Video Production Retainer vs Project Based: Which Model Actually Serves Your Business
You need consistent video content. Your brand or agency has moved past the occasional one-off project and into a rhythm where video is a monthly, sometimes weekly, requirement. The question now is not whether to invest in production support, but how to structure that investment.
The debate around video production retainer vs project based engagement is one that every growing brand and agency faces. Both models have been used successfully. Both have predictable failure modes. And the right choice depends on variables that most comparison articles never address, like how much context your production partner needs to retain, how volatile your content calendar is, and whether you value creative continuity or maximum per-project flexibility.
According to a Content Marketing Institute study, 73% of B2B marketers and 70% of B2C marketers use video content as part of their strategy, with the majority planning to increase their video budgets. As video spending grows, the structure of your production relationships becomes a significant driver of both quality and cost efficiency.
This article provides an honest comparison of both engagement models, outlines the situations where each one makes sense, and explains why the fastest-growing agencies are increasingly moving toward retainer structures with embedded production partners.
How Project-Based Video Production Works
The Standard Model
In a project-based engagement, you hire a production partner for a defined scope of work. The scope includes specific deliverables, a timeline, and a fixed budget. Once the project is complete, the engagement ends unless a new project is initiated.
Each project follows a discrete cycle: brief, scope, produce, deliver, close. Payment structures vary but typically involve a deposit, milestone payments, and final payment upon delivery.
Where Project-Based Works Well
First-time relationships. When working with a production partner for the first time, a project-based engagement allows both parties to evaluate the working relationship without a long-term commitment. One completed project tells you more about compatibility than any portfolio review.
Truly one-off productions. If you need a single corporate video, a one-time event captured, or a standalone campaign film, project-based pricing makes straightforward sense. There is no recurring need to justify a retainer.
Highly specialized projects. Some productions require very specific expertise, like a feature-length documentary or a major experiential activation, that does not match your ongoing content needs. Engaging a specialist for that specific project while maintaining a different arrangement for regular content is a reasonable approach.
Budget testing. For organizations that have not previously invested in production support, a project-based engagement provides a low-risk way to test the waters and evaluate the return before committing to ongoing spend.
Where Project-Based Falls Short
Re-onboarding costs. Every new project engagement requires context sharing: brand guidelines, creative preferences, stakeholder dynamics, past performance data, and operational expectations. This onboarding process consumes time on both sides and reduces the percentage of the budget that goes toward actual production.
For ongoing content needs, this re-onboarding happens repeatedly. If you engage the same partner, it is somewhat reduced but never eliminated. If you engage different partners for different projects, the full onboarding cost recurs every time.
Pricing incentive misalignment. In project-based work, the production partner is incentivized to complete the defined scope and move on. They have limited motivation to invest in understanding your long-term content strategy, optimize production efficiency across projects, or propose improvements that might reduce future project scopes.
Scheduling uncertainty. Good production talent is in demand. On a project basis, you are competing for your preferred partner's availability with every other client seeking project work. There is no guaranteed capacity, which means your timeline is subject to their existing commitments.
No accumulated efficiency. Each project starts from a baseline. Lessons learned about what works, which vendors perform best for your content types, which post-production workflows produce the fastest results, these insights are rarely captured and applied systematically across project-based engagements.
How Retainer-Based Video Production Works
The Standard Model
A retainer engagement provides a set number of hours per month dedicated to your account. These hours are allocated across whatever production activities are most needed: strategy, pre-production planning, vendor management, production oversight, post-production, or workflow optimization.
The retainer fee is typically a fixed monthly cost, with execution expenses (shoot costs, talent, equipment rentals, vendor fees) billed separately on a per-project basis. This structure separates the cost of production expertise and management from the variable costs of specific productions.
Where Retainer-Based Works Well
Ongoing content production. If your brand or agency produces video content on a regular cadence, monthly social content, quarterly campaigns, ongoing product videos, a retainer provides the dedicated capacity to maintain that cadence without re-engaging for each cycle.
Multi-format production. When your content needs span multiple formats (social video, testimonials, brand films, product videos, event coverage), a retainer gives you access to production expertise across all of these without negotiating separate scopes for each.
Strategic production partnerships. Retainers enable your production partner to function strategically, not just operationally. With ongoing engagement, they can identify patterns, recommend efficiency improvements, build knowledge about what performs well, and proactively plan production around your business calendar.
Speed and priority access. Retainer clients get priority scheduling. When a time-sensitive project lands, your production partner has reserved capacity to respond quickly rather than fitting you into an existing schedule.
Cost predictability. Monthly retainer fees provide budget predictability for the expertise and management component of production. This makes financial planning easier and eliminates the scope negotiation overhead that accompanies every project-based engagement.
Where Retainer-Based Falls Short
Low or unpredictable volume. If your production needs are genuinely sporadic, fewer than five projects per year, a retainer may not provide enough utilization to justify the monthly commitment. The math only works when the retainer hours are consistently used.
Narrow scope needs. If you only ever need one specific type of production, a highly specialized project-based partner might deliver better results than a generalist retainer relationship.
Potential for complacency. Without performance accountability built into the retainer structure, there is a risk that the relationship becomes transactional rather than strategic. The best retainer partnerships include regular performance reviews, efficiency benchmarking, and clear expectations for ongoing improvement.
