Real estate drone photography pricing: what pilots charge, with dated sources
What should a listing shoot with a drone cost? Below are prices that photographers and marketplaces publish, each with its source and date, then the costs that drive a price and a way to build packages from your own numbers.
By Sander Helgesen · Last checked
In short
- US: PropPhoto's price index (updated 25 October 2026) puts drone photos booked alone at a typical $150, range $125 to $250, over 20 packages. Publishers' own estimates run higher, $250 to $750 for a package.
- Norway: published prices run from NOK 1,500 excl. VAT for drone photos added to a photo package, to NOK 4,000 to 5,500 excl. VAT for drone photos booked alone.
- These are published examples, not a market survey: a handful of pages, read on one day.
- Drone photos are cheaper as an add-on in every example that lists both, because travel and setup are already paid for.
- Price from your own hours: travel, the flight, editing and admin. The photography tips and the shot list cover the shoot itself.
Published prices, US and Norway
Each line is one price as its publisher shows it, read on 26 October 2026. The US index is built from packages photographers publish on PropPhoto; the blog and DroneVideos.com ranges are the publishers' estimates with no method stated. The Norwegian lines are the price pages of three photography businesses.
Nothing here is a survey of the market, and none of it says what you should charge where you work. Use it to see the spread, then check the photographers near you.
Published real estate drone photography prices, with the publisher's date. US prices in dollars; Norwegian prices in kroner, with or without 25% VAT as the page states.
PropPhoto price index, US
- Published
- updated 2026-10-25
- What
- Drone photos booked alone, typical price over 20 packages
- Price
- $150 (range $125-250)
PropPhoto blog, US
- Published
- 2026-02-20
- What
- Essential: 5-10 edited aerial photos, estimate
- Price
- $250-400
PropPhoto blog, US
- Published
- 2026-02-20
- What
- Pro: 15-25 photos and a 30-60 s 4K clip, estimate
- Price
- $400-750
DroneVideos.com, US
- Published
- 2026-01-15
- What
- Hourly rate by experience, estimate
- Price
- $75-300+ an hour
Haugseng Foto, Bergen
- Published
- updated 2026-08-05
- What
- Drone add-on to a photo package, 3-8 photos
- Price
- NOK 1,500 excl. VAT
Haugseng Foto, Bergen
- Published
- updated 2026-08-05
- What
- Drone booked alone
- Price
- NOK 5,500 excl. VAT
Creative Foto, Norway
- Published
- undated, read 2026-10-26
- What
- 5-10 drone photos with another photo package
- Price
- NOK 2,500 incl. VAT (normally 4,500)
Oslo Drone og Foto
- Published
- undated, read 2026-10-26
- What
- 5-10 drone photos, from
- Price
- NOK 4,000 excl. VAT
Oslo Drone og Foto
- Published
- undated, read 2026-10-26
- What
- Short edited drone film, from
- Price
- NOK 4,800 excl. VAT
How to read the numbers
Add-on or alone matters most. Haugseng Foto charges NOK 1,500 for drone photos added to a photo package and NOK 5,500 for a drone-only booking; Creative Foto's NOK 2,500 applies only with another package, against NOK 4,500 normally. PropPhoto's own FAQ says the same of the US: drone shots usually cost less as an add-on.
Check the tax line. Norwegian pages quote prices with or without the 25% VAT: Haugseng Foto excludes it, Creative Foto includes it, and Oslo Drone og Foto shows both, NOK 4,000 and 5,000 for the same package. US prices are quoted before any sales tax.
Check what is in the package: the number of edited photos, whether video is included, how fast it is delivered, and whether travel is extra. A low headline price with travel, editing and video on top can end up above a higher package that includes them.
How to price a real estate drone package
From your own costs to a price list, before you compare with anyone else's.
Count the hours a job really takes
Travel both ways, setup and the flight, checking the zones and the plan, editing, delivery, and the e-mails and invoicing around it. A 15-minute flight is rarely less than a few hours of work.
Work out what an hour must earn
Add up the year's costs: the drone and spare batteries as they wear out, insurance, software, registration and training, the car, and the tax you set aside. Divide by the hours you can realistically sell, not the hours in a working year.
Build two or three packages around deliverables
Name what the client gets, not how long you fly: a number of edited photos, a video of a given length, a delivery time. Make the middle one the package you want to sell most often.
Price the add-ons that cost you extra
A dusk shot is a second visit at a fixed time with a short window. Video adds editing time. Extra photos, a lot outline drawn on the top-down, and next-day delivery all take time you can name a price for.
