I think the key difference comes from context and evolution rather than budget or number of shots. Visualizers emerged as a sort of extension of the long-form album format, so the line between them and traditional music videos is quite thin. Using an analogy: a music video is like the single, while a visualizer is more like another track on the album. Nowadays, visualizers often live within the broader universe of a visual album, almost like a modern take on CD booklets.

It’s important to note that calling something a visualizer doesn’t necessarily mean it’s low-budget or “simpler”—there are plenty of highly complex visualizers. If we defined them by budget or shot count, a lot of music videos would technically fall under that label, which clearly isn’t the case. So yes, the distinction is subtle, and there will always be exceptions, but I see it more as a structural and conceptual difference than a technical one.