The Short Answer: What a Trailer Costs to Make
A trailer costs about $10–$2,750 to start with a Fiverr freelancer in 2026, where page-one movie trailer gigs start at a median of $30 and game trailer gigs at $50. A game trailer studio such as Alconost quotes about $1,000–$3,000, and once the shots have to be animated from scratch, Pixune prices a one-minute trailer at $5,000 and up in 2D and $20,000 and up in 3D.
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The biggest line on any trailer quote is whether the footage already exists. Cutting a trailer from a finished film or captured gameplay is an edit. Building shots that don't exist yet is animation, and it costs several times more per minute. Making the trailer is rarely the most expensive part of showing it, either: developers paid $250,000 to air a one-minute trailer at Summer Game Fest in 2024, Game Developer reported from an Esquire report.
Those are other companies' published prices, checked October 29, 2026, not ours. Mark Studios edits trailers and quotes each one from the footage, so there is no Mark Studios price on this page.
Trailer Prices by Type in 2026
| Trailer | Fiverr, page one | Studio and package prices | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Movie or film trailer | 26 of 40 gigs make the trailer, starting at $10–$2,750, median $30 (2,538 services) | Editors quote by the project or the hour; for scale, the 2025 US median wage for film and video editors is $36.26 an hour (O\*NET) | How much footage, titles, music and versions |
| Book trailer | 37 gigs starting at $5–$150, median $35 (2,362 services) | $49 and up for 15–20 seconds at Reading With Your Kids; $2,500 list at FrontGate Media ($1,995 on a 2025 sale); $1,000–$20,000 estimated by Beverly Boy | Stock and cover art, or live action |
| Game trailer | 24 of 41 gigs make the trailer, starting at $10–$1,500, median $50 (968 services) | $1,000–$3,000+ at Alconost; $2,500–$5,000 for a 30-second 2D teaser and $8,000–$20,000+ for a 3D cinematic reveal at Prolific | Gameplay cut or animated cinematic |
| Trailer edit from your footage | All 39 gigs start at $10–$2,750, median $50 (534 services) | Compositing and editing at $300–$1,500 per minute at Pixune | Runtime, sound design, revisions |
A Fiverr starting price is the seller's smallest package. Page one also mixes in gigs that sell something else: 14 of the 40 on the movie trailer page sell a trailer voice-over, 17 of the 41 on the game trailer page sell voice acting or music, and 12 of the 40 movie trailer gigs sell AI-generated trailers. If you're choosing between a marketplace gig and a studio, our comparison of freelance marketplaces covers the fees and the protections.
What Moves a Trailer Quote
- Footage that exists, or shots that don't. Alconost says a trailer made mostly of gameplay you recorded yourself sits at the low end of its range, and that art which isn't ready to animate costs more. For what new shots cost on their own, see our guides to 3D animation cost and motion graphics cost.
- Scenes, not seconds. Alconost prices game trailers by the number of scenes, at 5–15 seconds each, rather than by length alone. Beverly Boy puts a 30-second book trailer at roughly half the cost of a one-minute one.
- Music and voice. Pixune lists music at $250–$2,000 and sound effects at $100–$500 a minute. At the other end, Ryan Sumo of Squeaky Wheel made a game trailer for under $100 in 2020, with one licensed track at $39.95. Our YouTube music licensing guide explains why a cheap track can still draw a claim.
- Versions. Alconost adds cost for shorter cuts for ad platforms and for other aspect ratios, and localizes a trailer for 50–80% of the original price. Our guide to framing for vertical and horizontal covers the cutdowns.
- Revisions. Reading With Your Kids includes two rounds on every package. Our guide to video editing revision rounds explains what counts as one.
Where the Trailer Runs Changes the Cut
Steam. Valve requires a trailer before a game releases and recommends that the first one be mostly gameplay. It warns that a shopper in the Discovery Queue may give it less than 10 seconds, possibly with the sound off. Uploads go up to 1920 × 1080 at 30 or 60 fps and 5,000+ Kbps. Steam also builds a 6-second microtrailer from six 1-second clips of the first video, so every part of that cut has to read on its own.
YouTube. A channel trailer shows to people who haven't subscribed, and once a viewer has watched it, YouTube stops showing it to them. Our guide to the channel page and trailer covers the layout around it. Gaming creators cutting a trailer for a Roblox game, a Minecraft server or a channel do much of the same work as a montage; see how to make a gaming montage and our page for gaming creators.
A sales page. A course trailer sells the course before anyone sees a lesson. Course creators send the recorded lessons and any promo footage, and the trailer is cut from them; see our page for course creators.
A showcase. Airtime is priced on its own. Game Developer reported Summer Game Fest's 2024 rates at $250,000 for one minute, $350,000 for 90 seconds and $550,000 for two and a half minutes.
Before You Ask for Quotes: A Trailer Brief
Send these with your first message and quotes will price the same job:
- The runtime and every version, such as a 60-second master, a 15-second cutdown and a 9:16 cut.
- What already exists: the film's picture lock, captured gameplay, recorded lessons, or the cover art and key lines for a book.
- Where it will run: Steam, YouTube, a sales page, Amazon or Instagram, or a festival.
- Music and voice: a licensed track you own, a budget for one, narration, or text cards only.
- One reference trailer, with a note on what you like about it.
- The deadline and the review rounds you expect.
Our video editing brief template has the rest of the fields.
Where Mark Studios Fits
We cut trailers and teasers from the footage you send: a film's edit, captured gameplay, a course's recordings, or b-roll and cover art for a book. Mark Santos builds the structure, places licensed music and delivers the master plus any shorter or vertical cuts you ask for. If the trailer needs new footage, Mark films on site across Palm Beach, Broward and Martin counties; see on-site videography in Palm Beach County. Standard turnaround is 5–7 business days, and each trailer is quoted from its footage and versions in the instant quote.
Mark Studios has completed 8,000+ orders for 4,500+ clients and is Top Rated on Fiverr with a 4.9★ average. Whoever you hire, get a quote that names the runtime, every version, the music licence and the review rounds. For a full film rather than its trailer, see our guide to short film editing cost.
The Bottom Line
A trailer costs about $10–$2,750 to start on Fiverr, about $1,000–$3,000 from a game trailer studio, and $5,000 and up per minute once the shots have to be animated. Tell every quote what footage already exists and where the trailer will run, and compare them on versions, music and revisions, not the starting price.
