Home Free toolsMarketing agency cost calculator and quote checker

Costs and quotesFree · no sign-upInstant

What should a marketing agency cost in the UK?

A UK marketing agency typically charges £300–£1,500 a month for local work on one service, £600–£3,000 for regional work and £1,200–£8,000 for national campaigns. Pick the services you need and the size of the job to see the typical UK price range, then type the quote you have to see whether it sits low, in range or high, and what to ask before you sign.

UK price ranges, service by service
Freelancer and agency side by side
A verdict on your quote

1Fill in a few boxes
2See your result straight away
3Unlock the full report, free

How big is the job

Who you are comparing

Typical UK prices, 2026

About £800–£2,300 a month from an agency for what you picked.

Service	Freelancer	Agency
SEOA few service pages, Google profile, local links.	£300–£700 /mo	£500–£1,500 /mo
Google Ads managementFee only; ad spend is paid to Google on top.	£200–£500 /mo	£300–£800 /mo

Check a quote you have

Rather have a person look at it? We will go through your numbers with you on a free 30-minute call.

Book a free call

How much does a marketing agency cost per month in the UK?

Most UK agencies charge a monthly retainer for ongoing work such as SEO, ads management, social media, content and email, and a one-off fee for a website. The size of the job matters more than the service: the same SEO work costs far more when you compete across the country than in one town.

The table shows typical UK ranges for 2026 by service and scope. Local means one town or area, regional means several towns or a competitive trade, and national means ranking or advertising across the UK.

Typical UK marketing prices by service and scope, 2026
Service	Freelancer, local	Agency, local	Agency, regional	Agency, national
SEO	£300–£700	£500–£1,500	£1,000–£3,000	£2,500–£8,000
Local SEO and Google Maps	£200–£500	£350–£900	£700–£1,800	£1,500–£4,000
Google Ads management	£200–£500	£300–£800	£600–£1,500	£1,200–£4,000
Meta ads management	£200–£500	£300–£900	£600–£1,600	£1,200–£4,000
Social media management	£250–£600	£500–£1,200	£900–£2,200	£1,800–£4,500
Content and blog writing	£150–£400	£300–£800	£700–£1,800	£1,500–£4,000
Email marketing	£150–£400	£300–£800	£600–£1,500	£1,200–£3,000
Website design and build (one-off)	£500–£1,800	£1,500–£4,500	£4,000–£12,000	£10,000–£40,000

Typical UK ranges for 2026, not quotes. Monthly fees unless marked one-off; ad spend is always paid to the platform on top.

How do UK marketing agencies charge for their work?

There are a few common ways. A monthly retainer pays for an agreed amount of work each month, a project fee pays for one defined job such as a website or an audit, and a percentage fee is common for ads management.

For ads, UK agencies often charge 10–20% of the monthly ad spend, usually with a minimum fee. A percentage pays the agency more as you spend more, so a flat fee is often fairer once spend passes a few thousand pounds a month.

Some agencies charge a set-up fee in the first month for audits, tracking and building campaigns. That is reasonable when the work is listed, and worth questioning when it is not.

Retainer: a fixed monthly fee for ongoing work, such as SEO or social media.
Project: a fixed price for one job, such as a website, an audit or a brand.
Percentage of ad spend: usually 10–20%, with a minimum monthly fee.
Hourly or day rate: common for consultants and one-off advice.

Should I hire a freelancer or a marketing agency?

A freelancer costs roughly half what an agency does at the middle of each range, and you deal with the person doing the work. The trade-off is cover: one person rarely has every skill, and the work stops when they are ill or on holiday.

An agency costs more because it brings several people, such as a strategist, a writer, a designer and an ads specialist, plus tools and reporting. One channel, done well, suits a good freelancer; three or four channels working together usually suit an agency.

What should a marketing agency quote include?

A good quote says what is done each month in tasks or hours, who does it, how results are reported and how long you are tied in. If you cannot tell two quotes apart on those points, you cannot compare their prices.

