The price of social media help follows who does the work. In our November 2026 pricing study, posting services start at a median of $99 a month and agencies that publish prices at a median of $575, while 11 of the 20 agencies we checked show no price at all. Freelancers on Upwork charge a median of $20 an hour, and Upwork's sample billing for a US-based specialist managing two channels is $400 to $2,000 a month. An employee averages $61,083 a year in base salary on Payscale, about $5,090 a month before taxes and benefits, while software that writes the posts starts at $9 a month. Decide which jobs you want off your plate before you compare totals, because two quotes at the same price can cover very different work.
Social media manager cost, by who does the work
| Who does the work | What it costs a month | What you get | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|---|
| You, with free tools | $0 cash; Buffer, Publer and Metricool have free plans, and Meta Business Suite is free | Scheduling for posts you make | Ideas, writing, images, publishing, replies and your hours |
| You, with scheduling software | A median of $32 across ten tools (one business, three channels, one user), from $12 | A calendar, publishing to several channels and reports | Writing, images, approvals and replies |
| Boomp, software that writes the posts | Packs $9; Core $39 | Posts written from your public website, with images; Core publishes each one you approve | Checking each post (about ten minutes a week on Core), publishing on Packs, replies, ads and shoots |
| A posting service's team | A median entry price of $99 across ten services (range $35 to $149), usually about ten posts | A set number of designed posts, scheduled for you | Source material, approvals, replies and extra channels |
| A freelancer | A median of $20 an hour on Upwork (typical $14 to $35); $400 to $2,000 in Upwork's two-channel sample | A person on a retainer, often with several clients | Source material, approvals and anything outside the written scope |
| An agency | A median entry package of $575 among the 8 agencies that publish prices; 11 of 20 show no price | A team; some entry packages add replies, reporting or ad boosting | Ad spend, approvals and final decisions |
| An employee | $61,083 a year average base salary on Payscale, about $5,090 a month | A person inside the business, on your hours | Payroll taxes, benefits, tools, management and rehiring |
Provider figures come from 45 provider websites we read on November 2, 2026; the study explains the method. Upwork and Payscale were read the same day; Payscale's figure rests on 2,285 salary profiles updated September 28, 2026. Scheduling software prices and the free plans were read on each vendor's own page between October 9 and November 2, 2026.
An agency earns its price when campaigns, shoots and ads have to run together, and its median entry price is about six times the posting-service median. Boomp also sells done-for-you service plans, where Kathleen, Boomp's founder, does the agreed work; they are at the end of this page. For every option that is not a hire, see alternatives to hiring a social media manager.
How to find and vet a provider
- Write down the job you want gone, then pick who should do it. Name it as work, such as three posts a week from your website or replies to messages within a day, and match it to a row in the table above.
- Find three candidates. Ask two or three owners in your field who handles their social media, because a referral comes with a track record. Posting services and software publish prices on their own sites, a freelancer's Upwork profile shows past jobs and client feedback, and more than half of agencies quote only after you get in touch.
- Check recent work and how they learn your business. Ask to see posts made for a business like yours, and ask whether they interview you, read your website or wait for a brief. If they wait for you to supply every topic, caption and photo, the blank page is still yours. Ask who writes, who checks the facts and who confirms that each scheduled post went out.
- Get the scope and the terms in writing. Mark every line included, excluded or yours (the table below helps), and add the minimum term, notice, setup fee, and who keeps the accounts and files when you leave. In our study, 9 of the 20 providers with published prices said no contract or month to month, 2 stated a minimum term, and 3 agencies listed a setup or onboarding fee.
- Agree how you will judge the work. Track what it is meant to support, such as inquiries, bookings and referrals, rather than followers; the social media ROI guide shows how.
For the full hiring process, see how to hire a social media manager; to decide whether a person is worth it, use the hiring decision.
