Hop-On Hop-Off Audio Guide Cost: A Practical Breakdown

Quick answer: the cost of a hop-on hop-off audio guide is the sum of five things: the playback method (your passengers' phones or equipment you buy), writing the commentary, translating it, voicing it in each language, and keeping it up to date. For a 30-stop route in three languages on TourChorus, the software is $79 a month on the Starter plan, and the AI work for the first month is roughly 144 credits (the plan includes 100; a $20 pack adds 200 more). The rest of this guide shows how to work out the same numbers for any system, including ours.

What are the five costs of an audio guide for a tour bus?

1. Playback. How passengers hear the commentary. Systems that use dedicated handsets or headsets mean buying, charging, cleaning, handing out, collecting and replacing equipment. Systems that run on passengers' own phones have no equipment, but need passengers to bring headphones and, in TourChorus's case, install an app.
2. Writing. One script per stop. You can write it yourself, have someone write it, or draft it with AI and edit it.
3. Translation. Each extra language means translating every stop, ideally with a native speaker reading it once.
4. Voiceover. A narrator per language, or generated voices, or recordings of your own guides.
5. Upkeep. Routes change, stops move, a museum closes. Every change must flow through all languages, including the audio.

When two quotes look very different, the gap is usually in items 3 to 5, not the headline subscription.

How does pricing usually work?

Vendors tend to charge in one of three ways: a monthly subscription, a per-passenger or per-use fee, or a one-off project fee plus maintenance. We have not compared competitors' prices, so we don't quote any here. Ask every vendor for an itemised quote covering the five items above, and for what happens to your content if you leave.

TourChorus is a monthly subscription with a 14-day free trial. At the time of writing:

• Starter, $79 a month: 1 active route, up to 3 languages, 100 AI credits a month.
• Growth, $199 a month: up to 5 active routes, up to 10 languages, 500 AI credits a month.
• Custom: larger fleets, many cities, or white-label. Talk to us.
• Extra AI credits: $20 for 200.

Current plans are always on the pricing page.

What does a 30-stop route cost to build? A worked example

AI credits pay for the content work. TourChorus's rules are:

• AI-written script: 1 credit per script (writing your own is free).
• Translation: 1 credit per 2,000 source characters, per language.
• Voiceover: 1 credit per 1,000 characters, per stop.
• A credit is about $0.10 at the top-up price.

Assumptions: 30 stops, each about 45 seconds of commentary (roughly 110 words, 800 characters), so about 24,000 characters and about 22 minutes of audio per language.

Per language added (translation plus voice):

• Translation: about 12 credits
• Voiceover: about 30 credits (800 characters rounds up to 1 credit per stop)
• Total: about 42 credits, or about $4.20

Three languages on Starter (English plus two):

• 30 AI-drafted scripts: 30 credits (0 if you write them yourself)
• English voiceover: 30 credits
• Two translated languages: 84 credits
• Total: about 144 credits with AI drafts, or about 114 if you write the scripts

The Starter plan's 100 credits cover most of it, and a $20 pack covers the rest. Your first month is therefore around $99 including one pack, and the months after are the $79 subscription plus whatever you change. Re-voicing a stop of up to 1,000 characters costs 1 credit per language.

These are estimates from our own pricing rules, not a quote. Longer stops cost proportionally more, and a script that ends mid-way through a 1,000-character block still rounds up to a whole credit.

What do people forget to budget for?

• A native-speaker review of each translation. AI translation is a strong first draft; for important languages, many operators have a native speaker read it once. This is outside any platform's fee.
• Time to test. Drive the route (or simulate it) in every language before passengers do. TourChorus can dry-run your route on real roads and report stops that wouldn't trigger.
• Seasonal updates. Plan for a handful of edits each season and check each language still fits the time between stops.
• Headphones. If passengers use their own phones, tell them to bring headphones when they book.

Questions to ask any vendor

1. What exactly is included in the monthly or project price: languages, voices, number of routes, updates?
2. How is voiceover priced, and who owns the audio files?
3. What does adding or changing a language cost?
4. Does it work with the screen locked, for a two-hour route?
5. Can I export my content if I leave?
6. What does a customer need to buy or install before the first passenger can listen?

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free trial? Yes. TourChorus has a 14-day free trial; a card is required and you are not charged until it ends. You can build your whole tour in the dashboard during the trial.

Do passengers pay for the app? The TourChorus rider app is free to riders. It is launching soon on the App Store and Google Play; operators can build and preview tours in the dashboard before then.

Do I need to buy equipment for the bus? Not for TourChorus: commentary plays on passengers' own phones, triggered by GPS at each stop.

What if I only want one language? Starter works with one. The cost is then the subscription plus any AI work you choose to use.

Next steps

See how TourChorus works, compare the plans, or hear the live demo. If you run hop-on hop-off routes, the hop-on hop-off audio guide page covers stop markers and departure times. For more on how the technology works, read how GPS-triggered commentary works on a tour bus.