# Social media manager pricing calculator

Enter how many networks you manage, how often you post and the extra work, set your own hourly rate, and get the monthly hours, a retainer, a per-post price and a range to quote.

## Price the work, not a guess

Most social media pricing questions come down to one number: how many hours the work takes each month. This calculator turns your workload into hours, so a quote rests on the work you will actually do instead of what someone else charges.

## What goes into the hours

Posting is the visible part. Each post needs planning, writing, a design or a video, and scheduling. Around it sit community management (replies, comments and messages), a monthly report and, for many clients, paid ads. Every one of them takes time, and leaving one out is the usual reason a retainer turns out too low.

The minutes per post are assumptions that you should check against your own timesheets. If a client needs more revisions or approvals, add the time as extra hours.

## Turn hours into a quote

Multiply the hours by your rate for the monthly retainer, then decide how to present it: hourly for open-ended work, a retainer for ongoing management, or a price per post. The range shows the retainer 20% lower and higher.

## Run several clients from one place

When you manage social media for clients, PostBoost gives each client its own workspace, an approval step before posts go out and reports you can send. The [Agency plan](/pricing) covers up to 100 social accounts and 10 team members.

## How to use

1. Enter the number of networks and the posts per week on each.
2. Pick what goes into a post: copy only, copy and design, or copy, design and video.
3. Add community management hours per week and reporting and ad management hours per month.
4. Set your own hourly rate and currency, then choose whether the quote leads with the hourly rate, a monthly retainer or a per-post price.
5. Copy the line items as text or CSV into your proposal.

## FAQ

### How does the calculator work out the price?

It adds up the hours a month: posts a month times the minutes one post takes, plus community management, reporting and ad management. The monthly retainer is those hours times your hourly rate, and the per-post price is the retainer divided by the posts a month.

### Where do the minutes per post come from?

They are our assumptions, not market data: 30 minutes for a copy-only post, 60 with design and 120 with video, including planning and scheduling. Change the content type, or price the extra time as hours, if your own work takes longer or shorter.

### What hourly rate should I use?

Your own. The default of 50 is a round placeholder, not an average rate. Start from what you need to earn per billable hour after tools, taxes and time you cannot bill.

### What is the range for?

It shows the retainer 20% lower and 20% higher, so you can see where a discount or a premium for rush work, extra revisions or a demanding client would land.

### Does it convert currencies?

No. The currency only changes the symbol and formatting; enter your rate in the currency you quote in.

### Hourly, retainer or per post: which should I quote?

A retainer gives both sides a fixed monthly number and suits ongoing work. Per post suits clients who buy content in batches. Hourly suits work you cannot scope yet. The calculator shows all three, so you can compare them.

### Is my data sent anywhere?

No. The calculator runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to PostBoost or stored.

## Related

- [Influencer rate calculator](https://postboost.co/tools/influencer-rate-calculator): Estimate what an influencer charges per post, Reel, TikTok or YouTube video from public price guides, next to what paid deals actually pay.
- [Social media ROI calculator](https://postboost.co/tools/social-media-roi-calculator): Calculate social media ROI from attributed revenue, ad spend, tools, labor and content costs. See the formula with your numbers and each cost's share.
- [Posting frequency planner](https://postboost.co/tools/posting-frequency-planner): How often to post on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and 5 more networks: sourced weekly ranges, your posts split per network and a weekly grid.
- [Pricing](https://postboost.co/pricing)
- [Approvals and team](https://postboost.co/features/team): Invite your team with the right role, decide who can publish without a review and keep every client's posts in one calendar.

Last verified: 2026-10-17

Canonical: https://postboost.co/tools/social-media-manager-pricing-calculator