Marketing calculator
Turn a revenue goal into leads, cases and budget
In-House vs Agency Marketing Cost Calculator
Compare the fully loaded cost of hiring marketing staff (salary, benefits, tools, hiring and your own time) with an agency retainer, using BLS data you can edit.
First year
| First year | In-house | Agency |
|---|
What each is better at
In-house is better for
- Being in the office: events, photos, intake help
- Knowing your cases, clients and voice deeply
- Same-day changes without a ticket
An agency is better for
- Several specialists (SEO, video, design) for one fee
- Tools and software included
- No hiring, training, turnover or sick days
- Scaling up or down month to month
How it works
The method, and the sources behind it
Start from real wages
Salaries default to BLS’s May 2025 medians for marketing managers and market research analysts. Pick one or enter your own.
Load the full cost
Benefits and payroll taxes (BLS: about 43% on top of wages), software, hiring, and the hours you spend managing the work.
Compare like with like
An agency quote, or Lawzen’s published plans, plus the time you’d still spend working with them. Ad spend is excluded on both sides.
See the break-even
A line-by-line breakdown, years two and three (hiring and setup fees drop away), and the retainer at which a hire becomes the cheaper option.
Sources
Disclosures
- About this tool. Salary and benefit figures are BLS national medians (May 2025 wages, June 2026 benefits), read November 5, 2026. Pay in your city will differ. Lawzen’s plans are offered as a preset, and we sell them; you can enter any agency’s quote instead. Not financial, tax or employment advice.
- Your data. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to Lawzen or anyone else; anything saved stays on this device. See our privacy policy.
- Not legal advice. Lawzen is a marketing agency, not a law firm. Nothing on this page is legal, ethics, tax or financial advice, and using this tool doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship.
- Who made it. This free tool is made by Lawzen, which sells marketing services to law firms. Where it mentions our services or prices, it’s describing what we sell. Results are provided as-is, without warranty; see our terms.
- Trademarks. Google, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Avvo, Justia and other names mentioned belong to their owners. Lawzen isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by them.
Questions, answered
About the In-House vs Agency Marketing Cost Calculator.
How much does an in-house marketing person cost a law firm?
More than the salary. BLS puts the median marketing manager salary at $166,790 (May 2025), and benefits add about 30% of total compensation, roughly 43% on top of wages. Add software, hiring costs and the time an attorney spends managing the work.
Is an agency always cheaper?
Not always. A full-time hire can make sense for large firms with steady, varied work, especially in-person tasks like events and intake. For most small and mid-size firms, an agency gives several specialists for less than one salary.
Why count my own time?
Because it’s real. Every hour spent briefing, reviewing and approving marketing is an hour not spent on billable work, and in-house staff usually need more of it than an agency.
Where do the Lawzen prices come from?
Our pricing page: SEO and Google Business Profile $350 a month, social media management from $350 a month, and websites from $999 setup plus $69 a month.
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