What an AI explainer video really costs

Line item	DIY with AI	Agency
Script (90 seconds)	Your time / AI-assisted	$300–800
Visuals (14 shots, mixed tiers)	$12–18	$1,500–4,000
Voiceover	$5–25 (TTS/marketplace)	$200–500
Total	$20–45 + your hours	$2,000–5,300

Rates shown at each model's base tier, verified July 2026 from official vendor pricing pages and documentation. Vendors change prices without notice — see methodology.

Why explainers moved to AI first

Explainer visuals are conceptual, not literal — metaphors, motion graphics energy, illustrative scenes — exactly where AI generation fails gracefully and stock footage feels generic. The shot recipe: 3–4 narration-critical moments on Veo 3.1 Fast (audio-timed), the other ten on Seedance. Text, labels and UI mockups go in your editor, never in the generation.

The remaining agency advantage is the script — clarity of argument is the whole product in an explainer. Spend your saved thousands there: on message testing, not on pixels. Model rankings in best AI for explainers; the 90-second math in the duration file.

Run your own numbers. The cost calculator applies your clip length, resolution and a realistic retake buffer across every model at once.