Freelance social media manager rates
| Source | Figure | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Upwork cost guide | $20 an hour median; $14 to $35 typical | Hourly rates on Upwork, from past contracts worldwide |
| Upwork sample jobs | $400 to $2,000 a month | Account management on two channels by an intermediate, US-based specialist |
| Upwork sample jobs | $200 to $1,500 a month | Each extra channel |
| Upwork sample jobs | $200 to $950 a month | Images and graphic design |
| Two freelancers in our study | $250 and from $500 a month | Entry packages on one platform: 8 to 10 posts a month, or 3 posts a week with a photoshoot |
| Sprout Social's 2026 guide | $20 to $150 an hour; $500 to $5,000 a month | A software company's planning ranges for a freelancer and for a basic program; it names no source |
Upwork and Sprout Social were read November 2, 2026.
An hourly rate becomes a monthly figure only after you estimate the hours.
| Hours a month | At $14 an hour | At $20 an hour | At $35 an hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $140 | $200 | $350 |
| 20 | $280 | $400 | $700 |
| 40 | $560 | $800 | $1,400 |
These are multiplication examples, not budgets, because a freelancer may set minimums, charge a fixed retainer or price the responsibility rather than the hours. If you are a freelancer pricing your own work, how to price social media services is written for you.
What a package includes, and what a small budget buys
A package is a quote with the quantities filled in: posts a month, channels, formats, review rounds, and whether replies or reporting sit inside. In our study, the median entry package that states a post count held ten posts a month, and 17 of the 20 entry packages included writing or design. At the entry price that is a median of $9.90 a post at posting services and $62.50 a post at agencies, though some agency packages also cover replies, reporting or ad boosting. Two posting services, read November 2, 2026:
- Feedbird sells ten posts for $99 a month and five short videos for $149 a month, and says most clients combine two to four services and spend $300 to $600 a month.
- $99 Social sells ten posts a month on one channel for $99, adds $10 a month for each extra channel, and asks for at least 7 days' notice to cancel.
A low price usually means a narrower job, not a worse one. Under about $100 a month buys one repeatable job, such as software that writes the posts or a posting service's entry plan, and it leaves out original photos and video, daily comment and message coverage, ads, crisis communication and professional or legal review. Raise the budget when:
- social media brings enough qualified inquiries to justify more;
- customers expect timely replies;
- you need current photos, video, launches or offers;
- several locations or reviewers make approvals complex; or
- nobody inside the business can own accuracy and final decisions.
Do not raise it just because posting feels inconsistent; first find the gap, whether that is source material, preparation, approval or publishing. For a whole marketing budget, start with how much a small business should spend on marketing.
Count your own hours before you compare
Doing it yourself costs no cash, but it is not free. In Picmim's survey of 200 small-business owners in 12 European countries (May 2026, read November 2, 2026), owners averaged 6.3 hours a week on social media, and those posting by hand reported 8.4. Owners who used an agency or a freelancer still reported 3.8 and 4.2 hours a week, though those groups were small, about 24 and 14 people. Picmim sells an AI social media tool and does not say how it recruited respondents, so treat these as rough markers and measure your own month:
- Track the minutes for topics, writing, design, review, scheduling, corrections, replies and reporting.
- Mark each task keep, delegate or stop.
- Circle the work that truly needs you, such as facts, judgment and customer conversations.
- Estimate the briefs, approvals and meetings each outside option would add back.
- Compare the cash cost and the hours left with you, side by side.
Value those hours at what an hour of your own work earns, not a pricing page's guess. The social media management cost calculator puts your hours and quotes side by side, and how much time social media takes breaks the hours down by task.
Who should do the work in four common situations
A coach or consultant whose clients come by referral
Most new clients hear your name from someone else and look you up before they reply. The job is a steady, accurate presence that matches what the referral said about you. Your website, talks, FAQs and articles already hold most of the material, so software or a posting service working from it, with you approving, is usually enough. Pay a freelancer when your best material is still in your head and someone needs to interview you to get it out.
