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Product video cost calculator
Compare the real cost of a product video: doing it yourself, a freelancer, an agency, or us. Your time counts as a cost.
Your numbers
The starting values are guesses. Replace each one with your own.
Doing it yourself
A freelancer
An agency
Overnight Cut
What each route really costs
| Route | Cash | Your time | True cost |
|---|
Our prices come from our price list. The freelancer and agency figures are only what you type in: we do not publish market averages because they vary too much to be useful.
A product video costs the cash you pay plus the hours you spend. Doing it yourself costs your hours times what an hour of your work is worth. A freelancer or agency costs their quote plus your time managing them.
Most founders compare the price on a quote with nothing. The honest comparison is cash plus time. If you spend twelve hours learning a tool, recording, editing and exporting formats, those twelve hours are not free: they are hours you did not spend on the product or on customers.
This calculator makes that visible. You enter what an hour of your time is worth, how long each route would take you, and any quotes you have. It adds them up and shows the break-even point. The only prices it knows are ours, taken from our price list. Everything else is yours, so the result reflects your situation and not an industry average.
How the calculator works
For each route it adds two things: the cash you pay, and the value of your own hours. For doing it yourself, the cash is software and music, and the hours are everything from learning the tool to exporting the final formats. For a freelancer or an agency, the cash is their quote, and the hours are the time you spend briefing them and reviewing drafts. For us, the cash is the package price, and the hours are the brief and the storyboard review.
The break-even line is the one to look at. It tells you the hourly value above which making the video yourself costs more than ordering one of our films. If that number is lower than what your time is worth, doing it yourself is the more expensive route, even though it feels free.
What counts as your time
- Learning the tool. The first video in a new editor takes far longer than the second.
- Recording. Clean demo data, a clear screen and several takes, because the first take is rarely the one you keep.
- Voice and captions. Recording a voiceover, writing captions, and checking them with the sound off.
- Formats. A launch needs more than one shape. See which video aspect ratios you need.
- Revisions. Changing something you made yourself is quick, and changing something a freelancer made usually costs a round of messages.
Questions to ask any freelancer or agency
A quote is only comparable if it covers the same things. Before you compare, ask each one:
- Do I see a plan, such as a storyboard, before anything is made, and what do I pay before then?
- How many revisions are included, and what does an extra one cost?
- Are voiceover, captions and every format I need included, or priced separately?
- Is it built from my real product, or from stock footage and mock-ups?
- Who owns the finished files, and may I run them as paid ads?
Cost is not the only question
Doing it yourself gives you full control and costs nothing in cash. A freelancer can be a good fit when you want a long-term relationship. An agency suits a large brand campaign. Our films suit a launch or a release that needs a finished film quickly, with the plan agreed first. If you are not sure what kind of video you need, read the difference between a product video, a demo video and an explainer. If you have a launch date, put the film on a timeline with the launch checklist.
How to use it
- Enter what your time is worth. Estimate what an hour of your work is worth to the company, even if you do not pay yourself yet.
- Pick the package to compare. Choose One Film, Launch Day or Launch + Ads. The price comes from our price list.
- Fill in each route. Enter the hours you would spend, and any quotes you have from a freelancer or an agency.
- Read the true cost and break-even. Compare the totals, then check the break-even hourly value against your own.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a product video cost?
It depends on the length, the production and who makes it, and prices vary widely. Our one-off films start at $199 with the storyboard approved first. For any other route, get a written quote and enter it here, so it is compared on cash plus your time.
Is making a product video myself really free?
It has no cash cost but it has a time cost. Learning a tool, recording, editing, captions and several formats can take many hours. Multiply those hours by what your time is worth to see what it really costs.
Why does the calculator not show freelancer or agency prices?
Because they vary too much by country, experience and scope for an average to be honest. A made-up average would hide the real difference between two quotes, so you enter the quotes you actually have.
What is the break-even hourly value?
It is the hourly value of your time above which doing it yourself costs more than our package. If your time is worth more than that, the cash price of a finished film is lower than the hours you would spend making it.
Is my data stored?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent to us. The Start button only saves your package choice on this device, to fill in our brief form, and you decide whether to send that form.
Want it made for you? One Film, $199
A 20 to 30 second film for your homepage, a social post or a single feature. You see the storyboard and a full preview before you pay. You see a storyboard and a private preview first, and pay only once you are happy.
See what's in One Film or get a free storyboard →