Short-form editing rate calculator your price per clip and per monthly package.
To set your short-form editing rate, work out what one of your hours costs (what your month needs to earn divided by the hours you bill) and multiply it by the time each clip takes: finding the moment, editing, captioning, reframing and revisions. The calculator adds taxes and margin and shows the monthly package and the price per clip.
Free, no sign-upExample numbers, only there to show the method. They are not market rates: swap in your own.
Your month
What your work has to pay for every month, even when the calendar is empty.
The job
Hours for each stage, from the first call to delivery.
The wedding
Hours on the day, editing each deliverable and revisions. Leave 0 for anything not in the package.
The subtitling job
Your pace: how many minutes of work each minute of video takes in each pass.
The clip package
Your pace per clip and the fixed monthly hours with the client.
Result
Fill in your month and the job's hours to see the price.
- Monthly package
- -
- :
- : ()
- Your hourly rate
- -
- With taxes and margin. This is the hour you charge.
- Cost of your hour
- -
- Job hours
- -
- Price per hour of this job
- -
- Jobs like this to cover the month
- -
Where the price comes from
- Gear wear per month
- -
- What the month has to cover
- -
- Your hours
- -
- Crew
- -
- Other expenses
- -
- Job cost
- -
- Taxes
- -
- Margin
- -
- Price
- -
Taxes and margin are a share of the price, not something added on top of cost: that's why the cost is divided by (1 minus taxes minus margin).
Quote for the client
The client sees the stages and the total. Taxes and margin sit inside each line.
Want to spend fewer minutes on each clip? We read the whole video, suggest scored clips and deliver them vertical and captioned for you to fine-tune. Try it with a video
How to price a monthly clip package
- 01
Fill in your month
What you want to take home, your fixed costs (computer, software, storage, internet), the tax on your invoices and the hours a month you can really bill.
- 02
Build the package
Clips per month, minutes per clip to find and edit, to caption and reframe and for revisions, plus the monthly hours of calls and uploads.
- 03
Read the price and send the quote
You get the monthly package price, the price per clip and what you earn per hour. Download the summary as a PDF for the client.
How to price a short-form clip package
A clip looks like a small job, which is why so many editors undercharge for it. A 40-second clip can take half an hour: watching the episode to find the moment, cutting on the right word, captioning, reframing to vertical, exporting and then making the client's changes. Multiply that by 20 or 30 clips a month and the package takes a big share of your calendar.
The calculator starts from the cost of your hour: your take-home pay, fixed costs and gear replacement, divided by the hours you bill. Then it adds up the package hours: clips per month times your minutes per clip for each pass, plus the fixed monthly hours with the client (content calls, approvals, uploads). Taxes and margin come in as a share of the price. The price per clip is the package divided by the number of clips.
How long does it take to edit a short-form clip?
Only you know, and it is worth measuring. Time the clips from three episodes and log each pass separately. The average of those three is the number that goes into the calculator. Measuring by pass shows where the time goes and what moves the price.
- Find and edit: depends on how much raw footage there is and who picks the moments, you or the client
- Captions and reframe: depends on the caption style, how many people are on screen and how many aspect ratios the client wants
- Revisions: depends on how many rounds are included and who signs off
- Monthly hours: calls, planning, file management and uploads, which do not shrink with more clips
Per-clip pricing or a monthly retainer?
A monthly package gives both sides predictability: the client knows the bill and you know how many hours to block. That is why the calculator treats the package as the job and shows the per-clip price as the result. If a client wants one-off clips, run the same math with that quantity, and remember the fixed hours weigh more on small orders.
Volume discounts are your call. Before offering one, check what you earn per hour on the bigger package. If the monthly fixed hours stay the same, a bigger package can pay more per hour; if every extra clip brings another call and approval, it will not.
What makes a clip cost more
Some requests push up the time per clip and belong in the quote: word-by-word highlighted captions, several versions of the same clip (vertical, square, horizontal), thumbnails, music, effects and tight turnarounds. Rough source material counts too: low audio, unsynced multicam, a three-hour episode.
If you use tools that already hand you a suggested clip, captioned and vertical, your time per clip drops and choosing and finishing become the main work. Measure with the process you use today and redo the math when it changes.
More than a rate calculator. Fewer minutes in every clip.
See also
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge per short-form clip?
Divide what your month needs to earn by the hours you bill, multiply by the time each clip takes (finding, editing, captioning, reframing and revisions) and add taxes and margin. The calculator runs that math and shows the price per clip and per monthly package with your numbers.
Why is there no rate card for clips?
Because we have no reliable source that holds for every niche, client and kind of clip. A made-up number could have you charging less than your time costs. With your cost and your time per clip, the rate is yours.
How do I measure my time per clip?
Time the clips from three real episodes and log each pass: find and edit, caption and reframe, revisions. Use the average of the three, not your fastest day. When your process changes, measure again.
Should I sell a monthly package or single clips?
A package makes your schedule and income predictable. Single clips make sense for one-off requests, but fixed hours (calls, approvals, uploads) weigh more on small orders. Run the calculator with both quantities and compare what you earn per hour.
How do I include taxes in my clip pricing?
Enter the share of your invoices that goes to tax in the tax field; check the right figure with your accountant. The calculator treats tax as part of the price, so what is left covers your costs and your income.
How can I deliver more clips in the same time?
The longest part is usually finding the moment. With FilmScribe, we read the whole video and suggest scored clips, already captioned and vertical with the frame following the speaker. You choose, adjust and deliver.
Fewer minutes per clip. More clips in the same package.
Upload the episode or paste a YouTube link. We suggest scored clips, caption them and deliver them vertical for you to review and download.
See the result on your own recording before adding a card.