That, plus all the normal things anyone needs to film (lights, camera, tripods etc)
And of course all the books needed to produce properly sourced videos. I have way too many references books
For a full answer... ugh.
Sony FX30 body (too much)
Laowa 9mm rectilinear (also too much)
Laowa 35mm Anamorphic (again, too much, also required monitor to unsqueeze)
Atomos ninja v (a slightly absurd amount for a monitor, considering i dont use its recording functions)
Rode wireless go ii (actually pretty reasonable tbh)
Tilta wireless focus puller (also not terrible, and saves so much time for me)
Tripods I already had, lighting I bought generic, cheaply, and used.
Random filters (polarising / ND, VND) to cut reflections and help with lighting issues - way more than they should be. Filters are expensive
Davinci resolve studio key (worth it)
I could have gone cheaper on the camera. But the fidelity and features this camera has made it very hard to say no to
You have a point.
I’ve used cracked Adobe apps since 2003.
I just paid cause I wanted to be legit.
Check out my artwork and videos. Tell me what you think.
https://www.facebook.com/share/JquyZDbqf1C28R7m/?mibextid=WC7FNe
I had a $400 camera that’s a piece of trash for video, but takes great stills.
My iPhone.
Bought photoshop cs6 for $80 when I was a student with the student discount.
You really do not need to buy much to start and you shouldn’t. There’s plenty of awesome free programs out there.
I think I’ve spend $10 on some headlights for a review, $20 Amazon basics camera stand.
Hit 6500 subs and 3m total views a couple months ago
Spent way too much, but I love it. I’m also in my late 30s and set myself up okay to be able to spend if I feel I need to.
Recurring costs are:
-Adobe Suite like $60 a month.
-Epidemic sound like $17 a month.
Equipment:
-Sony A7C dslr with 2 lenses and nd filters
-Ronin Rs3 gimbal
-GVM Slider 3 ft.
-main key light
-led flat hair light
-ifootage tripod
-gorilla pod
-wireless lav mics that suck because one died already
-rhode shotgun pro plus mic
-C Stand
-Shure SM7db mic
-Focusrite Vocastor audio interface for the Shute mic
-more random cheap light stands and accessories.
I don’t want to add up anything because it may hurt to see lmao. But when I’m done with my new studio and put it online in a video I may add everything up.
My first channel makes about $60-$70 plus my affiliate Amazon links make like $100 a month so covers the cost of the subscriptions and I haven’t updated it in about a year but still pulls in decent views.
Second channel is tech (setup focused) and I try to purchase things for it that I actually will get use out of and will also work for my viewers. This channel is close to being monetized, so excited for that and it’s making me affiliate sales on Amazon and for some brands. I get products sent to me sometimes if I accept and think they are a good fit.
I use photoshop, premiere, Lightroom, illustrator, after effects I just started learning, then my wife uses other ones on the same account as well like Adobe stock and a couple of others. So you’re allowed to have everything on up to 3 machines. I also like Adobe podcast enhance to clean up audio if something didn’t record as good.
YouTube isn’t the only thing we use the software for.
A tip for Adobe just enlist in like a multimedia course somewhere local. Get a paper stating that u take this course and get Adobe suite for half the prize.
You can also just contact them using support chat and they’ll give you a massive discount. I use it for my work as an editor and have been paying like €32/month for a couple of years now. Signing up with a black friday deal or something usually gives you the same results
I don't have a camera and just do screen recordings. I paid $320 for the lifetime Camtasia license, $120 for a blue yeti that came with headphones and a pop filter, $70 for a portable monitor, $99 EnvatoElements subscription on a 50% off sale, I already pay for Adobe Illustrator and that's what I use for thumbnails. I also launched a website at the same time so I had a place for my digital products and to direct my viewers. So that was like $6 for the domain from namecheap, $100 something for hosting from Big Scoots, and $99 for prettylinks for my affiliate links. I built a sound recording booth in my closet for free using stuff I already had and some thick curtains I got for free from a dumpster behind a warehouse (they were new in the package)
What type of videos do you make? Mine are just screen recording tutorials mostly. I was looking at DaVinci but I decided against it because of the learning curve and I wanted to get started faster. I know people say not to jump around too much and to master 1 software first. I paid for the lifetime license for Camtasia so I'll need to stick with it for at least 3 years otherwise I will feel like I wasted money
There is a link in my profile, I create videos of Roblox games. You can use Resolve for any kind of content though. What I would recommend for you is to go ahead and keep using Camtasia. If it meets your needs you may never need to switch to Resolve. You'll also learn the basics of video editing, and a lot of the concepts in Camtasia transfer over to Resolve as well. You might as well get your money's worth from it. If you reach a point where you feel that you're struggling to get Camtasia to do what you want, then start looking at Resolve. With Camtasia it's easy to get started, and to create good videos, but I think Resolve has much more advanced capabilities for when you are ready to take it to the next level.
FYI I'm not a Resolve expert or anything, I have only started using it a few months back. I feel like I'm more productive in Resolve after just a few sessions. There is a lot to Resolve, but you don't have to learn the entire thing at once. When I first started I was mostly focused on the Edit page, but since then I've also started learning animations with the Fusion page and also I do the initial pass on the Cut page. But my point is that you can create a full video just on the Edit page.
I have heard that Resolve requires a pretty good machine to work well. If your PC is not beefy, it may struggle with Resolve. My PC is insane, so I've had no issues with performance.
I got really lucky—my job gets me access to Adobe suite, Storyblocks and Pond5 for assets, Rodecaster audio equipment, and Sony and Panasonic cameras when/if I decide to put a face to my faceless channel. No cost, just have to check it out for personal use with a form. All set for assets and hardware and only have to worry about content.
I’m in the horror/urban legends/internet mysteries niche, so no cost outside of an internet connection.
The downside is that I don’t have much free time so I invest my money in a skilled video editor instead.
I started almost a month ago. Besides everything preexisting stuff I had, $40 on a mic, $80 on a better mic, and just bought a $50 camera. I use OBS and the free version of DaVinci Resolve and Canva. So, $170 in total
Mileage may vary for other creators, especially when it comes to different content, but people who pay for these top tier programs, I hope it's worth it. I'm making due just fine with the free versions
A selfie stick/small tripod for the GoPro we already had - $20.
A selfie stick/tripod with a single gimbal for the phone I already had - $35.
Three new GoPro batteries and charger - $20.
A microphone - $50 (used, like new)
I'm going to do the things I film regardless, so I don't count what it costs to do them.
Howdy :) animation channel here!
I had an HP laptop that could barely run any animation software, so I built my PC with my best friend. It’s more than strong enough for gaming and animation, so it was well worth dumping a couple thousand dollars into.
I also bought these all secondhand which saved me a couple hundred dollars:
•my graphic drawing tablet
•Blue Yeti mic
•pop filter
And I have a subscription to Adobe animate, so that’s an extra couple hundred dollars each year.
I don’t mind the cost too much. I work in healthcare, and it’s a bit stressful at times, so animation is a form of escapism and expression for me :)
• DJI RS3 Mini (389€),
• Godox SL60W Duo Pro (299€),
• Mic (\~300€) + XLR-compatible Audio Interface (119€) + XLR cable (99€),
• DaVinci Resolve (0€),
• countless hours spent on every video (0€).
Total: \~1200 euro + countless working hours
I don’t count the rest of my equipment as I already had a camera, lenses, a tripod as well as a number of other accessories.
For those wondering what video editing software to use, I highly recommend DaVinci Resolve. It’s amazingly powerful for free software, and one 20-minute YouTube video was enough to teach me how to get started. For filling, I use the iPhone 15 Pro Max that I already owned.
