$99 Social vs the alternatives

The same posts. A fraction of the price.

Big agencies charge $2,000–$5,000/month. Freelancers charge $800–$1,500. Doing it yourself eats 10+ hours a week. We do the same work — real writers, real designers, real strategy — starting at $99/month. Here's how the math actually shakes out.

  • Up to 95% less than a full-service agency
  • Real human writers & designers — not AI mills
  • No contracts, no setup fees, cancel anytime
  • Same starting price since 2012
Trusted by 10,000+ businesses since 20124.6 / 5 on Trustpilot
Average yearly cost
Big-name agency$42,000
Freelance manager$13,800
DIY (your time @ $50/hr)$26,000
$99 Social$1,188
Save up to $40,800 / year vs the average agency. Same deliverables.
As covered in
Cost per post

What a single post actually costs you.

Strip away the retainer and the math gets uncomfortable for everyone else. Same writing, same design, same scheduling — for under $10 a post.

Boutique agency$2,500/mo · 15 posts
$167 / post
Large agency$5,000/mo · 15 posts
$333 / post
Freelance manager$1,125/mo · 15 posts
$75.00 / post
AI content toolsHours of editing on top
$12.00 / post
$99 Social — Plus$149/mo · 15 posts
$9.93 / post

Math: retainer ÷ posts delivered per month. Big-agency numbers based on published 2024 retainer ranges; freelance averages from Upwork & Contra public listings.

The four alternatives

Here's what you're actually choosing between.

Most small businesses cycle through these four options for years before they find us. We've laid out the honest trade-offs of each — and then where we fit.

Option A

A full-service agency

$2,000 – $5,000 / mo

Plus a 6–12 month contract and a 4-figure setup fee.

Where it shines
  • Strategy & senior talent
  • Bigger paid-ads budgets
Where it breaks down
  • Long contracts & setup fees
  • You're a small fish in a big tank
  • Slow approvals through account managers
  • Overkill for most SMBs
Option B

A freelance social manager

$800 – $1,500 / mo

One person doing 4 disciplines — at the same time.

Where it shines
  • Cheaper than an agency
  • Single point of contact
Where it breaks down
  • One person is rarely great at all four crafts
  • Vanishes when they get sick, busy, or fired by you
  • No designer, no strategist, no QA
  • Replacement risk falls on you
Option C

Doing it yourself

10+ hours / week

At $50/hr of your time, that's $2,000+ a month.

Where it shines
  • Total creative control
  • Free… if your time is free
Where it breaks down
  • Crowds out the work that actually grows your business
  • Posting stops the moment the week gets busy
  • Design + writing + scheduling — a real job, not a side task
  • Burns out fast
Option D

AI tools alone

$20 – $80 / mo

Cheap, fast, and obvious to your audience.

Where it shines
  • Cheapest by sticker price
  • Drafts in seconds
Where it breaks down
  • Reads like AI — because it is
  • No brand voice, no judgement
  • Generic stock visuals at best
  • Still needs hours of human editing
The fifth option

$99 Social: an agency-sized team, at freelancer prices.

A dedicated account manager, writer, designer and scheduler — the same crew an agency assigns to a $3,000/mo retainer — but built around small-business budgets. Month-to-month, no setup fees, real humans, since 2012.

See all plans
  • Real writers + designers on staff
  • From $99/mo — same price since 2012
  • Month-to-month, no setup, cancel anytime
  • 10,000+ small businesses served
  • Dedicated account manager
  • AI for ideas — humans for the work
Feature-by-feature

The full comparison.

Thirteen of the questions small-business owners actually ask us before signing up — answered against every alternative, side by side.

$99 Social
Big agency
Freelancer
DIY in-house
Starting price
$99/mo
$2,000–5,000/mo
$800–1,500/mo
10+ hrs/week of your time
Setup / onboarding fee
$0
$1,000–5,000
Often $250–500
$0
Contract length
Month-to-month
6–12 months
Project or monthly
None
Real human writers
Always
Mixed — often offshore
Yes
You
AI use
Ideas only — never the writing
Often the writer itself
Often the writer itself
Up to you
Dedicated designer
Yes
Sometimes shared
Usually no
You
Account manager
Dedicated
Dedicated
They are the AM
You
Posts per month
10–30, predictable
Varies by retainer
Varies by mood
Whatever fits
Revisions
Easy & fast, included
Capped per cycle
Often billed extra
Free (it's you)
Reporting
In-platform analytics
Monthly
Rarely
Nothing automatic
Your weekly time investment
~10 min
Approvals + status calls
Approvals + chasing
6+ hours
Money-back guarantee
14 days, written
Lock-in clause
Deposit non-refundable
N/A
Time to first post
~1 week
2–4 weeks
1–2 weeks
Whenever you find time
Strong Mixed Weak / missing
"But wait…"

The six things people ask us first.

