You don't need a budget — you need a visual identity. Tiered options:
1. Visualizers (free). Headliner, Rotor, and similar tools turn your song into an animated waveform/lyric video in minutes. This is the baseline — every release should at least have this for YouTube.
2. Lyric videos. High ROI: fans learn the words, watch time is strong, and they're cheap to make (CapCut templates, After Effects presets). Lyric videos consistently outperform plain visualizers.
3. AI video. Tools like Runway, Pika, and Kaiber generate visuals from prompts — match the video's mood to the song's. Keep clips short and loopable; long AI videos get weird.
4. Stock footage edits. Free stock sites + CapCut: cut moody footage to your song's arc. Surprisingly effective for ballads and cinematic tracks.
5. Consistency beats budget. One recognizable visual style across all your videos (same fonts, same color grade) builds a brand. Five cohesive cheap videos beat one expensive random one.
Good luck! Hank founder of SonorixPG