Broad 2026 market planning ranges in USD, not quotes or Garbanzo prices. Freelancer includes newer entrants through senior independents. Taxes and pass-through costs, including media, talent, licensing, travel, venues, permits, and projection hardware, are excluded unless stated otherwise. Budgets overlap; the columns describe delivery models, not quality grades. Compare scope, relevant experience, deliverables, and production responsibility when reviewing quotes. The digital-signage range is a directional planning band, not observed transaction data.
Cost by video type
Example | Freelancer | Specialist studio | Large studio / Agency |
90-second founder-led brand film at one location | $3,000–$10,000 | $6,000–$20,000 | $15,000–$50,000+ |
Two-minute customer-story film across two locations | $5,000–$20,000 | $15,000–$40,000 | $30,000–$100,000+ |
Five-shot cleanup/compositing package | $1,500–$10,000 | $3,000–$15,000 | $8,000–$30,000 |
Three-format animated digital-signage campaign, content only | $2,000–$12,000 | $8,000–$30,000 | $25,000–$75,000+ |
What affects the price
Concept and design ambition. The budget depends on how much you need to invent and how much you can adapt from existing work.
Technique. 2D, 3D, live action, and hybrid need different crews, tools, and amounts of time.
Length and versions. The master runtime and every cutdown and aspect ratio affect the amount of work.
Licensed elements. Music, voiceover, stock, and talent carry fees on top of production.
Video production pricing, stage by stage
Video production has three stages, and pricing follows them. Pre-production covers the concept, script, boards, and scheduling. Production is the shoot with a crew and location, or the animation build. Post-production turns that work into a finished piece through editing, sound, color, graphics, and delivery.
Unnecessary costs are harder to spot when you can't tell which stage they belong to, so a clear quote names the stage behind every line.
Video production packages vs. custom quotes
A video production package bundles a fixed runtime, shoot time, and version count at a set price, which works when your project matches the bundle. A custom quote prices your actual scope, line by line. Garbanzo quotes custom, and every quote names what it assumes: shoot days, revision rounds, licensed elements, and the full deliverable list.
Those assumptions are what let you compare one studio's pricing with another's. A total on its own doesn't give you enough to compare.
Questions we'd ask you first
Start with the audience, intended use, and what needs to be made. The budget, schedule, or production approach can still be open.
What are you making, and where will it run?
Animated, live action, or both?
How many versions and cutdowns?
What exists already: a script, a brand system, footage, CAD?
Agencies usually know the placement and technique. Brand teams often need help choosing the format first.
FAQ
How much of a video budget goes to post-production?
More than most first budgets allow. Editing, color, sound, graphics, and delivery are real stages with real hours, and in animated work post blends into the build. Give post its own line from the start.
How much should we budget for a video?
Start from the examples above that match your project, then adjust for runtime, versions, and how much is designed from scratch. Those are broad market ranges. A real figure comes from a scope written down.
What makes a video quote go up after it's signed?
Scope changes: added versions, new shots, a longer runtime, licensed elements chosen late, and changes after an approval stage. A quote that names its assumptions makes those changes visible before they're made, which is the point of writing them down.
What's the most cost-effective way to make a good video?
Give it one job, keep the runtime short, and keep the version list short. Reusing a brand system and existing assets cuts design time. The budget goes furthest on a clear idea rather than on more minutes.
Who pays for talent, locations, and licensing?
You do, as pass-through costs on top of production. The ranges above exclude them. A quote should list each one separately, so you can see what's production and what's passed through.