The cost of an explainer video can vary based on several factors.
A professional explainer video is one of the smartest ways to engage your audience and drive results. But we get it — pricing is a big question mark for most.
While we’re happy to share our pricing, we believe it’s just as important to help you understand how cost relates to value, other options out there — and why Creamy Explainers stands out among the available options.
Here’s our quick video on what an explainer video is.
The purpose of this article is to give you a short and honest answer on the average cost of an explainer video, in North American. We also provide our own examples of what you can expect in each price range.
Explainer video costs for a standard one minute video can range anywhere from $3,000 – $10,000 and higher. This covers the production of a good quality professional video, and not the DIY or low budget buffet type videos.
Some of the factors that affect production costs include the animation style, video length, location of the studio, and production quality of the video.
Custom isn’t code for “mystery.” A 60-second, fully animated explainer from a reputable North-American studio typically lands between $5,000 and $25,000.
Our guide below breaks down every factor—style, complexity, timeline—and shows where Creamy Explainers fits so you can set your budget with confidence.
You can create simple explainer videos using one of the many free online video generation tools like Powtoon, Canva, Animaker, and Adobe.
There are tonnes of animation apps like these — some free for simple videos and a subscription for additional features..
While you’re not paying any studio for the work you will need to spend time developing your idea. This option is great for projects where there’s no budget.
Our standard professional explainer videos start at around $3,000. That includes delivering exceptional value with:
✔ End-to-end production – Concept development to final animation in 3-5 weeks
✔ Engaging scripts & storyboards – Designed to keep viewers hooked
✔ Stunning animation styles – Professional looking motion graphics animations.
✔ Pro voiceovers and sound design – For a polished, professional finish
We collaborate with you at every step, incorporating feedback to ensure your video meets your desired goals.
Here’s a quick 90 second video explaining our production process. We follow a simple but well polished process, from discovery, to storyboarding, design, and animation.
Our premium videos combine breathtaking visuals with high-impact storytelling to engage your audience and elevate your brand.
Here’s what sets our work apart from other animation studios in the industry:
✔ High-Quality Storytelling – Fluid frame-by-frame character animation, rich 2D/3D graphics
✔ Unmatched Attention to Detail – Every scene crafted for maximum visual appeal
✔ Flexible Production Timelines – Typically 6-8 weeks, tailored to your project’s complexity
Each animation style has a different production complexity and use case. Here’s a friendly overview:
| VIDEO STYLE | USE CASE | START FROM |
|---|---|---|
| 2D Motion Graphics | Explaining your business or startup | $3,000 |
| 2D Animation | Brand storytelling and product journeys | $5,000 |
| 3D Animation | High-tech demos or product visualizations | $8,500 |
| Live Action + Animation | Product videos, customer testimonials, and corporate interviews | $8,500 |
When you work with Creamy Explainers, you’re not just paying for a video — you’re investing in a full creative process that ensures your message connects with your audience. Here’s what every project includes:
✔ Research & Discovery: We take the time to understand your brand, industry, and audience.
✔ Scriptwriting: Clear, persuasive messaging built around your goals.
✔ Storyboarding: A visual roadmap for your story, including illustrations.
✔ Voiceover: Professional narration in the tone, accent, or language you need.
✔ Animation & Sound Design: High-quality motion graphics with custom audio.
✔ Revisions: 2–3 rounds to refine the final product.
✔ Final Delivery: HD or 4K files optimized for your channels.
Still deciding what fits? We’ll help you choose what works best based on your goals and budget. Let’s talk.
Hiring a freelancer is the next step from DYI projects. A good freelancer will add some form or professionalism to your video content.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Lower cost – Often more affordable than agencies or studios | Limited capacity – One person handles everything |
| Direct communication – Work 1-on-1 with the creator | Quality varies – Risk of hiring underqualified talent |
| Flexible and fast – Quick turnarounds, adaptable schedules | No strategic support – Little marketing or storytelling guidance |
| Specialized talent – Find unique styles or niche expertise | Dependability risks – No backup if delays or may ghost you if you use freelance platforms. |
While more affordable than a studio, hiring a freelancer often means handling the script, concept, and creative direction yourself — most can’t cover every role like scripting, voice casting, or design.
