How Much Does a Commercial Cost

Start by splitting the budget in two: making the commercial and showing it. For a small business TV campaign, Simulmedia's sample budget sets aside $2,000 to $5,000 for production and $3,000 to $15,000 for local airtime (Simulmedia). A social media campaign can start...

Affordable and cheap aren't the same thing. An affordable commercial is priced for a small business but still has a clear message, clean audio, and a call to action. A cheap one cuts those corners, and viewers notice: 89% of consumers say video quality affects their...

A low quote isn't always a low price. The most common add-ons are extra revision rounds, rush delivery, voiceover, music licensing, and extra sizes for each platform. HubSpot warns that some agencies quote a low price and then charge separately for voiceover and every...

Local TV airtime depends on market size and time of day. Simulmedia's 2025 rates put a 30-second spot at $200 to $1,500 in small markets, $2,000 to $10,000 in large markets, and $5,000 to $50,000 or more in top-10 markets, a group that includes Atlanta (Simulmedia)....

Animated video prices span a huge range. HubSpot, citing a Wyzowl survey of more than 240 brands, reports that the lowest price paid for an animated explainer video was $600, the highest was $250,000, and the average was $10,983 (HubSpot). Most of that spread comes...

Thirty seconds is the standard commercial length, and prices vary widely. Simulmedia reports that a professionally produced 30-second TV commercial typically costs $10,000 to $50,000, though its sample small business budget sets aside $2,000 to $5,000 for production...

Every commercial has two costs: making it and showing it. Production covers the script, visuals, voiceover, music, and editing. Airtime, or ad spend, is what you pay a TV station or platform to put it in front of viewers. When people quote a commercial's price, they...

For Super Bowl LX in February 2026, NBC sold some 30-second spots for more than $10 million, above the $8 million average advertisers paid the year before (SportsPro). That price covers airtime only. The brands are paying for one of the largest live audiences in the...

A commercial can cost almost nothing or more than a house, depending on who makes it and what it's for. Simulmedia's 2026 guide puts production at $0 to $5,000 for DIY and AI tools, $3,000 to $15,000 for local production, $15,000 to $50,000 for regional quality, and...