To work out how much to charge for social media management, calculate your hourly rate from your costs and the income you need, estimate how many hours each client takes per month, and sell fixed monthly packages. Charging "what everyone else charges" usually means working more for less.

Your price depends on your market, your experience and what you include. A beginner in Latin America and an experienced manager in the US can do similar work at very different rates, so start from your own numbers.

How do you calculate your hourly rate?

  1. Add up what you need to earn each month: your pay plus business costs (internet, Canva, phone, software).
  2. Count your real billable hours. It isn't 160: after sales, meetings and admin, most freelancers bill around 80 to 100.
  3. Divide what you need to earn by your billable hours.

Example: you need USD 3,000 a month and have 80 billable hours. Your minimum rate is USD 37.50 an hour. Anything below that loses you money.

How many hours does one client take?

A client with 12 posts a month usually takes 15 to 25 hours:

  • Planning and the monthly calendar: 2–3 hours.
  • Designing posts and carousels: 6–10 hours.
  • Captions and hashtags: 3–4 hours.
  • Scheduling and publishing: 1–2 hours.
  • Comments and DMs, if included: 3–5 hours.
  • Monthly report: 1–2 hours.

Track a real month with a timer: it's the only way to stop guessing.

Work out your rate with your own numbers The free Precio Justo app calculates your price from your hours, costs and the profit you want. The full method for setting and defending your prices, with scripts for "that's expensive", is in the ebook Charge What You're Worth (USD 9.90).

How much to charge for social media management: three sample packages

At USD 37.50 an hour:

  • Starter · 8 posts a month (about 12 hours): USD 450. Calendar, design, captions and scheduling on one platform.
  • Growth · 12 posts + 4 reels (about 22 hours): USD 825. Everything above plus reel editing and a monthly report.
  • Full · 16 posts + 8 reels + community (about 35 hours): USD 1,300. Adds comments and DMs, and a second platform.

Always spell out what's included and what isn't: photo shoots, paid ads, extra revision rounds and extra platforms are billed separately.

Hourly or package pricing?

Packages. The client knows what they pay each month, and you earn more as you get faster. Your hourly rate is for building packages and billing work outside the agreed scope.

Pricing mistakes in social media management

  • Copying someone else's price without knowing their costs or hours.
  • Throwing in comments and DMs for free. It's the task that eats the most time.
  • No limit on revisions. Two rounds per piece is standard.
  • Not raising prices for a year. See how to raise prices without losing clients.

To present your packages professionally, send them in a clear quote. If you design logos too, here is how much to charge for a logo.

Frequently asked questions

Start from a rate that covers your costs and the income you need, then raise it as you get results and testimonials. Compare against your local market, not a global average.

No. Ad management is a separate service, and the client pays the ad budget directly to the platform.

Most managers bill the month in advance, or at least 50% before starting, so they never work unpaid.

One main platform in the starter package, with each extra platform billed separately, since each has its own formats and time.

Wrapping up

Pricing social media management starts with arithmetic, not competitors: your costs, your real hours and fixed packages a client understands at a glance.

Next step: work out your rate free in Precio Justo, and to hold your prices with clients who haggle, read Charge What You're Worth.