How much does a clipping agency cost?

Updated 9 October 2026 · Written by the SOVE7GN founders

Clipping is sold two main ways: a monthly retainer, where editors post on your own accounts, or a CPM campaign, where clippers post on theirs and get paid per view. Here is what each costs, what the price actually pays for, and the questions that tell you whether a quote is any good.

The three ways clipping is priced

"Clipping" covers three quite different services. They are priced differently because they buy different things.

The mistake most buyers make is comparing these as if they were the same product. A cheap per-clip editor and a CPM campaign are not competing on price. One gives you files. The other gives you an audience.

What clippers get paid, and why it matters to you

Clippers in most networks are paid per 1,000 views on clips that get approved. OpenClip's rate survey (figures checked August 2026) found that most public campaigns pay between $0.20 and $6 per 1,000 verified views, with most listings near $1.

That rate decides how far a CPM pool goes: the higher the rate per 1,000 views, the fewer views the same pool buys. Whatever an agency charges on top pays for the work around the clips: choosing the moments, briefing the clippers, checking every clip, chasing the views that don't count, and reporting. Ask any agency what its clippers are paid and what it keeps. If nobody is doing that work, it usually ends up being you.

What a retainer covers

Here is what each SOVE7GN plan includes:

• Entry, $2,000 a month. 2 clips a day on your accounts, about 60 a month, plus a weekly strategy call and an idea doc with guidance on growth.
• Growth, $4,000 a month. Everything in Entry with 4 clips a day, about 120 a month, or 2 for your main page and 2 for a fan page. We post with access to your accounts.
• Full service, $5,000–6,000 a month. Everything in Growth plus scripting and ideation, 2 calls a week, and monthly analytics: best posting times and outlier breakdowns. 3-month minimum, with a discount for paying in full.

Entry and Growth are month to month, though we recommend 3 months. Sign for 3 months and we guarantee 1,000,000 views across them. If you're short at the end, we keep posting at our own cost until you get there.

What a CPM campaign covers

You fund the pool and pay a 15% management fee. Here is what that buys:

• Clipper payouts. We pay every clipper out of the pool, only for approved clips. You never manage anyone.
• Briefing. We pick the best moments, make 2 example clips and write simple rules before anything goes live. You approve them first.
• Human review. A person checks every clip within 24 hours, looking at the rules, how the views grew, whether likes and comments match the views, where viewers are, and bot flags.
• Rejected views. About 1 in 6 clips gets rejected, and those clips are never paid from your pool.
• Reporting. A weekly report with real views and the clips that worked best.

The cost most quotes leave out: views that don't count

Every clipping network has to deal with fake or low-quality views. Views that jump overnight, comments that don't match the view count, clips in the wrong format or from the wrong video. In our network, about 1 in 6 clips fails review.

So the question isn't just "what's your rate?". It's "what's your rate per view that passed a check, and who absorbs the ones that didn't?". If you run a campaign yourself on an open marketplace, rejected views are your problem: you review them, or you pay for them. With a managed pool, rejected clips shouldn't be paid out of your money at all.

A worked example: what $6,325 buys

Prices are in US dollars and don't include any taxes that apply. Full details are in our terms.

Retainer or CPM campaign?

Different jobs. A retainer grows pages you own, but those pages start with your existing audience. A CPM campaign puts your videos in front of many audiences at once, but the clipper accounts aren't yours.

You can run either on its own, or both: a retainer so the attention lands on accounts you keep, and a pool for reach. If we build fan pages for you as part of a plan, you keep 50 to 100% of their ad revenue. See retainer clipping.

Eight questions to ask before you pay any clipping agency

1. What counts as a view? Every view, or only views on clips that pass a check?
2. Who checks the clips, and how fast? A person, software, or nobody?
3. What share of clips gets rejected? An agency that says "none" isn't checking.
4. What happens if you miss the number? Refund, extension, or nothing?
5. Is the clipper budget funded up front? Clippers who aren't sure they'll be paid don't do their best work.
6. Who pays the clippers, and at what rate? And what does the agency keep on top?
7. How do you protect my brand? Are rules on tags, videos and off-limits topics agreed before launch?
8. How long am I locked in? Is there a minimum term?

Our answers are on the SOVE7GN FAQ. Use the same list on anyone else you're talking to.

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