Hiring in-house
$10,900–$23,100/ mo, salary and benefits included
- Marketing team1 growth marketer
- $9,400–$14,700
- Software
- $400–$1,500
- Content production25 statics + 8 videos
- $1,100–$6,900
Free cost calculator
In-house vs agency marketing cost calculator
Pick your business type, how many brands you market and how much content you need. See what a fully loaded in-house team and a typical agency retainer cost each month, line by line, with every source listed.
Your business
Business type
Brands you market
Content each month
U.S. costs per month. 8 videos a month here, plus statics and posts.
Monthly cost
With an agency
$8,100–$21,100/ mo, before ad spend
- Agency retainerfull-service small-business retainer
- $3,500–$8,000
- Content production25 statics + 8 videos
- $4,500–$12,800
- Software you still need
- $100–$300
At the middle of each range, an agency is about $2,400 a month cheaper. The ranges overlap, so your quotes decide it.
Or add Pomo Accelerate for $299 / mo
Pomo researches your market, drafts campaigns and creative, and launches what you approve. Works alongside your current team · 8 videos a month within 3 profiles · 5 seats · 30 videos/mo.
Start my Accelerate trial7-day free trial. $0 today. Cancel anytime during the trial.How we estimate
- Marketing team costs use U.S. national wage data (BLS, May 2025) and are fully loaded with the BLS employer compensation ratio for March 2026, which adds benefits, payroll taxes and paid leave to salary.
- Software is an example stack at public list prices. Agency retainers are the typical monthly bands quoted by 2026 pricing guides and exclude ad spend, which is passed through separately.
- The first 10 statics and 2 videos each month are made by the team or covered by a retainer; content above that is priced per asset from 2026 creative rate guides. Heavier volume also adds content and social specialists to an in-house team.
- With Pomo, image and video generation come out of the plan's included capacity, so the recommended plan rises with the videos you ship each month. Neither side counts your own time or one-time onboarding fees.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Marketing Managers (11-2021), 25th percentile $123,020, median $166,790. www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes112021.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025: Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists (13-1161), median $78,760. www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/market-research-analysts.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, March 2026: private-industry wages are 69.9% of total compensation. www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm
- Salary.com and Glassdoor, growth marketing manager pay in the United States, 2026: typical ranges of $98,391–$140,903 and $97,837–$176,771, above the range used here. www.salary.com/research/salary/listing/growth-marketing-manager-salary
- Swydo, Agency Pricing in 2026, citing HubSpot and Databox data: small business $1,000–$5,000, mid-sized $5,000–$15,000, enterprise $15,000–$50,000+ per month. www.swydo.com/blog/agency-pricing/
- Searchlab, Marketing Agency Cost: 2026 Reality Check: mid-market engagements $10,000–$25,000 per month. searchlab.nl/en/guides/marketing-agency-cost-reality
- Resgato and Emin Media 2026 agency pricing guides: focused small-business retainers $1,500–$4,000 and full-service packages $3,500–$8,000 per month. resgato.com/blog/how-much-do-marketing-agencies-charge
- Outerbox and Upwork 2026 rate guides: freelance marketing consultants $25–$300 per hour, typically $50–$100, used for the part-time line. www.outerboxdesign.com/articles/digital-marketing/marketing-consultant-cost/
- ManyPixels and D-MAK Productions 2026 rate guides: static creatives $15–$60 freelance or $100–$250 agency; short videos from $150 to $1,000 freelance and $500–$3,000 produced. www.manypixels.co/blog/social-media-design/cost
- Software list prices, September 2026: Semrush Pro $139.95, Guru $249.95, Business $499.95; HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter $20 per seat, Professional $890 with 3 seats; Hootsuite Standard $99 and Advanced $399 per user; Canva Pro $18, Business $25 per user; Klaviyo Email about $100 at 5,000 profiles. www.semrush.com/prices/
Questions
Common questions
How much does an in-house marketing team cost per month?
For one ecommerce brand with steady content, hiring in-house comes to about $10,900–$23,100 a month: marketing team (1 growth marketer) $9,400–$14,700, software $400–$1,500 and content production (25 statics + 8 videos) $1,100–$6,900. More brands or more content add people, so the calculator above shows each case.
How much does a marketing agency charge per month?
Typical 2026 retainers run $1,500–$4,000 for a focused small-business retainer, $3,500–$8,000 for a full-service small-business retainer, $5,000–$15,000 for a mid-sized business retainer, $10,000–$25,000 for a mid-market retainer and $15,000–$50,000 for a enterprise retainer or agency of record. Ad spend is billed on top, and you still pay for some of your own software.
Why does an employee cost more than their salary?
Wages are 69.9% of what U.S. private employers spend on pay, according to BLS data for March 2026. The rest is benefits, payroll taxes and paid leave, so this calculator multiplies salary by about 1.43.
Is an agency cheaper than hiring in-house?
Usually, going by the middle of each range: an agency comes out cheaper in 58 of the 64 setups this calculator covers. For one ecommerce brand with steady content, an agency comes to $8,100–$21,100 a month against $10,900–$23,100 in-house. Heavy content is the exception. Above the first 10 statics and 2 videos a month, agencies bill $100–$250 a static and $500–$1,500 a video, against $15–$60 and $150–$1,000 bought in-house, so one brand shipping 40 videos a month pays less in-house. Where the two ranges overlap, real quotes decide it.
What does this calculator leave out?
Ad spend, your own time, and one-time costs like recruiting or agency onboarding. It uses U.S. national wages, and Salary.com and Glassdoor put growth marketing manager pay above the BLS figures used here, so a hire in a big city can cost more.
Where do these numbers come from?
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage and compensation data, public software list prices checked in September 2026, and 2026 agency and creative pricing guides. Every source is listed under the calculator.
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