Two providers quote you for the same account. One says 15% of ad spend. One says $1,500 a month. One says $900 plus 8% above $8,000. A fourth quotes $600 a month and then charges separately for setup, call tracking, landing pages and reporting.
Which is cheapest? You genuinely cannot tell from those numbers, and that is not an accident. Pricing in this market is quoted in incompatible units precisely because it makes comparison hard.
This guide fixes that. It covers every model you will actually be quoted, works the margin math through with real numbers so you can see what you keep, exposes the add-on fees that turn a cheap headline rate into an expensive invoice, and gives you a way to normalise any quote so you can compare like with like.
One disclosure up front, because it shapes how you should read this. River Stone provides white label Google Ads management, so we are a provider you might be pricing. We quote per account rather than from a public rate card, for reasons the guide explains, and we have written it to be useful even if you never contact us. Where the honest answer costs us, we have given it anyway.
The short version
If you want the numbers without the reasoning:
- Percentage of ad spend: most common band is 10% to 20% of what your client spends on ads. Concentrated between 12% and 18%.
- Flat monthly fee: roughly $500 to $2,000 per account for typical mid-tier work, higher for complex accounts.
- Hybrid: a base fee plus a percentage above a threshold, for example $900 plus 8% above $8,000 in spend.
- Your margin: healthy white label arrangements leave agencies 40% to 60% on the work.
- The trap: the lowest management fee is often the highest total cost once setup, tracking, landing page, creative and reporting fees are added.
The rest of this guide is why those numbers are what they are, and how to make them work in your favour.
The three models, and what each does to your money
Flat monthly fee
You pay a fixed amount per account each month, regardless of what the client spends on ads. Typical range is $500 to $2,000 for mid-tier work, scaling up with complexity.
Why agencies like it: predictability. You know exactly what each account costs you, which makes your own pricing and your margin trivial to calculate. When you are pitching a client a retainer, a flat wholesale cost is the easiest thing in the world to build on top of.
The catch: you pay the same whether the client spends $1,000 or $10,000. On a low-spend account that is fine. On a high-spend account, a flat fee can be a bargain for you, which is exactly why some providers cap what a flat fee covers and push you toward percentage above a threshold.
Best for: agencies that want clean margin math, accounts with stable or lower ad spend, and anyone building fixed-price retainers for clients.
Percentage of ad spend
You pay the provider a percentage of the client’s monthly ad budget. The market runs 10% to 20%, most commonly 12% to 18%.
Why some agencies like it: it scales automatically. When a client grows their budget, the fee rises without a renegotiation, and so does your margin if you priced your own percentage above the provider’s.
The catch, and it is a real one: this model quietly bends incentives. A provider earning a percentage of spend has no financial reason to tell your client to reduce a bloated budget, because their fee shrinks when spend shrinks. It also squeezes your margin as budgets rise unless you tracked it and set a maximum. The published guidance in this market is consistent that percentage resellers see margin squeeze without close tracking and spend caps.
Best for: larger, growing accounts, and agencies comfortable managing the incentive question by asking a provider directly what happens to their fee if they recommend cutting spend.
Hybrid
A base fee plus a percentage above a spend threshold. For example, $900 a month flat, plus 8% of any spend above $8,000. A client spending $6,000 pays $900. A client spending $18,000 pays $1,700.
Why it is often the fairest: it protects the provider’s floor on small accounts while scaling sensibly on large ones. For you, it gives a predictable base cost with controlled upside, which is easier to build a client price on than pure percentage.
The catch: it is the hardest to compare across providers, because the base, the threshold and the percentage all vary. Two hybrid quotes can look similar and diverge by hundreds of dollars at your client’s actual spend level.
Best for: agencies with a mix of client sizes, seasonal or variable budgets, and anyone who wants predictability without overpaying on the accounts that scale.
A fourth you will occasionally see: performance-based
The provider earns on outcomes, leads or sales, rather than spend or a flat fee. It aligns incentives strongly and transfers risk to the provider, which is why it is uncommon and usually reserved for clean direct-response accounts with airtight conversion tracking. If a provider offers this readily on a messy account, ask how they are defining a conversion, because the definition is where this model goes wrong.
The margin math, worked through
This is the part the other guides gloss over. Ranges are useless until you see what you actually keep.
Example 1: a mid-sized lead gen account
Your client spends $5,000 a month on ads and pays you $2,000 a month to manage it.
Provider on 15% of spend: you pay $750. You keep $1,250. Margin: 62.5%.
Provider on a $700 flat fee: you pay $700. You keep $1,300. Margin: 65%.