A real estate agent between listings
Listings bring their own posts, but the weeks between them go quiet, and that is when future sellers look you up. Software or a posting service can keep neighborhood and process posts going, and a videographer earns the fee on listing video. Just-listed and just-sold posts need the current price and status, so check them the day they go out. Fair housing review stays with you, whoever writes the post.
A trades business with a phone full of job photos
Plumbers, electricians, roofers and landscapers usually have the material already: photos from this week's jobs and the questions every customer asks. The cost is turning that into steady posts while the crew is on the next job; a posting service or software can do it while you approve. Pay a person when you want video from job sites or someone to answer messages about urgent calls. Before-and-after photos need the homeowner's permission, with house numbers and street signs out of frame.
A restaurant, salon or shop where social media is the front desk
Customers ask about today's special, a booking or an order in comments and messages. That is customer service, and it needs a person with access and response hours, not a monthly batch of posts. If you also run ads across several locations, budget for an agency or an employee who owns the results.
Compare quotes line by line
Ask every provider to mark each line included, excluded or yours.
| Work | Pin down before comparing | What usually stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy and source material | Audience, offers and channels, and whether they interview you or work from your website | Business priorities, current facts and corrections |
| Posts | How many a month, which formats (image, carousel, short video) and which channels | Accuracy and sensitive claims |
| Original photo and video | Shoots, site visits and editing | Scheduling the shoot and getting releases |
| Review and publishing | Review rounds, who schedules, and who checks that posts went out | The final yes and account access |
| Comments, messages and reviews | Which ones they answer, in what hours, and what comes back to you | Complaints and account-specific answers |
| Reporting | Which numbers, and whether anyone explains them | Outcomes they cannot see, such as bookings |
| Ads | Creative, targeting and the management fee | Ad spend and offer decisions |
| Terms | Minimum term, notice, setup fee, and the accounts and files at exit | Admin access in your own name |
Then compare three things: the full invoice, including setup fees, ad spend and production; the work still on your desk; and the outcome the provider agrees to own.
What stays with you, whoever you hire
These stay on your desk at any price:
- Fair housing: posts describe places, homes and process, never who a home or neighborhood is for.
- Professional claims: medical, legal, financial and results claims stay with the licensed or accountable person.
- Perishable facts: prices, hours, service areas, availability, listing status and offers change faster than any batch of posts.
- Permissions: client stories, faces, homes and job-site photos need consent before they are posted.
- Customer conversations: replies to comments, messages and reviews stay yours unless the scope names who answers them.
- Account ownership: keep admin access to every account in your own name, so a change of provider never costs you the page.
If you use Boomp Core in a careful field, do not turn on auto approval, so every post waits for your yes.
Where Boomp fits
Boomp is software: it reads your public website and writes social media posts about your business, with images.
- Packs, $9 a month. Ten finished posts arrive by email link each month, and you publish them yourself; nothing is connected.
- Core, $39 a month. Boomp writes 20 posts, one carousel and one video, and publishes each one to your connected channels after you approve it in the app, about ten minutes a week of approving.
- Done-for-you service plans with Kathleen, from $275 a month. Social, handled ($275) is the Core content with Kathleen reviewing every post and scheduling it to your connected accounts. Local marketing ($900, the one we recommend) adds Google Business Profile updates, review requests and inquiry tracking, plus one search page and up to two small website updates a month, for one business at one location. Marketing partner ($1,800) adds a second search page, a customer email, an offer page or promotion, and a monthly planning and progress call. Both larger plans start with a 15-minute call, and the work is agreed before payment; see the plans.
No plan, software or service, includes ads, replies to comments or messages, or photo shoots, so hire a person if those are the job. No plan has a contract. The side-by-side decision is in Boomp compared with a freelance social media manager.
Get ten free posts made from your website: enter your website and an email, and a link to ten finished posts, with images, a carousel and a short video, arrives by email, with no account or card.
