UK pricing guide

What social media management actually costs in the UK

Four ways to get it done, what each really costs, and — the part most guides skip — what you get for the money. Written by a company that sells one of the four, and says so.

Figures checked August 2026 against published UK pricing. They are ranges, not quotes.

01 · The options

The four options, and the real numbers

Every UK guide to this question is written by an agency, and every one of them arrives at £300–£1,500 a month — which is true, and is the answer to a different question. Here are all four.

  1. A social media agency

    £300 – £1,500 per month

    Checked August 2026

    Best for: A business with a real budget, more than one location or product line, and someone internally who can brief and approve.

    • A strategy written for your business, not a template
    • A person who learns your customers and can be argued with
    • Photography and design as part of the retainer, usually
    • Reporting someone will actually walk you through

    The catch: The floor is high because you are buying a share of somebody's month. Below about £500 you are typically getting a junior and a scheduling tool, which is most of the cost and little of the value.

  2. A freelancer

    £15 – £40 per hour

    Checked August 2026

    Best for: A business that knows exactly what it wants and needs hands rather than a strategy.

    • Flexibility — scale up for a launch, stop for a quiet month
    • Direct contact with the person doing the work
    • Rates that reflect experience, honestly, at both ends

    The catch: You are the account manager. Briefing, chasing, approving and covering their holiday are all yours, and the good ones get booked up by people who brief well.

  3. A done-for-you service

    £49 – £299 per month

    Checked August 2026

    Best for: Someone who wants a human writing a small, steady number of posts and does not want to touch it at all.

    • A person writing your posts to a brief
    • A fixed number of posts a month — usually a few a week
    • No software to learn

    The catch: The number of posts is the product, because you are buying someone's time. If your quiet Tuesday needs a post today, you are waiting for the next cycle.

  4. Software

    £0 – £270 per month

    Checked August 2026

    Best for: An owner-operator who has the knowledge of their business but not the hours, and wants to post when the moment happens rather than when the schedule says.

    • As many posts as the plan allows, whenever you want them
    • No brief, no waiting, no minimum commitment
    • The judgement stays with you — which is the point, and the cost

    The catch: Nobody is thinking about your marketing but you. Software will not tell you your offer is wrong or your photographs are dark. A good agency will.

02 · Deciding

How to actually choose

Work out which of two problems you have. If the problem is that you do not know what to say, buy judgement — an agency or a good freelancer, and pay properly for it. If the problem is that you know exactly what to say and never find the hour to say it, buy time, and software is the cheapest hour you will ever buy.

Most owner-operators think they have the first problem and actually have the second. You know your regulars, your quiet days and what sells. What you do not have is forty minutes on a Tuesday to write it up and find a photograph.

One test that settles it quickly: could you tell someone, out loud, in thirty seconds, what you would want this week's post to say? If yes, you have the second problem.

03 · Declaring the interest

Where we sit, since we are one of the four

SocialPostxr is the software row. Solo is £49.99 a month for 15 posts, Daily £139.99 for 40, Scale £269.99 for 80, and there is a free plan with 5 starter posts that needs no card. Prices are in pounds because it is a UK company — most of the tools you will compare it against bill in dollars, so what you pay moves with the exchange rate and your card issuer's fee.

If, having read the table, you conclude an agency is the right answer for you, that is a good outcome for this page.

Try the cheapest option first.

The free plan needs no card. Give it your website address and see what it makes before you spend anything anywhere.

Start free