Comparison
Cost to hire a video editor: $20 to $150 an hour freelance
Freelance video editors charge about $20 to $150 an hour, and agencies $100 to $250. Cutroom, an AI video editor, works out at about $2 a video.
In short
- A freelance video editor costs about $20 to $150 an hour. An agency costs about $100 to $250 an hour.
- Per video, creators in public discussions report paying $300 to $400 for one edited video.
- Cutroom costs about $2 a video, because $39.99 a month buys roughly 20 videos.
- Cutroom's edit is ready a minute or two after you upload. An editor usually takes days.
- An editor is still the better choice for judgement, several cameras, landscape video or long videos.
- an hour for a freelance video editor
- $20 to $150
- what creators report paying for one edited video
- $300 to $400
- a Cutroom video on Basic, $39.99 for about 20
- about $2
What a video editor costs
Hourly rates come from Krock.io's 2026 video editor rate guide, read 21 September 2026. The per-video price is what creators report paying.
Video editor rates
Ranges, not quotes. Your price depends on the length of the video and the editor.
| Who edits | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Entry-level freelancer | $20 to $45 an hour |
| Mid-level freelancer | $45 to $85 an hour |
| Senior freelancer, with motion graphics or colour work | $85 to $150 an hour and up |
| Agency | $100 to $250 an hour |
| A short social media clip | $50 to $400 per video |
| What creators report paying in public discussions | $300 to $400 per video |
Who edits: Entry-level freelancer
- Typical price
- $20 to $45 an hour
Who edits: Mid-level freelancer
- Typical price
- $45 to $85 an hour
Who edits: Senior freelancer, with motion graphics or colour work
- Typical price
- $85 to $150 an hour and up
Who edits: Agency
- Typical price
- $100 to $250 an hour
Who edits: A short social media clip
- Typical price
- $50 to $400 per video
Who edits: What creators report paying in public discussions
- Typical price
- $300 to $400 per video
Where to hire a video editor
You can hire a freelancer on a marketplace, hire an agency, or employ an editor on staff. Each one changes the price.
- Freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr list editors at every level, with reviews from past clients.
- One creator in a public discussion says they found editors on Upwork, Fiverr and by referral, paying about $100 for a simple edit and $200 to $350 for a typical video.
- An agency costs about $100 to $250 an hour. In return you get a project manager, backup and a contract.
- A staff editor in the US earns a median of $75,420 a year (BLS, May 2025), about $36 an hour, before the costs of employing someone.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
What makes an editor cost more
The same editor can quote very different prices for two videos.
- A longer video takes more hours, so it costs more.
- Senior editors who add motion graphics or colour work charge the most.
- Each round of changes adds time, and some editors bill a third round as extra.
- A per-video price is usually higher, because the editor covers any extra hours. With an hourly rate, you pay for every extra hour.
Video editor vs Cutroom: the cost side by side
The editor column is what creators report paying in public discussions, not a survey.
One video, two bills
The left column is what creators report paying. The right column is our own price list.
One video
- A freelance editor
- $300 to $400, what creators report paying
- Cutroom
- About $2: $39.99 divided by roughly 20 videos
Twenty videos a month
- A freelance editor
- $6,000 and up at $300 each, before changes
- Cutroom
- $39.99, or $29.99 a month billed yearly
Ready in
- A freelance editor
- Usually days
- Cutroom
- A minute or two
Waiting for changes
- A freelance editor
- Each round of notes means another wait, sometimes another fee
- Cutroom
- You make the change yourself, straight away, for free
Same look on every video
- A freelance editor
- Depends on who edits it
- Cutroom
- Yes, the same look every time
If it goes wrong
- A freelance editor
- Depends on what you agreed with the editor
- Cutroom
- Failed exports refund their credits. First charge back within 7 days
| A freelance editor | Cutroom | |
|---|---|---|
| One video | $300 to $400, what creators report paying | About $2: $39.99 divided by roughly 20 videos |
| Twenty videos a month | $6,000 and up at $300 each, before changes | $39.99, or $29.99 a month billed yearly |
| Ready in | Usually days | A minute or two |
| Waiting for changes | Each round of notes means another wait, sometimes another fee | You make the change yourself, straight away, for free |
| Same look on every video | Depends on who edits it | Yes, the same look every time |
| If it goes wrong | Depends on what you agreed with the editor | Failed exports refund their credits. First charge back within 7 days |
Where the $2 comes from
It is Cutroom's Basic plan divided by the number of videos it makes.
- Cutroom's Basic plan is $39.99 a month for 2,500 credits.
