How much does a whiteboard explainer video cost in 2026?
Agency, freelancer, template software and AI compared per finished minute, with Golpo's and Doodaro's plan math and a backlog table for 10 and 50 videos.
Last checked
“How much does a whiteboard video cost” has four honest answers, because there are four ways to make one. This page puts them side by side per finished minute, then works the math for a backlog of 10 and 50 videos.
Prices for Doodaro are the launch prices from the pricing page, billed monthly in USD. Golpo prices are from its pricing page on 2026-09-14. Agency and freelancer figures are ranges you will commonly be quoted, not a survey; get quotes for your own project.
The four ways
| Way | You pay for | Typical range | Revisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency | A team: script, storyboard artist, animator, voice, project manager | Thousands of dollars per finished minute | Two or three rounds included, then billed |
| Freelancer | One person doing most of it, often from your script | Hundreds of dollars per finished minute | One or two rounds, then billed by the hour |
| Template software (Doodly, VideoScribe and similar) | A license, plus your hours placing clip art and timing by hand | A monthly or yearly license; check their pricing pages | Free, but every change is your time |
| AI storyboard tools (Doodaro, Golpo) | A monthly plan measured in rendered minutes | Cents to a few dollars per rendered minute | Depends on the tool; see below |
Each way is right for someone. An agency is right when the video is the centerpiece of a launch and needs a custom illustrated character. A freelancer is right for one video a quarter. Template software is right if you want manual control of every asset and offline work. AI tools are right when you will make many videos and want to fix them yourself.
What “per finished minute” hides
Three costs sit outside the sticker price:
- Revisions. With people, each round past the included ones is billed. With template software, each change costs an evening. With Golpo, each finalized edit costs the full video length in minutes again. With Doodaro, you fix the one scene and re-export; the export counts its length.
- Your time. Template software is cheap in dollars and expensive in hours: placing and timing assets for a 5-minute video is a day’s work. AI storyboard tools shift that time to writing and reviewing.
- Turnaround. An agency schedule is weeks. A freelancer is days. Software is the same day.
For a single video, the sticker price dominates. For a backlog, revisions and time dominate.
AI tools per minute
Both Doodaro and Golpo sell by the rendered minute, so they can be compared directly.
| Plan | Price | Minutes | Per minute | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doodaro Starter | $39 | 120 | $0.33 | Color, all formats, all styles |
| Doodaro Creator | $75 | 240 | $0.31 | |
| Doodaro Pro | $149 | 510 | $0.29 | 480 + 30 bonus |
| Golpo Starter | $39.99 | 20 | $2.00 | Black and white, English only, 2-minute cap per video |
| Golpo Creator | $99.99 | 60 | $1.67 | Still black and white |
| Golpo Growth | $199.99 | 150 | $1.33 | Color starts here, 4-minute cap |
| Golpo Business | $499.99 | 390 | $1.28 | Own narration, 10 seats |
| Golpo Scale | $999.99 | 800 | $1.25 | API, 50 seats |
| Golpo pay as you go | $7.99 down to $3.99 per credit | 1 credit = 1 min | $3.99 to $7.99 | |
| Golpo API | $200 minimum | $2.00 | No dashboard |
Golpo is the better buy if you need 45+ languages, SDKs or team seats. Doodaro has no team seats today, and its REST API and MCP endpoint are in beta. For a solo creator who wants color and vertical video, the per-minute gap is large.
The per-video math
Assume a typical explainer is 5 minutes.
Doodaro Starter. 5 of 120 minutes. $39 × (5 ÷ 120) = $1.63 of allowance per video. Add one re-export after a fix and it is $3.25.
Doodaro Pro. 5 of 510 minutes. $149 × (5 ÷ 510) = $1.46.
Golpo Growth (the first plan with color and a cap above 4 minutes is actually Business, so use Growth for a 4-minute video). 4 of 150 minutes. $199.99 × (4 ÷ 150) = $5.33. One finalized edit doubles it to $10.66.
Freelancer. At the low end of a few hundred dollars per finished minute, a 5-minute video is well over $1,000 before revisions.
Agency. At thousands per finished minute, a 5-minute video is a five-figure project.
Template software. The license may be a few dollars a video once spread across a year, but add a working day of your time per video.
