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PPC management cost in the UK usually sits between a few hundred pounds and around £5,000 a month, paid on top of your ad spend. Small accounts with a freelancer can start near £200 a month. Agencies running larger accounts charge in the low thousands, either as a flat fee or as a percentage of spend.
Quick answer: Most UK PPC management fees fall between £300 and £5,000 a month, separate from the money paid to the ad platforms. Percentage-of-spend pricing is usually estimated at 5–15% and tends to apply above £5,000 a month in spend. On spend under about £1,000 a month, the fee can take a third or more of the total budget.
A ballpark is easy to find. The harder question is whether the fee fits your spend, and what it actually buys.
How much does PPC management cost in the UK?
The fee you pay depends on your ad spend and how much work the account needs.
Published prices are rarer than you'd expect. In a check of 33 UK agencies and consultants, only 14 published a Google Ads management price. The middle value of their lowest published monthly fee was £300, with a spread from £145 to £1,650 (Whito Research, published fees check, 1 November 2026).
Those entry prices are for the smallest budgets. The same research gives these estimated bands (indicative, no stated sample):
Our own PPC retainers typically sit between £1,000 and £5,000 a month, set by scope rather than hidden inside media spend.
Percentage of spend vs flat fee vs hybrid
Percentage-of-spend pricing is a management fee charged as a share of your monthly ad spend, often with a monthly minimum. Flat-fee pricing is a fixed monthly retainer that does not move with spend. Hybrid pricing is a base retainer plus a smaller variable element, either a percentage above a spend threshold or a performance component tied to results.
Straight percentage pricing is less common in published price lists than its reputation suggests. A review of nine UK agencies that publish PPC prices found none charging a pure percentage of spend (ExpertSure, digital marketing agency costs, October 2026). Most used tiered flat fees.
Each model rewards something different. A flat fee rewards a defined scope, so ask which one lines up with what you're trying to achieve.
What's included in a PPC management fee
A PPC management fee pays for the work of running your campaigns. It doesn't pay for the clicks. Ad spend goes to Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn or Meta and is billed separately.
Usually included:
- Strategy and objective review at the start
- Keyword research and campaign structure
- Ad copy writing and testing
- Bid and budget management
- Conversion tracking checks
- Regular reporting with recommendations
Often excluded or charged separately:
- The ad spend itself
- Landing page design or build
- New creative such as video or designed display ads
- A full account rebuild or migration
- Third-party tools and call tracking
- Work on extra platforms beyond the agreed scope
Our own PPC management services cover landing pages and competitor monitoring within ongoing management, for example. Check whether a quote includes them or lists them as extras.
Setup fees
A setup fee is a one-off charge for building or restructuring the account before ongoing management starts. The Whito estimate puts a reasonable setup fee at £250 to £500 for a standard campaign. A quote far above that for a small account should come with a clear list of what the build includes.
Minimum budget to work with an agency
Most agencies want enough ad spend for the fee to be proportionate. Whito's estimated agency bands start at around £1,000 a month in spend, and the same research suggests a local or niche business can test whether PPC works with £500 to £1,000 a month.
The problem below that is arithmetic. A £500 fee on £1,000 of spend means a third of your total budget goes on management. On £5,000 of spend, the same fee is under a tenth.
Work the ratio out on the monthly figure. Google Ads can spend up to twice your average daily budget on a single day, but no more than 30.4 times it over a month (Google Ads Help).
If your budget is tight, the better decision is usually focus. We would rather see a small budget concentrated on one channel that works than split across several that each get too little to learn. A clear marketing strategy is often what decides which channel that should be.
Pricing for B2B and lead-gen accounts
In B2B, we judge an account on lead quality more than on the number of form submissions.
That changes what you're paying for. A B2B account often needs offline conversion tracking linked to your CRM, and audience work on LinkedIn as well as Google. Both add setup and reporting time.
LinkedIn also sets its own floor. Its minimum daily budget is $10 for any ad format, and new campaigns need a minimum lifetime budget of $100 (LinkedIn Marketing Solutions).
Longer sales cycles shift the measure of "worth it" too. A lead-gen account may produce a handful of enquiries a month. If one of them becomes a five-figure contract, a fee that looks high against click volume can be small against pipeline.
For B2B businesses, ask any agency how its reporting connects spend to qualified leads, not just to cost per click.
How to compare two PPC quotes
Two quotes at the same price can buy very different things. Not the same hours. Not the same scope. So line them up on the points that change the real cost.
- Is ad spend separate? The management fee and media spend should be itemised on their own lines.
- Who owns the ad account? It should be set up in your name, so the account and its history stay with you if you move agency.
- What is the notice period? Terms range from rolling monthly to several months' notice, so read them alongside the fee and the scope rather than on their own.
- Are prices with or without VAT? Published figures are not consistent on this, so ask.
- What does the report show? You should be able to see where the budget went and what it produced in qualified leads or sales.
If you're working out which bracket your account falls into, let's have a conversation about your PPC budget.
FAQ
Is a freelancer cheaper than an agency for PPC?
Usually, yes. Freelancer fees sit at the bottom of the bands in the cost table above. An agency costs more, and you are buying a team's time rather than one person's.
Can I pay an agency just to set up or audit my account?
Yes. Some agencies offer a one-off audit or account build without an ongoing retainer. It suits teams that have the time to manage campaigns in-house but want the structure and tracking checked first.
Are performance-only PPC fees a good idea?
They can work when results are easy to measure and agreed in writing. For lead-gen accounts, a pure performance fee can reward lead volume over lead quality, which is why hybrid pricing pairs it with a base retainer.
