Explainer video price: how much does an explainer video cost?

The price of an explainer video ranges from about $500 to $50,000. Freelancers typically charge $1,000 to $5,000 per finished minute, specialized studios $5,000 to $15,000 per minute, and full-service agency projects reach $20,000 to $50,000 or more. With Capri Video, the first explainer is free with a watermark; to keep it, you subscribe from $99 a month plus sales tax.

Ask five video studios what an explainer video costs and you may get five answers between $500 and $50,000. That’s not because four of them are wrong. They’re pricing different jobs: a different amount of strategy, custom design, people, meetings and versions, even though the result is “a 90-second animated video” in every case.

This guide takes the price apart so you can tell which of those jobs you actually need. You’ll see typical explainer video rates, the pricing models behind them, the factors that move a quote up or down, the costs that don’t appear in the quote and what our own fixed price includes.

Start with your website link. We create your first video for free with a watermark, including three revision rounds, no credit card needed. To keep the original without a watermark, subscribe from $99 a month plus sales tax, cancel monthly. Try it for free.

Explainer video price ranges at a glance

These bands come from published market rates. Treat them as a starting point for questions, not a benchmark. A $3,000 quote with a finished script and existing brand illustrations can be a better deal than a $2,000 quote that charges for every revision.

Why the same 90 seconds can cost $500 or $50,000

Most explainer video pricing is built from the same ingredients. Someone has to understand your offer, write a script, design the look, animate every scene, record a voiceover, add music and sound, and deliver files. What changes from one quote to the next is how much of that is done by hand, by how many specialists, and how many times it’s reworked.

A freelancer may do everything alone in two weeks. A studio assigns a writer, an illustrator, an animator and a producer. An agency adds a strategist, workshops and a campaign plan. You’re not paying for seconds of video. You’re paying for hours of people.

How explainer videos are priced: five models

Knowing which model a provider uses tells you where the risk sits.

Per finished minute. The most common model at freelancers and studios. It’s easy to compare, but it hides what’s included. A “$4,000 per minute” quote can mean very different amounts of custom design.

Per project or package. One price for a defined scope: a 90-second film, two revision rounds, one language. Clear, as long as the scope is written down. Anything outside it becomes a change request.

Hourly or day rates. Common for freelancers on open-ended work. Flexible, but the final cost of the explainer isn’t known until the end.

Subscription tools. A monthly fee for software that you operate yourself. The cash price is low. The real cost is your own time, and a look that other companies share.

Free preview, then a subscription. The scope and monthly price are set in advance, and you subscribe only after you’ve seen a first video you want to keep. This is how Capri Video works. It moves the risk of a video you don’t like from you to the producer.

Seven factors that move the price

1. Length

Most providers price per finished minute, because every extra second has to be written, designed, animated and narrated. Shorter is usually cheaper, and often better: a focused 60 to 90 seconds holds attention more reliably than three minutes trying to cover every feature. See how long an explainer video should be.

2. Concept and script

Do you bring a finished, approved script, or does the provider need to understand your business first? Discovery calls, competitor research and several script drafts are real work. For many companies, they’re also the most valuable part of the project, because a clear script decides whether the video explains anything at all.

3. Visual style and custom design

Animated text and icons cost less than custom characters. Flat 2D illustration costs less than 3D product models. Whiteboard animation sits somewhere in between. Every custom asset a designer draws from scratch adds hours; reusing your existing brand illustrations saves them. Our guide on choosing between 2D, 3D and real images explains the trade-offs.

4. Voiceover and music

A professional voice actor might charge anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars per language, depending on usage rights. Licensed music adds a fee, and a custom soundtrack adds more.

5. Revisions

This is where budgets quietly grow. Some quotes include two rounds of feedback; others include “minor changes” and charge hourly for everything else. A late change to the story can mean re-recording the voiceover and re-animating several scenes. Ask exactly how many rounds are included, at which stages, and what counts as a round.

6. Versions, languages and formats

A German version, a vertical cut for social media and a 15-second teaser can each be priced as separate deliverables. If you know you’ll need them, put them in the first request so every provider quotes the same scope.

