Recording narration and character voices for ads, audiobooks and games.
BRI Score
out of 100
Real money for real skill, and the $32K stories are outliers. AI is taking the cheap end of the market, so aim for the quality end.
Suits
People with a skill clients pay for, comfortable selling and keeping clients happy.
Not for
Anyone who wants income without talking to clients.
What would change our view: A new tool or platform change that lowers the skill bar would bring more competition.
One person in the US, about 10 hours a week, after 12 months
Recalculated daily from the latest data; the history chart appears after the second daily update.
In the press, one voice actor reports over $32K a month. In BRI's model that is the top 0.2% of people doing this.
60% the method's unit economics ($255 a month for an active practitioner), 40% the US side-hustle distribution.
| Effective pay per hour worked$100–250 per finished hour ÷ 5–7 work hours, trimmed for non-union newcomers. | $15–$40 | Source |
| Platform fees and equipmentFiverr takes 20%; ACX has no narrator fee. | 0.2 | Source |
| Share of hours that are paidAuditions, demos and marketing are unpaid. | 30% | BRI assumption |
| Hours a week | 10 | BRI assumption |
SAG-AFTRA rates on ACX: at least $250 per finished hour, or $100 with royalty share
ACXOne hour of finished audio typically takes 5–7 hours of work
ACXStarted with $200 of equipment, now over $32K a month
CNBC Make ItSteady demand, with pressure from AI voice tools.
