How Long Should an Explainer Video Be?
The honest answer is: as long as the words take. Here is the maths, with three scripts that prove it.
Most explainer videos should be 60 seconds. Thirty seconds is right for one sharp point in a social feed; two minutes is right for a process with steps or a training explanation. The reason is arithmetic, not taste: narration runs at roughly 150 words a minute, so length is really a word budget. Write 75 words and you have a 30-second film. Write 300 and you have two minutes, whether you meant to or not.
Free to write and rewrite. Credits are only used when you generate.
The short answer
Sixty seconds suits most explanations: enough room for a problem, an idea and a next step, short enough that people finish it. Go to 30 seconds when you have exactly one point to make and it is going into a feed. Go to 120 seconds when the thing genuinely has steps — a process, a policy, a lesson — and a shorter film would leave the viewer with questions.
The maths: length is a word budget
Narration reads at about 150 words per minute at a natural pace. That gives you a simple budget, and it is the same arithmetic used to check your script before anything renders.
| Length | Words of narration | Credits | What fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds | about 75 words | 50 | One point, one example, one next step |
| 60 seconds | about 150 words | 100 | A problem, the idea, an example and a next step |
| 120 seconds | about 300 words | 200 | A process with three or four steps, or an argument with evidence |
Three worked scripts
The same subject at each length, so you can see what the budget actually buys. Count the words: they land on the numbers above.
30 SECONDS — about 75 words Your best customer comes in three times a week. You know their order. You do not know their name. That is the problem with relying on footfall. When it rains, there is nothing you can do. One card by the till fixes it. Leave your email, get your fifth coffee free. Now a quiet Tuesday is something you can change. One message about a new bake, and people come in. Put the card out this week.
Sixty seconds, the same idea with room to breathe
At 150 words you can add the evidence and the objection, which is usually what turns a nod into an action.
60 SECONDS — about 150 words Your best customer walks in three times a week. You know their order by heart. You do not know their name, and you have no way to reach them. That is the whole problem with relying on footfall. Rain arrives. Roadworks arrive. A new place opens up the road. None of it is in your control, and none of it can be answered. An email address changes that. One card by the till: leave your email, get your fifth coffee free. People give it, because the offer is worth more than the address. Three months in you have four hundred people you can talk to. A quiet Tuesday stops being weather and starts being something you can fix. One message about a new bake. One about late opening on Thursday. It costs the price of a few coffees. Put the card out this week and start counting.
Two minutes, when there are steps
Three hundred words is a lot of narration. Use it when the viewer needs to be able to do something afterwards — follow a process, apply a policy, set something up. If you are padding to reach the length, you wanted 60 seconds.
- Open with the outcome, not the background
- One step per scene, in the order the viewer will do them
- Name the mistake people make at the step where they make it
- Finish with the single next action
Why length is a hard limit here
Because spoken words take the time they take, the length you choose is checked against your script before anything renders. If the words are short of the length, you are asked whether to have the script written out to fill it or to move to the shorter length — nothing is rendered on a guess. And if a finished film still comes back shorter than ordered, you are billed for the seconds actually produced and the difference goes back to your balance.
What it costs
100 credits is one minute of finished video: 50 credits for 30 seconds, 100 for a minute, 200 for two minutes. New accounts start with 100 welcome credits that never expire. Credit pack and plan prices are on the pricing page.
Next step
Decide the one thing the viewer should do afterwards, then write the idea below and pick the length that fits the words, not the ambition.
Start your explainer
Free to write and rewrite. Credits are only used when you generate.
Common questions
- What is the best length for an explainer video?
- Sixty seconds for most explanations. Thirty seconds for a single point in a social feed, and 120 seconds when there are genuine steps to follow.
- How many words is a one-minute video?
- About 150 words of narration. A 30-second film is around 75 words and two minutes is around 300.
- What happens if my script is too short for the length I picked?
- You are asked before anything renders: either have the script written out to fill the length, or move to the shorter length.
- What if the finished video is shorter than I ordered?
- You are charged for the seconds actually produced and the difference is returned to your credit balance automatically.