7. Turnaround

Traditional production usually takes four to eight weeks, mostly because work passes through several people in sequence. Rush delivery often comes with a surcharge.

Explainer video price by style

Style is the factor people underestimate most. The same script can land at very different prices depending on how it’s drawn.

If the form of a physical product is what viewers need to see, 3D may be worth its price. For services, processes and software, 2D usually explains more for the money. Our guide to 2D animated explainer videos compares the looks, and the article on whiteboard explainer videos covers that style in detail.

What a quote should include

Two quotes with the same total can cover very different things. Before you compare prices, check each one against this list.

• Script: written by the provider, or supplied by you?
• Storyboard or style frames for approval before animation starts.
• Illustration and animation in an agreed style.
• Voiceover, including the usage rights for where you’ll show the film.
• Music and sound, with a license that covers ads if you plan to run them.
• Revision rounds: how many, and at which stages.
• Formats: landscape for the website, vertical or square for social.
• Captions or subtitles.
• Usage rights for the finished film: where, and for how long.
• Delivery date, and what happens if feedback takes longer.

If a line is missing, ask. A missing line is rarely free.

Hidden costs that never appear in the quote

Your team’s time. Briefing calls, script reviews, chasing approvals from three departments. On a long agency project this is often the largest cost, and nobody invoices it.

The fourth revision round. The quote included two. The CEO saw the film late and wants a different opening.

Usage extensions. A voiceover licensed for your website may need a new fee for paid advertising. The same goes for some music.

The second language. Translating the script is quick. Re-recording, re-timing the animation and replacing on-screen text is not.

Updates. Your pricing page changes, the interface gets redesigned, a step in your process disappears. Ask what a small update costs before you sign.

Waiting. Eight weeks without a film is eight weeks of explaining the same thing by hand in every sales call.

A worked example

Imagine a software company that needs one 90-second explainer for its homepage, in English, with a voiceover and two revision rounds. This is a made-up illustration, not a real quote:

• A freelancer at $2,500 per minute would come to about $3,750, plus any extra rounds.
• A studio at $8,000 per minute would come to about $12,000, often with a more thorough discovery phase.
• An agency package with strategy workshops, a German version and three social cutdowns could easily land at $20,000 or more.

None of these prices is wrong. They’re different amounts of work, and some projects need the larger version: a 3D model of a complex machine, a live-action shoot or a campaign that will run with a large media budget behind it.

What a fixed price looks like in practice

The video at the top of this page is our Isometric example for ExtraScapes, a landscape designer in Albuquerque. It runs about a minute and a half: a bare backyard, six clearly numbered steps from the discovery call to the build, a narrator, music and one next step at the end. That’s the format an explainer with Capri Video covers: a script, animation in one consistent style, a voiceover and music, in a video of up to two minutes.

There’s a neat parallel in the video itself. ExtraScapes tells its customers: “Your estimate is price-locked to the design you approved.” A subscription works the same way. The scope and monthly price are agreed first, so the cost can’t drift while the work is under way.

What an explainer video costs with Capri Video

We built Capri Video for the many companies that need a clear, professional explainer without an agency process. AI handles much of the production work, and our team checks every video before you see it. That’s why we can offer fixed monthly plans, plus sales tax where applicable and cancellable monthly:

• Start: $99 a month, 2 credits. An explainer up to two minutes uses 2 credits, a short video 1 credit. Script, animation, voiceover and music. Three revision rounds per video included.
• Growth: $299 a month, 8 credits. For teams that need several videos a month.
• Enterprise / Custom: quoted individually. For product ranges, multiple videos or particular requirements.

Here’s how the money works:

1. You paste your website link. Extra details are optional.
2. No credit card is needed for your first video.
3. Your first reviewed, watermarked draft arrives within 24 hours.
4. You can request up to three revision rounds. Further rounds are quoted individually. The final delivery date depends on that feedback.
5. If you like the video, you subscribe from $99 a month and get the version without the watermark. If you don’t, you pay nothing. From the second video on, credits are deducted when you send the brief.

