-$400 a day. Book them out for a week and you’ve got yourself something that looks professional that’s still somewhat affordable.
You may even be able to get some expenses for free. Maybe you could borrow a digital camera or ask your friends and family to be actors for the day? Meanwhile, cheap animation will usually scream cheap a mile away. That’s one pro live-action certainly has over animation. (Pros and cons of both being a topic for another blog post).
Anyway, that’s the low end. At the other end expect to pay $40-$50k for high end animated explainer videos. Meanwhile, high-end live-action can be anywhere from $20k-$500K! (Examples of both will be coming up in part 2, below). With live-action, there are so many moving parts that it’s hard to even start pricing your explainer video until you’ve got a script written. Hence why many of the examples you’ll see in part two are animated.
How long will the explainer be?
As you might expect, explainer video cost will vary depending on how long it is. Often a two-minute explainer will cost twice as much as a one-minute explainer, but not always. Depending on who you’re working with, the cost to make an explainer video relative to length will vary. This is because plenty of studios offer discounts for larger orders. For example, at Bullseye, we offer 10% off for every 30 seconds you order beyond the two-minute mark.
With animation, explainer video cost per minute is pretty predictable for every 30 seconds you add. But with live-action, pricing can be a little more wayward. Yes, a twenty-minute live-action explainer will definitely cost more than a one-minute explainer. But imagine something like this…
You’re shooting live-action and a large section of the video involves someone talking into the camera. In the script, there’s an optional extra 30 seconds where the presenter goes into further detail about the product. On shoot day it only takes the crew an extra five-ten minutes to shoot this section. And it takes the editor an equally insignificant amount of time to include it in the final version. Even though it might add an extra 20% to the video length, this bit of live-action film is so easy to shoot it should have little impact on the cost.
As mentioned, live-action pricing is particularly variable so make sure you think carefully about your live-action explainer when considering how its length might impact pricing.
What if you use stock video or imagery?
This can bring the cost right down. If you piece together the right bits of stock imagery you can potentially make an effective explainer video within a few days and for as little as a few hundred dollars. The one watch out here is that stock imagery often looks like stock imagery. So choose it carefully. If you’re on a budget but still want things to look good then a potential alternative might be combining stock with a little bit of animation or live live-action where suitable – again example to come in part two.
2D animation or 3D animation? Motion graphics or traditional frame by frame?
If you’re keen on animation (and I don’t blame you, animation is lovely) then you’ve got a few different options to go with.
Let’s get 3D out the way. With 3D, think Pixar or Shrek. To get Pixar or Shrek quality though, you’ll need to spend multiple six figures for a one-minute explainer. Chances are you don’t need that level of production quality for your explainer. Still, you’re highly unlikely to get any good 3D for under $9000, with most 3D one minute+ explainer videos costing at least $15,000. Usually $20,000 and up for something that looks truly slick.
We’ll illustrate some 3D explainer video price brackets in part two. Just an FYI, 3D is usually not worth it for an animated explainer video. Hence why most of the animated explainers you see on the internet are 2D.
Now, on the subject of 2D explainer video price, it’s often more affordable than 3D since there’s one less dimension to stress over. Still, 2D explainer video price can vary a great deal. Firstly, you’ve got your typical digital 2D. Probably the style of animation that comes to mind when you think of an animated explainer video. Something like this.
Or like this.
These are created using programs like Adobe After Effects and usually come in between the $6500 - $19000 mark. What can determine their price within that range comes down to several factors. These factors will always affect the cost of animated explainer video production, regardless of whether it’s 2D/3D etc. They include things like the complexity of the design and animation, and the overall quality and care taken over the look and feel.
Yes, quality may be subjective to some but by and large, there are objectively pleasing characteristics of good animation and design. Clarity, good contrast ratios and adherence to the 12 principles of animation all take time and money. They will, however, produce the most visually satisfying results.