Most prospects come in skeptical — at $99/mo, you should be. Here's what's actually under the hood, in plain English.

The myth
"$99/mo can't be real work — it has to be AI"
What's actually true

It isn't. Every caption is written by a human on our team, every graphic is built by a designer on our team. Our scale is what makes the price possible: thousands of clients sharing the cost of a 50-person production crew. AI saves us research time, not writing time.

The myth
"You must lock me into a long contract somewhere"
What's actually true

No setup fee, no minimum term, no cancel fee. Month-to-month from the day you start. Plus a written 14-day money-back guarantee on management plans — agencies don't offer that for a reason.

The myth
"An agency will treat me better because I'm paying more"
What's actually true

Big agencies optimize for big retainers. At $99/mo you'd be the smallest client they have — assigned to their newest junior. With us, every account gets a dedicated AM whose entire portfolio is small businesses like yours.

The myth
"A freelancer will care more about my brand"
What's actually true

Maybe — until they get sick, take a holiday, or land a bigger client. We assign a team, not a single person, so quality and cadence don't depend on one human's calendar. And brand voice lives in our docs, not in someone's head.

The myth
"I'll get more original content from a senior writer"
What's actually true

Possibly, on one post. But consistency beats brilliance on social: 4 posts a week for 12 months will out-perform 1 'masterpiece' a month every time. We're built for cadence — that's the whole point.

The myth
"Cheap means I'll get cookie-cutter posts"
What's actually true

Every plan starts with a detailed content brief, a written voice guide, and a sample post round before anything goes live. Your account manager owns your brand voice. Read 10,000+ reviews — generic isn't what people credit us for.

4.6/5 · Verified Google reviews

Loved by 10,000+ small businesses.

"The BEST! Working with my account manager is such a pleasure. Smart, prompt and so helpful! Super pleased with the service!"
AG
Aimee German
Verified Google Review
"My account manager has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Their promptness and communication is greatly appreciated. I've already signed a second account to 99 Social and will most definitely keep using them for any new clients."
BC
Bianca Ciorobara
Verified Google Review
"Not only creates smart and thoughtful content, but the technology they leverage makes it easy for us to communicate back and forth — in words and pictures — about what's happening with my social posts."
BH
Bo Harvey
Verified Google Review
Compare FAQs

Common questions about the math.

Scale. We've been doing this since 2012 with thousands of small-business clients on the books, which means our writers, designers and account managers stay at full utilization year-round. A boutique agency staffing for 30 clients has to charge $3k/mo to make payroll; we don't.
Often yes — as a parallel content engine. Many of our clients keep an agency for paid media and strategy, and bring us in for the day-to-day organic posting cadence. Cheaper, faster, and the agency gets to focus on the work they're actually built for.
Every account starts with a detailed content brief, a written voice doc, and a sample post round before anything goes live. The same account manager handles every post, so the voice gets sharper the longer you're with us — not blander.
Yes. We onboard new clients every business day. Most are posting on our cadence within a week or so of signing up, regardless of where their previous work was happening.
The yearly figures are the published average retainers for full-service agencies (Clutch, GoodFirms), median freelance social manager rates (Upwork, Contra) and a 10-hr/week self-employed time cost at $50/hr. We rounded conservatively — the gap is usually larger.
Risk-free · zero commitment

Not feeling it after your first batch of content?
Get your money back.

We're confident in the work our writers and designers will make for you. Every eligible new plan is backed by our 14-day money-back guarantee — no phone tag, no penalty clauses, no scripts to fight through.

  • 14 full days to review your first batch of content and work revisions with your account manager.
  • We'll go through at least two rounds of revisions so we get a real shot at your brand voice.
  • If you still aren't happy, we refund your first month in full.
Read the full policy

Applies to social media management plans (posts & reels). Once posts are published live to your accounts the trial closes — see full terms.

Trusted by 10,000+ small businesses since 2012
Real human writers & designers
Cancel anytime
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Your next month of posts, already drafted.

20-minute demo call, your first calendar ready in 7–10 business days. From $99/month, cancel anytime.

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