{
  "slug": "drone-pilot-pricing",
  "title": "Drone Pilot Pricing Calculator",
  "heading": "Drone Pilot Pricing Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/drone-pilot-pricing",
  "summary": "What to charge per drone shoot to hit your income goal.",
  "description": "Factor gear depreciation, insurance, travel, and edit time into a defensible per-project rate.",
  "formula": null,
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=drone-pilot-pricing",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "target",
      "label": "Target annual profit",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 60000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "jobs",
      "label": "Jobs per year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 80,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "gear",
      "label": "Gear depreciation + insurance",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 6000,
      "unit": "$/yr",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "travel",
      "label": "Travel & software per job",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 45,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "editHrs",
      "label": "Edit hours per job",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 3,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "editRate",
      "label": "Your hourly value",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 55,
      "unit": "$/hr",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "price",
      "label": "Price per job",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "perJobCost",
      "label": "Cost per job",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "revenue",
      "label": "Annual revenue needed",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "margin",
      "label": "Gross margin",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Target annual profit: 60000 $",
      "Jobs per year: 80",
      "Gear depreciation + insurance: 6000 $/yr",
      "Travel & software per job: 45 $",
      "Edit hours per job: 3",
      "Your hourly value: 55 $/hr"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Price per job: $1,035",
      "Cost per job: $285",
      "Annual revenue needed: $82,800",
      "Gross margin: 72.5%"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter target annual profit ($).",
      "Enter jobs per year.",
      "Enter gear depreciation + insurance ($/yr).",
      "Enter travel & software per job ($).",
      "Enter edit hours per job.",
      "Enter your hourly value ($/hr).",
      "Read your price per job on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "target": 36000,
        "jobs": 48,
        "gear": 3500,
        "travel": 25,
        "editHrs": 1.7999999999999998,
        "editRate": 35
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "target": 60000,
        "jobs": 80,
        "gear": 6000,
        "travel": 45,
        "editHrs": 3,
        "editRate": 55
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "target": 96000,
        "jobs": 128,
        "gear": 9500,
        "travel": 70,
        "editHrs": 4.800000000000001,
        "editRate": 90
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the drone pilot pricing calculator work?",
      "a": "Factor gear depreciation, insurance, travel, and edit time into a defensible per-project rate."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "6 values: target annual profit, jobs per year, gear depreciation + insurance, travel & software per job, edit hours per job, and your hourly value. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the price per job result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a money amount in US dollars and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/photographer-day-rate"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Drone Pilot Pricing Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/drone-pilot-pricing)"
}