Once you keep it, you can use the video on your website, on social media, in ads, in presentations and at trade shows, without time or geographical limits. For custom packages, we agree scope, price and timelines individually.

Is a cheap explainer video worth it?

A video is worth what it explains. A cheap film with a vague script helps nobody, and neither does an expensive one. So judge the value, not the price tag.

A simple way to think about it: what is one new customer worth to you? If the answer is $2,000, a month of Capri Video at $99 has paid for itself with the first customer the video helps win, and a $12,000 film needs six. That’s arithmetic, not a forecast. Whether a video wins customers depends on the message and on where you put it. Our guide Will this video be worth the cost? walks through that calculation, and the article on cheap explainer videos shows how to keep a project affordable without making it useless.

Three questions separate a good cheap video from a bad one:

• Can you see it before you pay? Examples are fine. Your own video is better.
• Is the script about your customer’s problem, or a list of your features?
• Does someone check the result? Unreviewed automated output often contains small errors that viewers notice immediately.

How to get a useful quote anywhere

Whether you work with us or someone else, the same brief makes quotes comparable. Send every provider:

• Who the video is for and the one question it should answer.
• The approximate length and where it will be shown.
• Whether you have a script, or need one written.
• Your brand assets: logo, colors, fonts, existing illustrations.
• Languages, formats and versions you’ll need.
• How many feedback rounds you expect, and who gives the final approval.

Then compare what each quote includes, not just the total. Our guide to comparing explainer video quotes has a simple checklist for that, and the article on choosing an explainer video company covers what to look for beyond price.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average price of an explainer video?

There’s no meaningful average, because the range is so wide. Most custom explainers from freelancers and studios cost between $1,000 and $15,000 per finished minute. Template tools cost less in money and more in time, and agency campaigns cost more.

How much does a 60-second explainer video cost?

At typical freelancer and studio rates, a custom 60-second explainer often lands somewhere between $1,000 and $15,000. With Capri Video, the first video is a free watermarked preview with three revision rounds; keeping it takes a subscription from $99 a month.

What does an explainer video cost per minute?

Roughly $1,000 to $5,000 per finished minute with a freelancer and $5,000 to $15,000 with a specialized studio. Some providers lower the per-minute rate for longer films, because the concept and style are developed only once.

Why do agencies charge so much more?

Part of an agency’s price is the people involved: strategists, scriptwriters, illustrators, animators, sound designers and project managers, each billing time across several weeks. For complex campaigns, that coordination is worth paying for. For a single clear explainer, it often isn’t.

Is a 2D explainer cheaper than 3D?

Usually, yes. 3D adds modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering, and changes late in the process cost more. Choose 3D when the physical form of a product is what you need to show.

Do I have to pay upfront?

That depends on the provider. Many studios ask for a deposit of part of the fee before work starts. With Capri Video, the first video needs no credit card; you subscribe only if you decide to keep it, from $99 a month plus sales tax, cancel monthly.

Are revisions included in the price?

Check every quote. Two rounds is common; some providers bill extra changes by the hour. Capri Video includes three revision rounds within the agreed brief and style.

Why do explainer video prices vary so much?

Because providers are pricing different amounts of work, not different amounts of video. The same 90 seconds can involve one freelancer reusing an established style, or a team of specialists building strategy, custom characters and several versions from scratch. Strategy, custom design, revision rounds and extra formats move a quote far more than length does. That’s why two honest quotes for the same brief can sit thousands of dollars apart.

How can I keep the cost of an explainer video down?

Keep the film short and focused on one question, and reuse what you already have: brand colors, fonts, existing illustrations, an approved script if you have one. Agree the scope, formats and revision rounds in writing before work starts, and route all feedback through one person so late changes don’t multiply. A fixed monthly subscription is the simplest protection, because the total can’t drift while the work is under way.

Ready to see your own first draft?

You don’t need a finished script or a long sales process. Tell us what customers keep asking and we’ll turn it into a video.

Start with your website link. We create your first video for free with a watermark, including three revision rounds, no credit card needed. To keep the original without a watermark, subscribe from $99 a month plus sales tax, cancel monthly. Try it for free.