Short answer: most small businesses in India pay between ₹15,000 and ₹50,000 a month to a freelancer or small agency to run their social media. Full-service agencies, with shoots, creators and ads management, usually charge ₹1 lakh a month or more. Your ad budget is paid to Meta or Google on top of that fee. Hyderabad rates tend to sit slightly below Mumbai and Bengaluru.
These are published market ranges from Indian agencies and pricing guides (sources at the end), so treat them as a guide for comparing quotes, not as fixed prices.
What each option costs per month
| Who runs it | Typical monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Freelancer | ₹15,000 to ₹50,000. Posts and captions; reels and replies vary a lot by person. |
| Small or boutique agency | ₹30,000 to ₹1,50,000. A plan, design, reels, scheduling and a monthly report. |
| Full-service agency | ₹1,00,000 to ₹5,00,000+. Shoots, community management, creators and paid ads, run together. |
| In-house hire | ₹33,000 to ₹1,00,000 salary. One person, plus tools, training and cover when they are away. |
Agency packages are often described in three steps. One published guide puts an entry plan at ₹15,000 to ₹40,000 a month (8 to 12 designed posts and 1 to 4 reels), a mid plan at ₹40,000 to ₹90,000 (12 to 20 posts, 4 to 8 reels, stories and replies to comments and messages) and full service at ₹70,000 to ₹1,80,000 (shoots, creators and paid social).
Is Hyderabad cheaper?
A little. One pricing guide treats Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Bengaluru as the highest-priced cities in India and places Hyderabad 0% to 10% lower. In practice the difference between two agencies in the same city is far bigger than the difference between cities, so compare what is included, not just the city.
What is usually not included
Ask about these before you sign, because they are often charged separately:
- Ad spend. The money that goes to Meta or Google is almost always on top of the management fee.
- Extra reels and shoots. Published ranges put a single short video at ₹3,000 to ₹15,000, and a video production day at ₹15,000 to ₹1,00,000.
- Creator or influencer fees, paid to the creator.
- GST on the agency's fee.
- Travel for shoots outside the city, and licensed music or fonts.
What makes the price go up or down
- Number of platforms. Instagram alone costs less than Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn together.
- Reels and video. Reels take the most time to plan, shoot and edit. More reels, higher fee.
- Who shoots. Editing your own phone footage costs less than a monthly shoot day with a crew.
- Replies and messages. Answering comments and DMs every day is real work, and not every package includes it.
- Ads management. Running Meta or Google ads adds to the fee, separately from the ad budget itself.
- Languages. Captions in English, Telugu and Hindi take more time than one language.
- Reporting. A weekly report with enquiries and cost per lead takes more effort than a monthly screenshot of likes.
How to tell if a quote is fair
The cheapest quote is rarely the best value. A better question is what each enquiry costs you once everything is added up. A ₹20,000 plan that brings no enquiries is more expensive than a ₹40,000 plan that brings forty.
Before you choose, check that the quote tells you in writing:
- How many posts, reels and stories you get each month
- Who replies to comments and messages, and when
- Whether ads are managed, and that ad money goes straight to Meta or Google
- How often you get a report, and what it measures
- That you own your Instagram page and ad accounts
- How long the contract is, and how you leave
We wrote a longer list in 10 questions to ask before hiring a digital marketing agency.
What KLIQVO charges
We don't sell fixed packages. We quote after a short call or a free Instagram audit, because a gym that needs eight reels a month and a clinic that needs Google search ads should not pay for the same bundle. The proposal lists every deliverable and the monthly fee, and ad spend is always paid by you, directly to Meta or Google. See what is included in social media management, or use the ad budget calculator to see what an ad budget could bring.
Sources
Figures above are published estimates from Indian agencies and pricing guides, as of 2026:
- upGrowth, Social media management pricing in India: freelancer, boutique, full-service and in-house ranges, reel and shoot costs, and city differences.
- Mediaverse Digital, Social media management cost in India 2026: entry, mid and full-service agency bands and what each includes.