Instagram Earnings Calculator

Instagram sponsorship earnings vary widely depending on three core factors: follower count, engagement rate, and niche. A creator with 50,000 highly engaged followers in the finance niche can often out-earn an account with 500,000 followers and low engagement in a general lifestyle category. Brands have shifted their focus from raw follower counts to meaningful interactions, making engagement rate one of the most important metrics in sponsorship negotiations.

Sponsored feed posts are the most common format for brand deals. Rates typically follow a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) model blended with a CPE (cost per engagement) component. For micro-influencers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers, sponsored post rates generally range from $100 to $500 per post. Mid-tier creators with 50,000 to 500,000 followers can command $500 to $5,000, while macro-influencers and celebrities often negotiate $5,000 to $25,000 or more per post. These ranges shift significantly based on niche — finance, tech, and health niches pay premium CPMs because the audience has higher purchasing power.

Instagram Stories offer a lower per-unit rate than feed posts because they disappear after 24 hours and reach a smaller percentage of your audience. However, Stories are popular with brands because they feel authentic and allow swipe-up links (or link stickers) that drive direct traffic. Most creators charge 40 to 60 percent of their feed post rate for a set of Stories. Reels, on the other hand, command a premium — often 120 to 180 percent of a feed post rate — because Instagram's algorithm distributes Reels far beyond your existing followers through the Explore and Reels tabs.

To maximize your earning potential, focus on growing your engagement rate rather than chasing followers. Respond to comments, create content that invites conversation, and post at times when your audience is most active. Building a media kit that includes your engagement rate, audience demographics, and past brand results will help you negotiate higher rates. Tools like PostLink give you concrete click-through data to show sponsors exactly how your content drives traffic — the kind of proof that justifies premium pricing.

Remember that these estimates are starting points for negotiation. Factors like content exclusivity, usage rights, whitelisting, and campaign length all affect the final rate. Creators who can demonstrate measurable ROI — through link clicks, conversions, or sales attribution — consistently earn more than those who rely on vanity metrics alone.