The Short Answer: Social Media Management Cost
Social media management costs about $500–$5,000 a month from a freelancer or agency, the average range in both WebFX's pricing guide and LYFE Marketing's. Flat-rate posting services start at $99 a month for 10 designed posts, full-service agencies charge $3,150 to $50,000+, and an in-house social media manager averages $65,660 a year in base pay on Indeed.
Those are market numbers, not ours. Mark Studios' own plan prices are on our pricing page, and social media management is quoted per account. Every figure below links to the page that published it, checked October 19, 2026.
The range is wide because the phrase covers very different jobs. A $5 tool schedules posts you make yourself. A $99 subscription designs image posts from your brand. A $4,000 agency plan runs the strategy, the content, the replies and the ads. Before you compare two quotes, find out which job each one prices.
Social Media Management Prices in 2026
| Route | Published price | Who makes the posts | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduling tool you run yourself | Buffer $5 a month per channel; Later $18.75; Hootsuite Standard $99 per user; Sprout Social $79–$399 per seat | You do | Yearly billing on the lowest prices; free trials |
| Flat-rate posting service | 99 Dollar Social $99–$279 for 10–30 posts, plus $10 per extra channel; Feedbird $99 for 10 posts; ConciergeBee $150–$360 | The service designs image posts and writes captions | Cancel any time; 14- to 30-day money-back guarantees |
| Freelancer | $500–$5,000 a month, or about $31 an hour on average (LYFE Marketing) | Varies by freelancer | Hourly or monthly |
| Small-business agency | $500–$2,500 a month; about $3,000 for a complete package with content, ads and tools (LYFE Marketing) | The agency | Varies |
| Full-service agency | WebFX starting at $3,150 a month; NinjaPromo $4,000 for 40 hours up to $12,800 for 160; Sociallyin $5,000 to $50,000+ | The agency | NinjaPromo 3, 6 or 12 months; Sociallyin no minimum, goals set three months at a time |
| In-house hire | $65,660 a year average base salary, low $40,949, high $105,285 (Indeed) | Your employee | Salary, plus benefits, tools and a content budget |
The tool row is the one buyers misread. Buffer, Later and Hootsuite schedule posts, collect messages and report results, but someone still has to make every post and answer every comment. In most small businesses that someone is the owner, which is how an account goes quiet for three weeks at a time. Our list of the best social media management services has a section on when a tool is enough.
Hourly work runs $35–$150 an hour for freelancers and agencies, by WebFX's guide, and NinjaPromo's plans work out to $80–$100 an hour. If you're weighing a marketplace freelancer against an agency, our Fiverr vs Upwork vs agency comparison covers the trade-offs. It's written for hiring an editor, but the vetting rules carry over.
Is Video Included? The Line That Changes the Price
Most low monthly prices buy designed image posts: a graphic, a caption and a scheduled slot. Short video is priced on top, and it's usually the most expensive line on the quote:
- 99 Dollar Social adds 4 short videos (15–45 seconds) for $99 a month, 8 for $189 and 12 for $269.
- Feedbird's short-form video plan starts at $149 a month for 5 videos.
- ConciergeBee charges $150 a month for three posts a week, and $240 when the week includes four posts and a video.
- WebFX adds vertical content creation for $1,200 a month on any of its packages.
Replies are the second line to check. WebFX's packages include daily monitoring, while ConciergeBee sells community management as its own plan at $150–$360 a month, covering up to 20–100 inbox replies a week. Ads are the third. Feedbird charges $499 and up a month to manage Meta ads, and WebFX's guide puts typical social ad spend at $850–$2,000 a month, paid to the platform on top of any fee.
Video is also what buyers ask for. In our own inbox, Shorts, Reels or TikTok videos came up in 240 of 698 first messages from buyers, more than any other format. A $99 plan of image posts doesn't answer that request. If short video is the point, price it directly: our guides to short-form video editing cost and social media video production cost cover editing clips you film and having them filmed for you.
What Moves the Price
- Platforms. 99 Dollar Social adds $10 a month per extra channel. WebFX's Bronze, Silver and Gold packages cover one, two and three networks.
- Posts per month. Most packages run 10–30 posts: 99 Dollar Social sells 10, 15, 20 or 30, and WebFX's packages carry 10, 20 or 30.
- Who makes the content. Your own phone photos cost least to turn into posts, designed graphics more, filmed video the most. WebFX's guide prices content creation at $40–$150 a post.
- Replies. Included at some agencies, a separate $150–$360 plan at ConciergeBee.
- Strategy time. WebFX includes one, two or four consultations a month by package. NinjaPromo includes a weekly call.
- Commitment. 99 Dollar Social, Feedbird and ConciergeBee cancel any time. NinjaPromo sells 3-, 6- and 12-month terms and takes 10% or 20% off the longer ones.
How to Get an Accurate Quote
Send these with your first message and every quote you get back will price the same job:
- The accounts and platforms, with links, and which one matters most.
- Posts per week by format: image posts, carousels, Stories and short videos counted separately.
- Who supplies the raw material: your own photos and clips, brand graphics and stock, or a shoot.
- Whether replies are included, and how fast comments and messages should be answered.
- Ads: whether the provider runs them, and whether the quote covers the fee, the spend or both.
- How access will work. Facebook and Instagram let you add a manager as a partner in Meta Business Suite, and LinkedIn pages and YouTube have manager roles, so no password changes hands.
- The all-in monthly total and the term, including setup fees, add-ons and the notice period.
If you're planning the posts yourself first, our walkthrough of what goes into a 90-day content calendar makes item 2 easy to answer.
Where Mark Studios Fits
Our social media management runs Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts and X month to month. You pick what to hand off: the content calendar, posts made for you (graphics, carousels and short videos), captions, scheduling, replies to comments and messages, and a monthly report. Short video is made in house, so it isn't the bolt-on most plans above charge extra for. Most clients send phone photos and clips. For local businesses, Mark also films on location across Palm Beach, Broward and Martin counties, a batch of Reels and photos in one visit (social media videography in Palm Beach County). Contractors can start at video for contractors, and restaurants at restaurant video. We've delivered 10,000+ projects for 4,500+ clients at a 4.9★ average, with 100M+ views generated, and you work with Mark directly.
The Bottom Line
Social media management costs about $500–$5,000 a month from a freelancer or agency in 2026, $99–$360 for a flat-rate posting service, $3,150 and up at a full-service agency, and $65,660 a year for an in-house hire. Ask what format the posts come in and whether replies are included before you compare, because short video and community management are the two lines that can double a quote.
