Ship Your Pod

Guide

Comparing a full production agency to paying for clips alone

Most production agencies charge a flat monthly retainer tied to how many episodes you release, and the fee bundles audio cleanup, the video edit, show notes, publishing and a set number of clips into one line. The clip portion is usually the most labor heavy part of that bundle, which is why the fee jumps when you ask for more Shorts per episode. To compare the agency against a clips service, you need the quote broken into pieces, and this page shows you how to get that breakdown and what each piece should include.

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How agencies structure the monthly fee

Almost every agency sells a retainer: a fixed amount each month for a fixed number of episodes, with a minimum term of a few months. Some price per episode instead, which suits a show that records in bursts, and a few sell tiers named Basic, Standard and Premium where the difference between tiers is mostly how many Shorts you get and how fast they arrive.

The retainer looks simple on the invoice and that is the problem when you want to compare it with anything else. One number covers five or six different jobs, and you cannot tell from the total whether you are paying mostly for the long edit, the clips or the account manager who emails you on Tuesdays.

What a full production fee usually covers

A standard package includes the audio pass (noise, levels, cuts for dead air), the full episode video edit with intro and outro, a title and description, chapters or timestamps, upload to your hosting platform, and a handful of vertical clips with captions. Larger retainers add a thumbnail for the long episode, a newsletter blurb, guest outreach and a monthly call.

Read the scope line by line and tick off what you already do yourself. Many hosts who film their own show already handle recording, the long edit and the upload, so the parts of the retainer they would use are the clips, the titles and the show notes. If that describes you, the full retainer is paying for work you never hand over.

What moves the fee up or down

Episode length is the biggest driver, because every job scales with runtime: the audio pass, the long edit and the search for clip moments. Episode count per month comes next, then the number of Shorts per episode, then turnaround. A package that promises clips the same day costs more than one that takes a week, and unlimited revisions cost more than two rounds.

Video pushes the fee up over audio only, and a two camera or remote recording with multiple guests pushes it higher again since speaker framing and split screen take more work on each clip. Ask what happens to the fee if you drop the long edit and keep only the clips: the answer tells you how the agency weighs its own time.

How to find the clip portion in a quote

Ask for the proposal as line items, with clips on their own row and a stated count of Shorts per episode. If the agency will not split it, ask two prices: the package as quoted, and the same package with zero clips. The gap between them is what you are paying for Shorts, and you can divide it by the number of Shorts to get a per clip figure you can compare with anything else on the market.

Also check what a clip means in the proposal. Some count a Short as a raw cut with burned in captions and nothing else; others include the caption styling, framing that follows the speaker, a title per clip, post text for each platform and a thumbnail. Two agencies quoting the same number of clips can be a long way apart in what lands in your inbox.

What the clip portion should be worth to you

A clip earns its place when you would post it without opening an editor. That means the hook is in the first second, the speaker fills the frame, the captions are the words spoken with names spelled right, the dead air and the ums are gone, and the title and post text are written so you can copy and paste. If you have to fix any of those before posting, the clip is costing you time on top of the fee.

The other half of the value is choice. A set of Shorts with a short reason for each one, ranked from strongest to weakest, saves you from rewatching the episode to decide what to post. A clips service like Ship Your Pod returns the ranked set with a reason per Short, post text for each platform and a Change this request on any clip; if an agency quote does not list those, you are being asked to pay more for less on the clip row.

When the full agency is the right spend

Pay for the whole package when you do not want to touch the long edit, when you publish to several hosting platforms and want someone else managing uploads, when guest booking and outreach are part of the deal, or when you need a person on a call each month to talk through the show. Those jobs are real and a clips service does none of them.

Pay for clips alone when the recording, the long edit and the upload are already in your routine and the only part you dread is cutting Shorts. In that case the clip row is the only row you need, and the comparison becomes simple: the per clip figure you worked out above against what a clips service charges for the same list.

Questions to ask before you sign

Put these in writing and keep the answers next to the quote. An agency that answers all of them plainly is easier to work with for the next six months, whichever way you decide.

Where Ship Your Pod fits

If the editing is the part that keeps you from posting, send the episode instead. 8 to 15 Shorts come back within a day (same day on Pro), captioned, scored and ranked best first, with teasers, quotes and per-Short titles and post text. You post them yourself, full quality, no watermark. Pro is $149 a month for 12 episodes, 15 Shorts each, plus teasers, quotes and per-platform post text. Starter is $59 a month for 4 episodes. The price goes down every month you stay. Month to month, cancel any time. Pro has a 14-day free trial for your first episode.

Pro: up to 180 Shorts and 36 teasers a month, from 12 episodes. Starter: up to 32 Shorts and 8 teasers a month, from 4 episodes.

Ask the agency for the quote with clips as a separate line and a stated Short count, then divide that line by the count. That per clip figure is the only number you need to decide whether the full retainer or a clips service is the better buy.

Questions

How much do podcast production agencies charge per month?

It depends on episode count, runtime, whether the show is video, how many Shorts you want and how fast you want them. Ask for the quote as line items with clips on their own row so you can see which parts you are really paying for.

What is included in a podcast production retainer?

Usually the audio pass, the long episode edit, title and description, chapters, upload to your host and a set number of captioned vertical clips. Thumbnails, newsletters, guest outreach and monthly calls appear in the larger packages.

Is a clips only service cheaper than an agency?

For a host who already records, edits and uploads the long episode, yes, because you stop paying for work you never hand over. For a host who wants every job taken off their plate, the agency covers things a clips service does not.

How many Shorts should I get from one episode?

Enough to post a few times a week between episodes, each one strong enough to go out without edits. A ranked set with a reason for each pick lets you post the best and skip the rest.

What does Ship Your Pod cost?

Pro is $149 a month for 12 episodes, 15 Shorts each, plus teasers, quotes and per-platform post text. Starter is $59 a month for 4 episodes. The price goes down every month you stay. Month to month, cancel any time. Pro has a 14-day free trial for your first episode. Pro: up to 180 Shorts and 36 teasers a month, from 12 episodes. Starter: up to 32 Shorts and 8 teasers a month, from 4 episodes.

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Last updated 2026-11-06.