Subtitling rate calculator your price per minute, from your own pace.
To set your subtitling rate, add up what your month needs to earn, divide it by the hours you can bill, then multiply by the time each minute of video takes you to transcribe, time and review. This calculator does that math, adds taxes and margin, and shows the price per job, per minute and with a rush fee.
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.
- Subtitling price
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- Your hourly rate
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- With taxes and margin. This is the hour you charge.
- Cost of your hour
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- Job hours
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- Price per hour of this job
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- Jobs like this to cover the month
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Where the price comes from
- Gear wear per month
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- What the month has to cover
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- Your hours
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- Crew
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- Other expenses
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- Job cost
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- Taxes
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- Margin
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- Price
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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 cut the transcription time? We transcribe word by word, with timing for every line, so you review instead of typing. Try it with a video
How to work out your subtitling rate
- 01
Fill in your month
What you want to take home, your fixed costs (computer, software, internet, accountant), the tax on your invoices and how many hours a month you can really bill.
- 02
Enter your pace
For each minute of video, how many minutes you spend transcribing, timing and reviewing. Time three real jobs and use the average, not your best day.
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Read the price and build the quote
You get the job price, the price per video minute and the rush price. Download the summary as a PDF to send to the client.
How much should you charge per minute for subtitles?
There is no per-minute rate that fits everyone, so be wary of rate cards that claim otherwise. The same minute of video can be very different work: a lecture with one slow speaker, an interview where three people talk over each other, a technical video full of jargon. Your rate comes from what one of your hours costs and how many hours that minute takes.
Here is the math the calculator runs. What your month needs to earn (take-home pay, fixed costs and replacing your gear) divided by the hours you bill is the cost of your hour. The job's hours come from your pace: video minutes times your working minutes per video minute, for each pass. Add the fixed part of every job (receiving files, checking the client's specs, delivering) and you have the cost. Taxes and margin then come in as a share of the price, not as a markup on cost.
Divide the final price by the video's length and you get your per-minute rate. Use it as a reference for future quotes, as long as the material is similar.
How to measure your subtitling speed
Your pace is the most important number in the calculator, and only your own work can give it to you. Pick three videos and time each pass separately. Divide each pass by the video's length: if a 10-minute video took 40 minutes to transcribe, your transcription pace is 4 minutes per video minute.
Keep the passes apart because each one changes for a different reason. Transcription depends on the audio and how many people speak. Timing depends on the client's rules: line breaks, minimum duration on screen and the reading speed limit in characters per second. Review depends on how many names and technical terms show up.
- Poor audio, heavy accents or crosstalk: use your slowest pace
- Subtitles in another language: price translation as its own pass, in review or in costs
- Client style guide: add the time to read it to the fixed part of the job
- Repeat client, same kind of material: your pace usually improves, so measure again
Rush fees and revisions
A rush job is work outside your schedule: nights, weekends, another client pushed back. That is why it comes in as a percentage on top of the price, and the number is yours to decide. The calculator shows the regular price and the rush price side by side, and you choose whether the quote includes it.
Revisions are your policy too. Decide how many rounds of changes are included and put it in writing. Text changes the client asks for after delivery are new work; fixing your own mistakes is not.
What changes the price of a subtitle job
Beyond pace, a few things change the cost and belong in the quote. The delivery format (an SRT, subtitles burned into the video, a file for the editor) changes finishing time. Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing need sound descriptions and speaker IDs, which adds to review. Translation is a separate pass with its own pace.
If you use tools to transcribe, your transcription pace drops and review becomes the main pass. Measure with the process you actually use; the calculator only trusts the numbers you give it.
More than a rate calculator. Fewer hours in every minute of video.
See also
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge per minute for subtitling?
It depends on what your hour costs and on your pace. Add up what your month needs to earn, divide by the hours you bill and multiply by the time each video minute takes to transcribe, time and review. Then add taxes and margin. The calculator runs that math with your numbers.
Why doesn't the calculator show a market rate?
Because we have no reliable source that fits every kind of video, language and client. A made-up number could have you charging too little or losing the job. The method works for any material: your cost and your pace give you your rate.
How do I include taxes in my subtitling rate?
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.
Should I charge per minute or per hour?
Clients find a per-minute rate easier to understand and compare. For you, the hour is what matters. The calculator shows both: the per-minute price for the quote and what you actually earn per hour on that job.
How much should a rush fee be?
That is your call, based on what the rush costs you: nights, weekends or another job pushed back. Enter the percentage in the rush field and see the regular and rush prices side by side.
How can I subtitle faster without losing quality?
Most of the time goes into transcription. With FilmScribe, we transcribe word by word with timing for every line, and you export an SRT to review and adjust. The review is still yours, and your pace per minute drops.
Review subtitles instead of typing them. And free up hours in your month.
Upload the video or paste a YouTube link. We transcribe word by word, with timing for every line, and you download an SRT to review and deliver.
See the result on your own recording before adding a card.