How much does a PR agency cost per month?

What a PR agency charges depends mainly on its profile, the seniority of the team and the volume of work planned. Most agencies bill a monthly retainer over several months. The ranges below apply to the French market; UK and US rates follow different benchmarks.

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Typical monthly ranges in France

• Boutique agency or early-stage support: €1,500 to €3,500 a month.
• Specialist tech agency, for a startup or scale-up: €3,500 to €7,000 a month.
• Mid-size agency: €6,000 to €12,000 a month.
• Large agency: €12,000 to €25,000 a month.
• PR freelancer, for comparison: €1,000 to €3,000 a month.

These ranges reflect French market practice in 2026. One threshold comes up again and again: below €2,000 a month, it is hard to get a real strategy, an active media network and proper follow-up at the same time.

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What drives the price

• How specialised the agency is in your sector.
• The seniority of the person who actually runs your account.
• The number of announcements and pitches planned each month.
• Media training, which is often billed on top of the retainer.
• International reach, when you need English-language outlets.
• Urgency: an embargoed announcement or a crisis.

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Monthly retainer or one-off project?

A one-off project covers a single operation: in France, budget €3,000 to €8,000 to announce a funding round, for example. It creates a spike in visibility that rarely lasts. A retainer lets the agency build relationships with journalists over time.

A benchmark for judging the budget: across the five three-month PR case studies Linker has published, a campaign generated between 7 and 15 pieces of coverage, with a median of 10. Price never guarantees an article: it pays for the agency's work, not for coverage.

For French rates by type of project and how to assess return on investment, read our guide how much does PR cost in France. For UK and US figures side by side, see PR costs in France vs the UK vs the US.