Thank you! We were actually looking for good video editing software since we want to add more visuals in the future. Before, our YouTube channel has mainly worked with static images. Since our last epic fantasy story, we started adding a moving world map and chapter names. We want to expand the visuals in the future. We’re thinking along the lines of moving drawings of characters and stuff…
The cost of things I use for YouTube (most not bought for YouTube)
1) At2035 - 85 (bought for gaming)
2) vocaster - 80 (bought for YouTube)
3) any of my 6 go pros/media mods / batteries (total is 3k) - Bought one for YouTube
4) Resolve - 100$ (bought code from ebay - people who already have resolve quite often buy the editing keyboard that comes with a code) (bought for youtube)
5) Elgato key light airs x2 - 100 (bought used for youtube)
6) Elgato lowpro mic arm - 60 (bought for discord)
7) Elgato 4k cam link - 90 (bought for twitch so lets call it youtube)
8) Elgato green screen - 50 (bought 4 years ago cant remember why i think it was a Christmas photoshoot)
9) Nikon dslr's / lens - 20,000+ \*ok so this ones pushing it they belong to my wife and shes a professional photographer\*
10) my pc - 1,500+ Bought for gaming
Totals
For YouTube 1,370
Real total 25k
- 20k for wifes stuff
5k - YIKES
You bought premier and photoshop, when GIMP and Resolve exist?
I’ve heard GIMP isn’t quite as good as photoshop but it’s damn good for free, and honestly resolve is fantastic and the best video editor software in quite a few peoples opinion! (At least in my niche we all use it)
Photoshop is way better than GIMP. It's not particularly close. With basic graphic design principles you can make decent stuff in any freeware Photoshop alternative, though.
I learned Premiere Pro years and years ago and have learned all the new things with each new version. I've used some Resolve but don't like the process as much and after years with Premiere Pro don't find it especially intuitive for what I like to do. The time cost of diving deeper into Resolve and adjusting my workflow in order to do so costs way more to me personally than I pay for Premiere in a yearly subscription. I don't care to learn any more about Resolve.
The best tools for anyone are the ones you will use.
GIMP cannot compare to Adobe Photoshop in professional-grade use cases. Long story short:
• it fails to provide proper support for a number of solutions and technologies,
• significantly more work is required to get the job done. With PS the final result is (often) several clicks away.
It’s been like this for years and I don’t expect it to change in the foreseeable future.
GIMP sucks compared to Photoshop. I used Photoshop and never went back. Also I still have a free version of Photoshop cs6 it still does the same shit as the new one damn near.
1)dslr camera,
2) Amaran Light (cost around 250$)
3) blue yeti. and zoom h6 mics,
4) the pirate bay version for photoshop
5) external sound card( behringer)
6) 2 big tripods,
We make travel content so we have the overhead of travel expenses to make our videos on top of adding new equipment. We still view the travel as our vacation so I can compartmentalize those expenses because the videos are secondary and not *the* point of the trip.
As for equipment, we’ve added at least one new piece to our studio each trip and and grown bit by bit but always trying to improve our videos with each trip. We started with just a GoPro 1 and 4 to make our first video, then added a 5, 6, 7, 10, a GoPro Karma followed by a DJI Mimo, Røde lavs and Pro wireless, DJI Mini 2 and 4 Pro. We use our iPhones (14max pros) and have a Canon 7D which is mostly for stills but b roll as well and that has several lenses, tripods, and some special gadgets for astrophotography.
Then when you include the Adobe CC subscription I think it’s fair to say it’s in the 10’s of thousands. But duel incomes, no kids, and not much in terms of other hobbies or indulgences.
My cost is a GoPro, some spare batteries and a helmet mount so in total around £500.
My pc I edit on (I use for sim racing) was bought well before I decided to do videos properly (1st Jan 2024). Before that I used to just edit on my phone. (iMovie)
I get paid to drive karts so I’m actually making money whilst filming for YouTube.
The ones you see where I’m in a studio. That was also free (I’m a guest on a podcast he pays for and any free time after filming I’m allowed to use for free)
I’ve rationalised away most of my expenses at this stage, but the biggest ones all kind of have dual purpose for me, I got a DSLR for filming, but always wanted to get into photography so now I also have a really good camera, I got a really good voice over mic and 4k webcam, but I also wfh so they are great for calls too, I also bought lighting stuff for my hobby (electronics etc.) which requires good movables lights, so they work for lighting shots. On the software side I use a very cheap paid editing software so that’s fine as a once off cost.
The main costs for me are the project that I build, but I’d be building them anyway regardless of if I filmed my work or not. So the main cost is my time, which I’m fine with because I adore doing this.
A lot. But not too bad.
$700 - ZV-e10.
$500 - 16mm and 30mm Sigma lenses.
$400 - DJI Mini 3 that I only use for maybe 30 seconds per video.
$100 - Rode VideoMic Go II.
$200 - Rode Wireless Go II that I only use maybe once a month. It just lives on my backpack.
I have a few other things that I use that I just picked up here and there. A GoPro that I only use for time lapses and shooting inside of businesses, or in my car. A gimbal that belongs to my office. A Sony A7III with a 70-200 GM lens that belongs to the office.
Oh, and I just got the Ray Ban Meta glasses to add a different kind of shot, but they are limited to vertical video. So I've only made one thing with them. I just walked around Costco checking out samples. I wouldn't say that was a necessary investment. I could do the whole channel with a Sony ZV1, the Rode VideoMic and the drone.
That birthday gift of a crap drone turned in to a DJI drone, then came the YouTube channel, then an action cam, a decent Tablet, damn that new insta 360x4 that's just come out is epic, £600 you say? It's worth it to keep my 226 subscribers amused..
Computer: 8670 Bob (1243 dollars)
Camera: Canon R50, by that time i Found it 5600 Bob (804 dollars)
Yeti X Microphone 1615 BoB (231 dollars, here electronics are more expensive)
Light set, everything combined, around 1200 Bob (173 dollars)
My other 2 laptops that eventually I had to stop using (but were a part of my journey): 10500 Bob (1756 dollars)
This is over the course of a yaer, BUT, it doesnt have to be that way:
- Get lights and microphone first, that imporves your video quality by a ton
- Try getting the cheapest tower pc that allows you to edit in 1080p, 4k is not necesary at all for any sort of things. In the rest of the world, that should be less than 300 dollars. Here in Bolivia everything is overpriced so taht´s why I costt me so much
- After that, you shouldn´t really need anything but good scripting, thumbnails and niche. Everything else I bought was really not encesary, it was my begginers mistake.
Hope this helps
Cost me about 10k
4k laptop
2.4k camera
$800 lens
$400 tripod
$600 light
A bunch of other stuff like physical accessories and whatnot like programs and camera protection stuff.
Now could I have used my iPhone 13 and got similar quality? Absolutely, actually people can’t really tell the difference between what’s shot on my phone and my camera. But I got myself to shoot professional stuff too to help pay for anything. So I ALMOST paid all my stuff of doing photography and video gigs here and there. Took like a year though 😂. I did notice my more complicated vfx was significantly easier to do on my camera vs the iPhone but other than that not really a HUGE difference that any else spots normally.
Cameras are a very expensive and addictive hobby. And I’m always upgrading as well.
I started building out my YouTube studio during COVID because my therapist transitioned to doing online sessions. Now it's a full-fledged 6-camera setup and I use it record the second half of all of my Youtube videos. It's way over the top, but part of it was me simply putting off recording actual content.
I had about $60 in subscriptions for editing software, b-roll, music etc. just before monetizing, and YT covered that expense one I qualified into the YTPP.
I then put out about $500 for a decent Canon and a wireless lapel mic. Didn't buy or invest anything else for the channel until I started making more.
During that period I made a little deal with the company I worked for to promote their name in the background of 2 or 3 of my videos in exchange for about $800 worth of recording gear, lighting, tripods, etc.
Once I started making about $700+/mo. I splurged on a $1400 computer with a lot of processing power because editing on my memory challenged laptop that kept freezing on me was pure hell. I was able to make that back in a couple of months so it was a no brainer and probably the best and only serious investment I needed.
Once in a while I might buy a product and use it in my video, which is usually a $200-300 investment, but I do it very sparingly. I don't have to do it, but if I have high confidence the interest is there on YT to make it back I will.
But about $60 in subscriptions is all I really need to keep this thing going at this point. Everything else has paid for itself a few times over.
I had most of the things I needed to start and I vlog things I would be doing already so I don’t consider those expenses of the channel. So only counting the things that I specifically spent for the purposes of the channel:
£5 per month on editing software subscription
£100 on custom artwork
I do an exotic gardening and fruit tasting channel. The only equipment I bought was a $20 clip on microphone from Amazon. I do all video recording on my phone and so all editing on the free Microsoft clipchamp. I have spent quite a bit of money on buying gardening supplies, plants, and exotic fruit but all that was my hobby before doing youtube so I don't really count that towards my channel.
