Instagram money calculator
A rough range for what one sponsored Instagram post, Reel or Story might fetch, worked out from your followers, engagement, format and niche. Every assumption is shown, because they’re ours rather than market data.
The four steps behind the number
The range is built in four plain steps, and each one is printed under the result so you can check it.
- Base rate. We start at $4 to $12 per 1,000 followers for one sponsored photo post.
- Engagement. We treat 1% to 3% as a typical band and leave the range alone inside it. Below 1%, the range shrinks in proportion, to no less than half. Above 3%, it grows in proportion, to no more than double.
- Format. Photo post × 1, carousel × 1.1, Reel × 1.3, a single Story frame × 0.45.
- Niche. General lifestyle and food × 1, home and interiors × 1.05, fitness and travel × 1.1, beauty and fashion × 1.15, money and tech × 1.4, gaming × 0.9.
Worked example. A Brighton interiors account with 8,500 followers, 240 likes and 14 comments a post has an engagement rate of 254 ÷ 8,500 × 100 = 2.99%, inside the typical band. For a Reel, that’s 8.5 × $4–$12 = $34–$102, × 1.3 for the Reel, × 1.05 for the niche, which is about $46 to $139, rounded to $45–$140.
These are our numbers. We chose the base rate and every multiplier so the sums are simple and transparent. They don’t come from a study, a survey or anybody’s invoices. Use the result as a starting point for your own thinking, not as evidence of what the market pays.
What actually decides a fee
Two accounts with identical numbers can be offered wildly different fees, and many accounts are never offered a paid deal at all. The things that move a real quote:
- Who the audience is. A brand selling in Manchester cares how many of your followers are near Manchester. Instagram’s professional dashboard shows your own audience’s top locations; brands may ask for a screenshot.
- Usage rights. If the brand wants to run your content as an ad or put it on its website, that’s worth more than a post that lives only on your feed.
- Exclusivity. Promising not to work with a competitor for three months has a cost. Price it.
- The amount of work. A Reel with a script, a location and edits takes far longer than a product photo on your kitchen table.
- Track record. Results from previous campaigns, like link clicks or discount-code uses, are the strongest argument for a higher fee.
Getting paid properly in the UK
Two practical points for UK creators. First, paid partnerships must be labelled clearly: the Advertising Standards Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority expect “Ad” or Instagram’s paid partnership label up front, not buried in hashtags, and that includes posts paid for with free products. Second, income from brand deals, including the value of gifted items you were required to post about, can be taxable. HMRC’s guidance for people earning from social media is worth reading, and an accountant can tell you how it applies to you. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Why engagement beats follower count
Brands increasingly check likes and comments against followers before agreeing anything, which is why the calculator weights engagement heavily. Work out your figure with the engagement rate calculator, or read engagement rate explained for the different ways it’s measured.
To be straight about our own product: buying followers doesn’t raise what you can charge. Bought followers don’t like or comment, so your engagement rate drops and the estimate above drops with it. Try it: an account with 8,500 followers and 254 interactions per post sits at 2.99%; add 2,500 followers and the same interactions give 2.31%. Where a follower package can help is first impressions on a new profile, not brand deals. The guide does buying followers work? covers this in more detail.
From estimate to quote
Write a short rate card listing each deliverable separately: photo post, Reel, Story set, usage rights per month, exclusivity per month. Give a total for the package the brand asks for, state how long posts stay up, and get the agreement in writing, including the payment date, before you post anything. For TikTok work, the TikTok money calculator uses views rather than followers, which suits how that platform works.
Building from a small base?
Instagram likes from $2.49Our packages raise visible numbers on one public profile or post, starting within minutes, with a 30-day refill. They won’t create an audience that buys from a sponsor, so use them for appearances and keep your rate card based on genuine engagement.