How much does a promo video cost for a small business?

What actually decides the price

Two promo videos that look similar on the surface can be priced very differently, and it usually comes down to five things: how many locations you need, how many hours of filming, whether you need a script written from scratch, whether you're using actors instead of real staff or customers, and how much of the budget goes on animation or motion graphics rather than filmed footage.

A simple video, filmed in one location in half a day with the people who already work for you, sits at the low end of any market. Add a second location, a full day of filming, a proper script and a round of animated titles, and the same brief can double or triple in price before anyone has touched the edit.

What's included at each price level

It helps to think in three rough bands, whichever country you're in. What matters is not the label but what's actually covered for the price.

• Entry level: one location, half a day of filming, one edit with light colour work and music, delivered in one format. Good for a straightforward company introduction.
• Mid-range: a short planning call or script, a full day (or two) of filming across one or two locations, proper colour grading, licensed music, and both a widescreen cut for your website and a vertical cut for social media.
• Agency level: creative concepts to choose from, a small crew, sometimes actors or a studio, motion graphics, and often a media plan to get the finished film seen. This is where budgets move into the thousands rather than the hundreds.

Freelancer or agency: what's the real gap

The biggest driver of the price gap isn't talent, it's overhead. An agency is paying for a studio, account managers, a bigger team and a sales process, and that gets built into every quote. A solo operator or small freelance team is paying mostly for their own time.

That doesn't automatically make a freelancer the right choice. If you need a concept pitched from scratch, several creative directions to choose between, or a shoot with a large cast and crew, an agency's structure earns its price. If you already know roughly what the video needs to say and who's in it, a good solo filmmaker who plans, shoots and edits the whole thing themselves usually gets you a similar-looking result for a fraction of the cost.

The hidden costs that catch people out

The headline day rate or package price rarely tells the whole story. Before you compare two quotes, check whether these are already included or will appear as extras:

• Travel and accommodation, if the crew isn't local to your filming location.
• Extra cuts: a vertical version for Instagram and TikTok is a different export, not the same file resized, and some quotes charge separately for it.
• Music licensing: stock music that's cleared for commercial use costs something, even if it's small; a quote with no mention of it may be using unlicensed tracks.
• Revisions: find out how many rounds of changes are included before extra rounds are billed by the hour.
• Drone footage, if you want an aerial shot of your premises: with me it's €120 added to a shoot, but it's rarely automatic in a base package.

Country ranges, roughly and honestly

Prices vary enough between countries that a single European figure isn't much use, and they shift over time too, so treat any number here as a starting point for a conversation, not a quote. In the UK, freelancers and small studios commonly land somewhere between £1,500 and £5,000 for a straightforward promo video, with agencies well above that. In Germany, an Imagefilm is often quoted from roughly €2,000 upwards for a modest production, climbing steeply for agency work. In the Netherlands, a basic bedrijfsfilm package often starts from around €1,000. Bulgaria tends to sit lower again, especially outside the capital.

None of these figures account for what's actually included, which is why the bands above matter more than the country you happen to be in. A well-planned entry-level video from a skilled solo operator can outperform a rushed mid-range one, regardless of which market it was quoted in.

Getting a fixed quote you can actually compare

Send the same brief to two or three people so the quotes cover the same ground: what you're promoting, roughly how long the finished video should be, how many locations, and where it'll be used (website, social media, or both).

Ask each one to itemise what's included, not just the total. A cheap-looking quote that excludes vertical cuts, music and a second round of changes can end up costing more than a slightly higher one that includes everything. For a broader look at what moves the needle, I've written separately about what affects a video's price.

My own process is fixed pricing rather than an hourly estimate: send me the brief and you'll have a quote within 24 hours, with 50% to book and two rounds of changes included. You can see the full breakdown on my prices page.