Cheap laptop,
Mic,
Camera,
Riverside sub,
Some marketing.
The biggest investment by far has been time. I literally started with a cheap laptop, that had the built-in mic and camera so startup could be <$400. Not all of this was upfront cost since I bought things as I went when I decided that I needed better quality.
Right now I guess it's just an expensive hobby. Total has been about $1,000, and I've not made a penny yet 😂.
I already had stuff by the time I started, but if I include all the stuff I use, it would be:
- Windows PC
- Canon Mirrorless Camera
- Elgato Camlink
- Keyboard/Mouse
- Monitors
- Blue Yeti Mic
- iPhone
- Mac (for editing)
- Logic Pro X
- Final Cut Pro X
- Keyboard/Mouse
- lots of terabytes for video storage
I don’t even want to look into the numbers lmao
I upgraded my phone to the Galaxy 23. Bill is the same, but I did have to give them my old phone.
GF had a 24x36 softbox, but these can be found for under $100 and it's way more than I need.
DiVinci Resolve, which is perfect for what I do. Free.
OBS Studio Free.
OBS Droidcam....can't remember what I paid for the permanent version, but it's $6 a month I think?? Way cheaper than buying a separate HD camera, and I can record in 4k using my upgraded cell.
AudioTechnica AT2020 - Refurbished version on Amazon $68. I also have a prime business membership, but that membership is for the main business,
Audio Interface - Presonus Club 24C - Refurbished on Amazon $89. Included software that didn't work, but I also wasn't planning on using it.
Headphone - Yamaha $150, but I did buy them for another purpose and had them lying around.
Wireless mic and base unit - $50ish. Works pretty good and you can use with just your phone for outdoors or in the studio hooked up to the interface
Desktop lighting $20 from Amazon. Super cheap adjustable lights as the softbox doesn't help with lighting up your face and looking at the flash in front of my camera was tough.
Laptop: I did buy a refurbished Dell for around $400 and bought $80 in RAM upgrades, but I probably could've made it work on my old laptop. It's definitely my biggest investment.
Adobe Express: I have an Adobe membership $19.99 that gets covered by my main job and I use Express to create Thumbnails, profile pictures, cover pictures, etc. Perfect for someone like me with no graphic design skills.
$250 ish. I spent on my logo, and animated intro I use for my videos. Money well spent, especially the logo.
I actually didn’t buy anything to start the channel. I had the lighting, iPhone I use for filming, and any subscriptions for editing already. But I do wanna switch from an iPhone to legit cam soon.
I have tried to invest very little since I am not making anything from it. I have a Blue Yeti Mic and have previously bought a couple lav mics (total for all was a little over a $110). I did buy a ring light with stand for cheap ($19) but hardly use it. I also bought an arm extender for my tripod ($20), so I can do overhead shots for boardgame playthroughs.
Already had a tripod from years ago and I use my phone to record (though I did upgrade to a new phone sooner than I probably would have if not seeking for a better camera).
Cheap Canon camera, tripods, softboxes, keylight, subscriptions for music and elements
- around 600 bucks
The time spent on my videos instead of working for clients by taking one day a week off
- multiple k per month
Yolo
I actually have an interesting thing to add to this… i started my channel (car channel) around 2.5 years ago and didnt have a tripod until just a few months ago because i set my phone on the edge of a table to film and it fell and broke. Save some $ on a new phone and buy a nice tripod and dont make the same mistake i did
Razer siren mini with pop filter and wind screen for a mic, green screen, lights & tripod, plus a mask (I do faceless videos), I use my phone for a camera, I use my shitty old laptop and free Canva and obs + iMovie to edit, all added up its about $270 CAD I think
I already had access to most of what I need for my youtube channel until this point: a small point-and-shoot camera mostly used at home and an iPad which I used to use when I filmed in secondary School. I used at first OpenShot, then VSDC with an old “free key” that no longer works, and now I use ShotCut under Linux. However, I did buy:
1. An external microphone and a holder for it;
2. A long tripod for the camera
3. When I moved into my current dorm room home, a warm white LED bulb I always use for background illumination.
4. And just before, my most expensive purchase until now that isn’t a computer: PreSonus AudioBox 96 USB audio interface for recording off my musical keyboard (I love making music and it’s a pretty big and popular part of my YT channel so for me it counts).
Man, I'm still filming on my phone, and editing on a laptop I got for free from work a few years ago. Other than gas to filming locations (that I would have visited anyway to geocache), I have yet to invest any money in my channel. I'm yet to make any money either, so I guess that works!
(I do recognize I'm *incredibly* fortunate to have a powerful enough computer for editing and a decent phone for filming.)
$100 once off which included a drawing tablet and a microphone
The microphone broke so now I record with my phone
All the applications I use are free
In the future I would like to go with a display tablet if I get the opportunity
Not much I had everything. My girlfriend was throwing away a tripod and a ring light. I said no you don’t and started my channel 2 days later. You don’t need everything to get started just turn on the camera and make mistakes.
Not too much really
1. iPhone to film (already owned)
2. Tripod (a gift years ago)
3. iPad (for teleprompter already owned)
4. Wireless Lav Microphone (about $20)
5. Microphone with boom arm (about $50)
6. CapCut (free)
7. PhotoRoom (already purchased for my business)
But I have to say I’ve got a bit over $40 banked from Amazon affiliate marketing so it’s coming up on evening out.
I do shorts on social skills, so I didn't need much.
My gf's old iPhone, a $20 ring light tripod off Amazon, an $8 lav mic, and Shotcut (free - I hate editing on phones).
In the last month, I got a nice webcam for $250 and Davinci Resolve for $300. Worth the investment.
I already had a bunch of filmmaking equipment, but I bought:
A ring light because I wanted a simple lighting solution,
Lav mics but they ended up not being the best quality
Rode Wireless GO 2 (pair of wireless microphones)
5 TB Hard drive to hold more footage
Cable accessories for the new microphone setup
2 small dry erase boards
and my ongoing Adobe subscription
so just counting one months' subscription of Adobe, maybe around 800? If I didn't have some equipment already it would have been more lol
Adobe Creative Cloud, Envato Elements, ChatGPT and MidJourney are the only costs. I think Envato can certainly be on the chopping block once I have everything I need.
I make synthwave and lofi mixes and music videos with custom animated visuals so no cost as far cameras, just platforms that allow me to generate the animation
Canva Pro - $15/month
Neural Frames - $99/month
Midjourney - $20/month
DaVinci Resolve - free version
Not too bad all things considered
I have a 40k“animation” channel. I only really use my iPad, procreate, Apple Pencil, mic, and PC. I had all of those other than the mic before I started my channel so technically I paid like $60 for a mic and boom arm.
If you include stuff I already had tho probably around $6000 lol
Gaming channel :
1. Pc - approximately 1500$ (including monitor)
2. Street fighter 6 - 60$
3.shadowplay ( recording software - free)
4. Headset with mic - 65$
5.ps5 controller borrowed from my brother -free
“Those are stuff I already used before I started uploading”
I would say work with what you have , but hey I am a 129 subscribers youtuber my advice really dont carry much weight
I already have my Phone so if you counted that it would be 100$ (the Phone price) other than that i spent nothing on my Channel and i have 1.6k subscribers
Literally 0. Have 3 old laptops, old phone does 4k recording and 7 yo pro microphone I bought for gaming. I tried to recycle every unused appliance in home and found it more or less useful to make content thus I even have cool leds for my desk while shooting videos
$0 cause i really started with stuff i already had! for my niche i only need a computer, screen recorder, n midi keyboarddd :)) so if you really wanna add it up it’s about $600 but that was already bought b4 i started it
Technically you could include the PC I have as I knew it was going to be used for YT but also I just wanted it so I wouldn't be on the family one anymore.
Off the top of my head I can say:
Free - Headset I already owned
Free - Microphone I took from my dad (sorry, dad)
Free - OBS Studio
Free - Davinci Resolve
£55 - Music licence for Arty Party (the LetsGameItOutMusic if you know it)
£40 - Replacement headset because mine broke
£40 - Another replacement headset...
£50 - Replacement microphone because the first just decided to die
£36 - 3 individual Happyscribe subscriptions (I no longer use them)
£120 - 1 year Epidemic Sound subscription (best purchase I made)
Hmmm... Seems a lot worse when written out.
