Voice Over Rates: What to Charge in 2026

8 min read · onetakevo.com

If you've ever quoted a rate and immediately wondered whether you left money on the table, or whether you quoted so high you lost the job, you already understand the rate problem in voice over work. Pricing in this industry is poorly documented, inconsistently followed, and almost never discussed transparently between working professionals.

This guide is the honest version: what the market actually looks like in 2026, how the GVAA and SAG-AFTRA rate tables apply in practice, and how to stop guessing when a client asks what you charge.

Why VO Rates Are So Hard to Pin Down

A few structural reasons make voice over rates genuinely confusing:

• Usage determines value more than length. A 30-second read for a local radio spot and a 30-second read for a national TV campaign are not the same product. Usage, where it plays, for how long, in what markets, is often the largest component of the rate.
• Union and non-union work have completely different floors. SAG-AFTRA rates are contractually set. Non-union rates are negotiated individually, and the range is wide.
• Platforms like Voice123 and Voices.com compress rates. The competitive dynamics of online casting platforms have pushed non-union rates down significantly over the past decade. The GVAA rate guide exists partly as a corrective, a reference point for what the work is actually worth.
• Clients frequently don't know what VO costs. Many clients, especially smaller brands and agencies, are genuinely uninformed about market rates and will accept what you quote without pushback, which means underquoting costs you real money.

The GVAA Rate Guide: What It Is and How to Use It

The GVAA (Global Voice Acting Academy) Rate Guide is the most widely used non-union rate reference in the industry. It's not a legal floor, it's a community-maintained benchmark that reflects what working professionals believe the work should cost.

It breaks down rates by category (commercial, corporate, e-learning, audiobook, character/animation, narration, telephony/IVR) and usage (internet only, regional broadcast, national broadcast, worldwide). Within each category there are per-finished-minute or per-word rates depending on the format.

Voice Over Rates by Category (2026)

Commercial (Radio & TV)

Corporate / Explainer / B2B

E-Learning & Training

Audiobooks

Character / Animation / Gaming

This category varies significantly based on the production budget. For indie games and animation, rates often run $100 to $300 per hour of session time or per character. For major studio productions (AAA games, TV animation), union rates apply and the numbers are substantially higher. If you're doing character work, knowing what tier of production you're quoting for matters more than any flat rate.

Telephony / IVR

IVR (interactive voice response) and phone system recordings are often priced per prompt or per finished minute. GVAA guidance runs $100 to $200 per prompt for commercial systems and higher for large enterprise deployments. Bundled packages for full phone tree builds are common.

How to Handle the "What Do You Charge?" Question

The worst thing you can do when a client asks your rate is to ask what their budget is. It immediately signals that you're going to work backwards from their number rather than from what the work is actually worth.

Instead, ask these questions first:

1. What is the project? (Commercial, corporate, narration, etc.)
2. What is the intended use and distribution? (Internal only, internet, broadcast, worldwide?)
3. How long is the finished piece, or approximately how many words/pages is the script?
4. What is the usage period? (Buyout, 13-week, 1 year, perpetual?)

With those answers, you can generate a real rate, not a guess. The GVAA rate guide, plus your own experience in your market, gives you the range. Quote the high end of that range. You can always negotiate down. You cannot negotiate up once you've sent a number.

Commission: What You Actually Pocket

If you're working through an agent, the standard commission is 10 to 15%. SAG-AFTRA franchised agents are capped at 10%. Some online platforms take 20% or more.

Always calculate what you'll pocket, not just the gross rate. A $500 job with a 20% platform fee nets $400. A $450 job booked directly is $450. Build commission into your mental rate ceiling, it changes the math on which jobs are worth taking.

The Undercharging Problem

Most working voice actors, especially those in the first few years, consistently undercharge. The reasons are well-documented: imposter syndrome, fear of losing the job, lack of information about what others charge, and the psychological difficulty of defending your own value when you're not sure what it is.

Here's the thing: clients who push back aggressively on rate are almost never the clients worth keeping. The clients who respect the work and understand what it takes to deliver it well rarely negotiate as hard as you expect them to. Quoting confidently, from an actual reference point rather than a number you pulled from anxiety, changes the dynamic of almost every conversation.

You are not doing the client a favor by undercharging. You are teaching them what the work costs, and that lesson will be applied to every VO artist they work with after you.

Pricing Yourself Out of the Market: Is It Real?

It's less common than you think. The clients who hire at GVAA rates and above are, generally, different clients than the ones who balk at those rates. Positioning yourself at a professional rate level doesn't just price you for better jobs, it often attracts better clients. The clients who need VO done cheaply are rarely the ones you want to build a long-term business on.

Know your market. Know what the work is worth. Quote it confidently. Adjust based on the relationship, your availability, and what the project actually asks of you, not based on what you think you can get away with.