Agency vs Freelancer vs In-House

A freelancer typically costs $75 to $150 per hour, an agency typically costs $1,500 to $5,000 per month for a focused engagement, and an in-house marketer costs roughly $70,000 to $115,000 per year once payroll costs are added. Each of those numbers is a range, and the right choice depends less on price than on what you need done and who will manage it. We are an agency, so weigh this page accordingly. We have tried to describe the cases where an agency is the wrong answer as plainly as the cases where it is the right one.

The three options at a glance

	Typical cost	Strongest at	Weakest at
Freelancer	$75 to $150 per hour, or $500 to $3,000 per month part-time	One defined skill, project work, small budgets	Covering several skills, continuity, long-term accountability
Agency	$1,500 to $5,000 per month focused; up to $8,000 or more full service	Several skills at once, starting quickly, reporting	Small budgets, day-to-day proximity, lock-in risk
In-house hire	Roughly $70,000 to $115,000 per year fully loaded, before software	Company knowledge, speed of response, steady workload	Breadth of skills, hiring time, turnover risk

When a freelancer is the right choice

A freelancer is one person, usually strong in one area. That is both the advantage and the limit.

Choose a freelancer when the job is a single, clearly defined skill: a website build, an audit, a set of landing pages, or setting up a Google Ads account you will then run yourself. Choose one when your budget is small, because you are paying for hours of skilled work without a team, a project manager and an office behind it. Choose one when you can write a clear brief and check the work, because a freelancer will do what you ask and little more.

A freelancer is the wrong choice when you need several skills at once, such as design, copy, development and tracking. One person rarely does all of them well. It is also the wrong choice when the work has to continue without interruption. If your freelancer is ill, busy with another client or gone, the work stops, and you may have no access to what they built.

When an agency is the right choice

An agency is a team under one contract. You pay for breadth, a process and someone to answer to.

Choose an agency when you need several skills together, when no one on your staff can manage marketing, or when you need to start quickly. Choose one when you want reporting that connects spending to calls and sales, which takes tracking set up across your website, your ads and your phones. Choose one when the work is continuous and you want it to carry on through holidays and staff changes.

An agency is the wrong choice when your budget is small enough that the fee would be larger than the advertising or work it manages. It is also wrong when you want someone in the room every day, or when the contract locks you in and the agency holds your accounts. Ask who owns your Google Business Profile, ad account and analytics before you sign. They should be in your name.

When an in-house hire is the right choice

An in-house marketer is an employee who knows your business from the inside.

Choose in-house when marketing is a large, steady workload, when your products or customers need deep knowledge that takes months to teach an outsider, or when you need changes made the same day. The in-house model tends to become cost-competitive when you can justify several dedicated hires, because one agency retainer covers a broader range of skills than one salary.

In-house is the wrong choice when you need many specialties and can afford one person. A single marketing manager is seldom an expert in design, development, SEO, paid ads and analytics at once. It is also slow to set up. Recruiting a marketing hire can take weeks, and the cost of recruitment, software and management time falls on you.

How to decide without hiring anyone

Write down what you need in a typical month. List tasks such as new pages, ad management, review requests and reporting. Be specific.
Count the skills. If the list needs one skill, a freelancer is a candidate. If it needs four or five, you need a team or several people.
Check continuity. If marketing cannot stop for a month, favor a team or a contract with a handover clause.
Compare on the same scope. Ask each option to quote for the list from step one. Add the costs people leave out.
Consider a mix. Many businesses use an in-house coordinator for daily tasks, with an agency or freelancer for specialist work.

The costs people leave out

In-house

Add payroll taxes, benefits and paid leave, typically a range of 25% to 35% on top of salary. Add the software the person needs, recruitment fees, and the time you spend managing them.

Freelancer

Add your own time to brief and review, the cost of finding a replacement if they leave, and the risk that no one else understands what they built.

Agency

Add ad spend, which is separate from the fee, and any work the agency charges for outside the retainer, such as new pages or photography.

When we are not the right choice

We are likely not the right choice if your budget for marketing is very small, if you only need a one-time task done, or if you want a full-time employee who sits in your business. In the first two cases, a freelancer or doing it yourself will usually serve you better. Third, hire someone.

We make more sense when you need several skills together, such as a site, search and ads, with reporting that ties calls and form fills to the page or ad that produced them. We do not guarantee rankings, leads or a timeframe to results, and neither should anyone else you speak to.