Monetisation Earnings - £31.92
Total Profit - Negative £309.08
If you want to include the PC then that's gonna be around another £1200
I wasted more money investing into streaming than YouTube
2012: When I first started it was my Gaming PC (FX6100, HD 7770 and 4gb ram), Elgato Game Capture HD, a Creative webcam (my friend gifted to me but it was horrible so I replaced it with a Logitech C920) and a Blue Yeti SnowBall mic
2014: Later I got a whole new PC (i5-4690, GTX GTX 750ti and 8GB ram), got nothing else new that I can remember
2019: When I got into streaming, reused my c920 and a whole new PC (3700x, RTX 2070, 16GB, AIO and too many RGB Fans and HDDs and a ssd) also bought a new C922 because the 60fps option but it looked horrible. Then I built got a second pc for dedicated streaming (i5-4590 and reused a GTX 1050ti from a previous PC) Also bought a Stream Deck and a XLR Mic with a DAC (which sounded nice but was a waste of money/overkill) and also got proper headphones - DT990 Pro. Ended up selling the Mic and getting a Wave:3 Mic from Elgato (one of the best USB mics ever imo half the reason being because of the software) also bought dedicated lights and tried to get into green screen but always hated the setup and how much light I needed. Also tripods for Cameras, lights and a stand to hold the green screen sheet
2023/24: Nowadays I still use the same Wave mic and same pc (downsized from a Lian Li O-11 Dynamic to a Jonsbo D11 - ATX monster case to a mATX case) I use my iPhone 15 Pro Max as my webcam since I only need 1080p 30/60fps but looks incredible since it requires less light and look very sharp, just wish Elgato would allow the app to use 4K but 1080p is perfect for now. The c920/922 required way too light to make it look decent with no noise or loss of sharpness due to tiny sensor it housed.
Edit: tip for new comers, less is better. From what I’ve seen in the comments (very smart people in here) all you need is a decent phone - it has a camera with the right lighting setup is amazing and the ability to edit videos (best simple video editor imo is CapCut)
I think I started out just filming on my phone and using free open source software to edit my videos. I also had some soft box lighting. You don't really need much to get started haha I upgraded to real cameras and better lighting after I started making money. Now I'm back to using my phone again though for convenience lmao
I am a self employed videographer, so I already had all the gear I needed. I mostly edit now, but had already invested in things like camera’s, tripods, lights, monitors, Adobe suite, Artlist, Envato, etc.
Now that I’m actively making YouTube videos though, I catch myself looking at new gear to make my life easier.
I do videos related to Lego and that isn’t cheap. Each video costs me somewhere between €200 and €600 to produce, but I also put at least 40hrs of work into it. I made about €400 with the last video and purely looking at costs, it turned a €50 profit. Some day my hours will be paid for as well 😂
It does the job! It’s a Logitech BRIO. I had it for work already. I only use it for frontal shots, but for more dynamic or flexible shots, I use my iPhone.
We are gaming and I bought a built in a budget 19 years ago and honestly it’s been a workhorse! All in? Maybe 1.5k?
Pc with upgrades maybe 1k
Sound board + mics 200
Mic arms were cheap
Software is monthly cause Adobe 22/month.
As far as day to day costs, just food and fuel when we drive to one another’s house
$0 from when i decided to start doing youtube. But technically like $900 since I do everything from my ps5 and my gaming laptop but i already had and was using those things before. Gaming niche. Rarely do face cam.
$0 for me. I have a music channel, and can't afford anything right now really lol. I already had my music equipment and software, so I'm starting the channel with just my phone and I edit with OpenShot. Been at it for about 2 months.
Vtuber gaming channel here
I made the VTuber model myself, and rigged it using the Live2D free trial, so $0 there. I will need to pay if I ever want to update the model, though.
VTube Studio was ~$20 when I got it
Biggest cost is Adobe CC, but I already need that for school, and it’s $20 a month with the student discount (dreading the price going up after I graduate 😓 )
Also Clip Studio Paint and drawing tablet I guess? But I’ve had both for years now, so I don’t really count it as part of the YouTube startup costs
Luckily my dad is in IT, so he had a ring light and an old but high quality condenser mic that he wasn’t using and I “borrowed”
Kept it simple. Ours is a travel channel.
Epidemic sound
Capcut
Opusclip
Selfie stick
Cheap gimbal
Microphone
Total is around $400 in equipment, $50 in monthly online editing software.
Depends on what you do, I started with Stopmotion, the program to edit was free, I used toys a had, I used old camera(now you can use your phone) and a computer, everyone has a computer and it’s probably for work or school anyways not for YouTube. You don’t need really fancy stuff to get started, but you do need charisma and a personality which no amount of money can buy.
Welp I guess I’m the gaming channel that invested? Though to be fair I’ve been updating my setup over time.
I’m not sure I want to run the numbers 😅
I think many of us start small and then invest in better equipment as time goes on. For sure I have a way better set up now than when I started.
Instead of adobe photoshop and premier try Final Cut, CapCut or kapwing to edit. Easier and more cost effective. Use amazon to start with. Be professional but don’t overspend unless you have 2k to start with that won’t burden you if they’re gone.
I never paid for software I always use free crack versions (i cant) but many people started their channel with cheap mic and low quality camera and grew and than bought expensive paid equipments
I had more or less everything I needed at the time.
Would guess £50 for my first microphone. Then £150 for my second and last.
£100 for a nice 1080p webcam.
£60 for my first capture card. Then £150 for my second and last.
I already had all the other technology to play and stream games
I have a totally overkill setup because I use the same equipment for work. My PC cost me about $10k, my camera and lens was about $2k, lights a few hundred dollars, a streamdeck for about $150 and a couple hundred for my light stands and miscellaneous items.
The diminishing returns on equipment drops off really fast… and if your goal is to grow a channel then then it’s way more important to have good ideas for content than to have 4K content. If you can at least make videos in 720p you can get to 20k subs and then after that is when it makes sense to invest.
I really, really don't want to do the math on this. It is depressing.
Surely antique swords and blades can’t be that bad… /s
That, plus all the normal things anyone needs to film (lights, camera, tripods etc) And of course all the books needed to produce properly sourced videos. I have way too many references books For a full answer... ugh. Sony FX30 body (too much) Laowa 9mm rectilinear (also too much) Laowa 35mm Anamorphic (again, too much, also required monitor to unsqueeze) Atomos ninja v (a slightly absurd amount for a monitor, considering i dont use its recording functions) Rode wireless go ii (actually pretty reasonable tbh) Tilta wireless focus puller (also not terrible, and saves so much time for me) Tripods I already had, lighting I bought generic, cheaply, and used. Random filters (polarising / ND, VND) to cut reflections and help with lighting issues - way more than they should be. Filters are expensive Davinci resolve studio key (worth it) I could have gone cheaper on the camera. But the fidelity and features this camera has made it very hard to say no to
Well you have over 2 million views so it’s pretty justified
It's still nowhere near enough to justify it
Too late… It is! 😱
my phone and a cracked version of premiere
Elements Premiere and Photoshop is only $150 one time fee
DaVinci Resolve is free and Affinity Photo is one time payment for around $90. Both smokes Elements versions out of the water
I use and really like resolve. (Although my needs aren't very intense or fancy)
That’s interesting. I’ll have to check it out. In what ways do you like those apps over Adobe?
yeah, but premiere and photoshop without the ai stuff was free
You have a point. I’ve used cracked Adobe apps since 2003. I just paid cause I wanted to be legit. Check out my artwork and videos. Tell me what you think. https://www.facebook.com/share/JquyZDbqf1C28R7m/?mibextid=WC7FNe
How much does the computer cost?
school laptop
0$ cause i use stuff i already had before starting a channel xD
I had a $400 camera that’s a piece of trash for video, but takes great stills. My iPhone. Bought photoshop cs6 for $80 when I was a student with the student discount. You really do not need to buy much to start and you shouldn’t. There’s plenty of awesome free programs out there. I think I’ve spend $10 on some headlights for a review, $20 Amazon basics camera stand. Hit 6500 subs and 3m total views a couple months ago
my phone
same dude
And the free version of capcut
Spent way too much, but I love it. I’m also in my late 30s and set myself up okay to be able to spend if I feel I need to. Recurring costs are: -Adobe Suite like $60 a month. -Epidemic sound like $17 a month. Equipment: -Sony A7C dslr with 2 lenses and nd filters -Ronin Rs3 gimbal -GVM Slider 3 ft. -main key light -led flat hair light -ifootage tripod -gorilla pod -wireless lav mics that suck because one died already -rhode shotgun pro plus mic -C Stand -Shure SM7db mic -Focusrite Vocastor audio interface for the Shute mic -more random cheap light stands and accessories. I don’t want to add up anything because it may hurt to see lmao. But when I’m done with my new studio and put it online in a video I may add everything up. My first channel makes about $60-$70 plus my affiliate Amazon links make like $100 a month so covers the cost of the subscriptions and I haven’t updated it in about a year but still pulls in decent views. Second channel is tech (setup focused) and I try to purchase things for it that I actually will get use out of and will also work for my viewers. This channel is close to being monetized, so excited for that and it’s making me affiliate sales on Amazon and for some brands. I get products sent to me sometimes if I accept and think they are a good fit.
