Compare
Goldbeater vs hiring a PPC agency
People who run your Google Ads for you: an agency or a freelancer plans, changes and reports on the account for a monthly fee.
We make Goldbeater, and we aren’t affiliated with anyone this page names. Everything here about hiring a PPC agency comes from the pricing pages WebFX, OuterBox and Upwork publish, and the sources are listed at the end.
Last checked 26 September 2026
- Hire a PPC agency if you want the work done for you: its people plan, change and report on the account, and a good one brings skills a small team doesn't have.
- Choose Goldbeater if you, or someone on your team, will run the account and want an experienced agency's analysis every week, with the changes drafted for you to approve and apply.
- The costs differ in kind. Agencies commonly charge 10% to 20% of ad spend or a flat fee; Goldbeater is $249 a month at $50,000 of spend, and leaves the decisions, and the time they take, to you.
At a glance
Goldbeater and hiring a PPC agency, side by side.
| Goldbeater | A PPC agency | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A Google Ads analyst: the same checks every week, an agent that follows up on what they find, and changes you approve one at a time. | People who run your Google Ads for you: an agency or a freelancer plans, changes and reports on the account for a monthly fee. |
| Who it's for | People who run their own Google Ads, alone or in a small team, and want an agency's depth while making the calls themselves. | Businesses that want the work done for them: nobody in-house to run the account, or a need for skills they don't have, such as creative, landing pages, tracking, or several ad platforms at once. |
| How changes reach the account | A person approves each change and presses Apply; an applied change can be undone. Nothing changes on its own. | The agency's people decide on the changes and make them. You agree the goals and read their reports. |
| Platforms | Google Ads, including manager (MCC) accounts | Whichever the agency manages: WebFX, for one, lists Google, Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon and ChatGPT ads |
| What the price is keyed to | Ad spend covered, and accounts switched on | A share of ad spend, commonly 10% to 20%, or a flat monthly fee |
| At $50,000 a month in ad spend | $249 a month (Starter, 3 accounts) | Typically $4,000 to $12,000 a month, OuterBox's range for $25,000 to $100,000 of spend |
| At $250,000 a month in ad spend | $649 a month (Growth, 12 accounts) | Typically $10,000 to $25,000 or more a month, OuterBox's range above $100,000 of spend |
| At $1,000,000 a month in ad spend | $1,290 a month (Agency, 40 accounts) | Typically $10,000 to $25,000 or more a month, OuterBox's range above $100,000 of spend |
| Trial | 7 days, with a card | Agreed with each agency |
When to choose hiring a PPC agency
- An agency does the work. Its people plan, build, change and report on the account. Goldbeater drafts changes, and someone on your side still has to read them, decide, and apply them.
- It brings skills Goldbeater doesn't have: ad creative, landing pages, tracking setup, and strategy across several ad platforms.
- It gives you back the hours. If nobody on your team has time for the account each week, Goldbeater will find problems that nobody acts on.
- A good account manager learns the business beyond the account: they can call your sales team, question a target, or tell you a campaign shouldn't exist. Goldbeater knows the account, and what you tell it to remember.
When to choose Goldbeater
- You keep the decisions, and the record of them. Every finding, its evidence and every change you applied stay in your workspace, so nothing leaves with an account manager.
- Coverage doesn't depend on anyone's week: the same 24 checks run on every account you switch on, every week, and an agent follows up on each finding.
- Its work is open to inspection. Every finding shows its evidence, and every query the agent ran against the account is there to read.
- It costs $249 a month at $50,000 of spend, where a fee of 10% to 20% would be $5,000 to $10,000. That buys an agency's time as well, which Goldbeater doesn't give you.
How the two approaches differ
An agency sells labor and judgment together. You buy people who do the analysis, make the calls and make the changes, and you trust them with the account.
Goldbeater sells the analysis without the labor. It reads the account every week, finds what's costing money, works out why, and drafts the changes; a person on your side decides and applies them. It suits a business with someone who wants to run the account but lacks an analyst's hours or experience.
The two can meet. An owner who keeps an agency can use Goldbeater to see, each week and with the evidence, where the account stands. A consultant or a small agency can use it to review a book of clients on one cadence and spend their own hours on the calls.
Using both, or switching
Bringing the account in-house starts with access. Make sure your business owns the Google Ads account and has admin access to it, rather than reaching it only through the agency's manager account, and keep the conversion tracking the agency set up. Then connect Goldbeater: its first review runs that day and shows where the account stands as you take it over.
Questions
How much does a PPC agency cost? Commonly 10% to 20% of ad spend, or a flat monthly fee, and the share usually falls as spend rises. WebFX puts typical fees at around $1,000 to $3,000 a month. OuterBox's ranges run from $500 to $2,000 a month for $1,000 to $5,000 of spend up to $10,000 to $25,000 or more above $100,000.
What does a freelancer cost? Upwork shows Google Ads experts at about $15 to $40 an hour. OuterBox puts PPC consultants and specialists at around $75 to $250 or more an hour.
Can Goldbeater replace an agency? Only if someone on your side will act on it. Goldbeater finds, explains and drafts; it doesn't run the account. If nobody has time to read a weekly review and approve changes, an agency is the better fit.
Sources
Everything this page says about hiring a PPC agency comes from the pricing pages WebFX, OuterBox and Upwork publish, read on the days below. How we write about other companies’ products.
- Management fees are typically 10% to 20% of ad spend, or around $1,000 to $3,000 a month. WebFX's PPC pricing page, read 26 September 2026.
- Fees usually fall as a share of spend as total spend rises, and some agencies require a minimum monthly spend. WebFX's PPC pricing page, read 26 September 2026.
- WebFX's own PPC services start at $750 a month and cover Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon and ChatGPT ads. WebFX's PPC pricing page, read 26 September 2026.
- Typical management fees by monthly spend: $500 to $2,000 a month for $1,000 to $5,000 of spend, $1,500 to $5,000 for $5,000 to $25,000, $4,000 to $12,000 for $25,000 to $100,000, and $10,000 to $25,000 or more above $100,000. OuterBox's guide to PPC management pricing, read 26 September 2026.
- Percentage-of-spend fees commonly land around 10% to 20% of monthly spend, often with a minimum fee. OuterBox's guide to PPC management pricing, read 26 September 2026.
- PPC consultants and specialists often charge around $75 to $250 or more an hour. OuterBox's guide to PPC management pricing, read 26 September 2026.
- Google Ads experts on Upwork charge from about $15 to $40 an hour. Upwork's page for hiring Google Ads experts, read 26 September 2026.
7-day trial · nothing charged until day 7