Pricing

Updated 3 September 2026

Short answer: explain.ink is pay as you go. You buy video minutes and a video costs the minutes it actually runs, so a 90 second explainer costs a minute and a half. You are charged only when a video renders, never for a failed one, and the minutes you bought stay yours for twelve months.

Pay for what you make

No subscription. Buy minutes of video, keep them for a year, and spend them whenever you have something to explain. The bigger the pack, the cheaper the minute.

Most videos are ready in under five minutes. Longer ones take longer.

Writing a video costs nothing. Plan the scenes, see the length and the price, and decide before anything is drawn. Start one now

2-4 videos
$10
2 minutes · $5.00 / min
  • Our mark comes off, for good
  • Videos up to 5 minutes
  • A richer level of detail
  • Narration with real intonation
  • Draw in a style of your own
  • Two videos rendering at once
Most people start here
5-10 videos
$20
5 minutes · $4.00 / min save 20%
  • Everything on the left
  • Enough for a first real batch
  • A cheaper minute than the entry pack
15-30 videos
$45
15 minutes · $3.00 / min save 40%
  • Everything on the left
  • For a course, a series or a launch
50-100 videos
$100
50 minutes · $2.00 / min save 60%
  • Everything on the left
  • Our cheapest minute
  • For a channel, a curriculum or a team

Every pack unlocks exactly the same things. A bigger one only makes the minute cheaper. Video counts are a bracket, not a promise: most explainers people make here run between 30 seconds and a minute, so a pack goes further with short ones. You are charged for the length you actually get, and never for a render that fails. Need less than a pack? A single minute is $5, which is also what you pay to top up when a video runs a few seconds past your balance.

Minutes last 12 months from the date of purchase and do not vanish if you stop buying.

What does a video actually cost you?

Length is the only variable, and length follows the script rather than a plan tier.

A landing page explainer

Sixty to ninety seconds, so it costs a minute and a half of your balance. That is the length that holds attention above the fold.

A course lesson

Three to five minutes per idea. A forty lesson course is simply forty of those, produced whenever each script is ready.

A failed render

Costs nothing. You are charged when a video is finished, so an experiment that does not work out is not an expensive one.

Frequently asked questions

How am I charged?

By the length of the finished video. You buy minutes, and a video spends the minutes it runs, so a 90 second explainer costs a minute and a half.

What happens if a render fails?

You are not charged. Billing happens when a video finishes, which is why an experiment that does not work out costs nothing.

Do my minutes expire?

They stay yours for twelve months from the date of purchase, and they do not vanish if you stop buying more.

Do I need a subscription?

No. Pay as you go is the model that is available first, and it has no monthly commitment attached to it.

Can I use the videos commercially?

Yes. Every video comes as an MP4 with full commercial rights, including client work and monetized channels. Videos rendered on free minutes carry a small explain.ink mark; it comes off every video you render after buying minutes.

What is included in the price of a video?

The script, the drawing of every scene in the style you picked, the narration, and the rendered MP4. There is no separate charge for voices or styles.