Guide
Social media retainer pricing: what agencies charge and how to set your price
Updated
A social media retainer averaged about $2,100 a month in HeyOrca's 2024 survey. Set your own price from what the monthly work costs you, then add your margin.
In short
- Social media retainers averaged $2,107 a month in HeyOrca's 2024 survey of more than 100 agency and freelance social media managers.
- The retainer in that survey covered three platforms for one client, with three posts per platform a week, community management and reporting.
- Set your own price by estimating the hours for every task, multiplying by your hourly cost and adding your margin.
- Extra work outside the agreed list is common, and 78% of agencies rarely or only sometimes charge for it (Ignition, 2025).
- Your contract should limit revisions to one round of notes from one named approver, with a written price for extra rounds.
- Average monthly social media retainer, HeyOrca survey 2024
- $2,107
- Average hourly rate social media managers charge, HeyOrca survey 2024
- $66.96
- Agencies that rarely or only sometimes charge for extra work, Ignition 2025
- 78%
What agencies charge for a social media retainer
WebFX puts social media management at $500 to $5,000 a month. The price depends on the number of platforms, posts and videos, and the hours of community management.
- HeyOrca asked for a price to manage LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for one client, with three client-approved posts per platform a week.
- The weekly work in that package also included 5 to 10 hours of community management and in-depth reporting.
- The package lists posts, community management and reporting but no videos, so price video editing as its own line.
- Your own price can sit above or below these averages, but it has to cover your costs first.
What social media management costs
Sources: HeyOrca social media pricing report, 2024, 100+ agency and freelance social media managers; WebFX social media pricing guide, 2026.
| What was measured | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average monthly retainer | $2,107 | HeyOrca, 2024 |
| Agencies, by years of experience | $1,833 to $2,278 a month | HeyOrca, 2024 |
| Freelancers, by years of experience | $1,750 to $2,765 a month | HeyOrca, 2024 |
| Average hourly rate | $66.96 | HeyOrca, 2024 |
| Usual range for social media management | $500 to $5,000 a month | WebFX, 2026 |
| Usual hourly rates | $35 to $150 | WebFX, 2026 |
What was measured: Average monthly retainer
- Price
- $2,107
- Source
- HeyOrca, 2024
What was measured: Agencies, by years of experience
- Price
- $1,833 to $2,278 a month
- Source
- HeyOrca, 2024
What was measured: Freelancers, by years of experience
- Price
- $1,750 to $2,765 a month
- Source
- HeyOrca, 2024
What was measured: Average hourly rate
- Price
- $66.96
- Source
- HeyOrca, 2024
What was measured: Usual range for social media management
- Price
- $500 to $5,000 a month
- Source
- WebFX, 2026
What was measured: Usual hourly rates
- Price
- $35 to $150
- Source
- WebFX, 2026
Three ways to price a social media retainer
The main difference between them is who pays when the work takes longer than planned.
- A flat fee suits clients whose monthly work is steady and predictable.
- A price per deliverable suits clients whose needs change from month to month.
- A block of hours means you discuss real hours every month, not once a year at renewal.
Retainer pricing models compared
| Model | Who pays when work takes longer | Strengths | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly fee for a set list of work | You | Easiest to sell | You lose money on slow or demanding clients |
| Price per deliverable | You, but the client pays for any extra items | Clear and easy to defend | Every extra request becomes a negotiation |
| A block of hours per month | The client, who buys more hours | Easiest to defend at renewal | Harder to sell |
Model: Flat monthly fee for a set list of work
- Who pays when work takes longer
- You
- Strengths
- Easiest to sell
- Tradeoff
- You lose money on slow or demanding clients
Model: Price per deliverable
- Who pays when work takes longer
- You, but the client pays for any extra items
- Strengths
- Clear and easy to defend
- Tradeoff
- Every extra request becomes a negotiation
Model: A block of hours per month
- Who pays when work takes longer
- The client, who buys more hours
- Strengths
- Easiest to defend at renewal
- Tradeoff
- Harder to sell
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How to work out your price
Work out your costs first, then add your margin. Use a loaded hourly cost, meaning salary plus overheads, not salary alone.
- The work nobody lists, like revisions, account management, calls and reporting, belongs in the estimate.
- Your lowest price comes from your costs. Work below it loses money even when everything goes well.
- A yearly price increase is easier to agree when it is written into the contract from the start.
Pricing a retainer in five steps
List the monthly work
Videos, posts, reports, calls
Estimate the hours
Include revisions and account management
Multiply by your hourly cost
Salary plus overheads
Add your margin
The profit you need
Check it against your lowest price
Below this price the work loses money
Example: what a $2,400 retainer costs to deliver
This example is a $2,400 monthly retainer with eight short vertical videos and a monthly report. It uses one hourly cost of $60 and includes one revision round.
- In this example, editing is the largest cost, so saving editing time on each video raises the profit most.
- A second revision round on all eight videos would cost about another $480, more than the $360 profit.
