So you’ve decided to look for a video editor? Fantastic!
Maybe you want to increase your content output to help your channel grow. Or you’re taking more time to focus on your core tasks, outsourcing others.
In any case, you’re now on the hunt for the video editing offer that best suits your needs – and your budget.
On your search, you’ve probably come across unlimited video editing services. Those sound pretty great, right? But are they worth it in the long run? Or are they too good to be true?
In this article, we’ll walk you through what unlimited video editing subscriptions actually are, and we’ll take a closer look at their pros and cons, how much they cost, and whether they’re right for you.
Contents
What Are Unlimited Video Editing Services?
First off: Unlimited video editing services are basically video editing subscriptions.
In traditional video editing orders, you pay for a single video to be edited. Usually, several revisions are included. Many video editors and video editing companies also offer package deals where you pay for several future video edits in advance. In that case, many editors and companies typically limit source footage length.
Unlimited video editing, is different. In this type of payment model, you pay a recurring subscription, usually on a monthly basis. In return, you get to submit an unlimited number of video orders. At least in theory. As you probably suspect, most “unlimited” video editing services come with a few caveats.
So what exactly are the advantages and hidden downsides of unlimited video editing?
What Are the Pros of Unlimited Video Editing Subscriptions?
There are two major advantages to subscribing to a monthly video editing service.
The first is that unlimited video editing services simplify budgeting. You’ll know exactly how much it’ll cost you every month to have your video editing taken care of.
Often, this is harder with per-project pricing. It can be tricky to budget in advance if the number of your videos, their length, the quality of your source footage, and the complexity of edits you need all vary from month to month.
The second upside of unlimited video editing services is that you may end up paying less overall for your video editing than with per-project pricing. The main case here is if you typically produce numerous videos every single month.
What Are the Disadvantages of Unlimited Video Editing Services?
So far, so good. But what’s the catch?
In short, it’s the fine print. Investigate a little more, and it turns out unlimited video editing services aren’t actually unlimited.
Typically, there are several caps, especially on, the number of videos you can submit simultaneously, the final video length, the size and length of your source footage, the number of revisions included, and turnaround time. Let’s take a look at them one by one.
👎 Restricted Number of Simultaneous Edits
To start with, many companies offering “unlimited” video editing only let you submit one project at a time. You can’t have two videos edited in parallel.
From the point of view of the company, this makes sense. If all subscribers submitted several videos at the same time, their editors would be hopelessly overworked. For creators on a tight timeline, though, this can be a major issue.
One example where this comes into play is seasonal content. For the YouTube tradition of vlogmas, for instance, creators often want to post 24 daily videos. Without parallel editing, this is next to impossible.
👎 Limited Video Length
Second, many unlimited video editing offers restrict the length of your final video. How long your final video gets to be often depends on how much you pay.
In the example offer below, for instance, your video length is capped at 2 minutes if you pay $597 per month. If you want to have videos up to 5 minutes in length, you’ll end up paying $2,397.
Again, this makes sense for the video editing companies. On average, it takes between 30 minutes and an hour to edit one minute of finished video. If they don’t cap the length of videos, their editors would work overtime and they wouldn’t be able to strike a profit.
👎 Caps on Source Footage Size and Length
Third, most unlimited offers also impose a limit on the source footage you can submit. Either you get a hard max on how many GB of data you can upload. Or they’ll reject a project if the raw clips you submit exceed 45 or 60 minutes in length.
This isn’t surprising. If you’ve ever had a video edited, you know that data transfer can take up massive amounts of time. The larger the files, the longer. And for video editors, just sifting through all the source footage can swallow up hours of their time.
While this makes sense, it’s also a major restriction for creators – especially if you shoot high-res footage or need multiple takes for tricky clips.
👎 Limited Number of Revisions
Another common limit to “unlimited” video editing offers is how many revisions you can request.
It’s rare that a video editor can hit your sweet spot right away. In many cases, you need to request at least one round of revisions before the video is perfect and ready to be published on your channel.
Often, it takes two or more rounds of revisions to get to that point. Especially if the video editor working on your project is new and doesn’t know your style yet.
Unfortunately, many “unlimited” video editing services restrict the number of revisions you can request. Consequently, you run the danger of being left with a video that still needs some work – and not being able to have it done.
👎 Turnaround Time Depends on Subscription Tier
Finally, you need to take turnaround time into consideration when you’re thinking about subscribing to an unlimited video editing service.
Because in many offers, turnaround time is contingent on your subscription tier.
Take Cut Yeti’s offer in the screenshot above. The standard turnaround time in their Business subscription – which costs $597 per month – is 72 hours.
That’s the time between you placing your order and getting a first draft. Not the final video.
If you want to cut that time down to 48 hours, you need to invest in their Professional or Enterprise plan – for $1,297 or $2,397 respectively.
Turnaround time is a major factor that limits how many videos you can actually produce every month on “unlimited” video editing subscriptions.
Let's Look at an Example
That’s a lot of factors to consider, right? Let’s make things easier and take an example.
Say your goal is to create five videos to schedule on your YouTube channel for next month. But because you got caught up with writing scripts, getting review samples, and actually filming the clips, you’ll need those five videos to be edited within two weeks. Maybe just one, if you’re unlucky.
That shouldn’t be an issue with unlimited video editing services, right?
Except that you can only submit one project at a time, and there’s a standard 48-72 hour turnover time to get the first draft. Add to that common business hours from Monday to Friday, and you end up with two videos max per week.
If you aren’t happy with the first draft, and need revisions, your final output could stay capped at one video per week.
Because of that, unlimited video editing can actually end up costing more per video than regular project-based orders.
How Much Does Unlimited Video Editing Cost?
The more flexible you want to be with unlimited video editing, the more you’ll pay.
Be Creatives, for instance, offer basic video editing services for $699 per month. Fair enough. But for more complex edits and faster turnaround times, you’ll have to pay $1,999 per month.
Similarly, “unlimited” video editing at CutYeti starts at $597 per month (see the pic above) However, here you have a 72 h turnaround time for a 60 second video, and a video length limit of 2 minutes. For $2,397 per month, you can at least have parallel projects, each with a 48 h turnaround to see an initial draft. But video length is still limited to 5 minutes.
Over at Dava Marketing, unlimited video editing plans start at $1495 per month, with 2-3 day turnaround times per project. Again, because can only submit one video at a time, that equates to receiving only 1 or 2 videos per week maximum. And that doesn’t yet include revisions.)
Is Unlimited Video Editing Right for You?
To figure out if this kind of video editing service is right for you, you’ll have to take a close look at your budget and your content output.
Do you have a very regular content production rhythm? Do you need total predictability for your video editing budget? In that case, a monthly video editing subscription could be a great fit for you.
Does the length, complexity, and number of your videos vary? Do you sometimes need multiple videos with fast turnaround? If that sounds like you, then you’re probably better off with per-project video editing services. Some services, like Tasty Edits, also offer bulk discounts for these orders, so you can better estimate your monthly editing budget in advance.
Before you decide either way, take the time to narrow down your selection of editing services, and compare the fine print on different offers.
That way, you’ll be able to pinpoint the video editing service that can best help your channel flourish – whether it’s unlimited or project-based.
Unlimited video editing subscriptions start at around $600 a month for the most basic offers. They can run well over $2,000, depending on the company and your needs.
If you have a very regular content production schedule, with fairly short and simple clips, you can save money using one. If you need edits of more complex videos – quickly – then such a subscription won’t be flexible enough.
No. Typically, there are limits on the source footage length, final video length, revisions, and – very importantly – the number of videos that can be edited simultaneously.