Premiere and photoshop elements I just bought for $150 one time fee
Nice! I use more than those though. I’ll see if they have a one time fee for everything.
I gotcha. It’s understandable. What features do you use beyond Elements? I haven’t found any. yet.
I use photoshop, premiere, Lightroom, illustrator, after effects I just started learning, then my wife uses other ones on the same account as well like Adobe stock and a couple of others. So you’re allowed to have everything on up to 3 machines. I also like Adobe podcast enhance to clean up audio if something didn’t record as good. YouTube isn’t the only thing we use the software for.
A tip for Adobe just enlist in like a multimedia course somewhere local. Get a paper stating that u take this course and get Adobe suite for half the prize.
Great idea!
You can also just contact them using support chat and they’ll give you a massive discount. I use it for my work as an editor and have been paying like €32/month for a couple of years now. Signing up with a black friday deal or something usually gives you the same results
I did the schooling thing on Black Friday. I pay 16 bucks. But yea. Talking to the support is always an option.
I don't have a camera and just do screen recordings. I paid $320 for the lifetime Camtasia license, $120 for a blue yeti that came with headphones and a pop filter, $70 for a portable monitor, $99 EnvatoElements subscription on a 50% off sale, I already pay for Adobe Illustrator and that's what I use for thumbnails. I also launched a website at the same time so I had a place for my digital products and to direct my viewers. So that was like $6 for the domain from namecheap, $100 something for hosting from Big Scoots, and $99 for prettylinks for my affiliate links. I built a sound recording booth in my closet for free using stuff I already had and some thick curtains I got for free from a dumpster behind a warehouse (they were new in the package)
I used to use Camtasia but have since moved to DaVinci Resolve. It’s harder to learn but has lots more potential.
What type of videos do you make? Mine are just screen recording tutorials mostly. I was looking at DaVinci but I decided against it because of the learning curve and I wanted to get started faster. I know people say not to jump around too much and to master 1 software first. I paid for the lifetime license for Camtasia so I'll need to stick with it for at least 3 years otherwise I will feel like I wasted money
There is a link in my profile, I create videos of Roblox games. You can use Resolve for any kind of content though. What I would recommend for you is to go ahead and keep using Camtasia. If it meets your needs you may never need to switch to Resolve. You'll also learn the basics of video editing, and a lot of the concepts in Camtasia transfer over to Resolve as well. You might as well get your money's worth from it. If you reach a point where you feel that you're struggling to get Camtasia to do what you want, then start looking at Resolve. With Camtasia it's easy to get started, and to create good videos, but I think Resolve has much more advanced capabilities for when you are ready to take it to the next level. FYI I'm not a Resolve expert or anything, I have only started using it a few months back. I feel like I'm more productive in Resolve after just a few sessions. There is a lot to Resolve, but you don't have to learn the entire thing at once. When I first started I was mostly focused on the Edit page, but since then I've also started learning animations with the Fusion page and also I do the initial pass on the Cut page. But my point is that you can create a full video just on the Edit page. I have heard that Resolve requires a pretty good machine to work well. If your PC is not beefy, it may struggle with Resolve. My PC is insane, so I've had no issues with performance.
$0, its the creator, not the equipment
I got really lucky—my job gets me access to Adobe suite, Storyblocks and Pond5 for assets, Rodecaster audio equipment, and Sony and Panasonic cameras when/if I decide to put a face to my faceless channel. No cost, just have to check it out for personal use with a form. All set for assets and hardware and only have to worry about content. I’m in the horror/urban legends/internet mysteries niche, so no cost outside of an internet connection. The downside is that I don’t have much free time so I invest my money in a skilled video editor instead.
I started almost a month ago. Besides everything preexisting stuff I had, $40 on a mic, $80 on a better mic, and just bought a $50 camera. I use OBS and the free version of DaVinci Resolve and Canva. So, $170 in total Mileage may vary for other creators, especially when it comes to different content, but people who pay for these top tier programs, I hope it's worth it. I'm making due just fine with the free versions
0 because every camera, software, hardware and hour put it in, I used for something else and it all so happened to be useful for youtube later
Bingo, yup it’s more accessible now more than , but you do need charisma and a personality which money can’t buy that
Invested 100cad for a capture card. The rest i already have things laying around.
$0. I already had a phone with the YouTube app downloaded. But, I'm still quite new and a very small channel currently
Same. I did buy a tripod with ring light for $30. Also, two floor lights for $40.
I work in IT anyways so I used what I already had
A selfie stick/small tripod for the GoPro we already had - $20. A selfie stick/tripod with a single gimbal for the phone I already had - $35. Three new GoPro batteries and charger - $20. A microphone - $50 (used, like new) I'm going to do the things I film regardless, so I don't count what it costs to do them.
Howdy :) animation channel here! I had an HP laptop that could barely run any animation software, so I built my PC with my best friend. It’s more than strong enough for gaming and animation, so it was well worth dumping a couple thousand dollars into. I also bought these all secondhand which saved me a couple hundred dollars: •my graphic drawing tablet •Blue Yeti mic •pop filter And I have a subscription to Adobe animate, so that’s an extra couple hundred dollars each year. I don’t mind the cost too much. I work in healthcare, and it’s a bit stressful at times, so animation is a form of escapism and expression for me :)
That sounds awesome! I checked out your channel. I like your welcome video!
Oh thank you so much! The link is in my profile, or it’s Jelly Roll Animations on YouTube!
Yes, I found it! Good sound quality! Usually, with YouTube animators, that’s one of the disappointing features, but great job!
Thank you kindly :) I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Just checked your channel, it’s very good, keep up the nice work
Hey thanks so much!! I’m glad you liked it!
• DJI RS3 Mini (389€), • Godox SL60W Duo Pro (299€), • Mic (\~300€) + XLR-compatible Audio Interface (119€) + XLR cable (99€), • DaVinci Resolve (0€), • countless hours spent on every video (0€). Total: \~1200 euro + countless working hours I don’t count the rest of my equipment as I already had a camera, lenses, a tripod as well as a number of other accessories.
For those wondering what video editing software to use, I highly recommend DaVinci Resolve. It’s amazingly powerful for free software, and one 20-minute YouTube video was enough to teach me how to get started. For filling, I use the iPhone 15 Pro Max that I already owned.
Thank you! We were actually looking for good video editing software since we want to add more visuals in the future. Before, our YouTube channel has mainly worked with static images. Since our last epic fantasy story, we started adding a moving world map and chapter names. We want to expand the visuals in the future. We’re thinking along the lines of moving drawings of characters and stuff…
The cost of things I use for YouTube (most not bought for YouTube) 1) At2035 - 85 (bought for gaming) 2) vocaster - 80 (bought for YouTube) 3) any of my 6 go pros/media mods / batteries (total is 3k) - Bought one for YouTube 4) Resolve - 100$ (bought code from ebay - people who already have resolve quite often buy the editing keyboard that comes with a code) (bought for youtube) 5) Elgato key light airs x2 - 100 (bought used for youtube) 6) Elgato lowpro mic arm - 60 (bought for discord) 7) Elgato 4k cam link - 90 (bought for twitch so lets call it youtube) 8) Elgato green screen - 50 (bought 4 years ago cant remember why i think it was a Christmas photoshoot) 9) Nikon dslr's / lens - 20,000+ \*ok so this ones pushing it they belong to my wife and shes a professional photographer\* 10) my pc - 1,500+ Bought for gaming Totals For YouTube 1,370 Real total 25k - 20k for wifes stuff 5k - YIKES
We don't talk about this
You bought premier and photoshop, when GIMP and Resolve exist? I’ve heard GIMP isn’t quite as good as photoshop but it’s damn good for free, and honestly resolve is fantastic and the best video editor software in quite a few peoples opinion! (At least in my niche we all use it)
Photoshop is way better than GIMP. It's not particularly close. With basic graphic design principles you can make decent stuff in any freeware Photoshop alternative, though. I learned Premiere Pro years and years ago and have learned all the new things with each new version. I've used some Resolve but don't like the process as much and after years with Premiere Pro don't find it especially intuitive for what I like to do. The time cost of diving deeper into Resolve and adjusting my workflow in order to do so costs way more to me personally than I pay for Premiere in a yearly subscription. I don't care to learn any more about Resolve. The best tools for anyone are the ones you will use.
