If you're comparing a Facebook ads agency with a freelancer, the first question is always the same: what will it cost me? I'm Aditya, a solo Meta Ads and Google Ads consultant working remotely from India. I'll tell you how the fees are usually built, what to watch for, and how I'd split a small budget.
One honest note first. I'm not going to quote a price list here, because the right fee depends on your market, your spend and how much work the account needs. What I can give you is the structure, so you can judge any quote you receive, mine included.
Flat retainer or percentage of ad spend?
Most Facebook and Google ads managers charge in one of two ways: a flat monthly retainer, or a percentage of the ad spend they manage. Some mix the two.
A flat retainer is the same fee every month. It's easy to budget for, and it doesn't punish you for spending more. The risk is paying the same whether the account is busy or quiet, so ask what you get each month in writing.
A percentage of spend scales with your budget. It can be fair on a large account. On a small one it can leave the manager with too little to do the work properly, or push them to nudge your spend up so their fee rises.
For a small business, I lean towards a flat fee agreed up front. You know the cost, and the manager has no reason to grow your budget unless it's working.
Either way, ask what's included: how many campaigns, how many new ads a month, how often you get a report, and how quickly messages get answered.
How much should I spend on ads versus the management fee?
Your ad budget should be the bigger number. That's the money that reaches customers, so if the fee eats most of your total, the ads can't do much.
Here is a hypothetical example, not a quote. If you had $1,500 a month in total to put into ads, and a manager's fee took $1,000 of it, you'd have only $500 left for actual advertising. That's a lot to pay for a small test.
There's no magic ratio. But I'd be wary of any setup where the fee dwarfs the ad spend and nobody can explain why.
Is $500 a month enough for Google Ads?
It can be, in a narrow case. $500 a month is roughly $16 a day. If you serve a small local area and people search for exactly what you sell, that can produce a handful of enquiries. In a competitive market where clicks cost several dollars each, it will produce very few clicks.
That's the point of a small budget: it's a test, not a growth plan. Pick one service, one area, track calls and form fills, and see what a single enquiry costs. Then decide whether to spend more.
On my results page the Google numbers come from India, where clicks are far cheaper than in the US, UK or UAE. One restaurant campaign got 3,857 actions at ₹2.68 (about $0.03) each. Don't expect that in your market. The structure carries over, the prices don't.
Is $500 enough for Facebook ads?
Yes, for a test. Facebook and Instagram can work on a small budget, but you need patience. Meta's system learns from the results it gets, so very thin budgets can take several weeks before the numbers settle.
My advice is to run one offer, one audience and a few different ads, and judge it on cost per lead or sale, not on likes. A small budget spread over five campaigns teaches you nothing.
Facebook ads agency or freelancer: where does the money go?
With an agency, part of your fee pays for the team, the office and the sales process. Some of that is useful, since you get cover when someone is away. But on a small account you often end up with a junior account manager.
With a freelancer, more of the fee pays for the person who builds your campaigns. The catch is that one person can be busy or ill, so ask how they handle that.
An India-based freelancer like me usually costs a fraction of a US or UK freelancer for similar work. That's the draw. The catch is that you have to be comfortable with a time-zone gap, so I run the day-to-day over WhatsApp and email, and you get a written report on a fixed schedule.
What I'd check before paying anyone
- Who owns the ad account? It should be yours. Never pay someone who holds it hostage.
- What will the report show? Cost per lead or sale, not just impressions.
- What's in the fee? Ads built, edits, calls, reports, in writing.
- Is there a lock-in? A month-to-month arrangement keeps both sides honest.
- Can they show real numbers? I've managed 85 ad accounts and ₹86.0L (about $103K) of spend, and I list the campaigns that didn't work too.
If you're still deciding who to hire, my guide on how to hire a Facebook ads expert has the questions I'd ask.
The short version
Pick a fee structure you understand, keep most of your money in the ads, and start with a test you can measure. Don't judge a small budget by the standards of a large one.
If you want to hire a Facebook ads expert or a Google Ads expert, look at the results first, including the mistakes. Then get in touch with your business, your budget and your market. I'll tell you honestly whether it's worth starting, and what I'd charge.
Want me to look at your ads?
Tell me your business, your market and what isn't working. I reply personally, usually on WhatsApp or email. I work with small businesses in the US, UK, UAE, Australia and Singapore.