According to Edvido's analysis of 1,260 animation studios listed across 100 locations, 35.2% accept projects of $1,000 or less, 37.4% start at $5,000, and 27.4% set a minimum of $10,000 or more. The median minimum project size is $5,000. The data was collected on 21 October 2026 from the studio listings shown on edvido.com.
Ask "how much does an animated video cost" and you will get answers from $500 to $500,000, usually quoted per minute of finished film. Per-minute prices depend on style, length and revisions, which makes them hard to compare. This article looks at something studios state plainly: the smallest project they are willing to take on. For a buyer, that is the first filter. It tells you which studios are realistic for your budget before you ask anyone for a quote.
- Entry point: 35.2% of studios accept projects of $1,000 or less; the median minimum is $5,000.
- Premium tier: 27.4% require $10,000+, and 5.7% require $25,000+.
- Small teams dominate: 57.6% of animation studios have 2-9 people, against 38.3% across all agency types we track.
- Geography: 42.1% of UK and Irish studios set a $10,000+ minimum; in South and Southeast Asia, 72.9% start at $1,000 or less.
- Disclosure: only 62.9% of studios publish a minimum, one of the lowest rates of any category.
Animation studio cost: the minimum budget distribution
Of the 792 studios that publish a minimum project size:
| Minimum project size | Share of studios |
|---|---|
| $1,000 or less | 35.2% |
| $5,000+ | 37.4% |
| $10,000+ | 21.7% |
| $25,000+ | 3.5% |
| $50,000+ | 2.1% |
The middle of the market is $5,000. That is the single most common entry point (37.4%), and 72.6% of studios will start a project below $10,000. Compared with digital marketing agencies, animation has fewer studios at the very bottom (35.2% vs 43.7% at $1,000 or less) but a similar share at $10,000 and above. In practice, a short explainer or a set of social animations is within reach of most studios' minimums, while a broadcast spot or a long-form series will narrow the field to roughly a quarter of them.
Animation pricing by region
Where a studio is based shifts its entry point more than almost anything else. Regions with at least 20 disclosed budgets:
| Region | Studios with a published minimum | $1,000 or less | $10,000+ | $25,000+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom & Ireland | 121 | 31.4% | 42.1% | 5.8% |
| United States | 206 | 24.8% | 36.4% | 9.2% |
| Canada | 49 | 30.6% | 30.6% | 2.0% |
| Western Europe & Nordics | 119 | 27.7% | 29.4% | 5.9% |
| East Asia | 22 | 18.2% | 22.7% | 13.6% |
| Central & Eastern Europe | 82 | 41.5% | 17.1% | 2.4% |
| Middle East & Africa | 44 | 47.7% | 15.9% | 4.5% |
| South & Southeast Asia | 85 | 72.9% | 10.6% | 3.5% |
| Australia & New Zealand | 62 | 33.9% | 9.7% | 1.6% |
Three patterns are worth knowing. The UK and Ireland, not the US, have the highest share of studios asking $10,000 or more (42.1%), though the US has more studios at $25,000+ (9.2%). South and Southeast Asia is the clear budget market: almost three in four studios start at $1,000 or less. And Australia and New Zealand surprise in the other direction, with the lowest share of $10,000+ studios of any region (9.7%), even though only a third of its studios sit at the $1,000 floor.
City snapshots
Each city figure rests on 12-15 studios with a published minimum, so treat these as indicators.
| Location | Studios with a published minimum | $10,000+ | $1,000 or less |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 13 | 69.2% | 7.7% |
| Portland | 13 | 69.2% | 7.7% |
| Los Angeles | 15 | 66.7% | 13.3% |
| London | 14 | 35.7% | 28.6% |
| Istanbul | 12 | 33.3% | 50.0% |
| Prague | 13 | 15.4% | 76.9% |
| Bangkok | 12 | 16.7% | 83.3% |
| India (country listing) | 12 | 0.0% | 91.7% |
The US West Coast is the premium end of the market: two in three studios in San Francisco, Portland and Los Angeles ask $10,000 or more. London sits in the middle. Prague, Bangkok and India are where small budgets go furthest, and Istanbul splits down the middle, with half its studios starting at $1,000 and a third asking $10,000+. If your project is mostly remote work (script, storyboard, animation, voice-over), these differences are the main reason companies hire studios outside their own city.
