What does a video ad cost? Traditional production vs AI

A traditionally filmed video ad costs from €595 for a short Belgian social media package ^[1] to €8,000 to €50,000 or more for a commercial with a crew ^[2]. With AI, the compute costs a few dollars per clip ^[3], but you mainly pay for human work. So compare the price per usable variant, not per video.

In fairness, up front: we are not neutral. At Izoard, you can outsource AI video production, with a fixed price after the intake ^[4]. That's why below we work with prices that others publish and with the tool makers' own rates, and we say when filming is the better option.

Compare per variant, not per video

You test a video ad in variants: a different hook, a shorter version, a different format. Meta explicitly built its ad system Andromeda for the growing number of creatives that advertisers make with generative AI ^[5]. At Izoard, one concept yields ten testable variants; we scale the winners and stop the losers ^[4].

So count three amounts:

1. The first version: concept, script and the base material.
2. Each extra variant: a different hook, length or format.
3. Each new iteration: new hooks after a few weeks of testing.

With a traditional production, the cost lies mainly in the shoot day, and an iteration gets expensive as soon as you need something you didn't film. With AI, a new hook is a new shot, not a new shoot day. So calculate: concept + base material + (variants × price per variant) + (iterations × price per iteration), and compare the total after three test rounds.

On top of production, you need a media budget. What advertising on Meta costs is calculated by Jonas in what does advertising on Facebook and Instagram cost?

What does traditional video production cost?

Few video makers put their prices online. These do:

The Belgian packages are content packages for social media, not an ad concept with hooks to test. The spread comes from the shoot day and the people: according to Searchlab, a camera operator costs €600 to €1,500 per day and actors €500 to €2,500 ^[2]. Two items are rarely included in the price: extra hook variants and the actors' usage rights, meaning how long and where you may show their image.

What does a video ad made with AI cost?

Compute is the smallest part of the bill. Via Google's API, Veo 3.1 costs $0.40 per second in 1080p and Veo 3.1 Fast $0.12, sound included ^[3]. An 8-second clip with Veo 3.1 therefore costs $3.20 per attempt, and you also pay for a take you reject ^[3].

An example calculation: a 15-second ad consists of four shots of at most 8 seconds ^[8]. With five takes per shot (an assumption, not a measurement), you generate 160 seconds: $64 with Veo 3.1, $19.20 with Veo 3.1 Fast. Even with twenty takes per shot, it stays below the day rate of a single camera operator.

Subscriptions come on top of that. Runway costs $15 to $95 a month with monthly billing ^[9]. At ElevenLabs, the free plan has no commercial licence, but the Starter plan at $6 a month does ^[10].

The biggest item is the hours of people who know what they're doing:

• concept, hook and script, as with a traditional production;
• writing prompts, generating takes and choosing the best ones;
• checking your product frame by frame for logo, text, shape and colour;
• editing, voice, music and subtitles in Dutch and French;
• versions per format and per hook, and for each ad the decision on an AI label.

The step-by-step plan behind those hours is in from product photo to video ad with AI.

Traditional or AI: when do you choose which?

AI is not automatically cheaper; the cost is distributed differently.

Film if you need real people or testimonials, have to show exactly how your product works or are making a brand film with actors. Choose AI if you have statics but no footage, and want to test many variants. Often it becomes a mix; what AI can and can't do today is covered in advertising with AI: what works and what doesn't.

What should you ask for in a quote?

If you advertise in both Flanders and Wallonia, twelve variants become twenty-four ads. Traditionally, you pay for a separate voice-over (€200 to €800) and subtitles (€50 to €300) per language ^[2]; with AI, the second voice comes from the same subscription, but a French-speaking colleague checks the text and pronunciation.

1. How many variants, in which lengths, formats and languages?
2. What does an extra variant cost, and a new iteration with new hooks?
3. Which usage rights do you get for music, voices and actors: for how long, in which media, in which territory?
4. Which AI tools are used, and is every licence commercial?
5. Who decides on an AI label? Since 2 August 2026, realistic AI people or a cloned voice require one; see Does your video ad need an AI label?
6. Is the price incl. or excl. VAT? The standard rate in Belgium is 21% ^[11].

Want to see what it does for your own product before you compare quotes? Send your statics for a free test ad: one video ad on your own brand, at no cost or obligation.