The Real Cost Comparison
Project-Based Cost Structure
A typical project-based video production engagement prices work in one of three ways:
Day rates: $2,000 to $5,000 per day for senior production talent, plus crew, equipment, and post-production
Fixed project fees: $5,000 to $50,000 per project depending on complexity, length, and production value
Cost-plus: Actual production costs plus a production management fee (typically 15% to 25%)
For an agency producing 10 videos per month, project-based costs might look like: 10 projects times $7,500 average project fee equals $75,000 per month, plus internal management time.
Retainer Cost Structure
A retainer engagement might cost $5,750 to $15,000 per month for production expertise and management, plus execution costs per project.
For the same 10-video monthly output, retainer costs might look like: $10,000 monthly retainer plus $4,000 average execution cost per video (reduced from $7,500 because the retainer eliminates redundant scope and management overhead) equals $50,000 per month.
The retainer model typically delivers 20% to 35% savings on equivalent output, primarily through eliminated re-onboarding costs, negotiated vendor rates, and production efficiencies that accumulate over time.
The Hidden Cost Nobody Tracks
What both models miss in typical comparisons is the internal cost of managing external production. Every project-based engagement requires internal project management: writing briefs, reviewing scopes, managing timelines, coordinating feedback, and handling administrative tasks.
A retainer with an embedded partner reduces this internal overhead because the partner takes ownership of production management. This frees your internal team to focus on creative direction and client relationships rather than logistical coordination. The time savings alone, often 10 to 15 hours per month for agencies managing multiple productions, adds significant value to the retainer model.
When to Transition from Project-Based to Retainer
Clear Signals It Is Time
You are consistently engaging the same production partner for repeat work. If you have already found a partner you trust and you are re-engaging them regularly, formalizing the relationship into a retainer eliminates the inefficiency of repeated scoping and negotiation.
Your internal team spends significant time on production management. If your creative director, account managers, or marketing team is dedicating hours each week to coordinating production logistics, a retainer with an embedded partner can reclaim that time.
Your content output is growing but quality is not keeping pace. Increasing production volume on a project-by-project basis often results in declining quality because each engagement lacks the accumulated knowledge and process refinement that a retainer provides.
You are losing time to vendor sourcing for every project. If your team is searching for and vetting production vendors repeatedly, a retainer partner who brings an established vendor network eliminates this recurring drag on your timeline.
Making the Transition
Start with a modest retainer commitment, often the lowest tier offered, and use the first two to three months to establish working patterns. During this period, assess how the partner integrates with your team, how effectively they manage production, and whether the retainer hours align with your actual needs.
Most agencies that transition to retainer models find that they need to adjust the hour allocation after the initial period, sometimes up, sometimes down. The Aux Co offers three, six, and twelve-month engagement options to provide flexibility as the relationship matures.
How The Aux Co's Retainer Model Works
The Aux Co structures retainers specifically for agencies that need embedded production support without traditional overhead:
Low monthly retainer provides dedicated, always-on staff for strategic support from pitch to delivery. The team is white-labeled and fits within the agency's existing workflow, requiring zero onboarding time.
Project-based fees cover the majority of execution costs within production budgets, similar to how the agency would pay any other producer. The hourly retainer model avoids the wasteful day-rate pricing common in project-based work.
Transparent pricing with no surprise costs, no vendor markup games, and unused hours that roll over. The model scales with the agency's actual work volume rather than imposing fixed costs regardless of utilization.
For agencies evaluating the video production retainer vs project based question, this structure provides the strategic benefits of a retainer, continuity, efficiency, and priority access, with the cost transparency and flexibility that makes the commitment manageable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours do I need in a retainer for video production?
This depends on your production volume and the level of support needed. A 20-hour monthly retainer covers strategic oversight and management for agencies producing 5 to 10 pieces of content per month. A 40 to 60-hour retainer supports more active production management across higher-volume programs. Starting with the lowest tier and adjusting based on actual usage is a low-risk approach.
Can I do both retainer and project-based work with the same partner?
Yes. Many agencies maintain a retainer for ongoing production management and layer project-based fees for specific production executions. The retainer covers strategic planning, vendor coordination, and quality oversight, while project fees cover the direct costs of individual productions.
What happens if I do not use all my retainer hours in a month?
With well-structured retainers, unused hours roll over to subsequent months. This addresses the concern about paying for time you do not use. The Aux Co's retainer model includes hour rollover provisions specifically because production demand naturally fluctuates.
Is a retainer more expensive than project-based for small volume?
For very low volume (fewer than 3 projects per year), project-based is almost certainly more cost-effective. The retainer model becomes advantageous when production is consistent enough that the ongoing relationship delivers efficiency gains, better vendor rates, and reduced re-onboarding costs.
How do I know if my retainer partner is delivering enough value?
Track output volume, timeline adherence, budget accuracy, and the hours your internal team spends on production management. Compare these metrics to your pre-retainer baseline. If production output is higher, timelines are tighter, budgets are more accurate, and your team has more time for creative work, the retainer is delivering value.
Can I cancel a retainer if it is not working?
Most retainer agreements include defined terms (three, six, or twelve months) with termination provisions. It is reasonable to negotiate a 30-day termination clause, especially for initial engagements. If you are concerned about commitment, start with a shorter term and extend once you have confidence in the relationship.