Audiobook production cost, from your word count.
Narrators and producers price audiobooks per finished hour. This turns your word count into finished hours, using ACX's guide of about 9,300 words an hour, and then into dollars at the rate you have been quoted. Every step is shown.
Estimated cost
Enter your word count and the rate per finished hour you were quoted.
for about 0.0 finished hours of audio.
Words per hour from ACX's help center, Narrate an audiobook, which notes it is an average; read October 27, 2026. Finished length varies with the book and the narrator. This page is not affiliated with ACX or Audible.
How long your audiobook will run
Finished hours at 9,300 words an hour, the number every per-hour quote multiplies.
| Word count | Finished hours |
|---|---|
| 30,000 | 3.2 |
| 45,000 | 4.8 |
| 60,000 | 6.5 |
| 80,000 | 8.6 |
| 100,000 | 10.8 |
Word count ÷ 9,300, rounded to one decimal. Example: 60,000 ÷ 9,300 = 6.45, so about 6.5 hours.
Three ways to pay on ACX
ACX, Audible's marketplace for audiobook production, lists three payment options when a rights holder makes an offer to a producer:
- Pay for Production. You pay the producer a fee per finished hour when the audiobook is complete. You keep all of your royalty. This is what the calculator above prices.
- Royalty Share. You split your royalties with the producer instead of paying a fee. Under ACX's new model, the 50% exclusive royalty is split equally, so you and the producer each receive 25%.
- Royalty Share Plus. A combination of the two: a fee and a royalty split.
Which is cheaper depends on how many copies the audiobook will sell. A fee is a known cost. A royalty share costs nothing up front, but half of every sale goes to the producer for the term of the agreement.
What the royalty is
| ACX model | Exclusive distribution | Non-exclusive |
|---|---|---|
| New model, from May 26, 2026 | 50% | 30% |
| Legacy model, until it ends at year-end | 40% | 25% |
From ACX's help article How royalties work, read October 27, 2026. The new model applies to newly claimed titles, new offers, new users and titles enrolled in it.
What a quote should include
Before comparing rates, check that each quote covers the same work. In a 2013 post, ACX's blog described the cost as two parts, narration and post-production (editing, proofing and mastering), and estimated roughly $200 per finished hour for each. That was its estimate thirteen years ago, not a current price, but the two parts still matter: a low rate for narration alone can cost more than a higher rate that includes the finished, edited files.
- Narration, editing, proofing and mastering to ACX's technical requirements.
- How many rounds of corrections are included.
- How a part hour is billed.
- Who pays for any studio time.
Where the audiobook fits in the cost of a book
An audiobook is one of the optional lines in what a book costs. For a business author, the question is less whether the audiobook pays for itself in royalties and more whether the people you want to reach listen rather than read. The royalties guide covers print and ebook earnings, and the book value calculator weighs the whole book against what it can bring back.
Sources: ACX, Narrate an audiobook; ACX, Make an offer; ACX, How royalties work; ACX blog, "Money Talks" (June 11, 2013). All read October 27, 2026.
Common questions
How much does it cost to make an audiobook?
Finished hours times the producer's rate per finished hour. ACX says most performers narrate about 9,300 words per hour, so a 60,000-word book runs about 6.5 finished hours. At a quoted rate of $250 per finished hour that is about $1,613. Rates are set by each narrator or producer, so use the quotes you get.
What is a finished hour?
One hour of the final, edited audiobook a listener hears. It is not the time spent in the studio, which is longer because of recording, editing and proofing. Producers quote per finished hour so the price follows the length of the book.
Can I make an audiobook with no money up front?
On ACX, yes, through Royalty Share. ACX describes it as splitting your royalties with the producer instead of paying a fee. Royalty Share Plus combines a fee with a royalty split.
What royalty does ACX pay?
ACX's help center says that under its new model, which started May 26, 2026, rights holders earn a 50% royalty rate for exclusive distribution and 30% for non-exclusive. Titles still on the legacy model keep 40% exclusive and 25% non-exclusive until the legacy model ends at year-end.
How do I find my word count?
Your word processor shows it. Count everything that will be read aloud, including the introduction and acknowledgments if the narrator will read them.