How much does SEO cost? Compare before you hire.
See what on-page SEO costs with a freelancer, an agency or an in-house specialist, next to an AI SEO agent. Change any number to match your own quotes.
A typical month of on-page work by hand.
Estimates for a site of around 100 pages. OnPage Agent does this work continuously and asks you only for the decisions.
What the agent doesn’t replace.
It does
- Daily audits and the fixes that follow
- Titles, descriptions, alt text and headings
- Internal links and structured data
- Content refreshes and new pages, in your voice
- Speed and crawl hygiene on WordPress
You’ll still want people for
- Brand and positioning strategy
- Earning links, PR and partnerships
- Paid ads and social media
- Original research and expert interviews
- Sites that aren’t on WordPress, for now
Four ways to pay for SEO.
- By the hour. Freelancers and consultants. Flexible, but the bill grows with the work, and someone has to decide what the hours are spent on.
- A monthly retainer. Agencies, usually per site. Predictable, but check how many hours and which tasks it really covers.
- A salary. An in-house specialist. Deep knowledge of your business, at the cost of salary, taxes, tools and time to hire.
- Software. A monthly subscription. OnPage Agent does the repeating on-page work for one fixed price per plan, from $49 a month.
AI SEO agency
A service. People use AI tools on your behalf, bill a monthly retainer and send reports. Good when you want someone else to own the whole job, including strategy and outreach.
AI SEO agent
Software that does the work itself. OnPage Agent audits your WordPress site every day, applies the fixes you allow through a plugin and reports in plain language, with no retainer and every change reversible. How SEO automation works.
SEO costs, answered.
How much does SEO cost?
It depends on how you buy it. Freelancers usually charge by the hour, agencies charge a monthly retainer per site, and an in-house specialist costs a salary plus taxes, benefits and tools. Prices vary widely by country, experience and scope, so the most reliable numbers are the quotes you’ve been given: enter them in the calculator above. OnPage Agent starts at $49 a month.
How much does an SEO agency cost?
Most agencies charge a monthly retainer for each site, sometimes with a setup fee or a minimum contract. What’s included varies a lot: ask exactly which tasks are done each month, how many hours that represents, and how results are reported.
Is SEO worth it for a small business?
Usually, if people search for what you sell. Search visitors arrive with intent, and good on-page work keeps paying back long after it’s done. The catch is that SEO takes months, not days, so it’s worth it when the cost is low enough to keep going while it compounds.
Should I hire an SEO expert or use software?
For strategy, positioning and earning links, a good person is worth it. For the repeating on-page work (audits, metadata, internal links, schema, fixing what breaks) software is faster and far cheaper. Many businesses use both: a consultant for direction, and OnPage Agent for the day-to-day.
What’s the difference between an AI SEO agency and an AI SEO agent?
An AI SEO agency is a service: people who use AI tools on your behalf and bill a retainer. An AI SEO agent is software that does the work itself. OnPage Agent is an agent: it audits your WordPress site daily, applies approved fixes through a plugin and reports to you, with no retainer.