Break-even calculator
An agency’s share only pays for itself if your page grows enough to cover it. Find out how much growth that takes before you sign anything.
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Your net, working on your own.%
If the rate is on gross, divide it by 0.8 first. 40% of gross is 50% of net.%
Be realistic. Ask the agency for their median result, not their best.Growth needed just to break even
67%Net the agency must reach$10,000
Your net with that growth$9,000
Agency share−$3,600
You’d keep$5,400
$600 a month less than working alone
Why this matters
At a 40% rate, an agency has to grow your net by two thirds before you take home a single extra dollar.
That doesn’t make agencies a bad deal. Good management can grow a page far more than that, and it gives you your time back, which this calculator doesn’t price. It does mean you should ask every agency one question: how will you beat my break-even number, and what happens if you don’t?
The maths: break-even growth = rate ÷ (1 − rate). At 30% that’s 43%. At 50% it’s 100%.