Voice over jobs: where to find work, what to check and how to avoid scams

Most voice over jobs a newcomer can get are remote and found online: audiobooks on ACX, indie character roles on community casting sites, and commercial, corporate and e-learning work on paid marketplaces, recorded at home and delivered as files. The better-paid union sessions (national commercials, animation, games) come later and usually through a licensed agent, so the realistic plan is to book small jobs at volume while you build the demo and credits that get you representation.

Expect the work to be project by project. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that some actors do voiceover or narration for animated features, audiobooks and other electronic media, that actors "may have periods of unemployment between roles," and that many "struggle to find steady work" (BLS). A voice over job is a gig, not a position, and the people who earn steadily treat auditioning as the daily job.

Before anything else: a real voice over job never asks you to pay to be hired, and never sends you more money than the fee and asks for the difference back. Both are the two most common scams in this field; see the scam section below.

Industry breakdowns list around ten categories: animation, commercials, narration, audiobooks, video games, e-learning, corporate, trailers, promos and announcing (Audient). They differ a lot in who hires and how hard they are to break into:

• Audiobooks. Authors and publishers hire narrators, often to record and produce at home. On ACX anyone can build a narrator profile and audition on listed titles, which makes this the most open door for beginners (ACX).
• E-learning and education. Courses, apps and school content. Dedicated To VO describes education voice over as "always in strong demand" (Dedicated To VO). Mostly posted on marketplaces or hired directly by course producers.
• Corporate, explainer and B2B. Training videos, product explainers and internal presentations for companies' employees and websites (Audient). Clear, natural reads matter more than character range.
• Telephone, IVR and guides. Phone menus, on-hold messages and tour guides, recorded as many short separate files that match each prompt (Dedicated To VO). Precise and repeatable, good for a home studio.
• Commercials. Radio, TV, web and social ads. The same source calls promotional and commercial work "the most competitive" type, with short scripts and high client expectations. Union commercials are paid on the SAG-AFTRA contract (see the union section).
• Animation, games and audio drama. Character work, from major studios down to small and personal projects (Dedicated To VO). Indie and fan projects are open to anyone; studio animation and union games are where agents come in.
• Promo, trailers and announcing. Network promos, film trailers, and live or recorded announcements for transit, venues and events (Audient). A smaller, specialist market.

If you are starting from zero, aim first at audiobooks, e-learning, corporate and IVR. They reward a clean home recording and consistency more than a famous credit, and every finished job is a sample you can add to your demo.

Each site works differently, and fees and plans change, so read the current terms page of any site before you pay for a membership. What each one says about itself:

• ACX (audiobooks, Amazon). Build a profile with samples, search titles, and record an audition to the author's notes. You agree the timeline and pay structure with the author, record and master the book, then it passes ACX quality assurance and is distributed through Amazon, Audible and iTunes (ACX). Pay is either a flat per-finished-hour fee (pay-for-production), a royalty share with no upfront fee, or a smaller upfront fee plus royalties. Royalty share requires exclusive distribution, pays monthly, and lasts 7 years; ACX lists the narrator's share as 20% under its legacy model or 25% under its new model (ACX Help Center).
• Casting Call Club (indie characters). The site says it "is free for both talent and talent seekers" and lists character roles in indie animation, games, fan dubs and audio dramas. It is candid that "most roles are unpaid passion projects" (Casting Call Club). Use it for practice, credits and learning to hit a deadline, not income.
• Voice123 (commercial and corporate). Clients post a project with a script and requirements, Voice123 invites voice actors whose profiles match, clients receive custom auditions and negotiate rates directly, and payment runs through a secure payment service that holds funds until delivery (Voice123).
• Voices.com and general freelance marketplaces. Voices.com is the other large paid voice marketplace; a competitor describes its talent memberships as costing "a few hundred dollars a year" (Casting Call Club). Voices.com, Fiverr and Upwork did not let us read their fee pages for this guide, so check each one's current membership price and the cut it takes from your fee before you set your rate.

A sensible order: start free (ACX, Casting Call Club), and pay for one marketplace membership only once your home recordings are consistently clean and you can audition several times a week. A paid plan buys more audition invitations, not bookings; the fee only makes sense if you will use the volume.

1. Make three clean samples first. Record a 30-to-60-second piece each of narration, corporate or explainer copy, and one character or commercial read. These become your marketplace profile and your first ACX samples. Find practice text on Offbook or in public product and training copy, never another actor's demo script.
2. Audition on short audiobooks. A short title is a finished, released credit in weeks rather than months, and ACX's process (audition, agree terms, record, QA) teaches you delivery standards on the job (ACX).
3. Take two or three indie character roles on Casting Call Club for credits and directed experience, knowing most will be unpaid (Casting Call Club).
4. Audition daily once you have a profile. Treat each audition as a finished product: right length, right file format, slated only if asked, delivered before the deadline.
5. Keep a log of every audition, client, rate and result. After a few months it shows which job types call you back, which is the clearest guide to what your demo should lead with.
6. Train alongside. A voiceover class with real microphone time and direction shortens all of this; see the LA section below.

