Video ad cost calculator
The cost of a video ad is rarely the invoice. It is the editor's hours plus the review cycles plus the ads you produced and never ran. This calculator compares cost per published ad across in-house editing, an agency retainer and a generation tool, using your own numbers.
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The formula
Ads to produce = ads you need to publish / share you actually publish
That first line is the one teams skip. If you publish 60% of what you produce, shipping 40 ads means producing 67, and every cost below scales off 67 rather than 40.
- In-house: ads produced x editing hours x loaded hourly cost
- Agency: ads produced x cost per ad
- Generation tool: ads produced x credit cost, plus review time at roughly 5 minutes per output
How to read the result
The two numbers worth arguing about are the keep rate and the review time. A tool with a low keep rate is expensive even when generation is nearly free, because you are paying a human to reject things.
- Measure your real keep rate before trusting any of these figures. Most teams guess high.
- Loaded hourly cost means salary plus overhead, not salary divided by 2,080.
- Hours returned matter as much as euros saved, because the editor's next-best use of that time is usually worth more than the ad.
What people get wrong
- Comparing tool subscription costs to each other instead of cost per published ad.
- Assuming a 100% keep rate, which makes every option look cheaper than it is.
- Ignoring review time in the automated column. It is the dominant cost there.
- Counting an editor's time as free because it is already on payroll.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a video ad cost to produce?
In-house, typically 30 to 90 minutes of editing per ad, so €25 to €70 at a €45 loaded hourly cost. Agencies commonly charge €100 to €400 per ad. A generation tool moves the cost to review time plus a per-output fee, which is about €1.52 per variation on Genyad's €99 pack.
What is the real cost driver in ad production?
The ads you produce and never publish. If you publish 60% of output, your true cost per published ad is 1.67 times your cost per produced ad.
Is it cheaper to use an agency or produce in-house?
In-house is usually cheaper per ad and slower to scale; an agency is more expensive per ad and absorbs volume spikes. Both are dominated by whichever option has the higher keep rate.