Why Video Length Drives the Price
Cost per second at 30, 60 and 120 seconds, and what each length can honestly carry.
Video length drives price because every extra second is another drawn scene and another line of narration. On AutoScribble the rate is flat: 30 seconds is 50 credits, 60 is 100 and 120 is 200, which is GBP 0.09 or US$0.12 per second at pack prices. What changes with length is not the rate but how much you can say.
The short answer
Length is the main lever on the price of any explainer video, because animation is produced second by second. On AutoScribble the cost per second is the same at every length — GBP 0.09 or US$0.12 at the 100-credit pack price — so doubling the length doubles the bill.
The more useful question is not what a length costs, but what it can hold. Thirty seconds carries one idea. Sixty carries a problem and a solution. A hundred and twenty carries a short story with a proof point.
Why length costs money on every route
On a studio or freelance project the reason is obvious: more seconds means more illustration, more animation and more voice recording, all of it billed by time.
On software the cost moves to you. Every extra second on a canvas tool is another element to place and another beat to time by hand. Our judgement: this is why so many do-it-yourself explainers stop at forty seconds — not because forty seconds was right, but because the sixtieth second was too much work.
How to pick the right length
Choose the length from the job, then write to it. Doing it the other way round produces a film that either rushes or drags.
- Write down the single thing the viewer must remember. If there are two, you need 60 seconds, not 30.
- Count your words. Narration runs at roughly 140 to 150 words a minute at a comfortable pace.
- Check where it will be watched. A social feed rewards 30 seconds; a website page or a sales email will hold 60 to 120.
- Cut the setup. Most scripts can lose their first two sentences without losing anything at all.
- Read it out loud with a timer before you commit. This one step saves more money than any other on this page.
- Order the length you wrote to, not the one you hope to fill.
What each length costs and carries
Credit prices from live AutoScribble pricing records, checked 13 September 2026, at the 100-credit pack rate of GBP 9 or US$12. Word counts assume narration at about 140 to 150 words a minute.
- Our judgement: the rate per second is flat, so the only way to spend less is to say less. That is usually an improvement.
| Length | Credits | Cost at pack price | Cost per second | Roughly how many words | What it can honestly carry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds | 50 | GBP 4.50 / US$6 | GBP 0.09 / US$0.12 | 70 to 75 | One idea, said once and clearly. A single feature, a single offer, or an answer to one question. |
| 60 seconds | 100 | GBP 9 / US$12 | GBP 0.09 / US$0.12 | 140 to 150 | A problem and a solution. Enough room to set up who it is for, what hurts, and what changes. |
| 120 seconds | 200 | GBP 18 / US$24 | GBP 0.09 / US$0.12 | 280 to 300 | A short story with a proof point. Problem, solution, evidence and a next step, without rushing. |
Longer is not better value
Because the per-second rate does not fall with length, there is no bulk discount for making a film longer. A 120-second video costs exactly twice a 60-second one.
That is worth knowing, because on most routes people stretch a script to justify the price of a longer film. Our judgement: a 60-second film that says one thing well outperforms a 120-second film padded to fill the time, and it costs half as much.
What goes wrong
Writing first, choosing length second. A 400-word script squeezed into 60 seconds is narrated too fast to follow. Pick the length, then write to the word count.
Paying for silence. Long pauses and a slow open eat seconds you are paying for. Start at the problem.
Ordering long because it feels more serious. Length signals nothing to a viewer except how long they must wait. Watch time falls off long before the end of most two-minute explainers.
How length is billed here
You choose 30, 60 or 120 seconds before the film is made, and the script is written to fit the length you picked rather than trimmed afterwards.
If the finished film comes out shorter than the length you ordered, it is billed on the seconds actually produced and the difference goes back to your credit balance. Your 100 welcome credits cover a full finished minute, or two 30-second films.
Next step
Read your script out loud with a timer, then pick the length it actually fits. The subscription guide below shows whether those minutes are cheaper as a plan or as packs.
See what your video would cost
Free to write and rewrite. Credits are only used when you generate.
Common questions
- Why do longer videos cost more?
- Because animation is produced second by second: every extra second is another drawn scene and another line of narration. On AutoScribble the rate is flat at GBP 0.09 or US$0.12 a second at pack prices, so 30 seconds is 50 credits, 60 seconds is 100 and 120 seconds is 200. There is no discount for going longer.
- How long should an explainer video be?
- Thirty seconds for a single idea, sixty for a problem and a solution, and a hundred and twenty for a short story with a proof point. Our judgement is that most business explainers work best at 60 seconds, and that a padded two-minute film performs worse than a tight one-minute one.
- How many words is a 60-second video?
- About 140 to 150 words, at a comfortable narration pace of roughly 140 to 150 words a minute. Thirty seconds is around 70 to 75 words and 120 seconds is around 280 to 300. Read your script out loud against a timer before you commit to a length.
- How much does a 30-second whiteboard video cost?
- Fifty credits, which is GBP 4.50 or US$6 at the 100-credit pack price of GBP 9 or US$12, checked against live pricing records on 13 September 2026. New accounts start with 100 welcome credits, which covers two 30-second films.
- What if my finished video is shorter than the length I ordered?
- You are billed on the seconds actually produced, and the difference is returned to your credit balance. The length you choose up front sets how the script is written, so a film is written to fit rather than cut down afterwards.