A range to quote, not a number to guess
Followers, average views, engagement, niche and what the brand gets. The tool turns those into a low and a high figure, shows the arithmetic behind them, and adds the three extras brands pay for without arguing.
The Sponsorship Rate Calculator prices a paid post from the numbers you have: the platform, the niche, the deliverable, the average views per post and the engagement rate. The result is a range built from reach and a CPM, which you can show in a negotiation.
How it works
Enter your reach
Add followers, average views and engagement.
Pick the niche and format
Choose the multipliers for your topic and the deliverable.
Read the range
Use the low and high figure as your quote.
What the brand is actually buying
Not your views. Views are cheap and every platform sells them directly. What a sponsor buys is the assumption that the people watching already trust you, so a sentence from you lands differently than the same sentence in an ad slot. That is why the same video is worth five times more in finance than in gaming, and why a creator with 40,000 engaged followers can charge more than one with 400,000 passive ones.
It is also why the price is a range and not a number. There is no list price for trust; there is a band that both sides can defend in a meeting. A quote at the top of the band with a reason attached - exclusivity, usage rights, a series rather than one video - is easier to accept than a single figure pulled from a blog post.
Two numbers do most of the work: how many people actually see a post, and what those people are worth to the advertiser. Followers only matter because they predict the first. If your average views are far below your follower count, quote on views, not on followers.
The niche is the biggest lever
Before engagement, before format, before exclusivity: the subject decides the order of magnitude. The bars below are the same 100,000 views, one dedicated video, on the same platform. Nothing changes except who is watching - and the quote moves from four figures to nearly six.
That is not a reason to switch niches. A finance audience built overnight is worth nothing, because the value comes from the audience trusting the creator, and trust takes years. It is a reason to stop undercharging inside a niche that already pays well.
The same video, the same views, four niches - and a five times difference in what it is worth.
What each deliverable is worth
| Deliverable | Share | What the brand gets | Room to charge more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated video | 100% | the whole video, your script | a series of three |
| Integration, 60–90 s | 55% | a segment inside your own video | a fixed position, first 2 minutes |
| Short / Reel | 50% | one vertical clip | cross-posting to two platforms |
| Single post | 45% | one photo or carousel | a link in the first comment, pinned |
| Story set | 20% | three to five frames, 24 hours | a link sticker plus a highlight |
The share is not a discount, it is a unit. A brand that wants three integrations is not buying three discounts, it is buying a presence - and a series should be priced above three separate integrations, not below, because the repetition is what makes the ad work.
How to turn the range into an invoice
Send the low figure as your base and the high one as what it becomes with the extras attached. "A dedicated video is $4,000. With category exclusivity and three months of usage rights it is $6,000." That sentence does two things a single number cannot: it shows you know what things cost, and it gives the brand a cheaper option that is not a discount.
Never open with the lowest number you would accept. The first figure in a negotiation anchors everything after it, and the only person who can move it down is you.
Exclusivity means you will not work with a competitor for a period. It costs you future income, so it has a price - commonly a quarter on top, more if the category is small and the brand is the only buyer in it.
Usage rights let the brand run your video as an ad on its own channels. Three months is the usual ask; a year is a different product. Price it per period, and put an end date in writing.
Whitelisting lets them run the ad from your handle, which borrows your face and your credibility. It is the most valuable of the three and the one most often given away for free.
Half up front is normal below four figures, and a deposit is normal above it. Net 30 from the invoice date, not from publication, and a late fee written into the contract - not because you expect to charge it, but because it makes the invoice a priority.
Deliver the draft for approval, wait for written sign-off, then publish. A brand that wants changes after publication is asking for a second edit, and a second edit is a second line on the invoice.
The awkward questions
Are these real market rates?expand_more
Should I quote on followers or on views?expand_more
What if a brand offers less than the low end?expand_more
Does engagement really change the price?expand_more
Do I need a contract for a small deal?expand_more
Why is the estimate in dollars?expand_more
Know your number before they ask
Put in the audience, pick the niche and the deliverable, and take the range to the call.
fact_checkQuick facts
- A sponsorship is usually priced on average views, not followers: a channel with 50,000 followers and 1,000 views per post cannot charge for 50,000.
- A rate you can show the arithmetic for is defensible in a negotiation; a number without it is not.
- CPM is the price for a thousand impressions, so revenue from a campaign is impressions divided by a thousand, multiplied by the CPM.menu_bookGoogle Ads Help
- CPC is what an advertiser pays for one click, and the two are linked by the click-through rate of the ad.menu_bookGoogle Ads Help
- YouTube defines impressions as the times a thumbnail was shown, and the click-through rate as the share of those that became views.menu_bookYouTube Help
helpQuestions people ask
How much should I charge for a sponsored post?expand_more
Should I price sponsorships by followers or views?expand_more
What do brands expect from a sponsored post?expand_more
hubWhat this page is about
- CPM and CPCopen_in_new
Cost per mille (thousand impressions) and cost per click: the two prices advertising is bought and sold by.
- Click-through rateopen_in_new
Clicks divided by impressions, the percentage of people who saw a thumbnail and chose to click.
library_booksOfficial sources cited on this page
- Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM): definitionGoogle Ads Help
- Thumbnail impressions and click-through rateYouTube Help
- Custom video thumbnailsYouTube Help
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