Brand deal rate calculator
Most creators pick a number the first time a brand asks and then quote it for two years.
This builds the figure from the two things it is actually made of: the hours the work takes you, and the value of putting it in front of your audience. Then it adds the four things brands ask for that are routinely given away free.
Production, your time
Rs 16,000
Audience, by typical views
Rs 23,400
Quote this, excluding GST
A starting figure you can defend, not a ceiling
Rs 39,400
How this works
The production half is simple honesty about hours. Concept, shoot, edit, revisions, posting, and the messages afterwards. A reel that looks like forty seconds of your life is usually six to ten hours of it, and for a creator working full time in a metro, Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 an hour is a reasonable floor in 2026.
The audience half is priced off typical views rather than follower count, because that is what a brand is really buying and it is what they will check. A 30,000-follower account that reliably gets 80,000 views on a reel is worth more than a 200,000-follower account that gets 25,000.
The four add-ons are where the money is. Usage rights, meaning the brand running your video as a paid advertisement, is a different product from an organic post and is the single most underpriced thing in Indian creator work. Exclusivity sells your next few months in that category. A rush displaces other work. And revisions beyond the first are how a priced job becomes an unpriced fortnight.
What comes out is a starting number, not a final one. It is meant to be the figure you are comfortable defending, which is the only kind worth quoting.
Common questions
- How much should I charge for an Instagram reel in India?
- For a creator whose reels typically get 20,000 to 75,000 views, most quotes in 2026 sit between Rs 15,000 and Rs 40,000 for a single reel on your own account. Below that view band, Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000. Above 75,000 views, Rs 40,000 to Rs 1,20,000. Usage rights and exclusivity are charged on top of all of these.
- How much extra should I charge for usage rights?
- Thirty per cent on top of the base fee for three months of paid usage is a common structure, 50% to 100% for a year or for use across the brand's own channels. If they want it in perpetuity and everywhere, price it rather than refuse it.
- Do I charge GST on top of this?
- If your turnover from services crosses Rs 20 lakh in a financial year, you must register and charge 18% on top. Below that you can stay unregistered. Either way, quote excluding GST and say so, so the number does not change later.
- What if the brand says my price is too high?
- Ask what their budget is and what they would drop to reach it. Usually the honest answer is fewer deliverables or no usage rights, both of which are real reductions in what they are buying. Cutting the price without cutting the scope teaches them the first number was not real.