VO Rate Calculator

Knowledge Base

How to Use the VO Rate Calculator

The Voiceover Rate Calculator helps you quote professional rates based on project type (commercial, video, podcast), usage rights (buyout, broadcast, online), and your experience level. Input project duration and usage, and the tool suggests market rates.

Standard VO Pricing Tiers

• Beginner ($25-75/hour): New voice actors building portfolio. Local/small projects.
• Intermediate ($75-200/hour): Established voice actors with credits. Regional commercials, YouTube videos.
• Professional ($200-500+/hour): Union, broadcast experience. National commercials, big studios.
• Celebrity/Premium ($1000+): A-list voice talent or actors. Major brands and studios.

Project Type Pricing

• Audiobook Narration: $0.04-0.10 per finished minute (PFM). 1-hour finished book = 60 hours editing/recording.
• Corporate Video (1-5 min): $250-500 total. Buyout or per-project.
• Commercial (30-60 seconds): $500-2000+ depending on usage (local, national, web, buyout).
• Podcast Intro/Outro: $100-300 per episode or flat rate per month.
• E-learning: $0.05-0.15 PFM. Often includes editing and production.

Usage Rights Impact Price

Buyout: Client owns all rights forever. Highest price.
Broadcast: Commercial rights for TV/radio. Premium pricing.
Online/Web: YouTube, website, social media only. Lower rate.
One-time use: Single project, limited timeframe. Cheapest.

FAQ

Q: Should I charge by the hour or per project?
A: Per project is better (predictability). Hourly works for ongoing retainer clients.

Q: How do I negotiate rates with clients?
A: Quote your rate. Negotiate only if they provide value (long-term work, portfolio building). Never undercut significantly.

Pricing voice work

Voice work is priced on two separate things: the time spent producing it, and the value of how it will be used. Quoting only the first is the mistake most new performers make, because a thirty second script takes the same hour to record whether it runs once internally or for two years in a national campaign.

Session time is the easier half. Recording, retakes, editing, and processing a finished file all take time you can estimate, and a script's word count gives a usable starting figure for the recording portion. Editing commonly takes longer than recording, which surprises people quoting for the first time.

Usage is where the real value sits. A licence covering internal training differs enormously from one covering broadcast advertising, and the difference is about reach and commercial benefit rather than effort. Rate structures across the industry reflect this, and pricing without reference to usage means underpricing exactly the jobs worth most.

Get the usage terms in writing before recording. Medium, territory, duration and whether the client may re-edit all need agreeing in advance, because a client discovering afterwards that their intended use costs more is a difficult conversation, and one who simply uses it beyond the agreed terms is a worse one.

Build in the unglamorous costs. Studio time, equipment, insurance, an accountant, unpaid auditions and the hours spent finding work all have to come out of the rate. A figure looking healthy per session becomes thin once divided across everything the session actually required.

Vocabulary

Session fee. The charge for the time spent recording, covering the performer's presence and the takes produced. Separate from any charge for how the recording will subsequently be used.

Usage or licence fee. A charge based on how the recording is used, covering medium, territory and duration. Reflects the commercial value of the use rather than the effort of producing it.

Buyout. An arrangement paying once for unlimited or very broad use. Simple to administer and frequently undervalued, since it surrenders every future usage fee for a single payment.

Pickup session. A later session re-recording changed lines. Usually charged separately, and worth agreeing in advance, since scripts change more often than clients expect at the point of booking.