Influencer marketing rates: what creators actually charge
Nobody publishes a rate card, so the first quote you get feels arbitrary. Here are the bands we see in real negotiations, what pushes a price up, and how to tell a fair number from an optimistic one.
The short answer
Start from roughly $100 per 10,000 followers for one in-feed post, then adjust. Video costs more than stills. YouTube costs more than everything. A creator whose audience buys the exact thing you sell can charge three times the maths and still be your cheapest channel.
Follower count is the worst input available, but it is the only one you have before a creator shares analytics. Use it to set an opening range, then reprice on median views — that is the number that decides whether anyone sees the post.
Rates by tier
Nano — 1k to 10k
$50 – $250 per postBest for. Local businesses, product seeding, and testing creative angles cheaply at volume.
Watch for. Production quality varies widely. Budget time for feedback rounds, or accept it raw.
Micro — 10k to 100k
$250 – $1,500 per postBest for. The best cost-per-result band for most brands. Niche authority and audiences that reply.
Watch for. Rates jump fast once a creator gets an agent. Lock pricing for a multi-post deal up front.
Mid-tier — 100k to 500k
$1,500 – $6,000 per postBest for. Reach with a recognisable face, still affordable enough to run several in one campaign.
Watch for. Engagement rate usually falls here. Judge on views and saves, not follower count.
Macro and above — 500k+
$6,000 – $50,000+ per postBest for. Launch moments where awareness itself is the goal and you need one big spike.
Watch for. Almost never efficient on direct response alone. Buy it for the halo, not the checkout.
Ranges are US and UK deals for a single organic post without usage rights, which is the only like-for-like comparison worth making.
How platform changes the price
TikTok
Cheapest reach, fastest turnaround. A single video can outrun the creator's follower count, which makes it the best place to test a message before spending anywhere else.
Instagram Reels
Priced a little above TikTok for the same creator. Stories are cheap add-ons and the only reliable place to put a swipeable link.
YouTube
The most expensive per placement and the longest lead time, but a 60-second integration keeps working for months. Best for considered, higher-priced purchases.
Thin creator supply, so rates are inconsistent. Worth it in B2B where one well-known operator's post reaches the exact job title you sell to.
What quietly doubles a quote
The base fee buys one post that lives on the creator's account. Everything else is a line item, and this is where budgets get away from people:
- Usage rights for paid ads — add 20-50% of base fee, priced by duration
- Category exclusivity — add 20-100%, depending on how long you lock them out
- Scripted or brand-controlled creative — add 25%+, you are buying revisions
- Whitelisting under the creator's handle — add a flat fee plus your media spend
- Rush delivery inside a week — expect a 15-25% premium
- Multi-post bundles — ask for 10-20% off, this is the one that always moves
Decide which of these you genuinely need before you ask for a quote. Paying for perpetual worldwide usage on a post you will run for six weeks is the most common way to waste a third of a creator budget.
Negotiating without being annoying
Lead with the whole deal, not the price. Three videos across two months, one hook you supply and two they choose, 60 days of paid usage — that is a brief a creator can price in one reply, and volume is the lever that actually moves rates.
If a number is above your band, do not haggle line by line. Say what you can spend and ask what shape of deal fits it. Most creators will trade a Reel for a Story bundle, or drop exclusivity, before they drop their base fee — and you usually lose nothing that matters.
Put the deliverables, the posting window, the approval rounds, and the rights duration in writing. Every dispute we have seen came from one of those four being assumed.
Measuring it honestly
Give every creator a unique code or link, then accept that it will undercount. A lot of people watch a video, look you up two days later, and arrive through search. Compare total site traffic and branded search in the 72 hours after a post against a normal week, and treat that lift as part of the return.
The numbers worth tracking: cost per thousand views, saves and shares rather than likes, and cost per acquisition where you can attribute it. If a mid-tier creator delivers a better CPM than your paid social, boost the post — that is usually the highest-return decision in the whole campaign.
Common questions
How much do influencers charge per post?
A rough working rule is $100 per 10,000 followers for a single in-feed post, then adjust for platform and format. Short-form video costs more than a static image, and a creator with a tight, buying audience can charge several times the follower maths.
Are micro-influencers cheaper per result?
Usually, yes. Creators between 10k and 100k followers tend to have higher engagement and lower rates, so cost per engaged viewer is often better than with a celebrity account — but you need several of them to reach the same total audience.
What are usage rights and why do they cost extra?
Usage rights let you run the creator's content as a paid ad or on your own channels. That turns one post into an asset you can spend behind, so creators price it separately — commonly 20-50% of the base fee for 30-90 days.
Should I pay in product instead of cash?
Gifting works for seeding and for creators who already like the product, but it does not buy a deadline, a brief, or usage rights. Anything you need to happen on a specific date, in a specific way, should be a paid contract.
How do I know if a creator's audience is real?
Ask for a screen recording of their analytics — reach, audience country, and age split — rather than a screenshot. Then sanity-check comments: a large following with generic one-word comments and low saves is a warning sign.
Where we fit
We run influencer partnerships end to end — sourcing, rates, contracts, and the paid amplification that makes the good posts work twice.
Budgeting the wider programme? Read our breakdown of agency pricing or estimate returns with the ROI calculator.
Tell us what you are launching and we will scope the creator list →