Video costs are driven by four things: crew days, gear, talent and usage rights, and post scope. A calculator that doesn’t ask about those is guessing. Ours is the estimate builder itself: pick a template for the kind of project, put in rates, and the total computes from real line items while you watch.
The competing “calculators” are agency contact forms with a progress bar. This one outputs an estimate you can actually send. No email address required, which we understand is a bold feature for a calculator.
Wide on purpose: these are market observations, not quotes. Each type links to its template, which lists the actual line items behind the number.
| Project type | Lean / starting | Upper range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial / branded content | $10k–$25k | $100k+ | Crew days, talent usage rights, gear packages, post scope |
| Corporate video | $3k–$8k | $20k+ | Shoot days, motion graphics, stakeholder rounds |
| Music video | $3k–$10k | $100k+ | Production design, locations, specialty talent |
| Documentary | under $10k (short) | $100k+ (long-form) | Shoot days, travel, archival licensing |
| Social / short-form batch | $1k–$5k per batch day | $10k+ | Deliverable count, talent, motion graphics |
| Event coverage | $1k–$3k | $15k+ | Operators, coverage hours, recap turnaround |
2026 ranges, US market, observed not promised. Your quote is the real answer.
Crew days.The largest driver on most jobs. Every added shoot day multiplies the whole crew and gear block, which is why a two-day shoot doesn’t cost twice a one-day shoot; it costs twice the expensive part. Day rates by role are in the pricing guide’s crew rate benchmarks.
Gear. Camera package, lenses, lighting, grip, sound. Owned or rented, it bills either way; the difference is whose invoice it arrives on.
Talent and usage.On-camera talent is a session fee plus usage rights: where the video runs, for how long, in which territories. Paid-media usage can multiply the talent line several times over. It’s the line clients forget and the one that follows the video around.
Post scope. Edit days, motion graphics, color, mix, captions, versions. Deliverable count quietly multiplies post: one hero cut plus five vertical cutdowns is six deliverables, not one video.
Each template loads the real line items for that kind of job: crew, gear, talent, post. That's the part generic calculators skip.
Rates, quantities, days. The total recalculates as you type, and if you add costs, so does your margin. Only you see that part.
The output is an actual estimate: export it as a PDF or spreadsheet, or send a read-only link. Try that with a lead-gen form.
Deeper pricing questions live in the pricing guide, written for the person setting the number.
They're honest market observations, which is why they're wide. Video production isn't priced per minute of runtime; it's priced per day of people and gear plus the scope of post. Your real number comes from line items, which is what the builder computes. Treat the table as orientation, not a quote.
Because those forms aren't calculators, they're lead capture. The five questions produce a range you could have guessed, and the "result" is a sales call. Our calculator is the estimate builder itself: real line items, real math, a real total, no email required.
Per-minute pricing is mostly a myth outside broadcast. A 30-second spot can cost more than a 20-minute documentary, because cost follows shoot days, crew size, talent, and post scope, not runtime. If someone quotes you a flat per-minute rate for arbitrary work, ask which of those drivers it assumes.
Depends on who's on the call sheet. In 2026 US market terms, a director of photography commonly runs $800 to $2,800 a day, a camera operator $500 to $1,400, a gaffer or key grip $450 to $1,200, and a sound mixer $500 to $950. A lean two-person corporate crew and a nine-person commercial crew are different orders of magnitude, which is why the calculator starts from a template's crew list instead of a flat rate.
Yes. The whole builder works without an account: pick a template, put in rates, and the totals and every export work on the free plan. Pro is a one-time purchase for your branding on the paperwork, unlimited cloud saves, and a Saved Items catalog. Calculating what things cost was supposed to be free all along.