Work out what to charge a brand for a sponsored post, then price the usage rights, whitelisting, and exclusivity they will ask for on top. Rates are built from follower count, engagement, niche, format, and deal type.
Your multiplier is 1.5x. Typical for a micro creator is 2% to 4%.
General / Other carries a 1x multiplier. Finance is the ceiling at 2.0x and entertainment the floor at 0.8x, because niche pricing tracks what an audience is worth to an advertiser, not how hard the content is to make.
Feed Post carries a 1x multiplier. Format alone moves this rate by 5.0x from the cheapest to the most expensive, which is why "one post, everywhere" is the worst deal you can sign.
This only drives the monthly tile. Your per post rate does not change with volume, and discounting for volume is a choice you make in the negotiation, not a rate.
$263
mention feed post, before usage rights and whitelisting
Open at the top, settle above the middle. Brands expect a range and the first number you say is the ceiling.
Monthly at 2 deals
$526
Per 1,000 followers
$26
Per post, before tax and before agency fees. Usage rights and whitelisting stack on top. Methodology
Against your tier
Inside the band
Typical engagement for a micro creator on Instagram is 2% to 4%. You are at 3.0%, which sets your multiplier at 1.5x.
At 10,000 followers with 3.0% engagement in general / other, a mention feed post on Instagram prices at $150 to $375, around $263. That is the post alone. Usage rights, whitelisting, and exclusivity are priced separately below.
These three get folded into "the package" for free more often than anything else in creator deals. Each one is a separate license and each one has a price.
Usage rights, organic
They re-share, screenshot, or repost your content in their own feeds. A license, not a favour.
+$197
+75% of base
Whitelisting and paid amplification
They run paid ads through your handle. This is the one creators give away most often, and it is the most expensive thing on the list.
+$395
+150% of base
Exclusivity window
You agree not to promote a competitor. Every day of it is a deal you cannot take, so it is priced by length.
Not priced
No window agreed
Nothing is priced in yet, so this matches the base rate. If the brief mentions ads, re-posting, or competitors, one of these three applies.
Follower count is the slow lever. These are the fast ones, priced at your current settings.
Cross 5% engagement
You are at 3.0%. The multiplier steps up at 5%, which is worth $87 more per post. Nothing between here and there changes the number.
Sell a reel instead
Reel carries a 1.5x multiplier against feed post at 1x. Same audience, same effort bracket, $131 more per post.
Charge for whitelisting
If they want to run ads through your handle, that is $395 on this deal. Most creators hand it over inside the base fee because nobody names it on the call.
Quote a dedicated post
A mention is 1x. A dedicated post is 2.5x, worth $393 more here. If the brief already reads like the whole post is theirs, you are doing dedicated work at mention rates.
| Format | Multiplier | Rate per post |
|---|---|---|
| Feed Postthis deal | 1.0x | $150 to $375 |
| Reel | 1.5x | $225 to $563 |
| Story | 0.3x | $45 to $113 |
| Carousel | 1.2x | $180 to $450 |
Your rates as plain text, ready to paste into a reply.
SPONSORED CONTENT RATES Instagram, 10,000 followers, 3.0% engagement Feed Post $150 to $375 Reel $225 to $563 Story $45 to $113 Carousel $180 to $450 Deal type: Mention (1x) Add-ons: none included All-in for this deal: $150 to $375 Rates hold for 30 days. Usage rights, whitelisting, and exclusivity are priced separately and are not included unless listed above.
Mega accounts charge roughly 350 times nano, so a linear axis would flatten everything under 100K into one line.
Every tier above is priced at your engagement rate, niche, format, and deal type. Change any of those and the whole column moves, which is the point: tier is the slow lever and the rest are fast.
Sell the niche, not the size
Budgets keep shifting toward smaller creators for return on spend. Bring audience demographics and any conversion data you have. A 20,000 follower account with buyers beats 200,000 browsers.
Never quote a single number
Quote a range and let them pick. A single number is a ceiling you set for yourself, and the first figure said out loud anchors the whole negotiation.
Offer packages, not discounts
A 10% to 15% discount for three or more posts earns you more total revenue and gets the brand a better per post rate. Discounting a single post just lowers your rate for next time.
Charge for cross-posting, every time
If a brand wants Stories, Reels, and Feed, each format is priced separately. A Reel is 1.5x a feed post and each Story frame is about 30% of one. A "post it everywhere" package at one post price is the most common way creators lose money on Instagram.
The per post rate starts at a base of $10 to $25 per 1,000 followers for a standard Instagram sponsored post. That base is multiplied by your engagement band, your niche, the content format, and the deal type.
Engagement is a stepped band, not a smooth curve. Under 1% multiplies the base by 0.5. From 1% to 3% is 1.0. From 3% to 5% is 1.5. Above 5% is 2.0. Crossing a band edge is worth more than a slow climb inside one, which is why the tip cards point at the edges.
Niche multipliers run from 0.8 for entertainment to 2.0 for finance. They reflect what an audience is worth to an advertiser, not how hard the content is to make. Format and deal type stack on top of that, and the four deal types are the difference between a passing mention and a video built around the product.
Add-ons are quoted as a percentage of the base post rate because that is how brands ask for them. Usage rights at 75% and whitelisting at 150% are the conservative end of what creators publicly report charging. Real whitelisting deals run higher, sometimes far higher, once the brand's media spend is on the table.
Feed Post (1.0x): the standard sponsored post format. A single image or video in your feed with a branded caption. Reel (1.5x): short-form vertical video with wider reach potential and higher production value. Story (0.3x): ephemeral 24-hour content, lower production but useful for swipe-up links and direct response. Carousel (1.2x): multi-slide posts that generate higher engagement and allow for detailed product storytelling.
Sponsorship base rate per 1,000 followers
| Platform | Rate range | Base rate per 1,000 followers |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | $20–$50 | |
| $10–$25 | ||
| X (Twitter) | $8–$20 | |
| TikTok | $5–$15 | |
| $5–$15 |
Where people go next from this page.
Reference tables and longer guides behind the numbers above.
Creator survey data, rate cards, and sponsorship pricing benchmarks.
Engagement Rate Benchmarks 2026, a 350,000-account study across six platforms, filtered for fraudulent accounts.
Add-on uplifts reflect the conservative end of publicly reported creator deals. No single source is used in isolation; the ranges represent the consensus across them. Full formulas and the update schedule are on the methodology page.