- Editing one upload costs 100 credits: the transcript, the edit and the b-roll search.
- Exporting costs 20 credits per minute of video, so a 30-second ad is 110 credits in total.
- A 1-minute ad is about 120 credits, so Basic makes roughly 20 ads a month.
- $39.99 divided by 20 is about $2 per video.
One finished video: $300 against $2
One video from a freelance editor, next to one from Cutroom.
What Cutroom does that an editor would do
These are the jobs an editor does to a video of someone talking before it is ready to post. Cutroom does all of them in a minute or two.
- Cutroom adds b-roll wherever you name something it can show, like a warehouse clip while you say "our warehouse in New York".
- It finds the clips, and uses your own clips first if you uploaded any.
- It adds captions in one of 40 caption styles, timed to your voice word by word.
- On Punch and Native it removes the ums and uhs that show up in your transcript and shortens the pauses it finds between your words. It adds a transition between clips, and you can choose from five. Flow, Punch and Native add short sound effects where the picture changes; Straight cut adds none.
- Music is off at first. One tap turns it on, and generated music is on Basic and up.
A warehouse clip on the words "our warehouse in New York"
Drag the clip onto other words and it plays there instead.
Cutroom plans
Every plan, the free one too, has the same editing tools. Paid plans all export the same file.
What each plan costs and adds
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Credits | About how many 1-minute ads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 600, once | 1 video within 7 days, Cutroom mark across the middle |
| Lite | $19.99 | $14.99 a month | 1,250 a month | About 10, no mark |
| Basic | $39.99 | $29.99 a month | 2,500 a month | About 20, plus avatars and music |
| Premium | $79.99 | $59.99 a month | 5,000 a month | About 40, plus animated drawings and product photos |
Plan: Free
- Monthly
- $0
- Billed yearly
- $0
- Credits
- 600, once
- About how many 1-minute ads
- 1 video within 7 days, Cutroom mark across the middle
Plan: Lite
- Monthly
- $19.99
- Billed yearly
- $14.99 a month
- Credits
- 1,250 a month
- About how many 1-minute ads
- About 10, no mark
Plan: Basic
- Monthly
- $39.99
- Billed yearly
- $29.99 a month
- Credits
- 2,500 a month
- About how many 1-minute ads
- About 20, plus avatars and music
Plan: Premium
- Monthly
- $79.99
- Billed yearly
- $59.99 a month
- Credits
- 5,000 a month
- About how many 1-minute ads
- About 40, plus animated drawings and product photos
When to hire an editor instead
Hire an editor instead if any of these apply to you.
- You want someone's judgement, like being told your opening is too slow.
- You have footage from several cameras, a landscape video or a video over 3 minutes.
- Your story needs to be put in a new order, not just cut.
- You want one person who gets to know your brand over many jobs.
- Cutroom only takes one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes, and makes one upright 1080p video.
Editor or AI
Choose A freelance editor if you need judgement, several cameras, landscape video or long videos.
Choose Cutroom if you post many short videos of yourself talking and $300 a video is too much. Your first video is free.
Questions people ask
- How much does it cost to hire a video editor?
- About $20 to $150 an hour for a freelancer and $100 to $250 for an agency, according to Krock.io's 2026 rate guide. Per video, creators in public discussions report paying $300 to $400. Rounds of changes can add more.
- Is AI video editing cheaper than hiring an editor?
- Yes, for short videos of someone talking. Cutroom's Basic plan is $39.99 a month for about 20 videos, so about $2 each, and a 30-second ad costs 110 credits. A person still wins on judgement, landscape edits and long videos.
- How fast is it compared to an editor?
- Much faster. Cutroom's first edit is ready a minute or two after upload. An editor usually takes days, and each round of notes adds more.
- Can I download my video, or is there a paywall at the end?
- You can download it. The export price shows on the Export button before you press it. The free video carries a Cutroom mark across the middle; paid plans put nothing on it. You get 600 credits and 7 days to make it.
- Will it work with my kind of video?
- Yes, if it is one upright video of a person talking, up to 3 minutes, with sound. You get back an upright 1080 by 1920 video. For landscape or 20-minute videos, hire a person.
- Can I get my money back?
- Yes for your first charge, in full, if you tell us within 7 days. Later, we refund unused time when something went wrong on our side. Credits spent on finished videos are not refunded. A failed export refunds its credits by itself.
- What happens to my videos if I cancel?
- They stay. Cancelling moves you to the free plan, and your projects, exported videos and credits stay. Files only go when you delete a project or ask us to close the account, and then everything goes within 30 days.
Upload the video you were about to send an editor. Your first video is free.