AI Paid Media Agent vs Agency vs In-House: What Each Really Costs a Month

The four ways to run paid media

Every company that advertises on Meta, Google or LinkedIn ends up choosing one of four models, or a mix:

1. An agency. A team that plans, builds and optimizes your campaigns for a monthly fee.
2. A freelancer. One specialist, paid by the hour or a fixed monthly fee.
3. An in-house hire. A paid media buyer or performance marketer on your payroll.
4. An AI paid media agent. Software that does the work of the channel (campaigns, creatives, landing pages, tracking, reports) and presents it for a person on your team to approve.

The fees are only part of the cost. What each option includes, how fast it moves and what you end up paying for separately matter as much as the headline price.

1. Agency: percentage of spend, retainer, or both

Agencies price in three ways: a percentage of ad spend, a flat monthly retainer, or a base fee plus a percentage.

• Percentage of spend. AgencyAnalytics describes 10% to 20% of monthly ad spend as the industry norm [2]. WebFX gives the same 10% to 20% range, or around $1,000 to $3,000 a month, and notes that the percentage usually falls as spend rises [3].
• Minimums. In Credo’s survey of PPC firms, 50.97% had a monthly retainer minimum of $1,000 to $3,000, and 26% had one under $1,000 [1].
• Setup and extra channels. The most common structure Credo sees is a base fee of $1,000 to $2,000 a month for one channel, $500 to $750 for each additional channel, a setup fee of $1,000 to $2,500, and 15% of spend above $10,000 a month [1].
• Contract length. 30.52% of the firms in Credo’s survey require a minimum engagement of 6 to 12 months [1].

A published price list makes this concrete. WebFX charges $750 a month for accounts spending up to $5,000, the greater of $975 or 15% of spend between $5,000 and $30,000, and the greater of $4,500 or 12% above that. Its first month, which includes an audit and creative development on the larger tiers, costs $1,200 to $5,800 [3].

In Spain, one Google Ads consultant’s 2026 price guide lists 750 to 1,500 euros a month for a small agency, 1,500 to 3,000 euros for a mid-sized one and 3,000 to 5,000 euros or more for a large one, with 10% to 20% of spend as the usual percentage [4]. Cyberclick reports basic plans from 75 to 200 euros a month and 300 to 600 euros or more for larger accounts [5], so the Spanish market is wide.

2. Freelancer: hours and a fixed fee

A freelancer is the cheapest way to get an experienced person on your account, as long as the account is small enough for one person.

• US. In Credo’s survey, 85% of PPC providers charge $50 to $200 an hour, and 60% charge $100 to $200 [1]. As an illustration, 20 hours of work a month at those rates is $1,000 to $4,000.
• Spain. The same Spanish guide puts a junior freelancer at 200 to 500 euros a month and a senior one at 500 to 1,500 euros [4].

What a freelancer rarely covers alone: video and design production, landing page builds, and holiday or sick cover. If they get busy or leave, the account stops.

3. In-house: salary plus everything around it

An in-house hire costs the same whether you spend $5,000 or $100,000 on ads. That makes it expensive for small accounts and cheap, relative to an agency, for large ones.

United States. Indeed puts the average PPC specialist salary at $67,759 a year [6] and the average media manager at $85,868 [7]. Salary is not the whole cost: in private industry, wages are 70.0% of what employers pay in total, and benefits the other 30.0% [8]. Dividing by 0.70, a $67,759 to $85,868 salary means about $96,800 to $122,700 a year, or roughly $8,070 to $10,220 a month.

Spain. Indeed España puts the average SEM specialist at 36,940 euros a year [9] and the average marketing manager at 39,453 euros [10]. In 2026 the employer pays 23.60% for common contingencies, 5.50% for unemployment, 0.20% to FOGASA, 0.60% for training and 0.75% for the MEI, 30.65% in total before workplace-accident cover [11]. That puts the employer cost at about 48,260 to 51,550 euros a year, or roughly 4,020 to 4,300 euros a month.

