How much to charge for a long-form video
A dedicated long-form video is closer to a production day than a content piece: pre-production, a script, a full shoot, and an edit measured in hours rather than minutes.
It's also the deliverable where creators most often accept a price set by short-form thinking and then lose money on it.
Rate table
Calculated for long-form / dedicated youtube at average engagement, one revision round, no rush and no exclusivity. These are starting points, not market quotes — adjust for your category, your market, and the value the brand is getting.
| Following | Organic only | Paid, 30 days | Paid, 90 days | Paid, 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5K | $640.00 | $800.00 | $960.00 | $1,280.00 |
| 5K–25K | $800.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,200.00 | $1,600.00 |
| 25K–100K | $1,040.00 | $1,300.00 | $1,560.00 | $2,080.00 |
| 100K–500K | $1,280.00 | $1,600.00 | $1,920.00 | $2,560.00 |
| 500K–1M | $1,600.00 | $2,000.00 | $2,400.00 | $3,200.00 |
| 1M+ | $2,000.00 | $2,500.00 | $3,000.00 | $4,000.00 |
Notice the jump across the columns rather than down the rows: the licence moves the number more than the follower count does.
Price your exact briefWhat moves the number
- It's a day, not a task — Price it against what a full production day of your time is worth, then check the calculated figure against that. If the day rate is higher, the day rate wins.
- Pre-production — Scripting, sourcing, and approvals happen before you shoot anything. Bill them or bake them in explicitly.
- Placement matters — A dedicated video is a different product from an integration inside your own content. Be clear which one is being bought.
- Usage rights — Long-form assets have long shelf lives, which makes a term-limited licence more valuable to you and a perpetual buyout more expensive to them.
Questions
Should long-form be priced by the day instead?
Compare both. Calculate the deliverable price, then work out what a full production day of your time needs to earn. Quote the higher of the two — long-form is the deliverable most likely to be underpriced by per-piece thinking.
Is a dedicated video the same as an integration?
No. A dedicated video is entirely about the brand; an integration is a segment inside content you were making anyway. They're different products and should carry different prices.
Put your rates somewhere brands can see them
Save a rate card, publish a media kit, and stop rebuilding the same PDF every time a brand asks what you charge.
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