Influencer Rate Calculator

What a sponsored post is worth comes down to two things: how many people the creator reaches, and how many of them actually respond. This calculator prices a single post from both, and gives a range rather than a figure, because rates are negotiated rather than looked up.

The model:

Base rate = Followers × Cost per follower (by platform)

Suggested rate = Base rate × Engagement multiplier

Cost per follower by platform

These are the rates the calculator applies. They reflect how much a follower on each platform is typically worth to an advertiser:

YouTube sits highest because the format holds attention for minutes rather than seconds and the content keeps earning through search long after it is posted. Twitter sits lowest because link clicks off the platform are hard to come by. TikTok undercuts Instagram on a per-follower basis, but its reach is not capped by follower count the way the others are, so a small account with a video that travels can deliver far more than this model suggests.

The engagement multiplier

Engagement rate is the honest half of the calculation. Follower counts can be bought; sustained comments and shares cannot, at least not cheaply.

The calculator treats 2% as par and adjusts from there, adding 25% to the rate for each percentage point above it. A creator at 6% engagement is worth double one at 2% with the same following, and that is not generous: the second account may well have bought half its followers.

Typical engagement rates

The pattern is consistent across platforms and is why micro-influencers keep winning on cost per engagement despite charging more per follower. A 50,000-follower account at 5% delivers more real attention than a 500,000-follower account at 0.8%, for a fraction of the fee.

Using the number

Treat the output as an opening position. Rates move with exclusivity, usage rights, how many revisions are included, and whether the brand can run the content as a paid advert afterwards, which is often worth more than the organic post itself. Whitelisting rights commonly add 20 to 50% to a fee.

Ask for a media kit with screenshots of the last thirty days of reach, not lifetime totals, and check the comments read like humans rather than emoji strings. If you want to work out what the campaign actually returned rather than what it should cost, the earned media value calculator linked below handles that side.