If you want to keep your 2D explainer video price down, then you could go down the motion graphics route. This is still digital 2D animation, but it’s a lot simpler and avoids things like complex illustration and the use of characters. Instead, it’s essentially animated graphic design. Animated text, simple shapes, etc.
Then you’ve got traditional 2D animation. This is a whole new ball game. Think Disney. This involves drawing 2D images frame by frame. It’s still done digitally, but since each frame is drawn individually it’s more labour intensive. It does however make for a particularly impressive result and can achieve the kind of movement and feel that can’t really be replicated when using programmes like After Effects. This is why you won’t get good quality traditional 2D for under $20,000 per minute.
One trick that many great 2D explainer videos do is blend the two. This can achieve the best of both worlds by animating some elements in a digital 2D/motion graphics style and then animating the elements of the video that require a little extra flair with traditional techniques.
What about stop motion animation?
Ah yes, lovely stop motion. Looks great, doesn’t it? You’ve got claymation.
Or maybe you could use a technique called pixilation that looks a little like this.
Either way, whilst it’s enchanting, I would highly recommend avoiding stop motion animation. It costs loads, and prices vary wildly. Never say never though. For the right brand, executed in the right way the results can still be enviable. This video worked wonders for Dropbox. However, it did cost them $50,000, and I firmly believe that no animated explainer video cost needs to be that high.
Is there a particular style or designer you want to work with?
Some design trends are just in, designers know it and working with a designer that can execute the style properly will set you back some extra cash. Take this guy for example.
Right now he’s one of the absolute kings of the cutout, jerky animation style. There are also plenty of designers and illustrators that have such a unique style and have built such a name for themselves that you’re going to be paying potentially whatever they feel like charging. I don’t know what one of my favourite illustrators, Egle Zvirblyte is charging, but I hope it’s a lot.
Are you using template graphics?
Template graphics are to animation and motion graphics, kind of what stock footage is live-action video. They can be a great way of saving days of production time and potentially thousands of dollars BUT they can’t be customised that much and they can often look like they came from a stock library. There are some great templates out there though. So if you find a good one that suits your brand, a $6500 explainer video could suddenly become a $650 explainer video.
How quickly do you need it?
It can be hard to reduce time without reducing quality but there are ways to expedite things. For example, if you’re animating, having separate teams of designers and animators can make a nine week project take six weeks. This will obviously require extra resource investment from the agency, hence the price increase. Also note that if you’re working with a single freelancer, then expedited delivery is a little harder to pull off well – all-nighters are no fun for anyone. Oh, and about freelancers.
Are you going with an agency or a freelancer?
Hire the right freelancer and you’ll probably save at least few hundred dollars. Hire the wrong freelancer and you could easily waste a few hundred and several months. Another thing to consider is where the agency or freelancer is based. There’s some great work coming from all corners of the globe from both freelancers and agencies. And as you might expect, with countries where there’s a lower cost of living, there’s at least 20% - 30% to be saved.
How many revisions will you need?
At Bullseye Motion we include two rounds of revisions at every stage of the production process. From scripting to storyboarding to final animation. Plenty of other studios offer similar and for most animated explainer video jobs that’s all that’s needed. But what if the entire C-suite needs to have its say? Additional revisions can (and should) always be discussed before starting any job. If they’re needed, they can easily add a few hundred dollars for each additional day’s work that’s required.
Do you need different versions?
As mentioned earlier you might want different intros and CTAs to A/B test. Or maybe you would like different versions to screen in different regions. Sometimes this won’t come at too much of an additional cost – it might simply be a case of tweaking a few frames or shooting an extra 30 seconds. I.e. no more than a day’s work. But in other cases, it could mean making 50% more. It entirely depends on your needs.
How Much Does it Cost to Make an Explainer Video? Part 2:
Examples of different explainer videos with their respective price brackets
This is designed to help you quickly crack the equation of X budget = Y explainer video. Read on to learn more about pretty much every explainer video price bracket. We’ll go from the cheapest to the most expensive. Each example is still an example within a price bracket so depending on things like length, complexity and other factors mentioned above, the exact price of your video will vary. Please also note two things.
