Broad 2026 market planning ranges in USD, not quotes or Garbanzo prices. Provider models are not quality grades; budgets overlap. Freelancer includes newer entrants through senior independents. Taxes and pass-through costs (media, talent, licensing, travel, venues, permits, and projection hardware) are excluded unless stated otherwise. Show graphics is a directional planning band, not transaction data. The title-sequence range covers stylized work only, excluding photoreal 3D environments, sustained character animation, simulation VFX, live-action shoots, per-episode or seasonal variants, a full show graphics package, cutdowns, rush, and original music. Compare scope, experience, deliverables, and production responsibility.
Typical market examples
Example | Freelancer | Specialist studio | Large studio / Agency |
Complete show graphics package with basic 5-10 sec opener, lower thirds, and transitions | $2,000–$10,000 | $6,000–$20,000 | $20,000–$40,000 |
60–90 sec stylized 2D or mixed-media title sequence for a streaming series | $10,000–$35,000 | $25,000–$75,000 | $60,000–$150,000 |
What affects the price
Element count. The number of pieces in the show's graphics system affects the budget.
How much is designed from scratch. Working with an existing brand or franchise look costs less than designing from scratch.
Technique. Stylized and graphic work prices differently from photoreal 3D and simulation.
Versioning. Versions for each episode, season, and platform add work.
Toolkit depth. The toolkit's cost depends on how much the edit team needs to change themselves.
Broadcast graphics packages, priced by breadth
A broadcast graphics package is priced by breadth: many modest elements built as one system. Lower thirds, transitions, bumpers, maps, and full-screens have to work together across a season, and the edit team has to be able to drive them. What the toolkit lets editors change matters more than the element count, and more control for the edit team means a lower cost per episode. The five-to-ten-second opener inside a package is a different deliverable from a title sequence.
Title sequences, priced by depth
A title sequence is priced by depth: one designed piece of film with its own concept, where the budget follows the ambition of the technique more than the runtime.
The stylized range above covers a 2D, illustrated, collage, cel, graphic, or restrained 2.5D main title: one original 60 to 90 second master, original concept development, two or three initial visual directions, storyboards or an animatic, custom design and animation, an integrated title treatment and opening credits, standard broadcast or streaming delivery, and a normal bounded number of review rounds.
Questions we'd ask you first
Start with the show, the recurring graphics it needs, and the launch context. Open scope or dates can be resolved after the system is clearer.
Is this the title, the package, or both?
How many elements does the season actually need?
Does a network or franchise look already exist to build inside?
Who will use the graphics after handoff, and in what software?
When does it premiere?
FAQ
Does a title sequence include original music?
No. The range above excludes original composition and major music licensing, so plan the music budget separately. A strong main title is often designed to its music, so settling the track early saves animation changes later.
Can a show package grow in season two?
Yes. A package built as one system extends without starting over, because new elements follow the rules the first season set. Adding to an existing system usually costs less than the original build.
Why does a photoreal 3D title sequence cost more?
Photoreal 3D adds modeling, lighting, simulation, and rendering to every shot, and those stages carry most of the cost. That's why the range above covers the stylized class only. A photoreal main title is a different order of budget.
Should the title sequence and the show package come from the same studio?
It helps, but it isn't required. When one team designs both, the main title and the graphics share type, color, and motion rules from the start. When the work is split, the package studio needs the title's files and style guide early.
Are promos and social cutdowns included with a title sequence?
No. The range above covers one master. Marketing cutdowns, social versions, and per-episode variants are separate deliverables, so list them when you ask for a quote.