In 2026 a custom 60-second animated explainer video costs $1,000 to $15,000, depending entirely on who produces it. Freelancers charge $1,000 to $5,000, small and midsize studios $5,000 to $8,000, and full-service agencies $12,000 to $15,000 or more. Template-based and AI-assisted video sits below $1,000. Style moves the number as much as length does: custom 3D starts near $10,000 per finished minute, while 2D and motion graphics are the most affordable custom formats.
Key numbers
- Median quote, custom 60-second explainer: around $9,680 across the wider market
- Typical range, professional 2D: $2,500 to $10,000 per finished minute
- Custom 3D animation: from $10,000 per finished minute; broadcast work can exceed $50,000
- Template and AI-generated video: under $1,000
- Most common B2B explainer length: 60 seconds
- Lucid Motion Studio fixed price: from $99 for 30 seconds, from $199 for 60 to 90 seconds
- Lucid Motion Studio subscription: from $1,999 per month for ongoing output
On this page
What each price tier actually buys
The single biggest reason two quotes for the same brief differ by a factor of ten is not quality. It is the number of people involved and how much of the work is genuinely made from scratch. Here is how the market breaks down.
| Tier | Price | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template / AI tools | $0 to $1,000 | Stock templates or prompt-generated footage. Fast, limited customisation and originality. | Internal comms, quick social tests, throwaway campaigns |
| Freelancer | $1,000 to $5,000 | One generalist doing most roles. Quality varies widely between individuals. | Startups with a clear script and tolerance for schedule risk |
| Small / midsize studio | $5,000 to $8,000 | Custom animation with a real team: writer, designer, animator, sound. | Most B2B and SaaS companies |
| Specialist studio | $4,000 to $6,000 | Deep expertise in one format, leaner overhead than a full agency. | Buyers who know exactly which style they need |
| Full-service agency | $12,000 to $15,000+ | Strategy, creative direction, account management, production. | Brand campaigns where the video is one part of a larger push |
Notice that the specialist studio tier can be cheaper than the general small-studio tier. That is not a discount on quality. A studio that produces the same format every week has amortised its process, its asset library and its team's learning curve, so it spends fewer hours reaching the same result.
Cost by animation style
Length is the obvious variable. Style is the expensive one. A 30-second 3D product render can cost more than a three-minute 2D explainer, because 3D carries a large fixed setup cost before a single frame is animated.
| Style | Market cost per minute | Typical timeline | Why it costs what it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-powered video | Lowest custom tier | 1 to 2 weeks | Generative pipeline removes most frame-by-frame labour |
| Motion graphics | $2,000 to $5,000 | 2 to 3 weeks | Type, shapes and data. No character rigging |
| Whiteboard | $2,000 to $5,000 | 2 to 4 weeks | Consistent visual language, high reuse between scenes |
| 2D flat / infographic | $2,500 to $6,000 | 4 to 6 weeks | Custom illustration, moderate animation complexity |
| 2D character animation | $5,000 to $10,000 | 6 to 8 weeks | Rigging, lip sync, acting, secondary motion |
| 3D product / architectural | $10,000+ | 8 to 12 weeks | Modelling, texturing, lighting, render time |
| Broadcast 3D character | Up to $50,000+ | 12 weeks+ | Full pipeline, large team, cinematic finish |
The seven things that move the price
When a studio prices your brief, these are the variables being weighed. Change any of them and the number moves.
- Length. Priced per finished minute, but not linearly. The second minute of a video is cheaper than the first because script, style and characters already exist.
- Style. The largest single multiplier. See the table above.
- Character work. Rigged characters with lip sync and acting cost far more than icons, objects and typography.
- Custom versus library assets. Bespoke illustration in your brand style costs more than adapting an existing asset library.
- Voiceover. A professional voice artist, especially with usage rights for paid media or multiple languages, is a real line item.
- Revision rounds. Each additional round has a cost. Unlimited revisions are priced into the base rate, not free.
- Localisation. Additional language versions are cheap if planned from the start and expensive if retrofitted, because text and timing have to be re-laid out.
What a complete quote includes
Compare quotes on scope, not on the headline number. A complete animation quote covers all of the following. If any item is missing, it will appear later as a change order.
- Concept and creative direction
- Professional scriptwriting, and script revisions
- Storyboard and style frames approved before animation begins
- All custom design and illustration
- Animation and compositing
- Professional voiceover, with the usage rights you actually need
- Licensed music and full sound design
- A stated number of revision rounds at script, storyboard and animation stage
- Final delivery in every aspect ratio and format required, including social crops
- Project files or source files, if you need them, agreed in writing up front
That last point catches people out. Source files are often excluded by default. Ask before you sign, not after.
How to spend less without ruining the video
Cost control in animation is almost entirely a pre-production discipline. Once animation starts, changes are expensive because every downstream asset has to be redone.
- Lock the script before design begins. A script change during animation is the single most expensive event in a project.
- Shorten it. Most 90-second explainers work better at 60. Attention drops before the budget does.
- Commission a series, not a one-off. Characters, backgrounds and style guides are built once and reused. Videos two through five cost meaningfully less than video one.
- Choose 2D or motion graphics unless the object genuinely needs to exist in space. 3D is a tool, not an upgrade.
- Supply your brand assets. Fonts, colour tokens, logo files and product screenshots ready on day one remove hours of chasing.
- Plan localisation up front. Designing for text expansion costs nothing at storyboard stage and a lot at delivery.
Where Lucid Motion Studio sits
We publish fixed prices rather than quoting on discovery calls. Packages start at $99 for up to 30 seconds and $199 for a 60 to 90 second explainer, and every package includes script, storyboard, animation, voiceover, music, sound design and delivery in all formats. 3D animation, video series and white-label partnerships are quoted individually.
For teams producing video continuously rather than occasionally, subscription plans start at $1,999 per month and include unlimited revisions, a dedicated team and same-day response.
Two structural reasons we can price where we do: an AI-assisted production pipeline for the formats where it does not compromise the result, and a Dubai cost base rather than a London or New York one. Neither changes what lands in your inbox.
Every quote is returned in writing within 24 hours. There is no discovery call unless you want one.
Shaun has worked in animation for over ten years, first on the client side commissioning video, then running production. Lucid Motion Studio has delivered more than 1,000 projects for brands and agencies worldwide.