LanguageInfluencer engagement rate calculator
Check a creator before you pay. Paste in their fee and a post’s numbers to get cost per engagement and cost per 1,000 views, plus the engagement rate by followers and by views.
Check a creator before you pay
Paste in numbers from the creator’s posts or their screenshots. Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored, and we never look up an account.
Post by post
| Post | Engagements | By followers | By views |
|---|
Your creator’s numbers show here
Cost per engagement = creator’s fee ÷ engagements. Engagement rate = engagements ÷ followers (or views) × 100.
Engagement rate by followers = engagements on a post ÷ followers × 100.
Engagement rate by views = engagements on a post ÷ views × 100. Use this one for video, such as TikTok, Reels and Shorts.
Engagements means likes + comments + shares + saves. Don’t count views.
Cost per engagement = creator’s fee ÷ engagements. Cost per 1,000 views = creator’s fee ÷ views × 1,000.
Follower-based rates drop as accounts grow (Hootsuite), so compare creators of a similar size, and ask for screenshots of views rather than trusting follower counts. That advice is ours, not Hootsuite’s.
Averages for business accounts on Hootsuite, for each platform’s best-performing post type, measured by followers (source, 6 October 2026):
- Instagram: 4.2% (carousels)
- LinkedIn: 3.9% (videos)
- Facebook: 2.9% (albums)
- X: 1.8% (status updates)
- TikTok: 1.5% (videos)
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How to calculate influencer engagement rate (by followers and by views)
Start with one post. Add up its likes, comments, shares and saves. That total is the post’s engagements. Views are not engagements, so leave them out of the total.
For the rate by followers, divide the engagements by the creator’s follower count and multiply by 100. For the rate by views, divide the engagements by the post’s views and multiply by 100. Both formulas are the ones Hootsuite gives in “How to calculate engagement rate in 2026”.
A worked example: a creator with 10,000 followers posts a video that gets 300 likes, 40 comments, 30 shares and 30 saves. That is 400 engagements. By followers, 400 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 4.00%. The video had 20,000 views, so by views it is 400 ÷ 20,000 × 100 = 2.00%.
One post can be a fluke. Switch the calculator to “Last few posts” and paste up to 12. It shows the average of each post’s rate, the median and the lowest and highest post, and it points out any post that is more than five times the median. The calculator runs in your browser and never looks up an account, so the numbers are only as good as the ones you paste in.
Engagement rate on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube: which formula to use
On TikTok, Reels and YouTube, most people who watch a video don’t follow the creator. Dividing by followers there can give rates far above what the post really earned, or far below. Use the rate by views for video. The calculator shows it first when you pick TikTok or YouTube.
On Instagram feed posts and carousels, LinkedIn, X and Facebook, followers is a steadier base, and it is the base the averages in the next section use. It is also the better way to compare one creator’s posts over time, because the follower count barely moves from week to week while views jump around.
If you have both numbers, look at both. A post with a high rate by followers and a low rate by views reached a lot of people who didn’t engage. A post with a rate by followers over 100% reached far beyond the creator’s followers.
Cost per engagement: what a creator’s post really costs
The engagement rate tells you how a post did. Cost per engagement tells you what you would pay for that. Divide the creator’s fee for one post by the engagements one of their posts gets. Cost per 1,000 views is the fee divided by views, times 1,000.
Using the example above with a fee of $200: $200 ÷ 400 engagements = $0.50 per engagement, and $200 ÷ 20,000 views × 1,000 = $10.00 per 1,000 views.
With several posts, the calculator uses the average post, because a fee buys one post, not the creator’s best one. Work out the same two numbers for each creator on your list, and you have a cost you can line up side by side. We don’t quote creator prices here. What a creator charges, and what rights come with it, is in what to pay for UGC on an app launch and how much UGC for apps costs.
What is a good influencer engagement rate?
Average engagement rate (best-performing content type, all industries)
| Platform | Average, by followers | Best-performing post type |
|---|---|---|
| 4.2% | carousels | |
| 3.9% | videos | |
| 2.9% | albums | |
| X | 1.8% | status updates |
| TikTok | 1.5% | videos |
These are averages for business accounts on Hootsuite, for each platform’s best-performing post type, measured by followers. Hootsuite gives no sample size or date range, and they aren’t creators’ sponsored posts, so treat them as a rough line.
There is no YouTube row because the source has none. The calculator shows the matching average next to the rate by followers only, and never next to the rate by views. It doesn’t grade a creator or call a rate good or bad. Our advice is to compare creators of a similar size with each other rather than with this table.
How to check a creator before you pay
- Ask for screenshots. Ask for the analytics screens of their last few posts, with views, likes, comments, shares and saves. Follower counts alone tell you little.
- Use views for video. For TikTok, Reels and YouTube, the rate by views is the fairer number.
- Look at the median. One post that took off can lift the average a long way. Paste several posts and read the median.
- Compare like with like. Our advice: line up creators of a similar size on the same platform, not a small account against a big one.
- Work out the cost. Put the fee in and compare cost per engagement and cost per 1,000 views across your list.
- Agree the rights first. Organic posting and paid ads are different jobs. Settle that before anyone films, as what to pay for UGC explains.
FAQ
How do you calculate engagement rate?
Add up likes, comments, shares and saves on a post, divide by the creator’s followers (or by views for video), and multiply by 100 (source).
Should I use followers or views?
Views, for video on TikTok, Reels and YouTube, because many people who watch don’t follow. Followers is a steadier base for comparing one creator’s posts over time (source).
What is a good engagement rate for an influencer?
It depends on the platform and the size of the account. Hootsuite’s all-industry averages for business accounts’ best post types, measured by followers, run from 1.5% on TikTok to 4.2% on Instagram (source). Creators’ sponsored posts aren’t the same thing, so our advice is to also compare creators of a similar size with each other.
How do I work out what a creator is worth paying?
Divide their fee by the engagements, or by views per 1,000, on their recent posts. That gives you a cost you can compare across creators.
Is anything I type stored?
No. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored, and we never look up an account.
Is this influencer engagement rate calculator free?
Yes. It’s a free influencer engagement rate calculator with no sign-up. You paste in the numbers from a creator’s posts, and it never asks for a username or a password.
What is the average influencer engagement rate?
We haven’t found a sourced average for creators’ sponsored posts, so we don’t show one. The averages on this page are Hootsuite’s for business accounts, by followers, from 1.5% on TikTok to 4.2% on Instagram (source). Treat them as a rough line, not a target.
How do you calculate engagement rate on TikTok?
Add the likes, comments, shares and saves on a video, divide by the video’s views and multiply by 100. On TikTok most people who watch don’t follow the creator, so views is the fairer base. You can also divide by followers to compare with Hootsuite’s averages.
How do you calculate engagement rate on Instagram?
Add the likes, comments, shares and saves on a post and divide by the creator’s followers, then multiply by 100. For Reels, divide by views instead, because many people who watch a Reel don’t follow the account.
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