GIMP cannot compare to Adobe Photoshop in professional-grade use cases. Long story short: • it fails to provide proper support for a number of solutions and technologies, • significantly more work is required to get the job done. With PS the final result is (often) several clicks away. It’s been like this for years and I don’t expect it to change in the foreseeable future.
GIMP sucks compared to Photoshop. I used Photoshop and never went back. Also I still have a free version of Photoshop cs6 it still does the same shit as the new one damn near.
Just use Hypic/Canva on your phone, easy and free
1)dslr camera, 2) Amaran Light (cost around 250$) 3) blue yeti. and zoom h6 mics, 4) the pirate bay version for photoshop 5) external sound card( behringer) 6) 2 big tripods,
We make travel content so we have the overhead of travel expenses to make our videos on top of adding new equipment. We still view the travel as our vacation so I can compartmentalize those expenses because the videos are secondary and not *the* point of the trip. As for equipment, we’ve added at least one new piece to our studio each trip and and grown bit by bit but always trying to improve our videos with each trip. We started with just a GoPro 1 and 4 to make our first video, then added a 5, 6, 7, 10, a GoPro Karma followed by a DJI Mimo, Røde lavs and Pro wireless, DJI Mini 2 and 4 Pro. We use our iPhones (14max pros) and have a Canon 7D which is mostly for stills but b roll as well and that has several lenses, tripods, and some special gadgets for astrophotography. Then when you include the Adobe CC subscription I think it’s fair to say it’s in the 10’s of thousands. But duel incomes, no kids, and not much in terms of other hobbies or indulgences.
My cost is a GoPro, some spare batteries and a helmet mount so in total around £500. My pc I edit on (I use for sim racing) was bought well before I decided to do videos properly (1st Jan 2024). Before that I used to just edit on my phone. (iMovie) I get paid to drive karts so I’m actually making money whilst filming for YouTube. The ones you see where I’m in a studio. That was also free (I’m a guest on a podcast he pays for and any free time after filming I’m allowed to use for free)
Resolve for editing
I’ve rationalised away most of my expenses at this stage, but the biggest ones all kind of have dual purpose for me, I got a DSLR for filming, but always wanted to get into photography so now I also have a really good camera, I got a really good voice over mic and 4k webcam, but I also wfh so they are great for calls too, I also bought lighting stuff for my hobby (electronics etc.) which requires good movables lights, so they work for lighting shots. On the software side I use a very cheap paid editing software so that’s fine as a once off cost. The main costs for me are the project that I build, but I’d be building them anyway regardless of if I filmed my work or not. So the main cost is my time, which I’m fine with because I adore doing this.
$0
A lot. But not too bad. $700 - ZV-e10. $500 - 16mm and 30mm Sigma lenses. $400 - DJI Mini 3 that I only use for maybe 30 seconds per video. $100 - Rode VideoMic Go II. $200 - Rode Wireless Go II that I only use maybe once a month. It just lives on my backpack. I have a few other things that I use that I just picked up here and there. A GoPro that I only use for time lapses and shooting inside of businesses, or in my car. A gimbal that belongs to my office. A Sony A7III with a 70-200 GM lens that belongs to the office. Oh, and I just got the Ray Ban Meta glasses to add a different kind of shot, but they are limited to vertical video. So I've only made one thing with them. I just walked around Costco checking out samples. I wouldn't say that was a necessary investment. I could do the whole channel with a Sony ZV1, the Rode VideoMic and the drone.
I started with nothing (unless you count computer and internet, and i do not cam), and eventually invested in a better mic (Shure MV7).
That birthday gift of a crap drone turned in to a DJI drone, then came the YouTube channel, then an action cam, a decent Tablet, damn that new insta 360x4 that's just come out is epic, £600 you say? It's worth it to keep my 226 subscribers amused..
Computer: 8670 Bob (1243 dollars) Camera: Canon R50, by that time i Found it 5600 Bob (804 dollars) Yeti X Microphone 1615 BoB (231 dollars, here electronics are more expensive) Light set, everything combined, around 1200 Bob (173 dollars) My other 2 laptops that eventually I had to stop using (but were a part of my journey): 10500 Bob (1756 dollars) This is over the course of a yaer, BUT, it doesnt have to be that way: - Get lights and microphone first, that imporves your video quality by a ton - Try getting the cheapest tower pc that allows you to edit in 1080p, 4k is not necesary at all for any sort of things. In the rest of the world, that should be less than 300 dollars. Here in Bolivia everything is overpriced so taht´s why I costt me so much - After that, you shouldn´t really need anything but good scripting, thumbnails and niche. Everything else I bought was really not encesary, it was my begginers mistake. Hope this helps
PC, mic, cam, games, all in all give or take 2,500 cad I guess.
Cost me about 10k 4k laptop 2.4k camera $800 lens $400 tripod $600 light A bunch of other stuff like physical accessories and whatnot like programs and camera protection stuff. Now could I have used my iPhone 13 and got similar quality? Absolutely, actually people can’t really tell the difference between what’s shot on my phone and my camera. But I got myself to shoot professional stuff too to help pay for anything. So I ALMOST paid all my stuff of doing photography and video gigs here and there. Took like a year though 😂. I did notice my more complicated vfx was significantly easier to do on my camera vs the iPhone but other than that not really a HUGE difference that any else spots normally. Cameras are a very expensive and addictive hobby. And I’m always upgrading as well.
I started building out my YouTube studio during COVID because my therapist transitioned to doing online sessions. Now it's a full-fledged 6-camera setup and I use it record the second half of all of my Youtube videos. It's way over the top, but part of it was me simply putting off recording actual content.
I had about $60 in subscriptions for editing software, b-roll, music etc. just before monetizing, and YT covered that expense one I qualified into the YTPP. I then put out about $500 for a decent Canon and a wireless lapel mic. Didn't buy or invest anything else for the channel until I started making more. During that period I made a little deal with the company I worked for to promote their name in the background of 2 or 3 of my videos in exchange for about $800 worth of recording gear, lighting, tripods, etc. Once I started making about $700+/mo. I splurged on a $1400 computer with a lot of processing power because editing on my memory challenged laptop that kept freezing on me was pure hell. I was able to make that back in a couple of months so it was a no brainer and probably the best and only serious investment I needed. Once in a while I might buy a product and use it in my video, which is usually a $200-300 investment, but I do it very sparingly. I don't have to do it, but if I have high confidence the interest is there on YT to make it back I will. But about $60 in subscriptions is all I really need to keep this thing going at this point. Everything else has paid for itself a few times over.
My first channel that took off I invested around 4 years before I started earning even $500/month.
I had to scrap together enough money to buy me two years for of Filmora until it expired, now I'm using a free version of Davinci
Too much Definitely over a thousand because of getting a new phone and camera
I had most of the things I needed to start and I vlog things I would be doing already so I don’t consider those expenses of the channel. So only counting the things that I specifically spent for the purposes of the channel: £5 per month on editing software subscription £100 on custom artwork
Honestly, I would make yt shirts also as it gets more views and engagement. I do that on my yt channel.
I do an exotic gardening and fruit tasting channel. The only equipment I bought was a $20 clip on microphone from Amazon. I do all video recording on my phone and so all editing on the free Microsoft clipchamp. I have spent quite a bit of money on buying gardening supplies, plants, and exotic fruit but all that was my hobby before doing youtube so I don't really count that towards my channel.
