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True Cost of Content Calculator

Add up briefing, writing, design, review and publishing with each role’s hourly cost. See what every piece of content really costs, per unit and per month.

Production stages

Briefing and strategy€30

Meeting, brief and initial sign-off.

Writing / script€135

Research + writing the draft.

Design / visual production€100

Images, illustration, layout or editing.

Review and approval€90

Feedback rounds until final approval.

Publishing and distribution€18

Uploading, scheduling, social copy, metrics.

Volume and fixed costs

What almost everyone forgets to count

When someone says “an article costs us €200”, what they’re measuring is the writer’s invoice. The true cost also includes the hours of whoever writes the brief, the hours of whoever reviews it, the header design, on-page SEO, scheduling in the CMS, the promo creatives, and the subscriptions the team uses (CMS, stock images, SEO tools).

This calculator makes you put a number on every stage. If it comes out very high, there are usually too many review rounds or too much manual work that a decent process would automate.

Reference hourly costs

  • Junior: €25–35/h internal cost.
  • Mid-level: €40–55/h.
  • Senior / specialist: €60–90/h.
  • Manager / approver: €70–100/h.

Estimates for Spain in 2026, including payroll taxes, vacation and overhead.

What to do with the number

Compare it with the results each piece brings in (leads, sales, attributions). If you’re spending €350 on a blog post that generates two leads a year, you don’t have a content problem: you have a distribution, SEO or production cost problem. The conversation grows up when cost stops being a hunch.

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