Short answer: most animated explainer videos in Australia start at around $7,000 and climb from there based on run time and how polished you need the animation to be. Our smallest jobs start at $650, and our day rate starts at $1,150 + GST.
That is the honest range, but the number on its own is not much use. What actually decides where you land is length, style and how much of the thinking you want us to do. Here is how it breaks down.
What drives the cost of an explainer video
Run time, and why “60 to 120 seconds” is too vague a brief
If a brief says the video should be somewhere between 60 and 120 seconds, that span alone is a 25 to 35 per cent difference in cost. Animation is built frame by frame, so every extra ten seconds is real production time, not padding.
Most ideas can be explained in about 90 seconds. Often less. The skill is finding the balance between duration, script and budget, and that is worth settling before anyone quotes.
Style, from PowerPoint to Pixar
At one end of the spectrum you have something close to an animated slide deck. At the other you have work approaching feature quality. Both are legitimate. The right choice depends on what the video has to earn back.
If a video is going to make you millions, spending more to make it exceptional is easy maths. If you need fifteen variations of a cheap social ad to find out which one works, cheap and cheerful is the correct answer and we will tell you so.
Voice over
Budget $70 to $300 for voice over depending on length and the quality of the read. Premium or well-known talent costs more, and talent usage is negotiated separately.
Scripting and storyboarding
Included, and scoped when we quote. We have copywriters across advert, short form and long form, so you are not handing us a script you had to write yourself.
What is included in our pricing
- Licence in perpetuity. Everything we make for you is yours to use forever. The exceptions are voice over and talent, which have their own terms and are best negotiated early.
- Music licensing. Included. We hold the subscriptions and licences so you get good global music without a separate bill.
- Scripting and storyboarding. Included and scoped at quote.
- Revision rounds. Standard rounds are included in both our animation and video workflows. On projects with many moving parts we offer packages with additional rounds.
- Rush turnaround. Usually no premium. Most jobs in this industry are rush jobs. A premium only applies when a deadline goes beyond what is physically possible.
Explainer video cost at a glance
| What you need | Typical investment |
|---|---|
| Smallest jobs, quick turnarounds for small business | From $650 |
| Day rate | From $1,150 + GST |
| Animated explainer, standard quality | From around $7,000 |
| Longer run time or higher-end animation | Scales with duration and style |
| Voice over | $70 to $300 |
If you need more than one video, stop buying them one at a time
Project pricing makes sense for a one-off. It stops making sense at about three videos a year.
Content as a Service is over 30 per cent cheaper than our day rates and runs as a fixed weekly cost rather than a series of quotes. Half Time is $1,850 + GST per week, Maximum is $2,695 + GST per week. You get a producer, editor and animator working through your queue.
The practical advantage is budgeting. Group your production and marketing spend together and it costs the same every week, all year, with no surprises and no re-quoting every time something comes up.
A note on travel
Travel is charged at cost for Content as a Service clients, and quoted up front on project work. Worth knowing: many of our clients budget travel outside the marketing line entirely. As marketing budgets tighten, that distinction matters more than people expect.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 60 second explainer video cost in Australia?
Most sit above the $7,000 starting point. A 60 second animation costs meaningfully less than a 120 second one, often 25 to 35 per cent less, so pinning the duration down early is the single easiest way to control the budget.
Is animation cheaper than filming?
Not automatically. Animation removes crew, location and travel costs but adds build time. It wins when the thing you are explaining cannot be filmed, when you need total control of the look, or when the content has to be updated later without a reshoot.
What is the cheapest explainer video you will make?
Our minimum project is $650. That will not buy a fully animated brand piece, but we genuinely still take small jobs. We like the quick ones, and supporting local business matters to us.
Do I own the video?
Yes. Licence in perpetuity on everything we produce, with voice over and talent as the exceptions.
Talk to us about your project
Tell us what the video has to do and roughly what it is worth to you, and we will tell you honestly what it should cost. If a cheaper format would do the job, we will say that too.
Get in touch, or see how Content as a Service works if you have a steady flow of video coming.