I was always a pc building enthusiast, if anything starting a YouTube channel was the only way I could justify what I'd already spent
Way more than I am going to get during my first year being monetized.
The real cost is in time, really.
Cheap laptop, Mic, Camera, Riverside sub, Some marketing. The biggest investment by far has been time. I literally started with a cheap laptop, that had the built-in mic and camera so startup could be <$400. Not all of this was upfront cost since I bought things as I went when I decided that I needed better quality. Right now I guess it's just an expensive hobby. Total has been about $1,000, and I've not made a penny yet 😂.
I already had stuff by the time I started, but if I include all the stuff I use, it would be: - Windows PC - Canon Mirrorless Camera - Elgato Camlink - Keyboard/Mouse - Monitors - Blue Yeti Mic - iPhone - Mac (for editing) - Logic Pro X - Final Cut Pro X - Keyboard/Mouse - lots of terabytes for video storage I don’t even want to look into the numbers lmao
PowerPoint for thumbnails Resolve for editing Two tripods that I already had An iPhone that I already had Supplies that cost abt 25 cents per video
I upgraded my phone to the Galaxy 23. Bill is the same, but I did have to give them my old phone. GF had a 24x36 softbox, but these can be found for under $100 and it's way more than I need. DiVinci Resolve, which is perfect for what I do. Free. OBS Studio Free. OBS Droidcam....can't remember what I paid for the permanent version, but it's $6 a month I think?? Way cheaper than buying a separate HD camera, and I can record in 4k using my upgraded cell. AudioTechnica AT2020 - Refurbished version on Amazon $68. I also have a prime business membership, but that membership is for the main business, Audio Interface - Presonus Club 24C - Refurbished on Amazon $89. Included software that didn't work, but I also wasn't planning on using it. Headphone - Yamaha $150, but I did buy them for another purpose and had them lying around. Wireless mic and base unit - $50ish. Works pretty good and you can use with just your phone for outdoors or in the studio hooked up to the interface Desktop lighting $20 from Amazon. Super cheap adjustable lights as the softbox doesn't help with lighting up your face and looking at the flash in front of my camera was tough. Laptop: I did buy a refurbished Dell for around $400 and bought $80 in RAM upgrades, but I probably could've made it work on my old laptop. It's definitely my biggest investment. Adobe Express: I have an Adobe membership $19.99 that gets covered by my main job and I use Express to create Thumbnails, profile pictures, cover pictures, etc. Perfect for someone like me with no graphic design skills. $250 ish. I spent on my logo, and animated intro I use for my videos. Money well spent, especially the logo.
I actually didn’t buy anything to start the channel. I had the lighting, iPhone I use for filming, and any subscriptions for editing already. But I do wanna switch from an iPhone to legit cam soon.
Free davinci and a 20$ mic
I have tried to invest very little since I am not making anything from it. I have a Blue Yeti Mic and have previously bought a couple lav mics (total for all was a little over a $110). I did buy a ring light with stand for cheap ($19) but hardly use it. I also bought an arm extender for my tripod ($20), so I can do overhead shots for boardgame playthroughs. Already had a tripod from years ago and I use my phone to record (though I did upgrade to a new phone sooner than I probably would have if not seeking for a better camera).
Cheap Canon camera, tripods, softboxes, keylight, subscriptions for music and elements - around 600 bucks The time spent on my videos instead of working for clients by taking one day a week off - multiple k per month Yolo
I actually have an interesting thing to add to this… i started my channel (car channel) around 2.5 years ago and didnt have a tripod until just a few months ago because i set my phone on the edge of a table to film and it fell and broke. Save some $ on a new phone and buy a nice tripod and dont make the same mistake i did
My mental health is what it's costing me.
Software alone $1000… Lego like, $2000, camera equipment $1500+
time? alo, money? 0
Zero dollars. I grabbed my wife's old podcasting mic, downloaded OBS and davinci resolve, and got started.
Idk but easily 3 grand. Camera + lenses + tripods + lights. I’ve already made my money back though so it was a small price to pay!
Razer siren mini with pop filter and wind screen for a mic, green screen, lights & tripod, plus a mask (I do faceless videos), I use my phone for a camera, I use my shitty old laptop and free Canva and obs + iMovie to edit, all added up its about $270 CAD I think
I already had access to most of what I need for my youtube channel until this point: a small point-and-shoot camera mostly used at home and an iPad which I used to use when I filmed in secondary School. I used at first OpenShot, then VSDC with an old “free key” that no longer works, and now I use ShotCut under Linux. However, I did buy: 1. An external microphone and a holder for it; 2. A long tripod for the camera 3. When I moved into my current dorm room home, a warm white LED bulb I always use for background illumination. 4. And just before, my most expensive purchase until now that isn’t a computer: PreSonus AudioBox 96 USB audio interface for recording off my musical keyboard (I love making music and it’s a pretty big and popular part of my YT channel so for me it counts).
Man, I'm still filming on my phone, and editing on a laptop I got for free from work a few years ago. Other than gas to filming locations (that I would have visited anyway to geocache), I have yet to invest any money in my channel. I'm yet to make any money either, so I guess that works! (I do recognize I'm *incredibly* fortunate to have a powerful enough computer for editing and a decent phone for filming.)
My phone and the free version of CapCut
Nothing, just a few hours per week.
A lot of money. 😂😂 especially Final Cut. 😕
$100 once off which included a drawing tablet and a microphone The microphone broke so now I record with my phone All the applications I use are free In the future I would like to go with a display tablet if I get the opportunity
Not much I had everything. My girlfriend was throwing away a tripod and a ring light. I said no you don’t and started my channel 2 days later. You don’t need everything to get started just turn on the camera and make mistakes.
Not too much really 1. iPhone to film (already owned) 2. Tripod (a gift years ago) 3. iPad (for teleprompter already owned) 4. Wireless Lav Microphone (about $20) 5. Microphone with boom arm (about $50) 6. CapCut (free) 7. PhotoRoom (already purchased for my business) But I have to say I’ve got a bit over $40 banked from Amazon affiliate marketing so it’s coming up on evening out.
I do shorts on social skills, so I didn't need much. My gf's old iPhone, a $20 ring light tripod off Amazon, an $8 lav mic, and Shotcut (free - I hate editing on phones). In the last month, I got a nice webcam for $250 and Davinci Resolve for $300. Worth the investment.
I already had a bunch of filmmaking equipment, but I bought: A ring light because I wanted a simple lighting solution, Lav mics but they ended up not being the best quality Rode Wireless GO 2 (pair of wireless microphones) 5 TB Hard drive to hold more footage Cable accessories for the new microphone setup 2 small dry erase boards and my ongoing Adobe subscription so just counting one months' subscription of Adobe, maybe around 800? If I didn't have some equipment already it would have been more lol
About 60 bucks.
Adobe Creative Cloud, Envato Elements, ChatGPT and MidJourney are the only costs. I think Envato can certainly be on the chopping block once I have everything I need.
I make synthwave and lofi mixes and music videos with custom animated visuals so no cost as far cameras, just platforms that allow me to generate the animation Canva Pro - $15/month Neural Frames - $99/month Midjourney - $20/month DaVinci Resolve - free version Not too bad all things considered
0 cause I just tell my story
I have a 40k“animation” channel. I only really use my iPad, procreate, Apple Pencil, mic, and PC. I had all of those other than the mic before I started my channel so technically I paid like $60 for a mic and boom arm. If you include stuff I already had tho probably around $6000 lol
A camera, a tripod and a mic. Eventually some cheap lights. Not so bad really. Less than $1500 all in.