Backlog table: 10 and 50 videos
Say you have a backlog of explainers to make, each 5 minutes, each needing one revision. Here is what the four ways cost, using the low end of the people ranges and the plan math above.
| 10 videos (50 min + 50 min re-export) | 50 videos (250 min + 250 min re-export) | |
|---|---|---|
| Agency (low end, thousands per minute) | Six figures | Not a realistic route |
| Freelancer (low end, hundreds per minute, one revision round) | Well over $10,000 | Well over $50,000 |
| Template software | A license plus about 10 working days | A license plus about 50 working days |
| Golpo Growth ($199.99 / 150 min, edits cost full length) | 100 minutes: one month, $199.99, but 4-minute cap forces shorter videos | 500 minutes: four months, about $800, or Business at $499.99 for 390 min/month |
| Doodaro Starter ($39 / 120 min) | 100 minutes: one month, $39 | 500 minutes: five months, $195, or two months of Pro at $298 |
| Doodaro Pro ($149 / 510 min) | 100 minutes: one month, $149, with 410 left | 500 minutes: one month, $149 |
Two things stand out. First, the re-export column matters: any tool that charges the full length per edit doubles the bill for a backlog with revisions. Second, at 50 videos, one month of Doodaro Pro covers the whole backlog including one re-export each.
Where the time goes on Doodaro
Dollars are only half the cost. For a 5-minute explainer on Doodaro, plan for:
| Task | Time |
|---|---|
| Brief and script (with the story assistant) | 30 to 45 min |
| Build scenes, generate pictures and voices | The queue works while you do something else |
| Review the storyboard, fix 2 to 4 scenes | 20 to 30 min |
| Timing pass and export | 15 min |
About an hour and a half of your attention per video once you know the tool. Compare that with a working day in template software or a two-week agency schedule.
Costs that are not on any price list
Before you compare quotes, check who owns the output and what a change costs:
- Ownership. With Doodaro you own the videos, images and templates you make. With people, check the contract for source files and reuse rights.
- Voice. Agencies quote voice-over separately. Doodaro’s narrators are included, and you can upload your own recording on any plan.
- Formats. A vertical cut from an agency is often a second invoice. Doodaro includes 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1; Golpo adds vertical at $99.99.
- Color. Included on every Doodaro plan; on Golpo it starts at $199.99.
When not to use AI drawn video
Be honest about the limits:
- A custom illustrated mascot with exact brand poses. An illustrator and animator will do it better.
- Frame-perfect sync to music. Doodaro sets reveal and hold per scene, not per beat.
- Photorealism, avatars, stock footage. Not what a drawing engine does.
- A single flagship video with a large budget. Hire people, and use Doodaro for the ten follow-ups.
What to do next
- Count your backlog and multiply by 5 minutes, then by 2 for one revision each.
- Find that number in the plan table. Under 120, Starter. Under 240, Creator. Under 510, Pro.
- Make one video on the Free plan’s 2 minutes to see the output before subscribing.
If the video count is one, get a freelancer quote too. If it is ten or more, the plan math above is the whole answer.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a whiteboard animation cost per minute?
It depends on who makes it. Agencies commonly quote thousands of dollars per finished minute, freelancers hundreds, template software a monthly license plus your time, and AI tools by the rendered minute. Doodaro Starter works out to about $0.33 per rendered minute at $39 for 120 minutes.
How much does a 5-minute whiteboard video cost with AI?
On Doodaro Starter, a 5-minute export uses 5 of 120 monthly minutes, about $1.63 of the $39 allowance. On Golpo Starter, 5 minutes is a quarter of the 20-minute allowance, about $10 at $39.99, in black and white and over the plan's 2-minute cap per video, so it needs a higher plan.
Is it cheaper to hire a freelancer or use software?
For one video, a freelancer can be cheaper than a year of software. For ten or more videos, software wins on price and on revisions, because each change with a freelancer is billed again while software lets you fix one scene and export.
Does editing a video cost extra?
With an agency or freelancer, revisions past the included rounds are billed. On Golpo, each finalized edit costs the full video length again. On Doodaro, you fix one scene on the storyboard and re-export; the re-export counts its length against your monthly minutes.
What is included in Doodaro's price?
All 37 styles in color, landscape, portrait and square, on every plan. Paid plans add hundreds of narrator voices, generated pictures, the image generator, the story assistant and your own custom templates. Otherwise plans differ only in the number of rendered minutes, and no plan adds a watermark.