Compare video production quotes by giving each supplier the same required outputs and intended use, then asking for the complete cost of delivering that brief. Match the filming, editing, presenter, language versions and usage rights before comparing the totals.
A lower quote may be a better offer. It may also leave work with your team or exclude something you need. A higher quote may cover a more demanding production, or simply include work that is unnecessary for your project.
The clearest starting point is a list of the finished films you need. Work backwards from those files to the recording, preparation and editing required to produce them.
Describe the finished result in the same way
Send every supplier one brief containing the message, audience, intended channels, filming location and final delivery date. Include a reference for the level of production you expect, explaining what you like about it.
Then identify each required output. “Three videos” is less useful than naming the main film and explaining what makes the other two different.
Consider this illustrative brief for a Dubai business demonstrating a product:
| Required output | What makes it a separate deliverable | What both quotes need to address |
|---|---|---|
| One 90-second English demonstration in a horizontal format | The main explanation and product sequence | Script, spoken performance, demonstration footage and a complete edit. |
| One 30-second English vertical video | A shorter message selected and edited for this use | Whether it is a new short edit, and whether the original footage supports its framing. |
| One 30-second Arabic vertical video | A separately spoken Arabic explanation | Script adaptation, presenter, recording, subtitles and language approval. |
These durations and formats are example requirements, not recommended limits or a standard package.
A quote for a main video plus two resized exports would not automatically meet this brief. The Arabic performance needs to be addressed, and the short version needs its own agreed message. Equally, a supplier may be able to reuse suitable demonstration footage across the edits. You do not need to pay for that footage to be filmed again without a reason.
This is the distinction to resolve: new recording, new editing and another export are different kinds of work.
Make the filming assumptions visible
Check whether the quote buys camera time, finished production or both. A shoot allowance does not tell you how many edits you will receive.
For filming at a Dubai business location, compare the assumptions about access, setup time, people appearing and the space available. If one supplier assumes a quiet room you can provide and another includes a studio, they are solving the recording problem differently.
Ask who arranges the presenter, prepares the product and handles venue access. Identify which responsibilities sit with your team and which are included in the fee.
Dubai permits and location costs: Identify the UAE-licensed production company responsible for the filming-permit application, who arranges any private-location no-objection certificate, and whether venue charges and official fees are included. Use the same locations in both quotes. DFTC filming guidance.
The same principle applies to coverage. If two important activities happen at once, ask how both will be captured. More filming hours do not solve a clash between simultaneous activities by themselves.
Do not rank quotes by crew size or equipment list alone. Compare whether each proposed setup can capture the material the agreed films require.
Compare the editing work behind the file count
A short edit may need a different opening, sequence and ending from the main film. Reframing footage may require layout changes. A new spoken-language version may require recording as well as editing.
Ask each supplier to explain what the quoted versions involve. This avoids comparing a crop or export with a separately constructed video as though they were identical work.
Use the same expectations for subtitles, on-screen graphics, branding, music and sound. You do not need every possible effect included. You need enough detail to know that both suppliers have priced the finish you want.
Also separate a first-cut date from final delivery. If the video must be ready for a launch, the schedule needs room for your team's feedback and the agreed changes. A proposal promising a draft by launch day is not promising a usable final film by then.
Clarify changes before comparing the total
Ask what a revision round covers and how feedback should be submitted. There is a difference between correcting an error against the approved brief, adjusting an edit and changing the message after recording.
If the new direction needs footage that was never captured, it may require another shoot. Establish how the supplier handles that situation and how any additional charge would be agreed before work starts.
You do not need to assume every change is chargeable. You do need both quotes to explain the boundary between completing the agreed job and commissioning more work.
A fixed package price can be perfectly useful. The supplier does not have to disclose every internal labour cost or margin for you to understand the purchased scope, exclusions and treatment of changes.
Match the rights to where the videos will run
Tell both suppliers whether the content is intended for your own social channels, a website, paid advertising or another use. Include any required period, territory or third-party distribution in the brief.
Ask whether the presenter, music and other licensed material are cleared for that intended use. Receiving an edited file does not, by itself, establish unrestricted rights to every element inside it.
Treat raw footage and editable project files as separate requests. If your team needs to make future edits, explain that before choosing a quote. Final-video delivery, source-file delivery and permission to reuse material are related but different questions.
A quote that only permits organic social use does not meet a paid-advertising brief until that use has been agreed and priced where needed.
Compare the cost of the complete required job
For each offer, identify the quoted fee, confirmed additions needed to meet the brief, required third-party costs and applicable tax. Keep optional upgrades outside the comparison unless you decide you want them.
Do not treat a missing price as zero. If a required location, language recording or usage right has not been priced, ask for it before deciding which offer costs less. For possible overtime or other variable charges, establish the basis and approval process rather than inventing a final amount.
Compare client work too. A proposal may assume that you supply scripts, a presenter or usable footage. If your team cannot reliably provide those inputs, ask for the version of the offer that removes that dependency.
Once both offers meet the brief, assess the remaining price difference alongside the production approach and delivery responsibility. A cheaper complete proposal can be the right choice; extra deliverables only add value if you need them.
A Lunasol example: compare the scope you need
For a separate recurring presenter-led brief, Lunasol's Reels 5 package is AED 2,000 per month for five finished Reels, with an actor, studio filming and editing included. The base package uses client-supplied, recording-ready scripts.
If you need Lunasol to write those five scripts, the writing add-on is AED 500. That makes the monthly production-and-writing subtotal AED 2,500, before any applicable tax or other required additions. It is not a quote for the three-video demonstration example above.
The presenter records in English or Arabic, rather than both language versions automatically. The package covers organic use on your own social channels; paid advertising usage rights need a separate agreement.
The advantage is a defined offer connecting the actor, studio, filming and edit through one team. You can compare that complete responsibility against an alternative that expects your business to organise some of those components.
Send one final clarification before choosing
A short request can resolve the remaining differences:
Please price the final outputs in the attached brief, including their lengths, formats, languages and intended uses. Identify anything our team must supply, any required work missing from your current quote and any variable charges. Please distinguish the first-cut date from final delivery and show the total on a clear tax basis.
Use that same finished-output brief when requesting a Lunasol production proposal. Include the presenter and writing support you need, so you can compare the work covered and the responsibilities left with your team.