Below are the pros and cons for hiring a freelancer to make your explainer video.
Below is a quick comparison of what hiring a freelancer, a studio, and doing it yourself looks like.
| OPTION | PROS | CONS | COSTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY Tools | Fast, low cost, easy to use | Templates, limited creative freedom, no support | $0-$500 |
| Freelancer | Affordable, flexible, decent for simple projects | Inconsistent quality, can lack reliability, no team accountability | $1k-$3k |
| Animation Studio | Strategic storytelling, in-house creative team, and well polished result. | Higher upfront cost, longer timeline. | $3k-$10k |
Explainer videos may seem expensive because they require multiple skilled professionals — scriptwriters, illustrators, animators, voiceover artists, and sound designers — all working together to craft a custom, high-quality story.
You’re not just paying for animation, but for strategy, storytelling, and production value that drives real business results.
We like to be transparent. Here’s what goes into your video’s cost — and why:
Motion graphics style videos start from $3,000 per finished minute. At this budget we can create an entry level motion graphics style video. See what simplistic and standard in our complexity of visuals section.
Custom 2D animation requires a larger and more skilled team to execute. Budgets start from $5,000 per minute, with each additional minute 50-80 percent of the price.
If you need a 3D animation, stop-motion, or mixed-media animation, you’ll need a budget of at least $8,500. The final costs depend on the production quality you need, from basic to well polished graphics and animation. Whiteboard animation is less complex (and cheaper) than 3D character animation. The style you choose plays a big role in your final quote.
Below are the most popular animation styles used for explainer videos.
A 60–90 second video hits the sweet spot. Need more? Great — just keep in mind that every extra second adds production time, voiceover recording, and animation work.
Most animation studios quote in 30- or 60-second blocks, and doubling the length may add 30–80 % of the one-minute rate because scripting, VO, and animation scale almost linearly.
A 60-second 2D explainer video will always cost less than a similar 3D character animation video. We’ll help you choose what makes sense for your goals and budget.
TIP: Unless it compromises your message, aim to keep the core content under 90 seconds. Drop-off curves steepen sharply after 90 seconds.
Your message needs to be clear, compelling, and visual. Crafting that takes real expertise — especially when your video is doing the heavy lifting for product demos, investor pitches, or onboarding.
Frame-by-frame character animation is time-consuming and requires highly skilled animators, while basic flat animation needs smaller teams and less studio time. Scene count, character complexity, and camera moves determine the number of illustration frames.
The industry standard is 2 consolidated rounds, while at Creamy Explainers we provide 3 revisions per milestone after script approval. For some studios every extra round typically tacks on US $500–$1,000 and may push back delivery by several days.
Avoid additional charges by signing off scripts before storyboards—late script tweaks will require voice-over changes and may affect the storyboard and animation.
North American studios bill US $100–$250 per production hour (crew + equipment); Eastern European or Asian teams run 30–50 % less but may require more oversight across time zones.
Want a seasoned British narrator? Or someone local who brings personality to your product? We have a wide range of voice talent across tones and languages.
Professional voice-overs in English range from US $150–$500+, depending on experience, union status, and usage rights. Multilingual campaigns: add US $150+ per minute for translated VO; full lip-sync dubbing can reach US $150+ per minute.
Royalty-free scores run US $20–$200, while commercial tracks need sync licenses that jump to US $5,000–$50,000 if aired on TV or used in paid ads. Custom background music adds to production costs but does avoid ongoing royalties.
Standard delivery is 4–8 weeks for most studios, depending on the factors above. Rush projects are possible. But to do it right, a full cycle takes 4–6 weeks. Faster means more resources — and a bit more budget.
Compressing the schedule to less than 3 weeks often incurs a 15–30 % rush premium to cover overtime and parallel pipelines.
Closed captions add to the overall cost, which varies by studio. Audio descriptions for visually impaired audiences can be manually added or as an SRT file. Subtitle and translation costs also depend on the production company.