Charge for travel beyond a radius
Include travel within your area, and add a fee per kilometre or per zone beyond it. Haugseng Foto, for example, publishes NOK 6.50 per kilometre for jobs more than 50 km from central Bergen.
Write down what is included
The number of edited photos, file sizes and formats, the delivery time, who may use the photos and for how long, and what happens if the weather stops the shoot. It saves arguments and makes the packages easy to compare.
Compare, then adjust
Set your prices against the published examples and the photographers in your area, and look again after a few jobs, with the hours they really took.
What drives the price
- Travel: the time and kilometres to the house and back, often the biggest cost on a short job.
- Editing: bracketed photos merged, skies and verticals fixed, people and number plates blurred. Video takes longer than stills.
- Video: a short edited clip adds the moving shots on site and hours at the desk.
- Certificates and registration: in the US, a Remote Pilot Certificate under Part 107 and a registered drone; in Norway, operator registration and the competence certificate. Check what your work flights need.
- Insurance: liability cover for work flights, and cover for the drone itself. Ask your insurer what applies; some agencies ask for proof before they book.
- Weather and light: rescheduled shoots and dusk shots tied to a short window cost time you cannot bill twice.
A package structure that works
A shape to fill with your own prices, not a price list.
- Basic: 5 to 10 edited stills from the front, the corners and above, delivered the next day. Often sold as an add-on to a photographer's ground package.
- Standard: the stills plus a short edited clip with a reveal and an orbit, the package most listings need.
- Premium: the standard package plus a dusk set on a second visit, context shots of the area, and faster delivery.
Where Skyplanr fits in
Skyplanr does not set or suggest prices. It shortens the planning part of each job: describe the house, and the drone flight planner plans the shot list as waypoints, checks it with 106 rule-based checks and gives you the KMZ for DJI Fly, in about 6.7 minutes (the median of our benchmark). The same file flies again for the spring photos. The free plan includes 3 AI plans a month; the paid plans are on the pricing page.
See the technologyQuestions
How much does real estate drone photography cost?
Published examples from 2026: in the US, PropPhoto's price index puts drone photos booked alone at a typical $150 (range $125 to $250, 20 packages, 25 October 2026), and publishers estimate $250 to $750 for a package. In Norway, published prices run from NOK 1,500 excl. VAT as an add-on to NOK 5,500 excl. VAT booked alone. These are examples, not a survey.
Is drone photography cheaper as an add-on to a photo package?
In every published example that lists both, yes: Haugseng Foto charges NOK 1,500 as an add-on and NOK 5,500 alone, and Creative Foto NOK 2,500 with another package against NOK 4,500 normally. The travel and setup are already paid for.
Should I charge extra for travel?
Most price pages include a local area and charge beyond it, per kilometre or per zone. Haugseng Foto publishes NOK 6.50 per kilometre beyond 50 km from central Bergen.
Do I need a licence to charge for drone photography?
Check the rules where you fly. In the US, work flights fall under Part 107, with a Remote Pilot Certificate and a registered drone. In Norway, check your operator registration and competence certificate with Luftfartstilsynet.
How should I price a dusk shot?
As an add-on that covers a second visit: around 60° north the dusk window lasts about 25 minutes, so the shoot is tied to a fixed time and often its own trip.
Sources
Skyplanr is not affiliated with the third-party guides linked here.
- PropPhoto: real estate photography price index, US (updated 2026-10-25; drone photography booked alone, 20 packages) (propphoto.com)
- PropPhoto blog: drone photography rates for real estate (2026-02-20, the publisher's estimates) (propphoto.com)
- DroneVideos.com: how much does drone real estate photography cost? (2026-01-15, hourly ranges) (dronevideos.com)
- Haugseng Foto, Bergen: prices for property photos (updated 2026-08-05, excl. VAT) (haugsengfoto.no)
- Creative Foto: price list for property photography (undated, read 2026-10-26, incl. VAT) (creativefoto.no)
- Oslo Drone og Foto: prices (undated, read 2026-10-26, indicative) (oslodroneogfoto.no)
- FAA: certificated remote pilots including commercial operators (Part 107) (faa.gov)
- Luftfartstilsynet: drone rules in Norway (droneregler) (luftfartstilsynet.no)
- EASA: open category, low-risk civil drones (easa.europa.eu)
- DJI Developer: DJI WPML overview (the KMZ format DJI Fly reads) (developer.dji.com)
This guide describes how DJI Fly behaved when it was last checked; DJI can change the app at any time. It is advice, not a permission: you are the pilot in command, and the site, the geo-zones and the rules are yours to check before takeoff.
Let Skyplanr write the file.
Describe the job, and Skyplanr plans the waypoint mission, checks it and gives you the KMZ for DJI Fly.