For the bigger picture (training, mic technique, home studio and demo), read Arlo's guide to how to get into voice acting; this page is about finding and booking the work itself.

The fee on a voice job is only half the deal. The other half is usage: where the recording runs and for how long. The union audio commercial rate sheet makes this concrete. The same actor's session fee is $379.60, but a one-year Traditional Digital use of that spot is $1,368.39, and a 13-week network program commercial with unlimited use is $2,059.77 (2025 SAG-AFTRA Audio Commercials Contract, rates effective April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027) (JPC rate sheet). Non-union clients often ask for a "buyout" (all uses, forever) for one flat fee; price it knowing what open-ended use is worth.

Check every post for:

• Usage and term: internal only, web, broadcast, paid ads; which regions; how long. Unclear usage is a reason to ask, not to guess.
• Length and deliverables: finished minutes, number of files, whether you edit and master, how many rounds of revisions.
• Payment: amount, when it is paid, and through what. Marketplace escrow or a written invoice beats a promise.
• AI terms: whether your voice will be used to train AI, synthesized, cloned or combined with other voices, and whether you can remove it later. NAVA publishes a list of questions to ask clients, including "Will this voice data be used to train AI?" and "Can I remove my voice from these technologies in the future or does the client own my voice without limitation?" (NAVA). NAVA also offers a free AI rider that states your voice will not be cloned or used to train AI, and advises having your own attorney or agent review any contract (NAVA AI Rider).

In California, Labor Code section 927 (AB 2602, effective January 1, 2025) can make a contract clause unenforceable when it lets a digital replica of your voice replace work you would have done in person, does not describe the intended uses clearly, and you had no lawyer or union representing you (Davis+Gilbert). It is a backstop, not a substitute for reading the clause: ask for the uses in writing before you record.

SAG-AFTRA contracts cover union commercials, animation, games and audiobooks. For audio commercials, the 2025 contract's year-two rates (April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027) set a session fee of $379.60 for an actor or announcer, with use fees on top and a health and retirement contribution rate of 23.5% listed on the sheet (JPC rate sheet). On ACX, union health and retirement contributions apply to Royalty Share Plus deals offered at $100 or more per finished hour (ACX Help Center).

Many union sessions are cast through agents. In California, anyone "involved in arranging employment for an artist in the entertainment field" must be licensed as a talent agency, and advance-fee talent representation is prohibited; the Labor Commissioner's license search lists licensed agencies (California DIR). An agent who charges you an upfront fee to represent you is a red flag in this state. Arlo's how to get an acting agent guide covers what to send and how to check a license, and how much voice actors make covers union animation, game and audiobook scale.

Remote voice work attracts scammers because the whole job happens by email and file transfer. The Federal Trade Commission's rule for any job applies: "Don't pay for the promise of a job," and "No honest potential employer will ever send you a check to deposit" and then ask you to send part of it back (FTC). The National Association of Voice Actors tracks the voice-specific versions (NAVA):

• The overpayment check. The "client" sends a check for more than the fee and asks you to forward the excess, often by wire, money order or gift cards, before your bank flags the check as fake. A check clearing in a day or two does not prove it is real, and you may still owe the bank what you sent.
• Pitches about money, not the job. Openers like "I have a $850 voice over (Assignment) for you," with almost no detail about the script, client or use.
• Free email and chat-app interviews. Outreach from Gmail or Outlook addresses using real employees' names, and "interviews" on Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, Skype or Zoom.
• Details that do not add up. Employee-style perks such as paid time off on a freelance job, or a "5 – 15 minutes short commercial" priced per finished hour.

NAVA's one rule is "Never, NEVER send money to a client or for a client" (NAVA). If you paid, contact the company you used to send the money and ask to reverse it, and report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC). Arlo's casting workshops guide explains California's limits on charging performers for auditions.

Synthetic voices now compete for the lowest-budget work. Since February 20, 2025, Spotify has accepted audiobooks narrated with ElevenLabs through Findaway Voices, labelled in their descriptions as "narrated by a digital voice" (Spotify). The practical response is to compete where a human read is the point (character, emotion, accents you genuinely have, live direction), to price for usage rather than raw minutes, and to refuse terms that let a client train or clone your voice without a separate, paid agreement.

Remote marketplaces work from anywhere, but LA adds in-person training and, for union members, free booth time.

• Booth time: the SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Voiceover Labs at 5757 Wilshire Blvd. are free for SAG-AFTRA members, with a main booth where an engineer gives coaching and direction and a solo booth for independent work (SAG-AFTRA Foundation).
• Training: compare schools, prices and schedules on Arlo's voiceover classes in Los Angeles page, and check what training costs on the LA Acting Class Price Index. Ask to audit a class before you pay.
• Agents: verify any LA voice agent on the Labor Commissioner's license search before you sign (California DIR).
• Your demo: most agents and many clients ask for one; the acting demo reel guide covers what makes one work.
• On-camera crossover: commercial voice and on-camera auditions overlap; see commercial acting and casting calls in Los Angeles.