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What a day rate really prices
A day rate prices your time, which makes it perfect for work where time is the product: crewing for another company, second-camera days, straightforward event coverage. It is also the fair choice when scope is genuinely unknowable. The catch: day rates make you cheaper as you get better. The shoot you finish in one day used to take two. Bill by the day and your reward for skill is a smaller invoice.
What a project rate really prices
A project rate prices the outcome: the brand film, the campaign, the launch video. Clients prefer it because budgets need numbers before work begins, and buyers of outcomes do not want to meter your hours. You prefer it because efficiency becomes margin instead of a discount. The risk is scope: a project rate without a written scope is a donation. Deliverables, shoot days, revision rounds, and timeline go in the agreement, and everything beyond them has a price.
The switching moment
The tell is when clients stop asking "what do you charge per day" and start asking "what would this cost." That question is permission to price the outcome. Existing day-rate clients can be moved gently: quote the next project as a package, with the day rate still available for overflow days. Most clients experience the package as an upgrade, because predictability is worth money to them too.
The hybrid that holds up
Project rates for defined productions; day rates for extra shoot days, pickups, and being crewed by peers; retainers for ongoing content clients who need a steady stream. Written down, that is a rate card, and having one changes negotiations: you stop inventing numbers under pressure and start quoting policy.
Whichever you choose, protect the margin
The model matters less than knowing your numbers. A project rate is only better if you actually track what the project cost you: crew, gear, travel, editing hours, the reshoot nobody budgeted. Studios that see real per-project profit adjust their pricing every quarter; studios that do not, discover the problem at tax time. We wrote more on the numbers side in how to price video production.
The same job, priced both ways
Here is a sample job: one shoot day and four edit days. Your numbers will differ.
| Day rate | Project rate | |
|---|---|---|
| Shoot day | $1,000 | Included |
| Edit, 4 days at $800 | $3,200 | Included |
| Quote | $4,200 | $5,500 |
| If the edit takes 6 days | $5,800 | $5,500 |
| If it takes 3 days | $3,400 | $5,500 |
| Who carries the risk | The client | You |
| Who gains from your speed | The client | You |
Which to use
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Crew work on someone else's job | Day rate |
| Your own client, clear finals | Project rate |
| An unclear scope | A paid discovery day, then a project rate |
| An open-ended retainer | A monthly rate with set hours |
| Live events | A day rate plus a fixed edit |
The hybrid that holds up
Quote a project price, with the assumptions written down: shoot days, rounds and finals. Anything past those goes at a stated day or hourly rate. The client gets one number, and you get a limit.
This price includes one shoot day of up to 10 hours, two rounds of revisions and the finals listed above. Extra shoot days are $1,800 and extra edit time is $120 an hour, quoted before the work starts.
Moving a client from days to packages
Do it at renewal, or on a new job. "Instead of tracking days, I can do this for a set price, so you know the number before we start." Clients often like it, because they can budget for a result.
Overtime on a day rate is its own sum, and the crew day rate calculator does it. The pricing guide shows how to find your rate.