Explainer Videos: What They Cost, How They’re Made, and When to Use Them

An explainer video gives viewers a clear introduction to a product, service, process, or idea. It can show how a software platform works, explain a technical service, introduce a new company, or guide customers through an unfamiliar process.

Explainer videos can use animation, live-action footage, screen recordings, motion graphics, or a combination of formats. The right approach depends on what needs to be explained, who needs to understand it, where the video will appear, and how much the company can invest.

The finished video may last only a minute or two, but producing it involves more than adding narration to a few graphics. Strategy, scripting, visual planning, voice-over, production, sound, revisions, and delivery all contribute to the cost and schedule.

How Much Does an Explainer Video Cost?

There is no standard price for an explainer video. A template-based internal video and a custom animated campaign may have the same runtime but require completely different levels of work.

Recently published pricing shows projects ranging from low-cost template production to custom animation, and live-action work above $50,000. The amount depends heavily on the provider, location, production style, and level of customization.

The following ranges can be used for early planning. They are not fixed industry rates.

A basic project may use stock assets, a template, and a simple voice-over. A higher-budget production may include original strategy, custom illustration, professional talent, a dedicated producer, sound design, multiple formats, and several stakeholder reviews.

What Affects the Cost?

Video Length

A longer script normally requires more scenes, footage, illustrations, animation, editing, and sound work. However, runtime alone does not determine the budget.

A 60-second 3D product visualization may cost more than a three-minute screen-recorded tutorial. Complexity and production method often matter more than the number of finished minutes.

Animation and Visual Style

Simple text animation and icon-based motion graphics require less asset creation than custom character animation. Detailed environments, frame-by-frame movement, 3D models, simulations, and photorealistic rendering require more production time.

Before requesting quotes, decide whether the video needs fully original artwork or can use an existing brand asset library.

Live-Action Production Requirements

A live-action explainer may require a director, producer, camera crew, lighting, sound recording, talent, locations, production design, transportation, permits, and insurance.

Costs can remain controlled when filming takes place in one accessible location with a small crew. They increase when the production needs actors, several locations, specialized equipment, complex demonstrations, or extensive scheduling.

Script and Creative Development

A production company may receive a finished script, or it may be responsible for developing the message from interviews, research, and internal documents.

Script development takes longer when several departments need to approve technical language, product claims, legal wording, or brand positioning.

Voice Talent and Audio

Voice-over costs depend on the performer, recording arrangement, usage rights, language, and distribution. A video used internally has different licensing requirements from a paid advertising campaign.

Music licensing, dialogue editing, sound effects, and final mixing should also be included in the quote.

Revisions and Approval Rounds

Most professional quotes include a specific number of revision rounds. Additional revisions may be billed separately, especially when changes arrive after the script, storyboard, voice-over, or animation has already been approved.

The most expensive revisions are often caused by changing an approved script late in production. A new sentence can affect narration timing, scene length, graphics, music, captions, and the final edit.

Versions and Deliverables

One master video may be only part of the order. Additional costs may apply for:

• Short social media cuts
• Vertical and square versions
• Alternate calls to action
• Different language versions
• Captioned and clean versions
• New voice-over recordings
• Platform-specific exports
• Separate product or audience variations

These deliverables should be listed before production begins.

How an Explainer Video Is Made

1. Discovery and Project Brief

The production team first defines the audience, problem, message, distribution plan, and desired action.

A useful brief should answer:

• Who is the video for?
• What does the audience already understand?
• What problem needs to be explained?
• What should viewers remember?
• What should they do after watching?
• Where will the video be used?

Without a focused objective, the script can become a list of product features instead of a clear explanation.

2. Scriptwriting

The script establishes what the audience will hear and what the video must communicate. It should focus on one central problem or idea rather than trying to cover every feature.

A comfortable presentation pace is often around 125 to 150 words per minute. That means a 60-second video may contain roughly 125 to 150 spoken words. A 90-second script may contain approximately 190 to 225 words, depending on pauses and delivery. The script should always be read aloud and timed before approval.

A common structure includes:

1. The audience’s problem or situation
2. The product, service, or idea being introduced
3. A clear explanation of how it works
4. The most relevant benefit or outcome
5. A specific next step

This structure is useful, but it should not become a rigid formula. Some technical explainers need to begin with context, while product demonstrations may start directly inside the interface.

3. Visual Direction

The creative team determines how the video should look. This may include reference images, illustration styles, color palettes, typography, character designs, filming references, or examples of movement.

The visual direction should match the brand and subject. A financial platform may need restrained motion graphics, while a consumer product may benefit from live demonstration or more expressive animation.

4. Storyboard and Animatic

A storyboard maps the script scene by scene. It shows which visuals appear during each section of narration and allows the team to identify problems before full production begins.

For an animated project, the storyboard may be converted into an animatic. This is a timed version using static frames, temporary movement, and a guide voice-over. It helps confirm pacing before detailed animation work starts.

Both Adobe and Vimeo recommend planning with a script and storyboard before moving into full production.

5. Voice-Over Recording

The narration is usually recorded after the script has been approved and before final animation begins. Animators then build and time scenes around the spoken performance.

A temporary recording may be used during early planning, but changing the final narration after animation has been completed can create substantial rework. Timing decisions are easier to adjust before every scene has been fully animated.

The voice-over brief should include pronunciation notes, tone, pace, audience, technical terms, and usage information.

6. Animation or Filming

For animation, artists create the final illustrations, graphics, characters, and scenes. Animators then add movement according to the approved storyboard and voice track.