Ask for the minimum term and notice period in writing, and check who owns the ad accounts, the website and the content if you leave. Those three things cost more than the monthly fee when they go wrong.

The work each month, listed as tasks or hours.
The people doing it and where they are based.
The numbers reported each month, and when.
The minimum term, the notice period and any exit fee.
Who owns the accounts, logins, website and content.
Whether prices include VAT, and what ad spend is on top.

How the tool works

Pick the services: SEO, Google Ads, Meta ads, social media, web design, content.
Say how big the job is: local, regional or national, and how many pages or channels.
See the typical UK range for each, from freelancer to agency.
Type the quote you have; the checker says where it sits and what to ask.

How Scale Oxford helps

How Scale Oxford prices marketing work

We publish our prices for every service, so you can check us with this calculator before you speak to anyone. We ask for no minimum term, so the work has to earn its place each month. Our SEO starts at £1,200 a month, Google Ads management at £700 a month, and a business website of up to ten pages is £800.

Show you our published price for the same scope as the quote you already have.
Write down exactly what we do each month and who does it.
Agree at the start which numbers we report on, then send them every month.

Book a free call See our prices

Case study · Omega PowerliftingScale Oxford grew revenue from organic search by 168% for Omega Powerlifting. Lifters who knew the name found the shop, and lifters searching for the kit itself found the big retailers. We fixed the shop’s structure first, then gave every search a page that answers it.↑ 168%More revenue from organic search↑ 241%More clicks from non-brand searches↑ 57Product searches on page one of GoogleRead the case study →

Questions people ask

How much does SEO cost per month in the UK?

SEO for a local small business usually costs £300–£700 a month from a freelancer and £500–£1,500 from an agency. Regional or competitive work runs £1,000–£3,000 a month at an agency, and national campaigns £2,500–£8,000. Our own SEO starts at £1,200 a month.

How much do agencies charge to manage Google Ads?

UK agencies typically charge £250–£1,500 a month, or 10–20% of ad spend, with a set-up fee of £300–£1,000. The ad spend itself is paid to Google on top.

Why are some quotes so cheap?

A very low quote often means little work each month, work sent abroad, or a long minimum contract. Ask what is done each month, who does it and how long you are tied in.

Where do these prices come from?

From prices UK agencies and freelancers publish, checked in 2026. They are typical ranges, not quotes, and a specialist or a very competitive market can sit above them.

How long are marketing agency contracts in the UK?

Many UK agencies ask for a minimum term of three, six or twelve months, followed by 30 days' notice. Get the term and notice period in writing before you sign, and prefer a short first term so you can judge the work.

Do marketing agency prices include VAT?

Usually not. Most UK agencies quote business prices before VAT, and a VAT-registered agency adds 20% to the invoice. A VAT-registered business can normally reclaim it; for anyone else it is a real cost, so compare quotes on the same basis.

Is a percentage of ad spend a fair way to pay for ads management?

It can be at low spend, where a minimum fee covers the work. As spend grows, a percentage pays the agency more for the same hours and gives it a reason to spend more, so ask for a flat fee or a cap once spend passes a few thousand pounds a month.

What are the red flags in a marketing agency quote?

Guaranteed rankings, a vague list of work, no named contact, and ad accounts held in the agency's name rather than yours. Google itself says nobody can guarantee a top ranking. A long minimum term with no way out is another warning sign.

How long until a marketing agency gets results?

Paid ads can bring enquiries within the first few weeks, though the first month or two is spent testing. SEO usually shows its first movement in two to four months for a local business and takes longer nationally. Agree what progress should look like at 30, 90 and 180 days.

Should I pay a set-up fee?

A set-up fee is normal when the first month includes real one-off work, such as an audit, tracking or building campaigns. Ask what it pays for, item by item. A set-up fee with no list of work behind it is a price rise in disguise.

Who should own the ad accounts and the website?

You should. The Google Ads, Meta and analytics accounts, the domain and the website should be in your business's name, with the agency given access. Then leaving an agency never means losing your data or starting again.