How Much Does a Custom Content Development Project Cost?

Pricing for eLearning and training projects can be confusing. Let’s clear it up for you.

Below, we’ve outlined how you can better understand project pricing, what type of content partner fits you best, and help you discover what you value most.

Let’s start learning.

How is pricing determined for a custom content development project? 

While there is no industry standard rate, the total cost will be calculated using one of two popular pricing models: 

• Cost per minute of video. (Ex: $1,000 per minute X 5 minutes =  $5,000)
• Hourly rate multiplied by the projected number of hours worked. (Ex: $100/hr x 30 hours worked = $3,000)

(NextThought uses the second pricing model so that our clients get our maximum effort, and they receive the highest quality and the most value.)

Does the type of company affect price?

That’s a big yes. While a key cost factor will be either the cost per minute or the hourly rate, the type of content development company you choose will be the greatest differentiator in terms of price and value. Three popular options are:

1. AI content development
2. Freelancers
3. Custom training and eLearning company (NextThought)

What’s at stake for you should you choose the wrong company?

On-time delivery - Like it or not, missed deadlines make your team look bad to the rest of the organization. Employees, executives, and peers depend on timely delivery. 

Quality - Modern learners roll their eyes at poor quality. People make judgement calls within the first 3 seconds of an interaction. Ensure your training makes the right impression.

Reliability - There’s nothing worse than having to micromanage a vendor. It can lead to frustrating revisions, radio silence, and being in the dark about project statuses. Pick a company who picks up your calls and responds to emails quickly.

Effectiveness - What’s the point of hiring a partner if the content doesn’t actually work? Whether it’s educating employees, customers, or prospective clients, if your content does not produce the desired result, it is a waste of time and money.

What are the key differences between content development partners?

Your budget is important, but you are buying far more than just a finished product. You are buying speed, quality, reliability, and effectiveness. The type of content development partner you choose will determine what total value you receive.

The pros and cons of working with a custom content development company (NextThought).

Pros: Speed, quality, reliability, and effective learning.

As a custom content development companies, NextThought dramatically increases our clients' elearning production capacity and capability. Our team of expert videographers, learning designers, editors, animators, scriptwriters, creatives, producers, and account success members are dedicated to creating an exceptional learning experience and an enjoyable project process. Every project is custom, so organizations can offer training that is effective and innovative.

If your project deadline, overall quality, training effectiveness, and project management matter to you, an eLearning and training partner like NextThought is your best choice.

Cons: Depending on total budget, partnering with a professional custom content development company will cost more than AI or freelancers, but will yield a significantly better product for learners and customer experience for you.

Of the "what's at stake for you" list above, which did you definitely want to get right? NextThought will make sure you have a seamless experience.

The pros and cons of freelancers working on custom training projects.

Pros: Quality. 

Armed with modern technology like 4K cameras, leading editing software, and design programs, a freelancer can produce visually appealing, quality training videos and interactives that exceed AI-generated content.

Cons: Speed, reliability, and effective learning. 

Freelancers’ abilities drastically change by person. There are more than 1,000 training profiles to sift through on Upwork and Fiverr. Because they work alone, freelancers cannot create content at the speed of a company with a team of experts. Freelancers also have a reputation for being flighty or difficult to reach, and many do not have the learning design background to create meaningful content that actually educates learners and leads to behavior change that sticks. 

If you do not mind risking your project’s timeline, smooth communication, and the training content’s effectiveness on the learner, then a freelancer is right for you.

The pros and cons of AI Content Development companies.

Pros: Speed. 

AI can generate content quickly, with the right prompts. It will look, sound, and feel like AI but delivered fast.

Cons: Quality, reliability, and effectiveness. 

AI-generated visuals – video, pacing, humans, products, and proprietary processes, especially for learning – do not match the quality, intuition, and intentionality of human production. Most AI-generated training modules are talking-head avatars (though they are looking less robotic). It will also lack the customization of working with a professional who can tailor the training module to your exact specifications. 

If you value speed over quality and paying the least amount of money possible, AI-generated content is your best bet.

Of the options, what is your priority?

Quick Recap

• AI-generated training content is fast but is no match for the quality created by people.
• Freelancers create quality work with the help of technology, but organizations risk dependability, speed, and learning effectiveness.
• Custom content development companies (NextThought) cost more but deliver significantly more in overall value. This starts with the quality of the product, to on-time delivery, to complete client satisfaction.