Hire an in-house video editor, or let RealTake do the job: what a hire really costs, and why the videos still wait
A full-time video editor averages $65,728 a year in the US before benefits, takes weeks to hire and ramp, and edits at the speed of one person. RealTake turns your raw video into a finished, posted short form video in minutes, on every plan, from $49 a month.
For short form video, RealTake replaces the in-house editor hire: the edit is planned, cut, captioned and posted in minutes, for a fraction of one salary, with no ramp time and no queue.
- A hire costs about $94K a year, loaded$65,728 average salary plus roughly 30% in benefits, before software, gear or the weeks it takes to fill the role.
- RealTake edits in minutes, from $49Record on your phone, upload, and get back a finished video with cuts, captions, b-roll, graphics and sound.
- No single point of failureNobody to onboard, nobody on holiday, nobody who quits. A teammate can upload and review using your account.
Salary and benefit figures from ZipRecruiter and the BLS, read October 29, 2026.
The hire costs a salary. The video still waits in a queue.
A job post, a desk and a queue
- Website banner redesignMon
- Sales deck v4Tue
- Webinar recording trimWed
- Thumbnails for the podcastThu
- Your 3 short videosnext week
- !About 30% on top of salary for benefits, before software, gear and a desk
- !Four to eight weeks to hire, then weeks to ramp
- !One person's taste, learned once
- !Output capped by their hours; your video waits behind everything else
- !Sick, on holiday or resigned: the function stops
A finished video, posted
- ✓Record on your phone, finished in minutes, no queue
- ✓A Director that plans the edit and labels every cut
- ✓Formats, not templates: fresh styles every week
- ✓Studio: unlimited changes before render, at no cost
- ✓Brand kit applied to every video
- ✓Scheduled across LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube
What hiring an in-house video editor actually costs
Not opinions: published salary data and government cost figures, read October 29, 2026.
$65,728 a year, average
ZipRecruiter's US average for a video editor, with a 25th percentile of $44,500 and a 75th of $82,500. Glassdoor's median total pay sits around $72K, and the BLS 2024 median for film and video editors is $70,570.
Vidpros salary roundup, Mar 2026 →Add about 30% for benefits
The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release for June 2026 puts private-industry benefits at 30.0% of total compensation. On a $65,728 salary that is roughly $94K a year, or about $7,800 a month, before software, equipment and a desk.
BLS ECEC, June 2026 →If the hire is a social media manager
Sprout Social's 2026 guide puts the average US social media manager salary at $74,000, with a national range of $64,000 to $84,000. Loaded with benefits that is about $105K a year, and the editing is still only part of their week.
Sprout Social, Feb 2026 →One person, one speed
A full-time editor is one pair of hands with one set of habits, learned once. Short form formats change weekly. Your three videos sit in the same queue as the sales deck and the webinar trim, and when that person is out, nothing goes out.
What RealTake does on every video →What you get instead of a hire: an editor that plans, explains and never sleeps
Everything a good editor does to a short form video, done in minutes, on every plan, and written down so you can see the reasoning.
RealTake plans the whole edit before it assembles it: where the hook is, where to tighten, which style, where the emphasis and the b-roll land. Every cut is labeled with its reason and every cut can be reversed. That is the part an editor keeps in their head. Here it is written down.
Minutes, not a queue
Record on your phone, upload, and the finished video is back in minutes. Nothing waits behind someone else's to-do list.
Every cut, explained
Smart cuts remove rambles, repeats and dead air, keep the best delivery of each line, and label every cut with its reason. All reversible.
Formats, not templates
Styles are built from the formats working on social right now, and fresh styles are added every week. A hire copies a trend when they happen to notice it.
Unlimited revisions, free
Open the Studio, move anything, fix a word, swap a clip. Changes before render cost nothing. No revision rounds, no waiting for Monday.
Brand kit on every video
Your colours, fonts and look applied automatically, so every video matches without briefing anyone.
