# What a drone show costs – Drone Stories

> No fixed price list exists. A drone show is priced on four things: number of drones, show length, location and permits, and animation complexity. Here is how each one moves the number.

Source: https://dronestories.com/drone-show-cost/

Pricing, honestly

# What does a drone show cost?

There is no fixed price for a drone show. The cost is set by four things: the number of drones, the show length, the location with its permits, and how complex the animation is. Most shows fall between 100 and 1,000+ drones. Tell us the event and we tell you what it takes within a business day.

## Four things set the number

01

### Number of drones

The drone count is the biggest lever. Every drone is a flying pixel: more pixels means sharper shapes, readable logos and typography, and a show that fills the sky rather than a corner of it. Most shows fall between 100 and 1,000+ drones.

We prefer a minimum of 100, because below that shapes stop reading from a distance. We flew 600 over the IJ in Amsterdam for Spotify, 1,000 over Central Park and 1,400 in Cannes for Kargo. Each step up brings more crew, more batteries, more take-off area and more animation time.

02

### Show length

A show runs from about three minutes up to twelve. Battery capacity sets the ceiling, and weather, distance and altitude eat into it. Length costs less than drone count, but it is not free: every extra minute is more animation, more sound design and more rehearsal.

Our advice is usually shorter and denser. A five-minute show that has a beginning, a turn and an ending lands harder than ten minutes of shapes.

03

### Location and permits

Where you fly decides how much paperwork, insurance and site work sits behind the show. Open airspace over a lake, a park or a golf course is straightforward. A city centre, an airport corridor or a beach with two million people is not, and that is where our experience pays off.

Permits, airspace exemptions, travel, freight and the days our crew is on site are all part of the number. A show in Las Vegas costs something different from the same show in Amsterdam.

04

### Animation complexity

A logo reveal and a narrative with characters, transitions and a soundtrack are not the same job. Every show we fly has a story arc, and the more the story moves, the more design and simulation time it takes to make a thousand drones do it safely.

This is also where impact comes from. If your idea needs a different kind of show, we are open about it: our partners at [Sky Elements](https://skyelementsdrones.com/) fly every kind of show at every scale and are the best in the world at it.

Show scale planner

## How big should your show be?

Pick the audience, the place, the length and the ambition. We give you a drone range and a show length that would make impact, with the reasoning. It is a starting point, not a quote.

**Rule of thumb.** Under 1,000 people: 100 to 200 drones. Up to 10,000: 200 to 400. Up to 50,000: 400 to 700. Beyond that: 700 to 1,000+. Indoor shows stay small; the ceiling sets the limit. City centres add permits and time, not necessarily drones. A single moment works at 3 to 5 minutes; a story needs 6 to 10.

Questions we get

## Frequently asked

Seventeen questions we answer every week. Yours is not here? [Ask us](/contact/).

Let’s collaborate

## Want a real number for a real show?

Give us the event, the city, the month and the audience. Within a business day you get a proposal with a drone count, a show length and what we would do with it. No obligation.

[Get a proposal](/proposal/)[Talk to a human](/contact/)