← Voice-Over Project Rate Calculator
This calculator vs. quoting one flat rate regardless of usage
The base fee is the easy part — word count times a rate. The number that actually swings is what the buyer plans to do with the recording, and a flat quote has no line for that at all.
What each approach actually involves
A flat quote prices a script from its word count and a per-word or per-finished-minute rate, then sends that number to the buyer — the same number whether the recording runs once inside a company's internal training portal or nationally on broadcast television for a year.
This calculator prices the base fee the same way, then scales it by the usage/licensing term the buyer actually wants: internal-only use, unrestricted web use, regional broadcast, national broadcast, or a full buyout, using commonly cited voice-over rate-guide multiplier tiers. Because usage is asked for explicitly, the gap between a narrow-use recording and a broadcast or buyout license is priced in instead of given away.
| 150-word script, $0.30/word ($45.00 base fee — this calculator's shipped default) | Flat quote (base fee, every usage) | This calculator (usage-scaled) |
|---|---|---|
| Internal / training use only | $45.00 | $45.00 — same number |
| Web / unrestricted digital use | $45.00 | $58.50 — $13.50 more |
| Regional broadcast | $45.00 | $81.00 — $36.00 more |
| National broadcast | $45.00 | $123.75 — $78.75 more |
| Full buyout (all media, in perpetuity) | $45.00 | $180.00 — $135.00 more |
Same script, same read, same $45.00 base fee every time. Against a full buyout, the flat quote leaves $135.00 on the table — the buyout rate is four times the flat number, not a rounding difference. A flat habit is not wrong on the internal-only row; it is wrong everywhere past it, and how wrong depends entirely on a question — what usage does the buyer want — the flat quote never asked.
| Question | Where to answer it |
|---|---|
| The recording really is internal-only, fixed, one-off — no broadcast or buyout on the table. | A flat quote and this calculator's internal-use tier land on the same number. Nothing to lose either way. |
| The buyer hasn't said yet, or wants web, broadcast, or a buyout license. | This calculator — free, instant, private, no account. Ask the usage question before you quote, not after. |
| You want the underlying rate-guide conventions this calculator applies, not just the output. | See the how-to walkthrough for the multiplier tiers worked through on real numbers. |
This tool needs no account and no sign-in: it is a static page, the arithmetic runs in your browser, and once it has loaded it keeps working with the connection off.
Common questions
What does “quoting one flat rate regardless of usage” mean?
Pricing a script from its word count and a per-word or per-finished-minute rate, and sending that number to the buyer no matter what they plan to do with the recording — an internal training video, a public web ad, a regional broadcast spot, a national broadcast campaign, or a full-buyout license that lets them use it anywhere forever. The base fee is the whole quote.
How much does a flat quote actually give away?
On this calculator's own default example — a 150-word script priced per word at $0.30/word, a $45.00 base fee — a flat quote sends $45.00 whichever usage term the buyer wanted. This calculator's usage multiplier instead prices that same base fee at $45.00 for internal-only use, $58.50 for unrestricted web use, $81.00 for regional broadcast, $123.75 for national broadcast, and $180.00 for a full buyout — a $135.00 gap between the flat quote and the real buyout rate, on the identical script and read.
Why does usage change the price at all if the recording itself is identical?
Because what the buyer is licensing is not the recording session, it is the right to use the finished audio a specific way. The same 30-second read is worth far less running once inside one company's internal training portal than running nationally on television for a year. Voice-over rate guides price usage in tiers for exactly this reason — narrower use, lower multiplier; broader or perpetual use, higher multiplier — and a flat quote has no line for that distinction at all.
Is a flat quote ever the right call?
When the usage really is narrow and fixed — a one-off internal-only recording with no broadcast or buyout in play — the flat quote and this calculator's internal-use tier land on the same number, so there is nothing to lose by pricing it either way. The gap only opens once the buyer wants broader or perpetual use, which is exactly when a flat habit keeps quoting the narrow-use number by default.
Are the usage-term multipliers this calculator uses a live rate card?
No. They are commonly cited voice-over rate-guide conventions, exposed as a starting point for your own negotiation, not a fixed or authoritative standard, a quote, or a guarantee of what any buyer will pay. See the calculator's own disclaimer for the exact wording.
Open the Voice-Over Project Rate Calculator to price your own script.