Posted and scheduled
Send each video to LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube from RealTake, now or on a schedule, and see how each one did.
In-house video editor vs RealTake, line by line
| RealTake | In-house editor | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | From $49, every feature included | About $7,800 loaded on an average salary, before software and gear |
| Time to first video | Minutes after you sign up | Weeks to hire, then weeks to ramp |
| Turnaround per video | Minutes | Whenever it reaches the top of the queue |
| Who plans the edit | A Director that plans hook, pacing, style, b-roll and graphics, and labels every cut | One person, from experience |
| Keeping up with formats | Fresh styles every week, built from what is working on social | When they notice a trend |
| Revisions | Unlimited in the Studio before render, at no cost | Rounds, in their working hours |
| Capacity | Up to around 213 finished videos a month on Empire | Capped by one person's hours |
| When they are out | Nothing changes | The function stops |
| Brand consistency | Brand kit applied to every video | Depends on the brief |
| Posting | LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, now or scheduled | A second job for the same person |
| Works on your phone | Yes, in the browser. Nothing to install | Their desktop |
Salary and benefit figures from ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, the BLS and Sprout Social, read October 29, 2026. RealTake plan details on our pricing page.
What a month of the in-house option costs against a RealTake plan
Loaded cost means salary plus the BLS benefits share of 30%. Software, equipment, recruiting fees and a desk are on top. Figures read October 29, 2026.
One salary, every month
- !Benefits add about 30% on top of salary (BLS, June 2026)
- !Recruiting, software, camera and a desk are extra
- !Weeks to hire and weeks to ramp before the first video
- !Paid in full in the months nothing goes out
Every feature on every plan. Priced by how often you post.
- ✓Every video: cuts, captions, titles, b-roll, motion graphics, sound, a style, and posting or scheduling to LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
- ✓Changes in the Studio before render cost nothing. You see the cost first. Failed renders are never charged
- ✓Reminder email before any renewal. Cancel any time. No contract, no onboarding fee
- ✓Support answered by the founder, not a bot
RealTake, by the numbers
The work a hire would do, already done
Every one of these went from a raw phone recording to this: cuts, captions, title, b-roll, graphics and sound, in a style built from what is working on social right now.
Skip the job post. Upload a video instead.
Free plan: 5 watermarked videos a month. No credit card.
Who should skip the hire: both kinds of team
If you were about to post the job
Run RealTake for a month first. The money you would spend on the first month's salary covers Empire for most of a year, and the videos start today, not after the notice period.
- Record a batch on your phone, upload, and have a month of videos scheduled in an afternoon
- Every cut explained, so you learn what works without a hire's opinion
- A teammate or assistant can upload and review using your account
If you already have someone
Give them RealTake. The cutting, captioning, b-roll and graphics are done in minutes, so one person ships what used to take a team, and spends their time on what to say rather than how to cut it.
- Brand kit keeps every video on-brand without a brief
- Editor's notes on every video: a score for hook, content and pacing, and one thing to try next time
- Posting and scheduling to four platforms from the same place
FAQs
Is RealTake cheaper than hiring an in-house video editor?
How much does it cost to hire a video editor in 2026?
Can RealTake replace a video editor for short form video?
What about quality? An editor has taste.
Can my assistant or team use it?
Do I need any software or equipment?
When were these figures checked?
Related
Social media agency vs RealTake
Boutique social media agencies run $5K to $10K a month, on contracts, with day-long turnarounds. RealTake finishes and posts your video in minutes, from $49.
Read →Hire a video editor vs RealTake
Hiring a short form video editor costs $50 to $150 a video and a day or more of waiting. RealTake returns a finished, posted video in minutes. Checked Oct 2026.
Read →Hire a video editor vs use an AI video editor
Hiring a video editor or using AI for short form video: how they compare on cost, turnaround, quality and control, and when each makes sense.
Read →The first video is minutes away. The hire is months away.
Upload one raw video and see it finished, free.
See your first video — freeFree plan: 5 watermarked videos a month · no credit card