Where a $2,400 monthly retainer goes
An example with assumed hours and one assumed hourly cost of $60, not an industry average.
| Work | Hours | Cost per month |
|---|---|---|
| Editing 8 videos, 90 minutes each | 12 | $720 |
| One revision round on all 8 videos | 8 | $480 |
| Scripts, 30 minutes per video | 4 | $240 |
| Strategy and the monthly report | 5 | $300 |
| Account management, calls and emails | 5 | $300 |
| Total cost | 34 | $2,040 |
| Profit | $360, 15% of the price |
Work: Editing 8 videos, 90 minutes each
- Hours
- 12
- Cost per month
- $720
Work: One revision round on all 8 videos
- Hours
- 8
- Cost per month
- $480
Work: Scripts, 30 minutes per video
- Hours
- 4
- Cost per month
- $240
Work: Strategy and the monthly report
- Hours
- 5
- Cost per month
- $300
Work: Account management, calls and emails
- Hours
- 5
- Cost per month
- $300
Work: Total cost
- Hours
- 34
- Cost per month
- $2,040
Work: Profit
- Hours
- Cost per month
- $360, 15% of the price
How revision rounds and extra requests cut your profit
The first edit is planned work. Extra rounds and small extra requests are not, and they are rarely billed.
- Ignition's 2025 Agency and Cash Flow Report found that 78% of agencies rarely or only sometimes charge for work outside the agreed list.
- The same report found that 57% of agencies lose $1,000 to $5,000 a month to that extra work.
- PMI's 2018 Pulse of the Profession found that 52% of projects of all kinds grew beyond what was agreed, up from 43% five years earlier.
- A second round often costs more than people expect, because a change in structure means rebuilding most of the video.
Common extra requests
Extra work rarely arrives as one big request. It arrives as small ones that are hard to refuse.
Common extra requests, and what they really are
| The request | What it really is |
|---|---|
| "Can you resize it for another platform?" | A new video with a different size, length and caption position |
| "Can we get a 15 and a 6-second version?" | Two more videos, each with its own opening and captions |
| "Just a quick tweak" | A few minutes for them, often much longer for you, and rarely logged |
| A new person joins at the second review | New opinions that change what was agreed, sent as if they were small notes |
| A new metric or monthly report | More reporting work every month from now on |
The request: "Can you resize it for another platform?"
- What it really is
- A new video with a different size, length and caption position
The request: "Can we get a 15 and a 6-second version?"
- What it really is
- Two more videos, each with its own opening and captions
The request: "Just a quick tweak"
- What it really is
- A few minutes for them, often much longer for you, and rarely logged
The request: A new person joins at the second review
- What it really is
- New opinions that change what was agreed, sent as if they were small notes
The request: A new metric or monthly report
- What it really is
- More reporting work every month from now on
How to limit revision rounds in the contract
Put the limit in the contract from the first month, before extra rounds become a habit.
- One round of notes is the usual default, and two is generous.
- A round should mean one set of notes, from one named approver, in one message.
- The price of an extra round belongs in writing, and it is easiest to charge the first time it comes up.
- A friendly way to say it is: "We can do that round, and here is what it costs."
- A tight scope line in the contract says, for example, "Eight vertical videos up to 60 seconds, one platform, one round of notes."
Where Cutroom fits
Editing was the biggest cost in the example above. Cutroom does that editing for talking-head videos, and the finished 9:16 video comes back in about a minute.
- You upload one clip of someone talking. Cutroom transcribes it, writes a hook, and adds b-roll and captions in one of 40 caption styles. On the Punch and Native styles, it also shortens the pauses and removes the ums and uhs in the transcript.
- You change the video by editing the transcript, not a timeline.
- A 30-second video costs 110 credits: 100 to edit, plus 20 per minute of export. Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, about 11 of those videos.
- It only takes clips up to 3 minutes and only exports 9:16 MP4. It has no approval tool, so clients keep approving videos the way they do now.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite removes it.
Questions people ask
- How much should a social media retainer cost?
- About $2,100 a month on average, according to HeyOrca's 2024 survey, for three platforms, posts, community management and reporting. WebFX puts the usual range at $500 to $5,000 a month. Your own price should still cover your hours at your hourly cost, plus your margin.
- What does a social media retainer include?
- Usually posts on a few platforms, community management and reporting. HeyOrca's survey package was LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, three posts per platform a week, 5 to 10 hours of community management and in-depth reporting. List videos and ad management separately in the contract.
- Should video be part of the retainer or billed separately?
- Part of the retainer when the number and format of videos stay the same each month. Bill it separately when video is occasional or varies a lot, because a fixed fee for unpredictable work is how retainers lose money.
- How many revision rounds should a retainer include?
- One round of notes is the usual default, and two is generous. Define a round in writing as one set of notes from one named approver, because most disputes are about what counts as a round.
- How do you raise a retainer price without losing the client?
- Give notice a full billing cycle ahead and show the hours you actually spent. Link the increase to something the client can see, like more deliverables or more reporting.
- What is the most common retainer pricing mistake?
- Pricing the list of deliverables instead of the work behind them. Eight videos sounds like eight units, but editing, revisions and chasing approvals are where the hours go.
Editing is often the biggest cost in a video retainer. Upload one clip and get the finished video back in about a minute. Your first video is free.