The Short Answer: What a Commercial Costs to Make
A commercial costs $5,000 to $15,000 to make for a local TV or online spot from a production company in 2026. That is Beverly Boy's range for local spot production, and where most of BLARE Media's Miami projects land. Curated spots start at $1,500 (Lemonlight), agency commercials typically run $25,000–$50,000 (Demo Duck), and national campaigns run $50,000–$500,000+. Airtime is a separate bill.
Those are market prices, not ours. Mark Studios' plan prices are on our pricing page. Every figure here links to the page that published it, checked October 17, 2026.
The spread is wide because "a commercial" covers very different jobs. A 15-second spot cut from one afternoon of filming and a national 30-second spot with a cast, locations and a media plan share a name and little else. Lemonlight's own history says a 30-second commercial once averaged $300,000, which is why it started selling fixed-price packages. So the useful question isn't what a commercial costs. It's which of these jobs yours is.
Commercial Production Prices in 2026, by Route
| Route | Published price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer on Fiverr | First-page gigs that make a whole spot start at $15–$500 | 188 TV commercial services listed on October 17, some built with AI video tools; voiceovers start at $10 and scripts at $100–$200 |
| Hourly videographer (Snappr) | $179 for the first hour, $299 for two, $120 for each hour after, plus a 15% service fee | Raw HD footage only; the edit is a separate job |
| Packaged short spots (BLARE Video) | $2,670 for three :15 videos, $4,950 for six, $7,350 for nine | Half-day shoots with a camera operator, paid monthly over a 3-month commitment |
| Regional crew (Ball Media Innovations) | Corporate and marketing videos start at $1,200; editing alone at $250 | A filmed video from a Miami production company |
| Production company (Lemonlight) | Commercial styles start at $1,500 for curated work | Curated spots from existing footage up to scripted and studio shoots, in 3–12 weeks; rush costs 20% more |
| Local spot (Beverly Boy) | $5,000–$15,000 | Local TV spot production, delivered to networks, cable and streaming |
| Regional production company (BLARE Media) | $3,500 for a basic corporate video to $40,000+ for a high-end commercial; most Miami projects $5,000–$15,000 | Bilingual production in Miami |
| Agency commercial (Demo Duck) | Typically $25,000–$50,000 | Live action or animation, with a treatment, storyboards and animatics before production |
| B2B commercial studio (Vidico) | Most projects $5,000–$50,000 | Sold on monthly plans; national broadcast spots with celebrity talent can pass $500,000 |
| National campaign (Beverly Boy) | $50,000–$500,000+ | National campaign spots; its FAQ puts high-end productions above $1,000,000 |
Some Fiverr links on this page are affiliate links: Mark Studios may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no cost to you.
Read the table as three different purchases. The first two rows buy someone's time: a gig seller's or a camera operator's, and the script and the edit are still yours to arrange. The middle rows buy a finished spot from a company that writes, films and cuts it. The last rows buy a campaign: casting, locations, several spots and the versions each media buy needs. Before you compare two quotes, check which of the three you're holding.
Where the Money Goes in a Commercial Budget
Beverly Boy puts a typical TV commercial at 4 to 8 weeks: 1–3 weeks of pre-production, 1–5 days of production and 2–4 weeks of post. Each stage carries its own line items:
- Pre-production: the concept, script, storyboard, casting and locations. It is cheap to change an idea here and expensive after the shoot, which is why Demo Duck signs off a treatment, storyboards and animatics before it films.
- The shoot: crew, camera, lighting, locations and permits, billed by the day. Extra shoot days and extra locations move the total faster than anything else.
- Talent: you, your staff, real customers or hired actors. Union actors are paid for the session and again for usage, so where and how long the spot airs changes this line.
- Post: the edit, color grade, sound mix, licensed music, voiceover and graphics. If you already have footage, our video ad editing cost guide prices this stage on its own.
- Versions: every extra length and aspect ratio is more edit time. The next section covers why you'll want them anyway.
Airtime is not on that list. Vidico says it plainly: running the commercial on TV is a separate cost from producing it. Ask for the production quote and the media plan as two numbers, so a cheap spot with an expensive buy doesn't hide inside one figure.
One Spot or a Set of Cutdowns
A commercial is rarely one file anymore. Beverly Boy lists 15, 30 and 60 seconds as the most common lengths, with 6- to 10-second spots growing online. YouTube sets hard limits of its own: Google Ads caps bumper ads at 6 seconds and runs non-skippable in-stream ads at 15 to 60 seconds, depending on the campaign. Add a vertical cut for Reels and Shorts, and one shoot becomes four or five deliverables.
Plan those cutdowns before the shoot, not after. A :06 bumper needs its own single idea, and a 9:16 version needs the subject framed for a vertical crop on the day. Our guide to framing one shoot for vertical and horizontal covers how. Demo Duck makes the same point about budget: a little extra for versioning buys a lot more usable media from the same production. If you sell cars, our automotive video production page covers dealer spots, launch films and their social cutdowns.
How to Get an Accurate Commercial Quote
Send these with your first message, and every quote you get back will price the same job:
- Where it will run: local TV, streaming, YouTube, social, or all of them. That sets the lengths, the formats and the talent usage.
- The lengths and versions: a :30 and a :15, a :06 bumper, a 9:16 cut.
- The idea, if you have one: a script, a reference spot you like, or just the offer you want to sell.
- Who's on camera: you, your staff, real customers or hired actors.
- Locations: your store, office or lot, or somewhere that needs renting or a permit.
- Footage you already own: product shots, drone footage, past spots. Existing footage can turn a production job into an editing job.
- The air date, so the schedule can be built backwards from it. Lemonlight charges 20% more for rush projects.
Where Mark Studios Fits
We make commercials two ways. In Palm Beach, Broward and Martin counties, Mark films on location at your store, office, lot or job site, and travels anywhere else with travel quoted per trip; our guide to what a videographer costs in Palm Beach County lays out local shoot rates. Anywhere in the country, you send the footage and we cut the spot, its cutdowns and the vertical versions through our commercial and ad editing service, with 3 revision rounds and a 5–7 business day standard turnaround, expedited when the air date needs it. You work with Mark directly. Mark Studios has delivered 10,000+ projects for 4,500+ clients at a 4.9★ average, with 100M+ views generated. Weighing a national package studio instead? See how we compare in our Lemonlight comparison.
The Bottom Line
A commercial costs $5,000–$15,000 to make for most local TV and online spots. Curated work starts at $1,500, agencies typically quote $25,000–$50,000 and national campaigns run $50,000 to $500,000+, all before airtime. The price follows the shoot days, the talent and the number of versions, not the 30 seconds on screen. Decide where the spot will run first, and every quote you collect will price the same job.
