How We Estimate Instagram Post Prices

Many profiles on Wiki of Celebs show an estimated price range for a sponsored Instagram post and a sponsored story. Real prices are private: they are agreed between a creator, their management and a brand, and they are almost never published. Our figures are estimates calculated from public numbers only. They are not quotes, offers or confirmed fees.

Flow chart in five steps. 1: follower count, at least 10,000. 2: base price from a stepped rate per 1,000 followers. 3: multiplied by the square root of the account's engagement rate divided by the typical rate for its size, kept between 0.5 and 1.5. 4: the range is rounded, low figure down and high figure up. 5: story price is 35% to 50% of the post range. Example: 1,000,000 followers with 2.00% engagement, base $4,100 to $8,600, multiplier 1.41, post $5,500 to $12,500, story $1,900 to $6,500. — The five steps of the estimate, worked through for one example account.

What data we use

For accounts that are set up as Instagram professional (business or creator) accounts, Instagram shares a small amount of public data: the follower count and the like and comment counts of recent posts. We read the last 12 posts and skip:

posts published in the last 3 days, because likes are still coming in;
posts where the owner has hidden the like count.

We need at least 3 usable posts. Personal accounts do not share this data, so their profiles show no estimate.

Engagement rate

Engagement rate is the average number of likes plus comments per post, divided by the number of followers. Saves, shares and video views are not public, so they are not included. Larger accounts naturally have lower rates, so we compare each account with a typical rate for its size:

Tier	Followers	Typical engagement rate
Nano	Under 10K	3.50%
Micro	10K to 100K	2.50%
Mid-tier	100K to 500K	1.80%
Macro	500K to 1M	1.40%
Mega	1M to 10M	1.00%
Celebrity	10M and more	0.80%

A rate at least 2 times the typical figure is shown as well above average, at least 1.2 times as above average, at least 0.8 times as about average, and lower than that as below average.

How the price range is calculated

Industry rate cards usually quote a price per 1,000 followers, and that price gets lower as accounts get bigger. We use a stepped rate, where each band of followers is priced at its own rate, so the price rises smoothly with the follower count:

Followers in this band	Price per 1,000 followers
First 100K	$5 to $10
100K to 500K	$4 to $9
500K to 1M	$4 to $8
1M to 10M	$3 to $6
Above 10M	$1.5 to $4

Bar chart of the price per 1,000 followers in each follower band: First 100K: $5 to $10; 100K to 500K: $4 to $9; 500K to 1M: $4 to $8; 1M to 10M: $3 to $6; Above 10M: $1.5 to $4. — Price per 1,000 followers in each band. A bigger account pays the lower rate only on its extra followers.

The base range is then adjusted for engagement. We divide the account's engagement rate by the typical rate for its tier and take the square root, which softens extreme values. The result is kept between 0.5 and 1.5, so engagement can lower the estimate by up to half or raise it by up to half, never more.

Line chart of the engagement multiplier against the account's engagement rate divided by the typical rate. The multiplier is the square root of that ratio, never below 0.5 and never above 1.5; a typical account gets 1.0. Shaded zones: Well below average under 0.4× typical; Below average 0.4× to 0.8× typical; About average 0.8× to 1.2× typical; Above average 1.2× to 2× typical; Well above average 2× typical or more. — How engagement moves the estimate. The square root softens extreme rates, and the limits stop it at half or one and a half times the base.

A sponsored story is usually cheaper than a feed post, because it disappears after 24 hours. We estimate it at 35% to 50% of the post range.

Finally the range is rounded: the lower figure down and the upper figure up, in steps that grow with the amount (from $50 for small amounts up to $50,000 for amounts over a million).

Examples

For an account with a typical engagement rate for its size:

Followers	Estimated post price	Estimated story price
50K	$250 – $500	$50 – $250
250K	$1,100 – $2,400	$350 – $1,200
750K	$3,100 – $7,000	$1,000 – $3,500
5M	$16,000 – $33,000	$5,500 – $16,500
50M	$91,000 – $225,000	$31,500 – $115,000

Estimated prices for accounts with typical engagement: 50K followers, post $250 to $500, story $50 to $250; 1M followers, post $4,100 to $9,000, story $1,400 to $4,500; 10M followers, post $31,000 to $63,000, story $10,500 to $31,500; 100M followers, post $165,000 to $425,000, story $57,000 to $215,000. — Estimated post and story prices for accounts with a typical engagement rate for their size.

When we show no estimate

The account has fewer than 10,000 followers.
The account is not a professional account, or Instagram returned no data.
Likes are hidden on too many recent posts to calculate an engagement rate.
Our last reading is more than 90 days old.
The person has died.

Limitations

The model is deliberately conservative. Famous names often charge far more than any formula suggests, and some creators charge less or work for products instead of money.
Real fees depend on many things we cannot see: Reels or video versus photos, usage rights, exclusivity, the number of posts in a deal, the brand, the market and the audience's country.
A pinned post or a single viral post can move the average. Follower counts may include inactive or fake accounts.
Prices are in US dollars and are not adjusted by country.

The rates and typical engagement figures are based on publicly available influencer marketing rate guides and engagement studies, and we review them from time to time. If you represent someone listed on Wiki of Celebs and want to correct their data, please use the contact page.