The Cheapest Ways to Get an Explainer Video Made
Five routes priced honestly, including the hours you spend yourself.
The cheapest explainer video is rarely the cheapest sticker price. A free tool can cost you six hours; a GBP 9 credit pack can cost you fifteen minutes. This page prices five routes to one finished minute of narrated explainer video: free tools, paid whiteboard software, a Fiverr freelancer, an agency, and AutoScribble at 100 credits a minute.
The short answer
If your time is worth nothing, a free tool is cheapest. If your time is worth anything at all, the arithmetic flips fast. At GBP 30 an hour, six hours of DIY is GBP 180 of your week. One finished minute from AutoScribble is 100 credits, GBP 9 / US$12 as a one-off pack or about GBP 4.90 a minute on the Pro plan, and the writing takes minutes rather than an afternoon.
Who each route suits
Our judgement, based on what each route asks of you:
- Free design tools — one-off internal video, no deadline, and you enjoy the fiddling.
- Paid whiteboard software — you will make videos every week and want frame-level control.
- Fiverr freelancer — one important video, a fixed brief, and you can wait days for revisions.
- Agency — a launch film with strategy, casting and brand governance attached.
- AutoScribble — you have the words and want the film today, repeatedly, at a known price.
Sourced comparison: sticker price for one minute
Competitor figures are from each company own page, checked 13 September 2026. VideoScribe lists a Lite plan at US$12.50 a month per licence billed annually, US$150 billed annually, and a seven-day free trial whose downloads are watermarked. Doodly lists a Standard plan at US$49 a month on monthly billing. Canva lists a Free plan at US$0. Fiverr whiteboard animation category shows over 1,600 gigs with published rates; individual gig cards state their running time, revisions and delivery days. AutoScribble figures come from our live plan and credit-pack records, checked 13 September 2026.
| Route | Sticker price | What that buys |
|---|---|---|
| Free design tool | US$0 (Canva Free, canva.com/pricing, 13 Sep 2026) | A canvas and a library. Every second is yours to build. |
| Paid whiteboard software | From US$12.50/mo per licence billed annually (VideoScribe Lite, videoscribe.co/pricing, 13 Sep 2026); Doodly Standard US$49/mo monthly (doodly.com pricing, 13 Sep 2026) | A drawing tool. You still write, direct, time and narrate. |
| Fiverr freelancer | Published per-gig rates, varying by seller; the category lists 1,600+ whiteboard gigs (fiverr.com whiteboard category, 13 Sep 2026) | A finished video to your brief, with the seller stated revision count and delivery days. |
| Agency | Quoted per project; 2026 published cost guides put custom explainer work in the thousands | Strategy, scripting, storyboards, casting and revisions. |
| AutoScribble | 100 credits per finished minute: GBP 9 / US$12 for 100 credits, or about GBP 4.90 a minute on Pro at GBP 49 / US$65 for 1,000 credits | A narrated animated whiteboard explainer video, downloadable as MP4, from your script. |
Your total cost calculator
Sticker price is half the number. Fill in your own hourly rate and add your hours. The hour estimates below are our judgement, not measured research; replace them with your own if you have made one before.
Total cost = sticker price + (your hourly rate x hours you spend)
YOUR HOURLY RATE: £______ per hour
Route Sticker Your hours Your time cost TOTAL
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Free design tool £0 5-8 hrs £______ £______
Paid whiteboard software £~10/mo 4-7 hrs £______ £______
Fiverr freelancer £____ 1-2 hrs £______ £______
(brief + revisions)
Agency £____ 3-6 hrs £______ £______
(meetings + approvals)
AutoScribble (1 min) £9 0.25-0.5 hr £______ £______
(write + choose 4 settings)
Worked example at £30/hour:
Free tool: £0 + (6 x £30) = £180
AutoScribble: £9 + (0.35 x £30) = £19.50When a paid route is the right answer
Spend more when the video carries more. A funding film, a product launch or a national ad campaign deserves a human director, a cast and someone accountable for the result. A freelancer is also the better answer when you need one very specific visual style that no template produces. Cheap is only cheap when the video would otherwise be ordinary either way.
What AutoScribble costs, exactly
Credits are the whole price: 100 credits equals one finished minute. A 30-second film is 50 credits, 60 seconds is 100, and 120 seconds is 200. If the finished film comes in shorter than you ordered, you are billed on the actual seconds and the difference is refunded. New accounts start with 100 welcome credits, which never expire, so the first minute is free. Prices are in GBP for UK customers and USD elsewhere, as monthly plans or one-off credit packs.
Next step
Work out your own hourly rate, then price one minute on the route you were about to choose. If the answer surprises you, paste your script in and spend your 100 welcome credits instead.
Try it on your own script
Free to write and rewrite. Credits are only used when you generate.
Common questions
- What is the genuinely cheapest way to make an explainer video?
- Free design tools have the lowest sticker price, US$0 on Canva Free (canva.com/pricing, checked 13 September 2026). They are only the cheapest overall if your own hours are free. At GBP 30 an hour, six hours of DIY is GBP 180, against GBP 9 for one finished minute of narrated whiteboard explainer video from AutoScribble.
- How much does a one-minute explainer video cost on AutoScribble?
- One hundred credits, which is one finished minute. A 100-credit pack is GBP 9 / US$12, and the Pro plan at GBP 49 / US$65 a month includes 1,000 credits, about GBP 4.90 a minute. New accounts get 100 welcome credits that never expire.
- Is a Fiverr freelancer cheaper than software?
- For a single video, often yes, because software is a recurring subscription: VideoScribe Lite is listed at US$12.50 a month per licence billed annually, US$150 a year (videoscribe.co/pricing, 13 September 2026). For a weekly video, the subscription or a credit plan usually wins.
- Does a cheap explainer video look cheap?
- Our judgement: what makes a video look cheap is a weak script and mismatched stock imagery, not the budget. A hand-drawn sketch style reads as deliberate at any price, because the drawing is the style rather than a substitute for production value.
- What happens if my video comes out shorter than I ordered?
- You are billed for the actual finished seconds and the difference is refunded to your credit balance automatically.