These costs aren’t arbitrary — they reflect experience, high-quality custom animation, in-house creative teams, and multi-stage production pipelines.
Like us, these companies don’t just animate — they craft video solutions based on a proven strategy that aligns with your brand and objectives.
We hear a few common concerns from clients. Let’s address them:
“Why do explainer videos cost so much?”
Creating a great explainer video is more than just animation — it’s storytelling, strategy, visual identity, sound design, voice performance, and project management all rolled into one. It’s like producing a mini-commercial tailored to your audience.
“Can I get a good video for under $1,000?”
You can get a video — but likely not one that reflects your brand, drives conversions, or communicates your value clearly. DIY tools and low-cost freelancers often lack strategic input, quality control, and revision support.
“How do I know it’ll be worth the investment?”
Think of an explainer video as a sales tool that works 24/7 — whether it’s on your homepage, in investor meetings, or embedded in email campaigns. Clients like Skyflow raised millions, and SaaS companies have doubled conversions using our videos. That’s real ROI.
Below is a video from Justin Collins, Founder of ChartLamp, a startup we helped create an engaging explainer video to pitch to investors and explain their solution.
You might be wondering — is it worth spending thousands on one video?
Absolutely. Here’s why:
Skyflow came to us with a challenge: explain a cutting-edge data privacy vault in under two minutes.
We developed a concise, high-impact 90-second video that translated technical jargon into a clear, compelling narrative. The result?
Want clarity on what YOUR video might cost? Let’s talk.
We’ve broken down our video production process into three easy steps. Rest assured, you’ll be kept in the loop at every stage of production, gathering your input and feedback as we go.
STEP #1: We develop a video strategy and write the script.
STEP #2: Draw up storyboard sketches with a clear overview of how we’ll tell the story.
STEP #3: We create the final designs and prepare them for animation.
STEP #4: All graphics, characters, and elements come alive in an animation.
STEP #5: Add music and sound effects, then deliver a high quality 4k video file.
This budget is great for short-form videos for social media and simple whiteboard animation videos.
✔ Simple social media ads that stop scrollers
✔ Short-form content for animated shorts and sizzle videos
✔ Whiteboard animation style videos
✔ Short online animated ads that boost click-through rates
✔ Fast 2-4 week turnaround — Quick results for your campaigns.
✔ 100% in-house production — Consistent quality from script to final render.
✔ Proven video styles — videos optimized for engagement.
Q: How much does a 60-second explainer cost in North America?
A: Between $5k–$11k depending on the production quality of the video
Q: What’s the average turnaround time?
A: Industry median is 6 weeks; Creamy’s standard is 3–5 weeks.
Q: Do you charge per-second after the first minute?
A: Yes, each extra 30 seconds is 60-80% of base rate
Q: How long does production take?
A: Our typical timeline is 4–6 weeks depending on complexity and feedback rounds. Tight deadline? Let us know — we’ll see what’s possible.
Q: Are revisions included in the price?
A: Yes. All packages come with 2–3 rounds of revisions built in. If you need more, we’ll work out a custom scope.
Q: Can I get a video for less than $3,000?
A: We offer budget-flexible options and can tailor solutions based on goals. For startups, we often recommend short-form videos with focused messaging to reduce scope and cost.
Q: Do you offer multilingual voiceovers?
A: Absolutely. We’ve localized content into French, Spanish, German, Japanese, and more. Just let us know what you need.
Q: Do I own the final video?
A: Yes — all rights to the final deliverables are yours.
Q: What if I don’t like the first draft?
A: That’s what revisions are for. We align early during the script and storyboard phase to avoid surprises in the animation.
The cost of each explainer video is fully transparent—set only by the creative talent and production timeline your project needs.
Pick from flexible, three-tier packages that fit bootstrap budgets or broadcast-quality ambitions, with no hidden fees. Whether you’re a startup stretching every dollar or a global brand investing for impact, you get the same award-winning team and a dedicated producer guiding every frame.
Tell us your budget today, and we’ll craft a proposal that maximizes results, not spending.