Provider on hybrid, $600 + 5% above $4,000: you pay $600 + $50 = $650. You keep $1,350. Margin: 67.5%.
At this spend level the models land close together, and the flat and hybrid options edge ahead. The percentage model only starts to bite as spend climbs.
Example 2: the same client scales to $20,000 spend
Your client grew. They now spend $20,000 a month. You renegotiated your fee to $3,500.
Provider on 15% of spend: you pay $3,000. You keep $500. Margin: 14%. The percentage model just ate your margin alive, because your client price did not rise as fast as their spend.
Provider on a $1,200 flat fee for this tier: you pay $1,200. You keep $2,300. Margin: 66%.
Provider on hybrid, $900 + 8% above $8,000: you pay $900 + $960 = $1,860. You keep $1,640. Margin: 47%.
This is the single most important lesson in white label pricing. On high-spend accounts, percentage-of-spend can quietly destroy your margin. If you resell on a flat fee to your client but pay your provider a percentage, every budget increase widens the gap against you. The fix is either to price your client on a percentage too, or to move your provider to a flat or hybrid rate as accounts grow.
Example 3: the low-spend account that should not exist
Your client spends $1,200 a month and pays you $900 to manage it.
Provider on a $700 flat fee: you pay $700, keep $200, 22% margin. For $200 a month you are carrying the client relationship, the reporting, the risk and the oversight.
Provider on 15%: you pay $180, keep $720, 80% margin. Looks wonderful. But no competent provider runs a real account for $180 a month, so either the work is minimal or you have found someone cutting corners you will pay for later.
This is why the honest advice, including ours, is that below roughly $1,500 a month in client billing the economics do not support quality work from anyone. The margin either does not exist or only exists because nobody is really managing the account.
The fees nobody puts in the headline number
The quoted management fee is not the price. This is where the cheapest quote becomes the most expensive, and it is the section the discount providers hope you skip.
Watch for these charged separately:
Setup or onboarding fee. A one-time build charge, often $250 to $1,000 per account. Sometimes fair, since a proper build is real work. Sometimes a way to make the monthly rate look lower than it is.
Landing page fee. Charged per page, and easy to need several. Some providers bundle it, some charge every time.
Call tracking fee. For lead gen accounts this can be a per-account monthly line item, plus the cost of the tracking numbers themselves.
Conversion tracking or analytics setup. Sometimes bundled into onboarding, sometimes billed separately, occasionally billed again every time it needs fixing.
Reporting fee. Some providers charge for the branded dashboard or for custom reports beyond a basic template.
Creative fee. Ad copy is usually included. Image and video assets frequently are not.
Revision limits. A low monthly fee that includes only a set number of changes, with everything beyond it billed per request.
Extra campaign or ad group charges. Platform-style providers cap what a tier includes and charge to exceed it. A client who needs a fifth campaign triggers an upgrade.
Here is how it plays out. Provider A quotes $600 a month. Provider B quotes $950. Provider A then adds a $500 setup fee, $75 a month for call tracking, $150 per landing page and charges for creative. By month three, Provider A has cost you more than Provider B, who included all of it. The headline was a lure.
The one question that defends against all of this: “What is the total I will pay in month one and in month three, with everything included, for this specific account?” Make them put it in writing. A provider who cannot give you a clean total is a provider whose invoice will surprise you.
How to compare quotes that are in different units
You cannot compare 15% against $1,500 against a hybrid in your head. Normalise them.
Step 1. Take one real client account with a known monthly ad spend.
Step 2. Ask every provider to quote that specific account, with everything included, as a total monthly number. Not a rate. A dollar figure for that account.
Step 3. Ask each one, in writing, what is not included in that number.
Step 4. Add the amortised setup fee. A $600 setup fee spread over a twelve-month relationship is $50 a month. Add it to the monthly figure so a low monthly rate with a high setup fee is compared fairly.
Step 5. Now compare the totals, and calculate your margin at your client’s price for each one.
Once every quote is a single monthly dollar total for the same account with the same inclusions, the real cheapest option is obvious, and it is frequently not the one with the lowest headline rate.
Pricing your own service on top
Whatever you pay your provider, your client price has to do two jobs: keep a healthy margin and survive the client comparing you to other agencies.
Target 40% to 60% margin on the work. That is the healthy band for white label PPC, and it is achievable at every account size above the roughly $1,500 floor. Below 40%, one difficult client or one scope creep wipes out the profit. Above 60%, you may be leaving yourself exposed on price if the client shops around.
Match your client model to your provider model where you can. If your provider charges you a percentage, charging your client a percentage too protects you when spend rises, as Example 2 showed. Mismatching the models is how agencies get squeezed.