On top of that:

• Recruiting. SHRM’s benchmarking data put the average cost per hire at nearly $4,700 [12].
• Tools. Design, video, research and reporting software, paid separately.
• Ramp-up and gaps. Weeks to hire and onboard, and nobody running the account during holidays or after the person leaves.
• Range. One person rarely does strategy, media buying, creative production, landing pages and tracking equally well.

4. AI paid media agent: priced by work, not by spend

An AI paid media agent is the newest option. Baker is one: it runs a company’s paid channel, from campaigns on Meta, Google (including YouTube), LinkedIn, X and ChatGPT Ads to creatives, landing pages and forms, tracking connected to the CRM, and reports. It does the work all the way through and presents it, and nothing goes live until a person approves it [13].

Baker’s pricing [13]:

• Plans of $500, $650, $950, $1,400, $2,000 and $3,000 a month, sized by credits. The bigger the plan, the cheaper each credit.
• Every feature in every plan. You pick how much work Baker does, not which features you get.
• Your ad budget stays in your own ad accounts. Baker does not take a percentage of spend.
• $100 a month for each extra company (a brand with its own website, ad accounts and Knowledge).
• Yearly plans get the whole year’s credits on day one, two months free; a monthly plan’s credits are for that month. Monthly plans can be cancelled at any time.

To give a sense of scale, Baker’s pricing page lists quick tasks such as moving budget between ad sets at 100 to 300 credits, a new landing page or full account audit at 500 to 1,500, and a UGC video ad with an AI avatar at 2,000 to 5,000. The smallest plan has 33,000 credits a month [13].

There is no self-serve sign-up. Every company starts with a call with Baker’s team, who set it up with you.

Monthly cost by ad-spend level

The table uses the sourced ranges above. Agency figures are 10% to 20% of spend, with the $1,000 to $3,000 minimum most firms in Credo’s survey apply [1][2]; WebFX’s published price is shown as one real example [3]. Ad spend itself is not included.

Monthly ad spend	Agency (10% to 20%, with minimum)	WebFX published price	Freelancer (US)	In-house hire (US, full cost)	Baker
$5,000	$1,000 to $3,000 (minimum applies)	$750	$1,000 to $4,000 for 20 hours	$8,070 to $10,220	$500 to $3,000
$20,000	$2,000 to $4,000	$3,000	Often beyond one person’s hours	$8,070 to $10,220	$500 to $3,000
$50,000	$5,000 to $10,000	$6,000	Rarely a one-person job	$8,070 to $10,220	$500 to $3,000
$100,000	$10,000 to $20,000	$12,000	Rarely a one-person job	$8,070 to $10,220	$500 to $3,000

Two things stand out. Agency cost climbs with spend while in-house and Baker costs do not, so the gap widens the more you spend. And Baker’s plan depends on how much work you want done each month, not on spend: an account with heavy creative production needs a bigger plan than one that mostly needs optimization.

In Spain, the in-house column becomes roughly 4,020 to 4,300 euros a month, and agency retainers run from 750 to 5,000 euros or more [4][9][10][11].

What each option includes and leaves out

	Agency	Freelancer	In-house hire	AI agent (Baker)
Campaign management	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Creatives (images, video)	Often extra or limited	Rarely	Depends on the person, plus tools	Included
Landing pages and forms	Often a separate project	Rarely	Usually needs a designer or developer	Included
Tracking to the CRM	Varies	Varies	Depends on the person	Included
Reports	Yes, usually monthly	Varies	Yes	Included, on request or on a schedule
Hours	Shared across clients	Limited to one person’s week	One person’s week	Works around the clock
Speed of changes	Depends on the agency’s process and queue	Depends on availability	Fast, if they have time	Prepares the work on its own, then waits for your approval
Your time needed	Meetings and approvals	Briefs and approvals	Management	Someone to approve the work

The agency and freelancer columns describe common practice, not a rule: ask any provider exactly what their quote includes.

Hidden costs to ask about

Agency. Setup fees, per-channel fees, creative and landing pages billed as projects, minimum terms of 6 to 12 months [1], and a fee that rises automatically when you scale spend.

Freelancer. Separate costs for design, video and landing pages, and the risk of the account stopping when the person is away or leaves.