For live action, the production team coordinates talent, locations, equipment, lighting, sound, direction, and filming logistics. Screen recordings or product demonstrations may also be captured during this stage.

Some videos combine these methods. A presenter may appear on camera while animated callouts explain technical details, or a product demonstration may use screen recordings with motion graphics.

7. Editing, Sound, and Finishing

The editor assembles the scenes, footage, screen captures, graphics, narration, music, and sound effects. The video may also receive color correction, sound mixing, captions, titles, and brand treatments.

Quality control should check:

• Names and job titles
• Product terminology
• On-screen text
• Spelling and punctuation
• Logo usage
• Audio levels
• Captions
• Calls to action
• Export specifications

8. Review and Delivery

Feedback should be consolidated into one set of notes. Conflicting comments from different departments can delay approval and create unnecessary revision work.

The project should not be considered complete until all agreed formats, captions, clean versions, source files, and language editions have been delivered.

How Long Does Production Take?

A template-based explainer may be completed within several business days. Custom work commonly requires several weeks, especially when the project includes strategy, original design, professional voice-over, stakeholder reviews, and several deliverables.

A practical planning schedule may look like this:

Several stages may overlap, but approvals still create dependencies. Animation should not begin in full while the script continues to change.

A detailed custom explainer may take four to eight weeks. Premium animation, 3D work, or a complicated live-action production may require eight to twelve weeks or longer.

Which Explainer Video Style Should You Use?

2D Animation

Two-dimensional animation works well for services, software, processes, and ideas that cannot easily be filmed. It can simplify abstract information and maintain full control over the visual environment.

It is not automatically inexpensive. Original illustrations, characters, and detailed movement can require a substantial budget.

Motion Graphics

Motion graphics use typography, shapes, diagrams, data, icons, and interface elements. They are commonly used for technology, finance, corporate communications, and process explanations.

This style works best when the message relies on systems, information, or movement rather than characters.

Live Action

Live action is useful when viewers need to see real people, physical products, facilities, demonstrations, or customer interactions.

It can also help when trust in the presenter or organization is central to the message.

Screen Recording and Product Demonstration

A screen-recorded explainer shows viewers how a website, application, or digital tool works. It can be combined with narration, zooms, callouts, and animated interface elements.

This approach is practical for sales demonstrations, feature launches, onboarding, and customer support. The video may require regular updates when the interface changes.

3D Animation

Three-dimensional animation is useful for products, environments, or processes that are difficult to film. It can reveal internal components, demonstrate engineering concepts, or visualize products before manufacturing.

Modeling, texturing, lighting, simulation, animation, and rendering make 3D one of the more production-intensive options.

Whiteboard Animation

Whiteboard animation uses drawn illustrations that appear in sequence while a narrator explains the subject. It can still work for educational and process-based content, although it may feel less distinctive when built entirely from templates.

When Should You Use an Explainer Video?

An explainer video is a good choice when:

• Customers regularly misunderstand the product or service
• The sales team repeats the same explanation
• A process is easier to understand visually
• A new product needs a clear introduction
• Employees or customers need consistent onboarding
• Technical information needs to be presented to a general audience
• A landing page needs a concise overview
• A sales presentation needs a reusable explanation

Explainer videos are also useful when the real product cannot easily be filmed, such as software infrastructure, data movement, financial processes, medical concepts, or equipment that has not yet been manufactured.

When Is Another Format Better?

An explainer video should not be treated as the default format for every marketing objective.

Use a testimonial or case study when the primary goal is proving that the product delivered results for a real customer.

Use a brand film when the project depends on emotion, company culture, or a broader story rather than a detailed explanation.

Use a training series when the subject cannot reasonably fit into one short video.

Use a product demonstration when viewers need to see the actual interface or physical product in detail.

Use a commercial when the goal is immediate attention and persuasion rather than education.

A single video should not be expected to explain the company, demonstrate every feature, train new users, provide customer proof, and serve as a short advertisement at the same time.

How to Control the Budget

Approve the message and scope before paying for detailed production. Changes are less expensive during scripting and storyboarding than after filming or animation.

Provide the production team with current logos, brand guidelines, product images, interface files, legal language, and pronunciation notes at the beginning of the project.

Select one person to consolidate feedback. Decide who has final approval and set deadlines for each review round.

Reuse existing assets only when their quality and licensing are suitable. Old illustrations, footage, or music should not be added merely because they are available.

Ask the quote to identify:

• Included production stages
• Number of revision rounds
• Voice-over and music usage rights
• Number of final versions
• Captioning
• Source-file ownership
• Delivery formats
• Additional revision rates
• Cancellation or rescheduling terms

How to Measure the Video’s Performance

The correct measurement depends on where the video appears and what viewers are expected to do.

Useful indicators include:

• Play rate
• Average watch time
• Audience-retention drop-off points
• Completion rate
• Call-to-action clicks
• Demo requests
• Trial registrations
• Training completion
• Support-page engagement
• Reduction in repeated customer questions

Audience-retention reports can reveal the points where viewers continue watching, skip forward, rewatch, or leave. This information can guide future revisions and help determine whether the opening, pacing, or call to action needs improvement.

Questions to Answer Before Requesting a Quote

Before contacting an explainer video production company, prepare the following information:

• The primary audience
• The problem being explained
• The intended video length
• Preferred production style
• Distribution platforms
• Required completion date
• Approximate budget
• Number of reviewers
• Required aspect ratios
• Caption and language requirements
• Existing brand assets
• Intended voice-over and music usage
• Ownership requirements for source files

A clear brief gives production companies enough information to recommend the right approach and provide a quote that reflects the actual scope.