Build in a setup fee to your client. If your provider charges you to build, pass a version of that through. Clients accept a one-time setup charge readily and it protects your first-month margin.
Price the relationship, not just the management. You are not only reselling ad management. You are the strategy, the account management, the single throat to choke, and the trust. That is worth a premium over the raw wholesale cost, and underpricing it trains clients to see you as a passthrough.
One retention note worth knowing: agencies that manage both paid and organic for a client retain those clients at meaningfully higher rates than single-channel agencies, because the channels feed each other and the client has more to unwind if they leave. If you already do SEO, adding white label PPC is not just new revenue, it is a retention lock on the clients you have.
Why we quote per account instead of publishing a rate card
Since this is a pricing page, the obvious question is why there is not a price on it.
Two honest reasons. First, the models above show that the right structure genuinely depends on the account: its spend, its complexity, whether it is lead gen or ecommerce, whether it needs offline conversion tracking, and how many campaigns it really requires. A single published number would be wrong for most accounts, either overcharging the simple ones or underquoting the complex ones and then surprising you with fees, which is the exact thing this guide tells you to avoid.
Second, we build our pricing so your agency keeps a healthy margin, typically 50% or more at standard agency retainer rates, and that calculation only works when we can see the account. We would rather quote you a real number for a real account than publish a rate that we would have to caveat into meaninglessness.
What we will commit to publicly: no hidden add-ons quoted as afterthoughts, a total monthly figure in writing before you decide anything, and an honest answer if the account is too small for the economics to work. You will have a number before you have to commit to anything, and the audit that comes with it is free and yours to keep.
How to make the pricing decision, start to finish
- Know your own numbers first. What each client pays you, what their ad spend is, and the margin you need. You cannot evaluate a quote without them.
- Get quotes in a total monthly dollar figure, per real account, everything included.
- Add amortised setup fees so low-monthly-high-setup quotes compare fairly.
- Calculate your margin at your client price for each quote.
- Check the model against the account’s future. If it will scale, a percentage quote that looks fine today may not in a year.
- Weigh price against who does the work. The cheapest quote from a volume shop and a fair quote from a specialist are not the same product. Our guide on how to vet a white label partner covers the difference.
- Test before you commit. A real audit on a real account tells you more than any rate card. Ours is free and the plan is yours to keep.
FAQ
How much does white label PPC cost in 2026? The common bands are 10% to 20% of ad spend, most often 12% to 18%, or a flat $500 to $2,000 per account per month for mid-tier work, or a hybrid of a base fee plus a percentage above a threshold. The right one depends on the account’s spend and complexity, and the headline rate is not the full cost once setup, tracking and other fees are added.
What margin should my agency keep on white label PPC? Healthy arrangements leave agencies 40% to 60% on the work, achievable at every account size above roughly $1,500 a month in client billing. Below that floor, the margin usually does not support quality management from any provider.
Which pricing model is best, flat fee or percentage of spend? Flat fee gives you predictable margin and is easiest to build a client price on. Percentage scales automatically but can squeeze your margin as spend rises and can bend a provider’s incentives away from recommending budget cuts. Hybrid is often the fairest across a mix of account sizes. Match your client-facing model to your provider model to avoid getting squeezed when budgets grow.
Why is the cheapest white label quote often the most expensive? Because the headline management fee frequently excludes setup, landing pages, call tracking, conversion tracking, reporting, creative and revisions beyond a limit. A low monthly rate with several add-on fees commonly costs more by month three than a higher all-inclusive quote. Always ask for a total monthly figure with everything included, in writing.
How do I compare quotes that use different pricing models? Ask every provider to quote one specific real account as a single total monthly dollar figure with everything included, then add the amortised setup fee, then calculate your margin at your client’s price. Once every quote is the same unit for the same account, the real cheapest option is clear.
Do white label providers charge a setup fee? Many do, commonly $250 to $1,000 per account for the initial build. Sometimes it is fair work, sometimes it is a way to make the monthly rate look lower. Factor it in by amortising it across the expected life of the relationship when comparing quotes.
Should I pay per account or a percentage of ad spend? Per account (flat or hybrid) protects your margin on high-spend accounts and gives you predictable costs. Percentage suits growing accounts where you also charge your client a percentage. The worst position is paying your provider a percentage while charging your client a flat fee, because every budget increase widens the gap against you.
How much should I charge my own clients? Enough to keep 40% to 60% over your wholesale cost, priced for the relationship and strategy you provide rather than just the ad management. If your provider charges you a percentage, charge your client a percentage too. Build in a setup fee that mirrors what your provider charges you.
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