Small studios, and why it matters for price
Animation is a small-team business. 57.6% of studios have 2-9 people, 33.2% have 10-49, and only 9.2% have 50 or more. Across all nine agency categories Edvido lists, the share of 2-9 person firms is 38.3%, so animation is noticeably more fragmented.
| Team size | Share of studios | Studios with a published minimum | Ask $10,000+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-9 people | 57.6% | 441 | 21.3% |
| 10-49 people | 33.2% | 267 | 34.8% |
| 50-249 people | 7.4% | 53 | 43.4% |
The median minimum is $5,000 in every size band, but the share of studios asking $10,000 or more doubles from the smallest teams to the 50-249 person ones. Small studios are also where a single director's style shapes the whole film, which is often exactly what a brand is paying for. Larger studios earn their higher minimums on capacity: parallel production, in-house 3D, voice casting and localisation for several markets at once.
What animation studios do besides animation
Among the 1,260 studios, 74.8% also list video production, 18.3% advertising, 16.7% branding, 11.7% graphic design and 10.9% broadcast video. The most common client industries were advertising and marketing (23.3%), business services (16.3%), arts, entertainment and music (13.7%), consumer products and services (11.0%) and education (5.1%).
The overlap with video production is the practical takeaway. Three in four studios can combine live action and animation, which is often cheaper than hiring two suppliers. If you are also exploring AI tools for drafts and storyboards, our guide to AI video generator tools covers what they can and cannot replace. For how animation entry points compare with marketing agencies, see our digital marketing agency pricing data.
Edvido is a digital smart platform designed to connect businesses with service providers in digital marketing, advertising and software. Send your brief, get matched right away, completely free, and compare proposals from 4-5 studios that fit your budget.
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- Source: the studio listings shown on Edvido's global animation studio pages (edvido.com), collected through Edvido's public listing API on 21 October 2026. Minimum project sizes and team sizes are the values studios published on public B2B directory profiles (such as Clutch and Sortlist) and that appear on those listings. Edvido did not survey studios for this article.
- Sample: 1,260 unique animation studios across 100 locations (cities, plus a few country- and region-level listings), deduplicated by website. 792 of them (62.9%) publish a minimum project size; the rest list it as undisclosed and are excluded from the budget figures.
- Buckets: directories publish minimums in fixed bands ($1,000+, $5,000+, $10,000+, $25,000+ and up). Medians therefore fall on a band, not an exact figure.
- Regions: locations were grouped into nine regions; a region is shown only if it has at least 20 disclosed budgets. Location figures are shown only with 12 or more.
- Limits: a minimum project size is an entry threshold, not a per-minute price or a quote. Listings over-represent studios active on international directories.
Browse the studios behind these numbers in the animation studios directory, or put two or three side by side with Compare Agencies.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does animation cost in 2026?
In Edvido's October 2026 analysis of 1,260 animation studios, the median minimum project size is $5,000. 35.2% of studios accept projects of $1,000 or less, 27.4% require $10,000 or more and 5.7% require $25,000 or more.
What is the minimum budget for an animated video?
72.6% of studios will start a project below $10,000, and about a third (35.2%) start at $1,000 or less. The exact price depends on length, style and revisions, so compare quotes on the same brief.
Where are animation studios cheapest?
In South and Southeast Asia 72.9% of studios start at $1,000 or less. Among individual locations, India (91.7%), Bangkok (83.3%) and Prague (76.9%) had the highest shares of $1,000 entry points.
Where are animation studios most expensive?
The UK and Ireland have the highest share of studios with a $10,000+ minimum (42.1%), followed by the US (36.4%). In San Francisco, Portland and Los Angeles about two in three studios ask $10,000 or more.
Do bigger animation studios cost more?
They are more likely to set a high minimum: 21.3% of 2-9 person studios ask $10,000+, compared with 34.8% of 10-49 person studios and 43.4% of 50-249 person studios.
Is this a per-minute animation price?
No. These are minimum project sizes, the smallest engagement a studio says it will accept. Per-minute pricing varies with style and length and is quoted per project.
