8 Most Expensive Drones for Any Purpose of 2024

Find the most expensive drone in price range from $1,599 to $300,000

Using a remote-controlled drone, you can capture mind-blowing views from the most staggering angles and spots that are impossible to reach when shooting from the ground. Beginner drones are rather affordable – about $200. Top-tier models are equipped with advanced cameras, which has a knock-on effect on their price.

If you are seriously into filmmaking or aerial shooting, check out the list of high priced drones. The cost varies from $1,599 for a drone with a Hasselblad camera to an astonishing $300,000 for commercially piloted quadcopters.

The list contains the world’s most expensive drones for commercial needs, as well as more budget-friendly variants for individual pilots and photographers. It is advisable to choose a drone in accordance with your requirements, preferences, and financial capabilities. Moreover, opt for a model that is easy to operate, especially if you have little experience.

Flight time: 41.7 minutes | Range: 10Km | Camera: - | Speed: 137 km/h | Size: 1415x387 mm | Weight: 10.86 kg

Though it isn’t the most expensive drone you can currently find (costs $18,200), it offers fantastic features for professional filming and can stay in the air for a long time. The model is equipped with 4 motors, each of which brags about 100A Max Continuous Power Output. This is a sufficient value for lifting and supporting a heavy-duty cinema camera connected to a drone gimbal and with a lens attached to it.

However, people who are professionally engaged in filming claim that the biggest problem with drones is their battery charge. No one wants to change batteries every 5 minutes. Freefly Systems Alta X guarantees smooth recording for 20-40 minutes. The time depends on the weight of the gear the drone has to carry.

Flight time: Up to 70 minutes | Range: 10-12Km | Camera: ION 30X, Noctis IR | Speed: Up to 40 knots | Size: 32 x 32 x 7 | Weight: 10 lbs

This drone costs $25,000 and offers users wonderful features for this money. It is specifically developed for serious tasks so its embedded cameras and flight time are on point. There are 4 electronic motors and lithium-polymer batteries that work in tandem to prolong the flight time as much as possible. Moreover, this drone with camera supports 802.11n WiFi connection, so you can control it from a distance of 12 kilometers.

While really expensive drones are created for slow and steady flight, this model perfectly copes with agile and sharp movements. The embedded FLIR Boson IR camera allows recording 640x512 videos. Both the front and rear sides of this drone have cameras, so an operator can get a 360º of a location.

Flight time: Up to 70 minutes | Range: 10Km | Camera: 16MP, 1080p | Speed: 27.7 m/s | Size: 60.98 x 60.98 x 9.35” | Weight: 211.64oz

This drone with a price tag of $58,000 is a great fit for filming, photographing, and emergency survey operations. Adjusting it to a new challenge is quick thanks to replaceable task board equipment. The developers embedded a camera with 16 million pixels and an airborne 3D camera with a uniaxial holder that can rotate in the range from 0 to 105 degrees up and down.

When it comes to extreme conditions, this is one of the best high priced drones you can find. Anyway, I recommend you get drone insurance to have peace of mind. Typically, AEE F100 is used for advertising, shooting sports events, and similar situations.

Flight time: 23 minutes | Range: 350 mile | Camera: Downward facing 4K camera | Speed: 100 km/h | Size: 4 x 3.89m x 1.4 m | Weight: 260 kg

This is the most expensive drone in the world with a staggering price of $300,000. It has 8 electronic motors, each supplied with a propeller. In fact, this is a sizeable helicopter with responsive controls and a large cockpit. It can carry pieces of equipment the weight of which amounts to 100kg. The developers state that this beast if fully autonomous, can take off and land without human intervention.

Since it is equipped with a 4K video camera directed downward, you can keep tabs on things passing by when you are flying a quadcopter. You can also use the camera to snap shots and record videos. Undoubtedly, this drone is a perfect option for transporting heavy objects or even people. But if you are looking for a drone for creative purposes, you can find a better option with a lower price.

Flight time: 30 minutes | Range: 8Km | Camera: 1-inch CMOS, 20MP | Speed: Up to 45 mph (72 kph) | Size (diagonal): 350 mm | Weight: 1375 g

To get this drone, you need to spend $3,329, which is a rather low price if you consider other expensive drones with cameras in this review. With it, you can take awe-inspiring landscape photos from fantastic heights and record 4K Ultra HD videos at 60 fps. Since the camera is improved with a mechanic shutter, the distortion levels are minimized.

To my mind, the selling point of this drone for filming is its crash-proof design. The model has obstacle detection & avoidance sensors that scan the surroundings and initiate an emergency stop if there is imminent bumping into a wall, tree, or even a person.

Besides, DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 has a hover function that allow freeze the frame so that your resulting images are crisp even in challenging weather condition.

Flight time: Up to 25 min | Range: 1.6Km | Camera: 20MP | Speed: 20 m/s | Size (diagonal): 520 mm | Weight: 1985 g

Yuneec Typhoon H3 is among the most expensive drones with cameras aimed at professional photographers and operators. It costs $2,899.95 – the price beginner users can hardly pay. The device is equipped with 6 motors, 5 of which are used for taking off and flying, while the remaining one is used as a backup in case something happens during a flight.

Another advantage of this 4K drone is that it’s supplied with a universal ground station. Thus, there is no need to connect it to a tablet or a phone to get the most out of this quadcopter. Moreover, thanks to the availability of a stabilized 3-axis gimbal, you can take sharp and detailed images and 4K videos.

Flight time: Up to 40 min | Range: 5.59 miles | Camera: 20MP | Speed: 20 m/s | Size (diagonal): 397 mm | Weight: 2.6 lbs

This aerial photography drone is priced at $2, 399, which is a totally justified cost considering a range of cool features it is packed with. First of all, it boasts increased transmission stability, so even seasoned photographers can rely on this copter.

Moreover, an embedded camera is capable of taking beautiful 5472x3648 images and recording 5.5K videos at 60fps or 4K content at 120fps with a bit rate of up to 120 Mbps.

Another advantage is the f/2.8-f/11 aperture range that is sufficient for the most daring cinematographic adventures and mapping exploits. Undoubtedly, it isn’t the most expensive drone with sophisticated functions but it doesn’t lag far behind reference models when it comes to preserving rich details in shadows and highlights.

Besides, it can model the location and speed of targets, predict their trajectory, and track them intermittently. The best thing is that it can identify up to 64 objects simultaneously.

Flight time: Up to 46 min | Range: 30Km | Camera: 4/3 CMOS, 20 MP | Speed: 19 m/s | Size: 221×96.3×90.3 mm | Weight: 1.97 lbs

DJI Mavic 3 costs $1,599. The manufacturer integrated a micro 4/3 Hasselblad sensor camera in this drone and it shows fantastic results during shooting in poorly-lit places retaining lifelike colors. Keep in mind that this is an indoor drone so you shouldn’t use it outdoors if you want to keep it running for a long time. The aperture here is changeable so users can have more precise control over their images.

Though the model is slightly bigger than analogs, it still belongs to the category of portable devices. The speed of the drone is sufficient even if you are chasing fast-moving objects.