Most YouTube editors do best charging per video, with a clear scope for length, style and revisions. As a rough guide, newer editors often charge around $160 to $250 for a standard long-form edit, mid-level editors roughly $350 to $450, and experienced editors $1000 and up. What you actually keep depends on how you handle revisions, rush jobs and fees, so here's how to work it all out.

Per video, per minute or per hour?

There's no single right model, but each one suits a different kind of work. Pick the one that matches how your client works, then define the scope clearly.

Per video

This is the most common model for YouTube. Creators upload on a schedule and like knowing exactly what each video costs. It also rewards you for getting faster, because your rate stays the same while your hours go down.

The catch is scope creep. A "video" can mean 8 minutes or 40, so always state the length, style and number of revisions your price includes. This is all handled by Replayed, sign up for free and we'll manage that for you!

Per hour

Hourly pricing suits jobs that are hard to estimate: fixing someone else's project, reworking an old edit, or a one-off with an unclear brief. Many creators dislike open-ended costs, so give an estimate with a cap. Also great if the creator does long and short form content.

Whichever model you choose, track your hours privately. Divide what you earn per video by the time it takes, and you'll know your real hourly rate. If it's lower than you'd accept for hourly work, your per-video price is too low.

What changes the price

Two videos of the same length can need very different amounts of work. These are the things worth pricing in:

• Finished length. Longer videos take longer, but not always in a straight line.
• Raw footage. More footage means more time reviewing and cutting.
• Style. A simple talking-head cut is quicker than an edit with motion graphics, sound design, zooms and on-screen text every few seconds.
• Turnaround. A 24-hour deadline pushes other work aside, so it should cost more.
• Revisions. Unlimited changes can double your time on a video.
• Assets. Finding music, sourcing B-roll (extra footage shown over the main shot), creating captions or designing graphics all take time.
• Format. Shorts are quick to deliver but often need punchy pacing and captions, so they rarely cost a tiny fraction of a long video.

Rough starting points by experience

These ranges are rough and vary a lot by niche, style and where your clients are. Treat them as a sense check, not a rule.

So where do you sit? A rough way to think about it:

• Beginner: you're building a portfolio and have a handful of clients. You can deliver clean edits but still need clear direction.
• Mid-level: you have steady repeat clients, a consistent style and reliable turnaround. Creators trust you with less guidance.
• Experienced: you understand pacing and retention (how long viewers keep watching), you suggest improvements, and you can take a channel's whole edit off a creator's plate.

Don't stay at beginner rates for too long. Once your portfolio shows consistent, good work, your prices should reflect it.

Pricing revisions and rush jobs

Revisions and rush work are where profit quietly disappears. Set the rules before the first order, not halfway through a project.

For revisions, try this:

1. Include a set number of rounds (often one or two) or a set amount of time in your price.
2. Define a revision as a change to the existing edit. A new script, new footage or a different style is a new brief.
3. Agree a revision rate for anything beyond what's included, usually your hourly rate.

For rush jobs, many editors add something like 25% to 50% on top for turnaround faster than their normal schedule. Say what counts as a rush in writing, such as "delivery within 48 hours".

If you work with creators through Replayed's marketplace, each team order includes one free hour of revisions. After that, revisions are billed at the agreed revision rate, up to a cap the client sets, so extra rounds don't come out of your pocket.

Working out your real take-home

Your rate isn't what you earn. Before you settle on a price, subtract the costs of running your business: software subscriptions, storage, hardware, stock music, and tax. Then look at fees, which depend on where the work comes from.

Here's exactly how fees work on Replayed:

• Clients you invite yourself: an 8% fee ($0.08 per $1). You can pay it from your earnings or pass it on to the client. The $29 a month subscription removes this fee.
• Marketplace work, on either plan: if you accept the client's first offer, you're paid 70% of it. If the client accepts your counter-offer, you get 100% of it, and the client pays 10% on top.

Say you're pricing a $200 edit. This is what you'd keep in each case:

Two things stand out. First, if a marketplace first offer is below what you need, counter-offer with the rate you actually want to receive. Second, the subscription pays for itself once you bill invited clients more than roughly $363 a month, because 8% of that is about $29. It doesn't change marketplace payouts, so base that decision on your invited work.

Getting paid on time matters too. Clients pay when they place the order, and you're paid when they approve the work. If a client goes quiet, you're paid automatically 7 days after delivery.

How and when to raise your rates

Raising rates feels awkward, but clients expect it as your skills grow. Good signs it's time:

• You're fully booked and turning work away.
• It's been six to twelve months since your last increase.
• Your edits have clearly improved, or you're doing more per video than you used to.
• The scope has crept up but the price hasn't.

Start with new clients. Quote your new rate to anyone new and see how it lands. If people still say yes, you're on firm ground with existing clients.

For existing clients, give notice (around 30 days is fair), apply the new rate to future work only, and keep the message short and friendly. For example:

Hi! I've really enjoyed working on your channel. From the 1st of next month, my rate for a standard edit will be $250. Everything already booked stays at the current price. Happy to chat if you have any questions.

If a client can't stretch, you can offer a lighter package, such as fewer effects or one revision round, at the old price. Some clients may move on, and that's fine. It often frees up time for better-paid work.

Set your price, then protect it

Pick a pricing model, put the scope in writing, and check your real hourly rate after fees every few months. Fair rates help you do your best work, and good creators want that too.

See exactly what you'd pay and keep on each plan on our pricing page.