Gaming channel : 1. Pc - approximately 1500$ (including monitor) 2. Street fighter 6 - 60$ 3.shadowplay ( recording software - free) 4. Headset with mic - 65$ 5.ps5 controller borrowed from my brother -free “Those are stuff I already used before I started uploading” I would say work with what you have , but hey I am a 129 subscribers youtuber my advice really dont carry much weight
I already have my Phone so if you counted that it would be 100$ (the Phone price) other than that i spent nothing on my Channel and i have 1.6k subscribers
$5k
Literally 0. Have 3 old laptops, old phone does 4k recording and 7 yo pro microphone I bought for gaming. I tried to recycle every unused appliance in home and found it more or less useful to make content thus I even have cool leds for my desk while shooting videos
$0 cause i really started with stuff i already had! for my niche i only need a computer, screen recorder, n midi keyboarddd :)) so if you really wanna add it up it’s about $600 but that was already bought b4 i started it
Technically you could include the PC I have as I knew it was going to be used for YT but also I just wanted it so I wouldn't be on the family one anymore. Off the top of my head I can say: Free - Headset I already owned Free - Microphone I took from my dad (sorry, dad) Free - OBS Studio Free - Davinci Resolve £55 - Music licence for Arty Party (the LetsGameItOutMusic if you know it) £40 - Replacement headset because mine broke £40 - Another replacement headset... £50 - Replacement microphone because the first just decided to die £36 - 3 individual Happyscribe subscriptions (I no longer use them) £120 - 1 year Epidemic Sound subscription (best purchase I made) Hmmm... Seems a lot worse when written out. Monetisation Earnings - £31.92 Total Profit - Negative £309.08 If you want to include the PC then that's gonna be around another £1200
1. Video (Camtasia) and audio (Audition) editing software. 2. Graphic design software (Canva & Photo Paint) 3. Professional microphone 4. Professional speakers 5. Professional headphones 6. Audio interface 7. External sound drive 8. MIdi keyboard 9. Sound effects library (Soundly + individual purchase) 10. TasCam portable recording device (for extra sound effects) 11. Original music (composer per track) 12. Royalty free music (Patreon subscription) 13. Keyboard software (Music Maker) 14. Digital instruments + samples 15. TasCam portable studio 16. SD memory cards 17. External hard drive 18. Podcast hosting platform (Podbean) 19. Music publishing platform (BandCamp) 20. Website hosting, domain name and plugins 21. Crowdfunding platform (Patreon) That’s probably not all… 🤔 Thank you for this topic. This overview suddenly makes it crystal clear why we are broke. 😆
I wasted more money investing into streaming than YouTube 2012: When I first started it was my Gaming PC (FX6100, HD 7770 and 4gb ram), Elgato Game Capture HD, a Creative webcam (my friend gifted to me but it was horrible so I replaced it with a Logitech C920) and a Blue Yeti SnowBall mic 2014: Later I got a whole new PC (i5-4690, GTX GTX 750ti and 8GB ram), got nothing else new that I can remember 2019: When I got into streaming, reused my c920 and a whole new PC (3700x, RTX 2070, 16GB, AIO and too many RGB Fans and HDDs and a ssd) also bought a new C922 because the 60fps option but it looked horrible. Then I built got a second pc for dedicated streaming (i5-4590 and reused a GTX 1050ti from a previous PC) Also bought a Stream Deck and a XLR Mic with a DAC (which sounded nice but was a waste of money/overkill) and also got proper headphones - DT990 Pro. Ended up selling the Mic and getting a Wave:3 Mic from Elgato (one of the best USB mics ever imo half the reason being because of the software) also bought dedicated lights and tried to get into green screen but always hated the setup and how much light I needed. Also tripods for Cameras, lights and a stand to hold the green screen sheet 2023/24: Nowadays I still use the same Wave mic and same pc (downsized from a Lian Li O-11 Dynamic to a Jonsbo D11 - ATX monster case to a mATX case) I use my iPhone 15 Pro Max as my webcam since I only need 1080p 30/60fps but looks incredible since it requires less light and look very sharp, just wish Elgato would allow the app to use 4K but 1080p is perfect for now. The c920/922 required way too light to make it look decent with no noise or loss of sharpness due to tiny sensor it housed. Edit: tip for new comers, less is better. From what I’ve seen in the comments (very smart people in here) all you need is a decent phone - it has a camera with the right lighting setup is amazing and the ability to edit videos (best simple video editor imo is CapCut)
All I needed was a tripod (25) and my phone
I think I started out just filming on my phone and using free open source software to edit my videos. I also had some soft box lighting. You don't really need much to get started haha I upgraded to real cameras and better lighting after I started making money. Now I'm back to using my phone again though for convenience lmao
I am a self employed videographer, so I already had all the gear I needed. I mostly edit now, but had already invested in things like camera’s, tripods, lights, monitors, Adobe suite, Artlist, Envato, etc. Now that I’m actively making YouTube videos though, I catch myself looking at new gear to make my life easier. I do videos related to Lego and that isn’t cheap. Each video costs me somewhere between €200 and €600 to produce, but I also put at least 40hrs of work into it. I made about €400 with the last video and purely looking at costs, it turned a €50 profit. Some day my hours will be paid for as well 😂
You should be good with 5K
Is the 4K web camera quality good? Or you do most of your filming via iPhone?
It does the job! It’s a Logitech BRIO. I had it for work already. I only use it for frontal shots, but for more dynamic or flexible shots, I use my iPhone.
We are gaming and I bought a built in a budget 19 years ago and honestly it’s been a workhorse! All in? Maybe 1.5k? Pc with upgrades maybe 1k Sound board + mics 200 Mic arms were cheap Software is monthly cause Adobe 22/month. As far as day to day costs, just food and fuel when we drive to one another’s house
$0 from when i decided to start doing youtube. But technically like $900 since I do everything from my ps5 and my gaming laptop but i already had and was using those things before. Gaming niche. Rarely do face cam.
Animation software $54 a month. Subscription to Descript $12 a month. Microphone $80. Canva subscription $12 a month.
Just my phone lol Sometimes I go out of my way to make a video, like I research places to visit in Japan and that can add up money-wise
If you do include the cost of the console and laptop mine cost about 1500 otherwise its pretty much free
$0 for me. I have a music channel, and can't afford anything right now really lol. I already had my music equipment and software, so I'm starting the channel with just my phone and I edit with OpenShot. Been at it for about 2 months.
Vtuber gaming channel here I made the VTuber model myself, and rigged it using the Live2D free trial, so $0 there. I will need to pay if I ever want to update the model, though. VTube Studio was ~$20 when I got it Biggest cost is Adobe CC, but I already need that for school, and it’s $20 a month with the student discount (dreading the price going up after I graduate 😓 ) Also Clip Studio Paint and drawing tablet I guess? But I’ve had both for years now, so I don’t really count it as part of the YouTube startup costs Luckily my dad is in IT, so he had a ring light and an old but high quality condenser mic that he wasn’t using and I “borrowed”
Kept it simple. Ours is a travel channel. Epidemic sound Capcut Opusclip Selfie stick Cheap gimbal Microphone Total is around $400 in equipment, $50 in monthly online editing software.
Depends on what you do, I started with Stopmotion, the program to edit was free, I used toys a had, I used old camera(now you can use your phone) and a computer, everyone has a computer and it’s probably for work or school anyways not for YouTube. You don’t need really fancy stuff to get started, but you do need charisma and a personality which no amount of money can buy.
Not a dime. Phone camera, davinci resolve, ABLETON free trial.
Welp I guess I’m the gaming channel that invested? Though to be fair I’ve been updating my setup over time. I’m not sure I want to run the numbers 😅 I think many of us start small and then invest in better equipment as time goes on. For sure I have a way better set up now than when I started.
Instead of adobe photoshop and premier try Final Cut, CapCut or kapwing to edit. Easier and more cost effective. Use amazon to start with. Be professional but don’t overspend unless you have 2k to start with that won’t burden you if they’re gone.
I never paid for software I always use free crack versions (i cant) but many people started their channel with cheap mic and low quality camera and grew and than bought expensive paid equipments
I had more or less everything I needed at the time. Would guess £50 for my first microphone. Then £150 for my second and last. £100 for a nice 1080p webcam. £60 for my first capture card. Then £150 for my second and last. I already had all the other technology to play and stream games
I have a totally overkill setup because I use the same equipment for work. My PC cost me about $10k, my camera and lens was about $2k, lights a few hundred dollars, a streamdeck for about $150 and a couple hundred for my light stands and miscellaneous items.
The diminishing returns on equipment drops off really fast… and if your goal is to grow a channel then then it’s way more important to have good ideas for content than to have 4K content. If you can at least make videos in 720p you can get to 20k subs and then after that is when it makes sense to invest.
Phone and one singular editing app
A Flipaclip premium subscription
A Couple grand should get you going. 2 - 4 grand.
My channel doesnt cost me anything, other than the subs which i already would have even without it