Influencer rate calculator
Price a sponsored post the way brands actually budget — from reach and CPM, adjusted for engagement quality, niche and the rights they are asking for.
Your audience
Suggested rate per sponsored post
$167
Micro creator · 25K followers
At a 3.2% engagement rate this quote works out to an effective $26.67 CPM for the brand — the number they will actually benchmark you against.
- Estimated reach
- 6.3K
- Implied CPM
- $26.67
- Per 1k followersShown only for comparison against the common rule of thumb — it is a worse way to price.Shown only for comparison against the common rule of thumb — it is a worse way to price.
- $6.67
- Rate for 3 posts
- $450
A starting number for a negotiation, not a market rate. Brands budget from reach and CPM, so a quote built the same way is far easier to defend than a flat per-follower figure.
How much should you charge for a sponsored post?
Start from what the brand is buying: people reached. Multiply your expected reach by a CPM for your niche, then adjust up or down for engagement quality, and add separately for usage rights and exclusivity.
The flat per-follower rules circulating online price a highly-engaged audience and a bought one identically. Brands have stopped paying that way, and quoting that way costs good creators money.
Sponsored post rate
Rate = (Reach ÷ 1,000 × CPM) × Engagement quality × Niche × (1 + Usage + Exclusivity)
Why per-follower pricing died
The “$100 per 10,000 followers” rule made sense when follower count was the only number anyone could see. It survives because it is easy, not because it is accurate.
Two accounts with 50,000 followers can differ by ten times in how many people actually see a post. One built its audience through a giveaway three years ago and reaches 4% of it; the other posts to a tight niche and reaches 40%. Charging both the same is a bad deal for one of them and a bad deal for the brand paying the other.
Brands now run creator spend through the same CPM lens as paid media. Quote in a form that survives that comparison and you are negotiating on the same terms as their media buyer, rather than defending a number that sounds arbitrary.
The line items creators forget to charge for
The base rate covers one organic post living on your profile. Everything beyond that is a separate commercial ask, and each one has real value:
- Paid usage / whitelisting. The brand runs your content as an ad from their account or yours. This is often the most valuable thing you have, because creator-made ads frequently outperform brand-made ones. Price it by duration and channel.
- Exclusivity.Not working with competitors for a period is lost income. Get the competitor list in writing — “the beverage category” is a very different restriction from “these four brands”.
- Extra deliverables. Stories, a Reel cut-down, raw footage. Each is production time, not a bonus.
- Revisions and approvals. Two rounds included, then hourly. Open-ended approval cycles are how a well-priced deal becomes a badly-paid one.
Know your real engagement rate first
Engagement rate is the largest single input into this calculation, and guessing it high is how creators end up unable to justify a quote when the brand runs their own numbers.
Work it out properly with the engagement rate calculator, using the denominator your platform actually reports. Then check your real reach per post in your analytics rather than accepting the default assumption here — that one number moves the quote more than anything else on the page.
Common questions
How much should I charge for a sponsored post?
Price from expected reach and a brand-side CPM, then adjust for engagement quality, niche and rights. A 25,000-follower Instagram account reaching 25% of its audience at a $25 CPM has a base value of about $156 per post, before adjustments. The old "$100 per 10,000 followers" rule ignores that a 2% engagement account and a 10% engagement account do not deliver the same campaign.
Why price from CPM instead of follower count?
Because CPM is how the brand is budgeting on the other side of the table. When you quote a number they can convert to a cost per thousand impressions and compare against their paid media, you are speaking their language — and a quote that survives that comparison is far harder to negotiate down.
What are usage rights and why do they cost extra?
Usage rights let the brand use your content beyond the organic post — running it as a paid ad, putting it on their website, or using it in other channels. That is a licence, and it is worth real money because paid amplification of creator content often outperforms brand-made ads. A 30–100% uplift on the base rate is a common ask depending on duration and channels.
Should I charge for exclusivity?
Yes, always, and separately. If a brand asks you not to work with competitors for three months, that is income you are giving up. Price it as a percentage uplift tied to the length and breadth of the restriction, and make sure the definition of "competitor" is written down.
What is a good engagement rate for brand deals?
Most brands look for at least 2–3% on follower-based platforms, and treat anything above 5% as strong. Below 1% on a large account raises questions about audience quality. If you do not know your rate, work it out first — it is the single biggest driver of what you can charge.
Do nano and micro creators get paid less per follower?
Per follower, usually more. Smaller accounts typically have higher engagement rates and more trust with their audience, so brands often pay a higher effective CPM for them. The total cheque is smaller, but the rate per thousand people reached is frequently better than a macro creator's.
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