How much does voice-over work really pay?
Job sites charge in different ways: Voices.com takes 20% of a booking, and Voice123 takes no commission but sells plans. ACX puts narration at roughly $200 per finished hour.
You record your voice for ads, videos or audiobooks. The rate is set by the job, and the sites make their money differently, so the same booking can leave you with different sums. Audiobooks also pay per finished hour, which is not an hour of your time: ACX says one finished hour can take about four hours of work.
What do you need for voice-over work?
- A quiet room and a good microphoneClients expect clean sound.
- Samples of your voiceSites and clients ask to hear you.
- Time for auditionsUnpaid auditions come before paid work.
What voice-over work really pays
| Item | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| US actors’ median | $29.05 an hour | 2025 figure for actors, a group that includes voice actors |
| Voices.com | 20% + $499 a year | Premium plan, reported by 2 guides, because its page could not be read when we checked |
| Voice123 | No commission | It says so. Its paid plan prices differ between guides |
| ACX narration | About $200 | Per finished hour, ACX’s estimate of an industry rate |
| ACX royalty share | 50-50 | You split the rights holder’s royalties, with nothing up front |
| Fiverr | 20% | If you find clients there |
ACX’s estimate is roughly $200 per finished hour for narration and another $200 for post-production, and it says one finished hour can take about four hours of work. Rates vary by producer and project.
What it adds up to
| Finished hours of audio | Hours of work, about | Narration at about $200 each | With post-production, about $400 each |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 finished hour | 4 | $200 | $400 |
| 5 finished hours | 20 | $1,000 | $2,000 |
| 10 finished hours | 40 | $2,000 | $4,000 |
ACX’s own estimate of an industry rate; producers and projects vary. Our sums: an example, not a promise.
When does voice-over work pay you?
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Voices.com | It collects the client’s money and releases it when the job is complete |
| ACX per finished hour | Paid when the rights holder approves the final audio |
| ACX royalty share | From sales, after the book is out |
What is the catch with voice-over work?
- Paying Voices.com’s $499 does not remove its 20% commission, reports SideHusl.
- A royalty share pays nothing up front, so a book that does not sell pays you almost nothing.
- In a 2021 example, the Alliance of Independent Authors showed a 40% stated royalty coming to about 21% of retail. ACX’s own page now quotes an escalator royalty rate that starts at 50%.
- The US job outlook for actors is little or no change.
How to start with voice-over work
- Record a short sampleUse the room you would really work in.
- Pick one siteWork out what it costs you before you pay.
- Time an audiobook chapterThen do the sum for your own speed.
Read next
Sources
- O*NET (US Department of Labor): Actors, checked 5 Nov 2026
- VO Journey: Voices.com vs Voice123 (2026), checked 5 Nov 2026
- SideHusl: Voices, checked 5 Nov 2026
- Voice123: finding voice-over jobs, checked 5 Nov 2026
- ACX: paying, and getting paid, for your audiobook, checked 5 Nov 2026
- Alliance of Independent Authors: how Audible ACX pays, checked 5 Nov 2026
- Velo Branding: Fiverr fees 2026, checked 5 Nov 2026