Price a sponsored post from your median views, not your follower count. Multiply your median views per post by a CPM you choose, divide by 1,000, then add fees for usage rights, exclusivity and extra deliverables. Published 2026 rate benchmarks disagree by a factor of five for the same follower tier, so use them to sanity-check your number, not to set it.
Brands can check your reach before they reply. The brand marketplace run by TikTok, TikTok One, lets advertisers filter creators by median video views and engagement rate, so your price should rest on the same numbers.
What do sponsored posts cost in 2026?
Published 2026 figures range from under $300 for most deals on one marketplace to $10,000 or more for creators with over a million followers. The sources measure different things, and two of the three do not disclose how they got their numbers.
Collabstr’s 2026 report is the only one of the three built on transaction data. It covers more than 21,000 collaborations on Collabstr’s marketplace, and Storyboard18 reported in March 2026 that nearly 80% were priced under $300. Average payouts per engagement were $255 on YouTube, $193 on Instagram, $186 on TikTok and $76 on X. These are averages across mixed creator sizes and deliverables on one marketplace, which skews toward small deals.
Later and Influencer Marketing Hub publish per-post ranges by follower tier.
| Follower tier | Later, July 2026, all platforms | Influencer Marketing Hub, October 2026, Instagram |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10,000 | $100 to $500 | $10 to $100 or more |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | $500 to $2,500 | $100 to $500 or more |
| 100,000 to 500,000 | $2,500 to $10,000 or more | $500 to $5,000 or more |
| 500,000 to 1 million | $2,500 to $10,000 or more | $5,000 to $10,000 or more |
| Over 1 million | $10,000 to $50,000 or more | $10,000 or more |
Later’s macro tier spans 100,000 to 1 million followers, so it appears twice. Neither Later nor Influencer Marketing Hub discloses its sample, data source or time period. Influencer Marketing Hub calls its figures planning benchmarks rather than fixed rate cards.
Our read is that the honest answer is a range of five times or more for the same tier. If you have 50,000 followers, one source says $100 is in range and another says $2,500 is. That gap is why we tell creators to build their price from their own views.
What are the main ways to price a sponsored post?
Creators price sponsored posts by CPM, by flat fee, by engagement, or with a performance hybrid. Whatever the method, you can quote the result as a flat fee, but the method behind the number decides whether you can defend it.
| Method | How it works | Best for | Weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPM-based | Median views times a CPM, divided by 1,000 | Creators with steady views | Needs a CPM you can justify |
| Flat fee | A set price per deliverable | Repeat deals and simple quotes | Falls behind as you grow unless you update it |
| Engagement-based | A price per like, comment and share | Small accounts with very active audiences | Ignores reach beyond your most engaged fans |
| Performance hybrid | A lower fee plus a commission or bonus on sales | Product brands with tracking links | You carry the risk if the product does not sell |
How do you price a sponsored post per view?
CPM pricing turns your typical reach into a fee. The formula is median views per post multiplied by your CPM, divided by 1,000.
Use the median, not the average. One viral post can double your average while telling a brand nothing about the next post. We would take the median of your last 10 to 20 posts in the format the brand is buying.
No platform publishes a standard creator CPM for sponsored content. Pick one, quote it, and adjust. If brands accept instantly, your CPM is low. If every brand pushes back, check whether your views are what you think they are before you drop the price.
How do you price a sponsored post by engagement?
Engagement pricing charges per interaction rather than per view. TikTok One’s campaign reporting defines engagement rate as likes, comments and shares divided by total video views.
To use it, multiply your median interactions per post by a price per engagement you set. As arithmetic with example numbers, 800 median interactions at $0.50 each is a $400 fee. Engagement pricing suits small accounts with loyal audiences whose views alone undersell them.
What increases a sponsored post rate?
Usage rights, whitelisting, exclusivity, tight deadlines and extra formats all raise the price. Later’s July 2026 guide puts numbers on some of these. The rest you price yourself.
| Add-on | What the brand gets | Published figure |
|---|---|---|
| Usage rights | Reuse of your content on its own channels or ads | Typically adds 30% to 50% to the base rate, per Later |
| Whitelisting on Instagram | Ads run from your post or handle | Adds 30% to 50%, per Later |
| Spark Ads on TikTok | Ads run from your post, for 7, 30, 60 or 365 days | Later says an extra fee applies but gives no figure |
| Instagram Reels instead of a feed post | A video format | 20% to 30% over baseline, per Later |
| Instagram Stories only | A short-lived format | About 50% less than baseline, per Later |
| Exclusivity | You skip competitors for a period | Later gives no figure |
| Rush delivery | Turnaround under two weeks | Later gives no figure |
| Extra revision rounds | More changes after the agreed rounds | Later gives no figure |
Exclusivity deserves the hardest look. It stops you taking deals from a whole set of brands, so price it as the income you expect to give up during the exclusive period.
What does a full quote look like? A worked example
This is arithmetic with example inputs, not a rate recommendation. Only the 30% figures come from a published source, the low end of Later’s ranges.
| Line item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base fee | 20,000 median views at an example $25 CPM | $500 |
| Usage rights, 3 months on the brand’s own channels | 30% of base | $150 |
| Spark Ads or whitelisting, 30 days | 30% of base | $150 |
| Exclusivity, 30 days, named competitors only | An example 20% of base that you set yourself | $100 |
| Total quote | $900 |
Run the same post without add-ons and the price is $500. That spread, $500 against $900 for the same post, is why you should never quote before you know whether the brand wants usage rights or ad rights.
How should you present your rates?
Show “starting at” prices for your core deliverables and quote add-ons case by case. Instagram tells creators to give brands their follower count and average likes, views, comments and shares from both regular and past branded content, because that data supports the rate.
Put the deliverables, dates, rights and price in writing, and keep FTC disclosure out of the negotiation. The FTC treats free product as a material connection too, so a product-only deal still needs a clear disclosure in the US.
Our guide to how to make a media kit shows how to lay out rates, and how brand deals work covers contracts and payment. For where sponsorships fit among other income, see how creators make money, and for platform-by-platform numbers, our Instagram, TikTok and YouTube reviews.