How much to charge for a sponsored post in 2026

Start with a base rate per platform

A base rate is what one post is worth before any add-ons. It scales with your audience and moves up or down with your engagement rate against the platform average.

• Instagram Reel: followers x $0.012, at a 3% engagement rate. 50,000 followers is about $600. 100,000 is about $1,200.
• TikTok video: followers x $0.006, at a 5% engagement rate. 100,000 followers is about $600. 500,000 is about $3,000.
• YouTube integration: subscribers x $0.04, at a 4% engagement rate. 50,000 subscribers is about $2,000.
• Stories (set of 3): 40% of your Reel rate. Static post: 55%. UGC video the brand posts itself: 45% of your best video rate.

Engagement moves the number. At double the platform average your rate roughly doubles, capped at 2.2x. At half the average it drops to 0.6x. Below about $150 a post, say no; the time to shoot, edit and post costs more than that.

Then add what the brand is actually buying

The post is the smallest part of most deals. The expensive parts are what they get to do with it.

• Paid usage (they run your post as an ad from their own account): about 20% of your base rate per asset, per three months. Perpetual usage means at least a year's worth.
• Whitelisting (they run ads from your handle): about 30% of your base rate per asset, per three months.
• Category exclusivity (you cannot work with a competitor): about 20% of your Reel rate for every month it lasts.
• Rush delivery, extra revision rounds, raw footage: each is its own line, never free.

A worked example

You have 80,000 on Instagram at 4% engagement. A skincare brand wants one Reel and three Stories, 6 months of paid usage, and 3 months of category exclusivity.

Reel: 80,000 x $0.012 x 1.33 = about $1,300. Stories: $500. Usage, 6 months on 2 assets: 2 x 2 x $250 = $1,000. Exclusivity, 3 months: 3 x $260 = about $800. Total: around $3,600. If the brand offered $1,200 for 'a Reel and some Stories with usage,' they were offering a third of the value.

What to say when they push back

Send the lines, not the total. A brand that sees 'usage, 6 months, 2 assets: $1,000' can cut usage to 3 months and save money without touching your creative fee. That is a real negotiation. 'Can you do $1,500 all in' is not.

If they say the budget is fixed, cut scope, not rate: fewer Stories, shorter usage, no exclusivity. Your per-post rate is the thing that follows you to the next deal.

Keep reading

• Usage rights in brand deals, explained
• Exclusivity clauses: what they cost you and what to charge
• The brand deal contract checklist: 14 clauses to read before you sign