Editors who list After Effects start at a median of $5 and deliver a first draft in a median 36 hours, across 31 profiles. Tool choice changes the files you receive more than it changes the price. Here is what the marketplace data says about tools, prices and speed.
The short answer
- Editors in this group: 31
- Most listed tool: After Effects
- Median starting price: $5
- Median first draft: 36 hours
Questions to ask before you fund an order
A short exchange before funding saves a revision round later. These are the questions experienced buyers ask.
- Have you cut this format before? Ask for one example that is close to your brief, not the best piece in the reel.
- What do you need from me to start? The answer tells you how organized the editor's process is.
- Which files will I get back? Exports for each placement, a caption file, and whether the project file is included.
- How do you want feedback? Timestamped notes on the video are faster for both sides than a list in a message.
- What happens if the footage does not support the brief? A good editor will say so early rather than deliver something that technically follows the brief and does not work.
None of these are tests. They simply surface the assumptions that otherwise come out in round two.
How the prices spread
The lowest starting price among editors who list After Effects is $3 and the highest is $8. The spread is wide for a reason: one starting price can describe very different work. A caption pass on footage someone already cut sits near the bottom; a graded, sound designed ad with motion graphics sits near the top. 100% of these editors start at $200 or less.
| Point in the range | Starting price |
|---|---|
| Lowest | $3 |
| Lower quartile | $5 |
| Median | $5 |
| Upper quartile | $6 |
| Highest | $8 |
A starting price is the floor of an editor's basic package, not a quote for your project. Read it as the price of entry: what the smallest useful job with that editor costs. Anything with more cuts, more versions or heavier finishing moves up from there, and the package table below shows by how much.
How long a first draft takes
The median first draft among editors who list After Effects arrives in 36 hours. The fastest editors quote 12 hours and the slowest 4 days, and 45% quote a first draft within a day. Across the whole marketplace the median is 36 hours, so this group sits level with the marketplace as a whole.
Turnaround here means the first draft, not the final file. Each revision round adds its own time on top, so plan for the round trip, not just the first delivery. If a launch date is fixed, ask for the first draft early enough that a full round of notes still fits before it.
What moves the price up or down
Two briefs with the same word count can cost very different amounts. These are the things that move a quote, roughly in the order editors weigh them:
- The state of the footage. Organized selects with clean audio cut quickly. A folder of unlabeled phone clips means hours of logging before the first decision.
- How many cuts you need. Variations of one ad share most of the work, so a batch usually costs less per cut than ordering them one at a time.
- Finishing. Captions, sound design, a color pass and motion graphics are each a separate skill, and each adds time.
- The delivery window. A rush job displaces other work, and editors price that in.
- Revision rounds. Every round included up front is time the editor has to reserve.
If a quote looks high, ask which of these is driving it. Trimming finishing you do not need is usually a better saving than hunting for a cheaper editor.
How After Effects editors compare
Editors who list After Effects start at a median of $5, which is level with the marketplace median of $5. Their median first draft takes 36 hours, level with the marketplace median of 36 hours. 48% of all editors on the platform list After Effects.
Part of that gap is the kind of jobs After Effects editors take, not the software. An editor who lists several tools is usually choosing per job: a fast timeline for social cuts, something heavier for grading or motion. Ask which one your project will be cut in if the source files matter to you.
Which tools these editors work in
The most listed tool among editors who list After Effects is After Effects, and the median editor lists 3 tools. Most working editors move between an editing timeline, a compositing or motion tool, and an image editor for thumbnails and stills.
| Tool | Editors listing it |
|---|---|
| CapCut | 15 |
| Premiere Pro | 7 |
| After Effects | 31 |
| DaVinci Resolve | 7 |
| Final Cut Pro | 13 |
| Photoshop | 14 |
| Blender | 14 |
The tool rarely decides the quality of the cut. What it does decide is the files you get back. If you want to reopen an edit later, ask which application the project lives in and whether the project file is part of the delivery.
Where to go from here
The fastest way to use these numbers is against real profiles. Filter editors by software, filter to the format you need, and shortlist editors whose package already covers your brief. Funding an order through escrow means you only pay once you approve the cut.
How we worked this out
Every figure on this page was computed from UGC Editing marketplace data as of Oct 15, 2026. The editor figures cover 31 profiles in scope out of 64 on the platform. Medians are lower medians, so each one is a value an editor or a brief actually listed rather than an average of two. Fees come from our own published fee schedule.
Nothing here comes from a survey, a study or an industry estimate. Where the data could not answer part of the question, the page does not guess.