Format is where Instagram differs most from TikTok. A feed post is the reference at 1, a Story set is 0.4, a Reel is 1.5 and a series of three Reels is 3.8. That spread is why quoting one flat number for any Instagram deliverable leaves money on the table in one direction and loses work in the other.
Instagram money calculator
Estimates what you can charge a brand for an Instagram feed post, Reel or Story set, and what the same work is worth as UGC production, from your followers, engagement and the rights you grant.
The formula behind your Instagram rate
Take your followers in thousands, multiply by 10, then apply the tier factor: 1 under 10,000 followers, 0.85 from 10,000 to 100,000, 0.7 to 500,000, 0.6 to a million, 0.5 above. Then the engagement factor, then the format factor, then usage, exclusivity, niche and market. A floor stops small accounts being priced at almost nothing.
The engagement factor is the part that rewards a good audience rather than a big one. It moves halfway toward the ratio of your engagement rate against the 2.5% Instagram typical, capped between 0.6 and 1.6. An account at 5% engagement is worth materially more than one the same size at 1%, and this is the number to lead with when a brand asks why your rate is higher than someone else's.
Every result is a band: 70% to 140% of typical. Quote the typical figure, hold the low figure as your floor, and expect the high figure only when a brand came to you rather than the other way round.
Reels, Stories and what each is worth
A Reel carries a 1.5 factor because it is a produced video with its own distribution, so it is both more work and more valuable than a static post. A Story set of up to three frames is 0.4, which sounds low until you remember it is minutes of work and it disappears in a day. Stories are best sold as an add-on to a post rather than as a standalone deliverable.
A series of three Reels is 3.8 rather than three times a single Reel, because one shoot covers all three. That is the bundle logic worth pitching proactively: it is more total money for less total effort, and it is the structure brands prefer because it gives them creative variants to test.
The UGC comparison, and when it wins
The second figure on the calculator is what the same work earns as UGC: content a brand runs in their own ads, with nothing posted on your account. Our UGC model prices a 15 to 30 second video at $150 typical under 5,000 followers, $225 from 5,000 to 25,000, $375 to 100,000 and $650 above.
For smaller Instagram accounts the UGC figure usually wins, and there is a structural reason. Instagram is by far the deeper side of the UGC market: our index holds 22,393 UGC-qualified Instagram creators against 1,639 on TikTok, out of 24,032 in total, with a median of about 1,400 followers. Brands are hiring Instagram creators for production at that size in volume, which is simply not true of audience deals at the same size.
It also pays better per hour. A UGC video is a shoot and an export with no posting obligation, no comment management and no exclusivity by default, and it is work you can repeat for the same client next month. A sponsored post is a one off sale of an audience you then have to keep growing.
Raising the total without raising the rate
Add lines rather than pushing the headline figure. Paid usage is the biggest one: our engine multiplies a post rate by 1.4 for three months of paid ads and 1.8 for twelve, while on the UGC side it is 25% of production for 3 months and 100% for 12. Whitelisting, where the ad runs from your handle, is 30% of production.
Then the cheap ones. Raw footage at 30% of the video fee with a floor of $50, because the files already exist. Hook variations at 20% each with a floor of $25, because it is one extra take at the end of a shoot. Quoting those as options rather than including them silently is the difference between a fee and a rate card.
Questions people ask
How much can I charge with 15,000 Instagram followers?
Our engine puts a 15,000 follower feed post at $130 typical and a Reel at $190, at Instagram's typical 2.5% engagement rate with organic use only. As UGC production the same creator sits at $225 typical per video.
Does Instagram pay creators directly?
Not in a way worth modelling here. Bonus programmes come and go and vary by account, so this calculator estimates only what brands pay you, which is the part you can negotiate.
Should I charge more for a Reel than a post?
Yes, and by a wide margin. Set the feed post at 1, then bill a Reel at 1.5 times that and a Story set at 0.4. You are pricing two things at once: the editing time a Reel eats, and the reach the format is given.