Most posts comparing an agency to an in-house hire are written by agencies, which makes them easy to dismiss. So here is the version with the actual numbers, including the cases where hiring beats us.
We are a Reddit Certified Partner and we run Reddit ads for DTC and SaaS brands, so we have an obvious interest here. We have also told brands to build in-house when their spend justified it. The break-even math is not complicated once you write it down.
The real cost of each option
The mistake most teams make is comparing an agency retainer to a salary. Those are not the same scope. A retainer usually covers strategy, media buying and creative production. A salary covers one person who does the buying and then needs a designer.
| Line item | In-house | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Media buyer | $85,000–120,000 salary | Included |
| Benefits and overhead | Roughly 25–30% on top | None |
| Creative production | Designer or contractor, separate | Usually included |
| Attribution tooling | You buy and maintain it | Usually included |
| Time to first ads live | 3–6 months | About a week |
| Typical monthly cost | $9,000–13,000 fully loaded | $2,500–8,000 |
| Knowledge when they leave | Stays with you | Leaves with the contract |
That last row is the honest argument for in-house, and it is a real one. Everything an agency learns about your account is portable. Everything an employee learns stays.
Where the break-even actually sits
The number that decides this is not your revenue, it is your media spend. Below roughly $50,000 a month across channels, a dedicated in-house hire is usually not busy enough to justify the fully loaded cost, and you end up paying a full salary for part-time output. Above it, the maths flips and a dedicated person starts to look cheap.
There is a second, less obvious threshold: creative volume. Reddit rewards native creative and punishes recycled Meta assets, so the channel needs a steady flow of new angles. One in-house manager producing four ads a month will not generate enough variance to find outliers. On one account we tested seven angles against the same audience and the best came in at €30 a signup while the worst came in at €73 — there was no way to know which was which without running them. If your in-house setup cannot produce that kind of volume, the channel will underperform regardless of who is buying the media.
When to hire in-house
- Reddit is a permanent core channel and your spend justifies a full-time person
- You already have creative capacity, so the ad production problem is solved
- You have compliance or data requirements that make external access difficult
- You want the institutional knowledge to stay in the building
When to use an agency
- You are testing whether Reddit works before committing headcount to it
- Creative volume is your constraint, not media buying skill
- You need to be live in weeks rather than quarters
- Your spend does not yet justify a full-time hire
- You want platform patterns your team would otherwise learn by spending money on mistakes
The option most people miss
The third path is an agency now, in-house later, with the handover built into the plan from the start. Use the agency to establish what works — which subreddits, which angles, which formats — then hire against a proven playbook instead of a blank page. It is a materially cheaper way to build an in-house function, because your first hire inherits a working account rather than starting the 60 to 90 day learning curve from scratch.
If you want the numbers behind any of this, our 2026 Reddit ads benchmarks show real CPL, CPA and ROAS by vertical from accounts we run, and the pricing guide covers what agencies actually charge.
Free Reddit tools & data
Reddit Ads Cost Calculator
Estimate clicks, conversions & cost per result for your budget.
Open the calculator →2026 Reddit Ads Benchmarks
Real CPL, CPA and ROAS by vertical from accounts we run.
See the benchmarks →Frequently asked questions
Is a Reddit ads agency cheaper than hiring in-house?
For most brands under roughly $50,000 a month in media spend, yes. A paid social manager costs $85,000 to $120,000 in salary alone, before benefits, tools and the designer you still need. Reddit agency retainers typically run $2,500 to $8,000 a month including creative production.
How long does it take to run Reddit ads in-house?
Three to six months before it is producing reliably. Hiring takes one to three months, onboarding another, and the account needs 60 to 90 days of creative testing regardless of who runs it. An agency can be live in about a week, though the same learning curve still applies to the account itself.
When does in-house beat an agency?
When Reddit is a permanent core channel at significant spend, when you have compliance requirements that complicate external access, or when you already employ creative capacity. It also wins when keeping the knowledge in-house matters more than speed.
Can I use an agency and keep creative in-house?
You can, but it is usually the weakest setup. Reddit depends on creative volume and native tone, so splitting media from creative slows the test cycle. If you do it, agree upfront on how many new creatives per month your team can actually deliver.