What you're actually paying for
You aren't paying for minutes of finished video. You're paying for the time and decisions it takes to get there: watching all of your raw footage, choosing the best takes, cutting the pauses and mistakes, building a hook, timing captions, picking music and sound effects, grading the colour and exporting for each platform.
A 30-second Reel can take longer than a 5-minute talking-head video if it needs fast cuts, zooms, animated captions and sound design on every beat. That's why a fair quote always starts from the footage and the style you want, not from a price per minute.
The four things that set the price
Every quote I send is built from the same four questions. Any good editor should be able to explain their price in these terms.
Length
How long the finished video is, and how much raw footage there is to work through.
Volume
One video, or a batch every week. Regular batches cost less per video.
Editing style
Simple cuts and captions, or motion graphics, b-roll, zooms and sound design.
Turnaround
Standard delivery, or a rush edit that has to go out sooner.
How freelance video editors charge
Editors usually price work in one of three ways, and each suits a different kind of client.
Per video
A fixed price for one finished edit. Best for one-off projects, because you know the total before work starts.
Per month
A set number of videos every month for a set fee. Best for creators and businesses who post on a schedule, and usually the lowest cost per video.
Per hour
You pay for the time spent. Flexible for open-ended jobs, but you only know the total at the end, so ask for an estimate first.
Short-form, YouTube and podcast editing compared
Short-form edits for Reels, Shorts and TikTok are short, but dense: every second needs a reason to keep watching, so captions, cuts and sound take real time. Their cost comes down quickly when you send them in weekly batches.
Long-form YouTube editing costs more per video because there is more footage to watch and a story to structure across many minutes, with b-roll, graphics and audio clean-up throughout.
Podcast video editing sits in between. A full episode needs speaker switching and clean audio more than effects, and most podcasters also want short clips cut from each episode, which are priced like short-form edits.
How to get the best price
You can lower the cost of editing without lowering the quality of the result.
Send batches
Several videos at once, on a schedule, cost less per video than one at a time.
Send a clear brief
Who the video is for, where it will be posted and two or three examples you like. A clear brief means fewer revisions.
Trim obvious waste
Delete false starts and test recordings before you upload, so less time goes into watching footage.
Plan ahead
Standard turnaround costs less than a rush edit that has to go out tomorrow.
Why I quote every project
I don't publish a price list, because a list either overcharges simple edits or undercharges complex ones. Instead, you tell me what you make and how often, and I send a fixed quote and a delivery date before any work starts. The price you agree is the price you pay.
If you'd like to see my editing before you ask for a quote, send me one raw clip and I'll edit the first 15 seconds for free.
