How much does a commercial cost? Prices for small businesses
A commercial for a small business costs anywhere from almost nothing to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on who makes it. Filming on your own phone and editing it yourself costs a morning and a software subscription. A freelance videographer and editor usually come to a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. A local production company typically quotes a small business $5,000–$15,000 for a 30-second spot. Airtime is separate: local broadcast TV runs roughly $200–$1,500 per 30-second spot in small markets, and much more in big cities, while YouTube and social ads work with any daily budget. Below is the cost of each route, what drives the price, how to spend less, and a real 30-second commercial made from a coffee shop's phone clips.
A 30-second coffee shop commercial made from 16 phone clips in Novacut, the do-it-yourself route in the table below. Sped up. Phone-size version.
What a commercial costs to make
| Route | Typical cost | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself: phone + editing app | A subscription and a morning | Real footage of your business, edited to music with titles | Social ads, YouTube, frequent new ads |
| Freelance editor (your footage) | About $25–$150 an hour, depending on experience and platform | A cleaner edit of the footage you shot | When you have footage and no time |
| Local videographer (shoot + edit) | Often $75–$200 an hour; half-day shoots plus editing commonly run into the hundreds or low thousands | Better camera work, lighting, sound | A brand film, a launch |
| Local production company | Roughly $5,000–$15,000 for a 30-second local spot | Script, crew, talent, editing, broadcast specs | Broadcast TV campaigns |
| Agency / national spot | Tens of thousands and up | Concept, cast, locations, post-production | Regional and national brands |
Ranges are from published pricing guides and marketplaces (sources below) and vary by city, so get two or three quotes.
What it costs to run
| Where | Cost |
|---|---|
| Local broadcast TV, small markets | Roughly $200–$1,500 per 30-second spot; prime time costs more |
| Local broadcast TV, major markets | Can run 50–100× small-market prices for the same slot |
| YouTube in-stream ads | Any daily budget; you pay for views |
| Facebook and Instagram ads | Any daily budget; give each ad about a week to settle |
| Streaming / connected TV | Usually a minimum campaign spend through a CTV platform |
For most small businesses, the media budget matters more than the production budget. A $15,000 spot nobody sees does less than a $0 phone commercial running all month on YouTube and Instagram in your area.
What drives the price of a commercial
- People on set: a camera operator, a sound person and a producer each add a day rate.
- Talent: paid actors or a voiceover artist, plus usage rights for broadcast.
- Locations and permits: shooting in your own shop is free; a rented location isn't.
- Music: licensed tracks for broadcast cost more than a library track for social.
- Editing rounds and graphics: every revision and custom animation adds hours.
- Broadcast delivery: TV stations need specific formats and loudness levels.
How to spend less without looking cheap
- Film your real business. Your shop, your team and your customers look more convincing than stock footage or actors.
- Write one message. A single line costs nothing; extra scenes cost shoot time.
- Shoot more short clips than you need, in good light, horizontally for TV and YouTube.
- Edit with an AI editor that cuts to music, adds your titles and makes the 15-second and vertical versions for you. How to make a commercial →
- Put the savings into airtime: a month of YouTube and social ads around your location.
- Hire for one piece only if you need it, such as a voiceover or one day of filming. What freelance editors charge →
The example: a $0-production coffee shop commercial
We filmed nothing new: we uploaded 16 phone clips of a coffee shop's morning (most of them vertical) to Novacut and described a 30-second horizontal commercial with a title, one line of text, an address card and acoustic music. It built the spot in order on the beat of a library track, and was upfront that the vertical clips look softer once cropped to 16:9. The full prompt and the vertical cut are in the how to make a commercial guide.
The only costs were the morning of filming and a Novacut subscription after the 7-day free trial. That's the bar to compare quotes against: a studio should be clearly better than this, not just more expensive.
FAQ
How much does a 30-second local commercial cost?
Production for a small business typically runs $5,000–$15,000 through a local production company, a few hundred to a few thousand through freelancers, or a morning of your time if you film and edit it yourself. Broadcast airtime is extra: roughly $200–$1,500 per 30-second spot in small markets.
How much does a TV commercial cost to air?
It depends on the market and time slot. Small-market stations commonly charge a few hundred dollars per 30-second spot, prime time costs more, and major markets can cost 50–100 times as much for the same slot. Ask local stations for their rate cards.
Is it cheaper to advertise on YouTube than TV?
Usually, for a local business. YouTube and social ads work with any daily budget and can be aimed at a radius around your business, while broadcast TV is sold per spot and reaches the whole market.
Can I make a professional-looking commercial myself?
Yes, if you film real footage of your business in good light and keep the message simple. The editing (pace, music, titles, end card, the right formats) is where most of the polish comes from, and AI editors now do that part well.
What should I ask a production company for in a quote?
What's included (script, shoot days, crew, talent, music licensing, number of revisions, delivery formats for TV and social), who owns the footage, and the cost of extra versions like 15-second and vertical cuts.
Sources: Vibe, local TV advertising costs for small businesses; Adwave, local TV ad costs; Upwork, cost of hiring a video editor; Vidico, videographer rates. Checked November 2026.
Footage: Mizuno K on Pexels (Pexels License). The coffee shop is fictional; the people shown don't endorse Novacut.