To give you a grounded answer on explainer video length, we measured the finished client videos in our Vimeo library, which covers our 2012 to 2022 work. Across 113 videos, the median length is 1 minute 43 seconds, and 83 of them (73%) run longer than one minute and no longer than three.
These numbers describe videos Epic Video Factory delivered to clients, not the whole market. Use them as a practical starting point when you plan your own video. The method is explained in full below.
Finished client videos from our 2012 to 2022 catalog, each counted once.
The median length across all 113 videos, 1 minute 43 seconds.
Ran 61 to 180 seconds, the one-to-three-minute range.
The shortest video ran 15 seconds and the longest 5 minutes 50 seconds.
Each length comes from the video file itself, to the nearest second. Every figure below states how many videos it covers.
| Length | Videos | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds or less | 7 | 6% |
| 31 to 60 seconds | 17 | 15% |
| 61 to 120 seconds | 44 | 39% |
| 121 to 180 seconds | 39 | 35% |
| Over 180 seconds | 6 | 5% |
Only 6 of the 113 videos (5%) ran past three minutes.
| Category | Videos | Median length |
|---|---|---|
| Explainer (includes educational) | 30 | 111.5 seconds |
| Financial services | 13 | 116 seconds |
| Whiteboard | 10 | 93 seconds |
| Corporate and training | 7 | 124 seconds |
| Commercials and ads | 6 | 28.5 seconds |
| Healthcare | 5 | 131 seconds |
These 71 videos were reviewed and filed under one category each; the other 42 count in the overall figures only.
The 10 whiteboard videos in the reviewed set had a median length of 93 seconds. The other 61 reviewed videos had a median of 116 seconds, so whiteboard ran 23 seconds shorter in our work.
Our 6 commercials and ads had a median length of 28.5 seconds, against 111.5 seconds for our 30 videos in the explainer category, so the explainers ran roughly four times longer. Read the ad figure with care: five of the six spots come from a single campaign.
Length should follow your message, but our numbers give you sensible starting points.
That range held 73% of all our videos, and our explainer category (30 videos) had a median just under two minutes. Our explainer video production page covers how we plan and script them.
Five of our six commercial spots, most of them from one campaign, ran 30 seconds or less. We make animated ads in 15, 30 and 60-second formats, as our commercial video production page explains.
Our corporate and training videos (median 124 seconds, 7 videos) and healthcare videos (median 131 seconds, 5 videos) ran longer than our overall median of 103 seconds, though both samples are small.
In our small whiteboard sample of 10 videos, the median was 93 seconds, against 116 for our other reviewed videos.
Only 6 of our 113 videos went longer. If your script runs long, consider splitting it into a short series.
This is first-party data from our own video library, not a survey or an industry benchmark. Here's exactly what we counted and what we left out.
Our Vimeo library export of November 10, 2026, which held 160 videos. Each length is the duration of the uploaded file, to the nearest second, including titles and end cards.
We kept the 135 client portfolio videos and set aside internal tutorials, style tests, drafts and videos that aren’t our work. We then removed our own studio reel and 21 repeat uploads, earlier cuts or alternate versions of the same video, which left 113. When we couldn’t confirm that two uploads with the same name were different videos, we counted them once.
The videos were added to our library between 2012 and 2022, so the data reflects that decade of work. Work kept outside this library isn’t included.
In November 2026 we reviewed still frames to file 71 of the 113 videos under one category each; for a few re-uploaded videos, the frames came from another copy of the same video. The categories mix purpose (explainer, ads), style (whiteboard) and sector (financial services, healthcare, corporate and training), so each video appears in only one. Categories with fewer than five videos are counted with explainers. The other 42 videos weren’t reviewed and appear only in the overall figures.
We report medians rather than averages, so one very long or very short video doesn’t skew a figure. Category samples are small, from 5 to 30 videos. We publish no client names and no prices.
Epic Video Factory, “Explainer Video Length Data From 113 Finished Videos,” 2026, epicvideofactory.com/explainer-video-length-data/.
In our catalog, the 30 videos we filed as explainers had a median length of 111.5 seconds, just under two minutes, and 73% of all 113 videos ran 61 to 180 seconds. Use that as a starting point and let your script decide; a simple message can be shorter.
Not in our explainer work. Only 7 of our 113 videos (6%) ran 30 seconds or less, and five of those seven are spots from one ad campaign. Videos in our explainer category ran longer, at a median of 111.5 seconds.
In our work, yes. Our 10 reviewed whiteboard videos came in at a median of 93 seconds, against 116 seconds for the other 61.
The six commercial spots we reviewed ran a median of 28.5 seconds, and five of the six were 30 seconds or less. Most come from one campaign, so treat this as a small sample.
No. It covers only videos we delivered and added to our library from 2012 to 2022. Other studios’ work, and newer projects, may run differently.
Yes. We plan length with you when we write your script, based on your message and where the video will run.
Tell us what your video needs to explain, who will watch it and where it will run, and we'll suggest a length that fits.
Call 1-888-590-5796 or contact us to start planning your video.
