When owners ask what social media should cost, they usually mean one of three different questions: what the software costs, what it costs to hand the work to someone else, and what it costs them personally in time.
All three matter. The last one almost never appears on an invoice, which is exactly why it gets ignored.
Start with the number nobody writes down: your time
Time your own week of posting once, honestly. Count the minutes spent deciding what to post, writing it, finding a photo, resizing it, logging into each network, publishing, and replying to comments.
Then do the arithmetic: hours per week, multiplied by what an hour of your time is worth, multiplied by fifty-two. If you spend five hours a week and value your hour at thirty dollars, that is seventy-eight hundred dollars a year — usually more than the software, the freelancer, and the ad budget combined.
That number changes the conversation. Free tools are not free when they still ask for five hours a week, and a paid tool that cuts those five hours down to one is cheaper than the alternative even when the sticker price is higher.
What the software actually costs
Most schedulers price one of two ways: a monthly fee per connected account, or a flat monthly fee that climbs as you add profiles, users, or features. Either way the bill grows with your footprint, and it comes around again every single month.
KickPost prices differently: a one-time payment after a three-day free trial — Creator $29.99, Pro $49.99, and AI $99.99, plus tax and processing. You pay once and keep using it. There is no second invoice next month, and no renewal you have to remember to cancel.
What it costs to hand the work to someone else
Freelancers and agencies price by scope: how many platforms, how many posts a week, whether they answer messages, and whether they report back on results. Quotes run from a few hundred dollars a month for light posting to several thousand for full-service management.
Two rules keep that spend honest. Get the scope in writing — post count, platforms, reply handling, reporting cadence — and ask what happens to your accounts and your content library when the contract ends.
The cheapest option is doing nothing, and it is not free
A quiet feed costs nothing to run. It also quietly costs you the customers who check whether you are still open, still active, and still worth a visit before they decide.
You do not need a daily content engine. You need a feed that looks alive and a message that goes out consistently. Five decent posts published on time beat one perfect post published whenever you get around to it.
A simple way to set your budget
Write down the hours your current process eats, and what an hour of your time is worth.
Decide the outcome you actually need — booked appointments, phone calls, walk-ins — not a follower count.
Buy the smallest thing that removes the biggest chunk of time from that process.
Give it ninety days, then judge it on clicks and inquiries rather than likes before you change course.
Where KickPost fits
KickPost is built for owners who want the hours back: connect your accounts, let the AI draft posts from your own website and blog, pick the photos you already have, and schedule a week in one sitting. You pay once instead of renting the tool forever.
👉 Learn more about KickPost: www.KickPost.app
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