Guide
You have an hour of footage and a quote priced by the minute
A per minute rate only tells you something once you know which minute is counted: the minute of raw footage you send, or the minute of finished video you get back. For an hour long episode those two numbers sit far apart, so the same rate can produce a small bill or a large one. Per clip and per episode pricing count different things again, and the only fair comparison is the total you pay for one episode with everything you need to post included.
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Which minute the rate counts
Some quotes price by source minute. The provider takes the length of the file you upload and multiplies. An hour of recording is sixty source minutes whether it yields four usable clips or twenty, so you know the bill in advance and learn the clip count later.
Other quotes price by finished minute, meaning the length of the video that comes back. A short clip runs under a minute, so a batch of clips adds up to far fewer finished minutes than the hour you sent. The rate per finished minute usually sits higher, because each finished minute carries a cut, captions and reframing, and the whole raw hour still had to be gone through to find it.
- Source minute: the bill tracks what you send
- Finished minute: the bill tracks what you get
- Ask which one the quote uses before comparing anything
- Ask whether a cut you reject still counts toward the total
The per minute math for a sixty minute episode
Under source minute pricing, multiply the rate by sixty and you have the whole bill. The number to pin down next is how many clips that covers, because a sixty minute charge that returns three clips is poor value beside one that returns twelve for the same money.
Under finished minute pricing, decide how many clips you want and how long each should run, then multiply. Ten clips of around forty five seconds is roughly seven and a half finished minutes. The bill rises when you order more clips or longer ones, so you control the spend by controlling the count.
Per clip pricing and what one clip includes
Per clip pricing charges a set amount for each finished short. It is the simplest to understand and the easiest to run up, since the clips you order are the clips you pay for, and a long conversation with a good guest tempts you into ordering more.
Before you set a per clip rate against anything else, write down what one clip includes. Captions, speaker framing, a thumbnail, a title and a round of changes are often billed as extras, and a cheap clip that needs three paid add ons ends up dearer than a pricier one that arrives ready to post.
- Captions inside the clip or billed separately
- Reframing to vertical with the speaker followed
- A thumbnail pulled from the footage
- A round of changes, or none
- A title and description to post with it
Per episode pricing and what to check
Per episode pricing charges one amount for the whole recording and returns a bundle: clips, teasers, titles, descriptions, chapters and so on. It suits a host who posts on a steady schedule, because each week costs the same and the output does not shrink when a guest talks for two hours.
Check three things in any per episode quote. Whether episode length is capped, since a long recording may fall into a higher bracket. How many clips the bundle holds and whether you can ask for more. How changes are handled once the episode is back, because a bundle with no revisions can cost you a second order to fix one wrong word.
Comparing all three on one real episode
Pick your most recent episode and note its running time. For each quote, work out the total for that single episode with the number of clips you would post, every add on you need included, and the turnaround you need. Then divide the total by the number of clips you will realistically post. That cost per posted clip is the figure worth comparing, because it accounts for clips you ordered and never used.
Run the same exercise on a longer episode and a shorter one. Per minute and per clip totals swing with length and count, while a flat quote stays put, which is why a flat quote looks expensive on a thirty minute episode and cheap on a ninety minute one.
- Total for one episode, add ons included
- Clips you will post, counted honestly
- Turnaround, and what rush delivery adds
- Changes included after delivery
Costs that sit outside the headline rate
Rush delivery is the most common. A quote built around a week of turnaround charges more for next day, and if you record on Monday and post on Tuesday that charge lands every week. Ask where standard turnaround sits before you treat any rate as final. With Ship Your Pod an episode comes back within a day on Starter and the same day on Pro, with a rush add on for anything tighter.
Changes are the second. A clip that comes back with a guest's name misspelled, or a cut that trims the line you wanted kept, costs you a round of back and forth and sometimes a fee. Find out whether that round is included, and send the names and the moments up front so you need fewer rounds. With Ship Your Pod you type guest names and a moment to keep into the one optional box when you upload the episode, add recurring names under Settings > Spelling, and use "Change this" on any clip after delivery, with a few changes per episode on Starter and unlimited on Pro.
Doing it yourself as the baseline
Your own time is the rate every quote competes with. On your next episode, time the whole job from opening the file to having ten captioned vertical clips with thumbnails and titles ready to post, and write the hours down. Put a value on those hours that reflects what else you would do with them, then set that figure beside the per episode totals you worked out above.
If the numbers land close together, consistency usually decides it. A rate you pay every week earns its place when the clips go out every week, and a cheap rate is wasted when the episode sits unedited because you ran out of evenings.
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, thumbnails from real frames, and the title, description and chapters. You post them yourself, full quality, no watermark. Pro is $149 a month for 12 episodes, 15 Shorts each, plus the Facebook cuts, the newsletter and the article. 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, 36 teasers, 60 thumbnails and 24 Facebook cuts a month (12 episodes, 15 Shorts from each). Starter: up to 32 Shorts, 8 teasers and 12 thumbnails a month (4 episodes, 8 Shorts from each).
Take your last episode, get each quote as a single total for that episode with everything you need to post included, and divide by the clips you would honestly use. Compare that number across quotes; the headline rate on its own tells you little.
- Instead of hiring an editor
- Service vs tool vs editor
- Free clip finder
- Clips by niche
- Done-for-you Shorts
- Shorts editing service
- Plans
Questions
Is per minute video editing priced on raw footage or finished video?
Both exist, and the quote should say which. Raw footage pricing multiplies the length of your recording; finished video pricing multiplies the length of the clips you receive, and the finished minute rate normally sits higher.
How much editing does one hour of podcast footage need for clips?
The whole hour has to be gone through and the usable moments marked before any cutting starts, so an episode with three good clips in it still costs a full hour of listening, which is why source minute rates stay flat however many clips you get.
Is per clip pricing cheaper than per episode for podcast clips?
It is cheaper when you post two or three clips from an episode and dearer once you post ten or more. Count the clips you post from a typical episode and compare the two totals at that count.
What should a per minute or per clip editing rate include?
At minimum: vertical reframing that follows the speaker, captions, trimmed dead air and a thumbnail. Titles, descriptions, chapters and a round of changes are often extra, so ask for the full list before you accept the rate.
What does Ship Your Pod cost?
Pro is $149 a month for 12 episodes, 15 Shorts each, plus the Facebook cuts, the newsletter and the article. 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, 36 teasers, 60 thumbnails and 24 Facebook cuts a month (12 episodes, 15 Shorts from each). Starter: up to 32 Shorts, 8 teasers and 12 thumbnails a month (4 episodes, 8 Shorts from each).
Try Pro free for 14 daysSee the plans →
More guides
- Hiring a Video Editor for Shorts From Your Podcast
- Podcast Clipping Service Pricing: What to Compare
- How to Turn a Podcast Episode into Shorts: Every Step
- Adding Captions to Podcast Clips and Shorts: A Guide
- Finding a YouTube Editor for a Podcast Channel
- What a Podcast Clipping Service Does (and Sends Back)
- Clipping Agent for a Podcast: What Comes Back
- What to Send a Clipping Service: Files, Links, Notes
- Where to Hire a Video Editor for Podcast Clips
Last updated 2026-10-20.