1) These prices are based on what the style could cost for up to two minutes.
2) Although there are one or two examples, I haven’t included as much pricing for live-action and 3D, simply because both can be a little more variable.
Let’s start with…
Free/super cheap: DIY explainer video software/templates or shooting on your phone
If you’ve got a spare afternoon and just want to get a video out there, you’ve got two options. Either whip out your phone or use some DIY explainer video software.
Here are a few explainer video software companies that you might be interested in.
And here are some easy to use editing tools.
https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere-rush.html
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/davinciresolve/
Up to $650: low-quality animated explainer video
This option you can usually find on places like Fiverr or Upwork. Many of these guys will be using the explainer video software mentioned above.
$650-$3000+: stock only
This only requires access to a stock imagery account and some editing time. You’ll also want to add maybe a few title cards and other on-screen graphics. These videos can cost more than 3k if you’re being picky with your stock, but there are plenty of good stock video accounts that can deliver what you need within the above price range. Storyblocks is a prime example.
$650-$3000: whiteboard animation
Whilst this style does seem a little retro now, if it suits your brand then it could be a solid, affordable option.
$2,000-$5000: stock plus a little animation
Here’s a way to give stock some flair. It doesn’t have to take too long to create – can be as little as around ten days – and it’s a level up from just editing together stock imagery.
$3000-$6500: simple motion graphics
A few styles fall into this category like simple abstract graphics or kinetic typography.
$4000-$8000 (or maybe a bit more): low budget live-action
It’s hard to put an exact price on something like this because a lot hinges on what you can get for free. Dollar shave club certainly nailed theirs. They shot this in a day and it only cost them $4500.
$4,500-$9,500: digital 2D animation/more complex motion graphics
This territory can be a great bang for your buck. It won’t break the bank but it can look professional enough for many a quality enterprise.
$9,500-$16,000: midrange 2D animation
Spend a little more and you’ll get a little more. More complex design and more activity on the animation front.
$9,500-$20,000: basic 3D
If you want 3D but need to keep costs down, then a style like this can be a good way to go.
$17,000-$21,000: premium 2D animation
This can be a sweet spot for many businesses. It’s about as professional as you would need to look but since it’s a) 2D and b) still not too long, it’s within many a business’s grasp.
$20,000+: premium 3D
This is where 3D gets very cool. In my opinion, you’ll always need to spend this much or more to make 3D look good. Whilst something like what's below could be done for around $20,000 to $25,000, you could easily find yourself spending double for the best artists out there.
$25,000+: super-premium, very sexy 2D animation
Spend this much on 2D and you really will be showing off. This style often combines elements of 3D and traditional 2D to make some hard-core eye candy.
$250,000+: high-end live-action
If you're in this price bracket you're probably no longer asking "how much does it cost to make an explainer video?" As you can see, a lot is going on here. And it’s also a little longer than the other examples. But even if this were under two minutes it would still be over the $250k mark. The guys behind the below example say their starting price for work like this is $500,000. Albeit that’s also for the entire campaign that goes with it: landing page, funnel etc. Still, whilst I’m sure there’s a crafty producer out there saying they’ll do it for five figures, you’re unlikely to get decent work like this for under $250,000.
Final thoughts
So how much does it cost to make an explainer video? Whatever you’re willing to spend. By and large, you’ll get what you pay for but there are plenty of ways you can both save and waste your budget. What’s more important than anything is considering your goals and what the right solution might be for your business. Sometimes the right solution will cost $500 and a spare weekend. Other times it may cost $20k and months of toil.
If you’re currently mulling over your explainer video options and you’re still not sure where to invest your money, I may be able to help. At Bullseye we like to offer a range of explainer options, placing particular emphasis on the script. Click below to get in touch.
P.S. all comments and feedback on this blog are appreciated! If there’s any way you think it could be improved, then feel free to shout and I’ll see if I can work them into a redraft. xx
