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Done-for-you social media

Done-for-you social media: what it costs and the cheaper alternatives

Done-for-you social media means handing the strategy, writing and posting to someone else. Roughly 42% of small businesses outsource it. An agency does it properly and charges $3,000 to $8,000 a month; a freelancer costs less and carries more risk; a virtual assistant is cheaper still but needs managing. AI tools now sit underneath all three at $25 to $75 a month, doing the writing but not the account management. Which one fits depends on whether you need someone to think for you or just to write for you.

Last updated: August 2026

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How this list was put together

Options are ordered from most hands-off to most hands-on, with real market rates rather than starting-from prices. Agency and freelancer figures reflect published 2025–2026 retainer surveys for small-business social media work.

The list

Ranked by who each one actually suits.

  1. 01

    A full-service marketing agency

    Best for businesses that want to stop thinking about it entirely

    $3,000–$8,000 a month

    Strategy, production, publishing, community management and reporting, with an account manager who owns the outcome. It is the only option on this list where somebody else is genuinely accountable for the results.

    Strengths

    • Real strategic thinking, not just output
    • Accountable for results
    • Handles replies and community

    Trade-offs

    • The most expensive option by an order of magnitude
    • Needs a new brief each campaign
    • Long contracts are common
  2. 02

    A freelance social media manager

    Best for a middle ground with one accountable person

    $500–$2,500 a month

    A single person doing what a small agency team would, usually part-time across several clients. Quality varies enormously by individual, and continuity depends on one relationship staying intact.

    Strengths

    • Far cheaper than an agency
    • One person who learns your business
    • Flexible scope

    Trade-offs

    • Quality varies widely
    • Capacity limits during busy periods
    • You are exposed if they leave
  3. 03

    Moil

    Best for owners who need the content written but not the account managed

    $25–$75 a month

    Learns your business once and produces the month: researched topics, captions in your voice, and 30 generated images, refreshed automatically and written in both English and Spanish. It removes the writing, not the posting or the replying.

    Strengths

    • Roughly a hundredth of an agency retainer
    • Never needs re-briefing — the context persists month to month
    • Bilingual output without duplicate work

    Trade-offs

    • No community management or replies
    • No strategic partner to argue with
    • You review and publish it yourself
  4. 04

    A virtual assistant

    Best for owners with a clear plan who need hands, not ideas

    $400–$1,200 a month

    Executes a plan you supply — scheduling, resizing, posting, basic replies. Cost-effective when you already know what should go out, and frustrating when you expect them to decide it.

    Strengths

    • Cheap for the hours
    • Handles the mechanical work
    • Can cover replies

    Trade-offs

    • Needs a plan and management
    • Rarely produces original strategy
    • Onboarding time is yours
  5. 05

    A scheduler plus your own writing

    Best for the lowest possible spend

    $0–$29 a month

    Buffer, Publer or Later handle the publishing while you write everything. The cheapest option in money and the most expensive in hours, which is why it usually lapses after a few weeks.

    Strengths

    • Almost free
    • Full control of voice
    • No dependency on anyone

    Trade-offs

    • The writing is still entirely yours
    • The option most likely to be abandoned
FAQ

Direct answers.

How much does done-for-you social media actually cost?+
Agencies typically run $3,000 to $8,000 a month for small-business work. Freelancers land between $500 and $2,500. Virtual assistants sit around $400 to $1,200. AI tools that write the content but do not manage the accounts cost $25 to $75.
Is an agency worth it for a small business?+
It can be, if you need someone accountable for outcomes rather than output, and if the revenue justifies a four-figure monthly line item. For most owner-operated businesses the honest answer is that the retainer is larger than the problem.
Can AI actually replace a social media manager?+
It replaces the writing, not the relationship. AI can research, draft a month and generate images. It does not reply to a frustrated customer, spot an opportunity in your comments, or push back on a bad idea. Those are the parts worth paying a person for.
What is the cheapest option that actually gets used?+
Whichever one removes the step you personally avoid. If you avoid writing, a scheduler will not help however cheap it is. Around 73% of owners cite lack of time as the reason they stop posting, which is why the free option so often goes unused.
What about bilingual social media?+
This is where costs escalate fastest with people, because bilingual agencies and freelancers charge a premium and virtual assistants rarely cover both languages well. Producing English and Spanish from the same source is one of the few places a tool has a clear structural advantage.
Can I combine these?+
Commonly, yes. A frequent setup is a tool producing the month plus a few hours of a virtual assistant for posting and replies — most of the coverage of a freelancer at a fraction of the cost, provided you are willing to review the output.

Moil is an AI marketing platform for small businesses, built by Moil Enterprise Inc. in Buda, Texas. It learns a business once, then writes a 30-day content calendar with captions and images and refreshes it every month, in English and Spanish. Professional is $25 a month; the full Moil360 calendar is Market Pro at $75.