In-house. Employer costs on top of salary [8][11], recruiting [12], software, months of ramp-up, and the gap when the person leaves.

AI agent. The time of the person who reviews and approves the work. Credits that run out in a heavy month (with Baker you move up a plan; a yearly plan grants the whole year’s credits at once). And an AI agent only covers paid media: Baker does not do SEO or organic social.

When each option is the right pick

Choose an agency when nobody on your team has time to review work every week, when you need channels outside paid media handled by the same partner, or when what you are buying is a senior strategist’s judgment and accountability more than execution.

Choose a freelancer when spend is small, you run one or two channels, and you already have creative and landing page production covered.

Choose an in-house hire when spend is high and steady, so a fixed salary beats a percentage of spend, and you want someone embedded with product and sales every day. An in-house marketer can also be the person who approves an AI agent’s work, which turns one person into a full channel team.

Choose an AI paid media agent when you want campaigns, creatives, landing pages, tracking and reports covered without paying a percentage of spend, and someone on your side can approve the work. If nobody can, an agency fits better.

FAQ

How much does a paid media agency cost per month?

Most charge 10% to 20% of ad spend or a flat retainer, often $1,000 to $3,000 a month for smaller accounts, plus setup and per-channel fees [1][2][3]. In Spain, published guides put agencies between about 750 and 5,000 euros a month [4].

How much does an in-house paid media specialist cost?

In the US, about $8,070 to $10,220 a month with employer costs, based on Indeed salaries and BLS data [6][7][8]. In Spain, about 4,020 to 4,300 euros a month with employer social security [9][10][11].

Is an AI paid media agent cheaper than an agency?

Usually, once spend passes a few thousand dollars a month, because agency fees grow with spend. Baker costs $500 to $3,000 a month whatever you spend, and your ad budget stays in your own accounts. See Baker’s pricing.

What are the best alternatives to hiring a paid media agency?

A freelancer, an in-house hire, or an AI paid media agent that does the work while your team approves it. The right one depends on your spend, how many channels you run, and whether someone on your side can review the work.

Can an AI agent replace a paid media team completely?

Not completely. It does the work, but a person still decides what goes live. With Baker, nothing is published until someone on your team approves it.

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Sources

1. Credo, “PPC Pricing: How Much Do PPC Services Cost?”, Digital Marketing Pricing Survey, last updated June 28, 2022. https://www.getcredo.com/guide/digital-marketing-industry-pricing-survey/ppc-pricing/
2. AgencyAnalytics, “PPC Agency Pricing: How Much To Charge for PPC Management in 2025”, July 17, 2025. https://agencyanalytics.com/blog/ppc-pricing
3. WebFX, “PPC Management Pricing”, accessed October 2026. https://www.webfx.com/ppc/pricing/
4. Lionel Z, “Cuánto cuesta un consultor de Google Ads: precios 2026”, May 2026. https://lionelz.com/blog/precio-consultor-google-ads/
5. Cyberclick, “Cuánto cuesta contratar una agencia Google Ads en España en 2026”, updated August 18, 2026. https://www.cyberclick.es/numerical-blog/cuanto-cuesta-contratar-una-agencia-google-ads-en-espana
6. Indeed, “PPC Specialist salary in the United States”, updated October 16, 2026. https://www.indeed.com/career/ppc-specialist/salaries
7. Indeed, “Media Manager salary in the United States”, updated October 19, 2026. https://www.indeed.com/career/media-manager/salaries
8. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026”, September 9, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm
9. Indeed España, “Salario de SEM specialist en España”, updated October 15, 2026. https://es.indeed.com/career/especialista-sem/salaries
10. Indeed España, “Salario de marketing manager en España”, updated October 16, 2026. https://es.indeed.com/career/digital-marketing-manager/salaries
11. Sage, “Las cotizaciones a la Seguridad Social en 2026: conceptos, bases y porcentajes”. https://www.sage.com/es-es/blog/las-cotizaciones-a-la-seguridad-social-conceptos-bases-y-porcentajes/
12. SHRM, “The Real Costs of Recruitment”, April 11, 2022. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/real-costs-recruitment
13. Baker, “Pricing”. https://withbaker.com/pricing