Why is there a setup fee at all?

The first quarter is heavy build: positioning, brand, custom CMS + blog pipeline on your stack, the bulk of landing pages, the 12-week editorial calendar, schema architecture, and the first batch of every content type. After Q1 the engine is yours and the monthly fee just keeps the cadence alive. The setup is one-time; the savings on the build are 40 to 80% off à la carte.

Why are your prices below typical freelancer rates?

Tight ops, deep specialization in B2B SaaS, and a hard line on what we say no to. We don't run discovery calls about CRMs we haven't already mastered, we don't sell hours, and we don't subcontract. That keeps the cost-of-delivery low enough to share the savings with you instead of charging by team-size.

Can I switch subscriptions mid-engagement?

Yes. Upgrade any month, takes effect immediately. Downgrade with 30 days' notice after the initial commit period (3 mo Foundation / 6 mo Engine / 9 mo Dominance). We pro-rate cleanly and re-baseline the deliverable scope to match.

What if I want to pause monthly maintenance?

Pause for up to 90 days in a 12-month period without losing your slot or pricing. After 90 days we'd transition you off the slot (or back to month-to-month). We'd rather you pause than churn.

What happens to everything we build if I leave?

It's all yours. The custom CMS sits on your domain, code in your repo. Pages, blog posts, schema, design assets, brand system, calendar, source files. All yours. We hand over the keys, no clawback, no usage license. We earn renewals by being good, not by holding work hostage.

How does the customize feature work?

Every monthly line item except the strategy call has a quantity stepper. Drop social posts to zero if you don't need them. Add more landing pages. The price recomputes live based on the unit prices in our à la carte table. No hidden multiplier. Setup is fixed (it's one-time).

What if a deliverable doesn't ship on time?

Service credits. If we miss a setup-quarter milestone by more than 5 business days, you get a 10% credit toward Q1 monthly invoices. If a monthly cadence slips, that month's prorated equivalent comes off the next invoice. Written into every contract, no negotiation.

Why are Engine and Dominance limited to 2 slots per quarter?

Quality. Both subscriptions carry a senior strategist + dedicated design + dedicated writer. You can't run that machine in parallel for ten clients without the work going generic. Eight clients per year per plan is the math that keeps us shipping work we'd put our name on. When a quarter fills, you go on the waitlist for the next one.

What about media spend (paid ads, print, courier)?

Always passed through at cost. We don't mark up Google Ads / Meta / LinkedIn spend. We don't mark up direct-mail print or courier. Your invoices show our fee separate from third-party costs, both with receipts on request.

Can I see contracts before committing?

Yes. Full MSA + subscription-specific SOW emailed before any deposit. Setup fee held in escrow until the kickoff call if you'd prefer. Net-15 invoicing standard.

Subscription plans · setup quarter + monthly

Build in a quarter.
Compound monthly.

One fixed setup fee builds the entire marketing foundation in the first quarter: pages, content, SEO, video, and the editorial calendar. Then a lean monthly keeps the engine running and the cadence held. Customize anything, opt out of anything, every line item carries a published unit price.

See the three plans Or compare side-by-side ↓

Not ready for a fixed plan?Buy à la carte or build a Markingo Custom bundle

The three subscription plans

Every subscription starts with a setup quarter.

The first 90 days are the heavy-lift build: positioning, brand, pages, SEO, content calendar, first batch shipped. After that, monthly maintenance keeps the cadence alive at a fraction of the setup cost. Every monthly line item is customizable. Opt out and the price drops.

Foundation

/01

Setup · Q1 quarter

$12,000

Then / month

$4,000

Year-1 total$48,000

Inside this plan

You save $8,350(41% off)

vs. à la carte $20,350

30 × Blog posts

Deep keyword + SERP research
Up to 3,500 senior-written words
6 unique custom images per post
Schema + entity linking + on-page SEO

Full build: Custom CMS built directly on your own website · You own all the code + content forever

5 × Premium landing pages that convert
- Premium design system
- Custom development
- Motion graphics + interactions
- A/B test harness
5 × Static landing page
- About pages
- Careers
- Press
- Comparison
- Case studies

60 × Programmatic pages
- Up to 2 data topics + clusters covered
- Deep keyword + topic + data research
- 10-section page templates
- Unique copywriting per page
- Custom motion graphics
- GEO + AEO + SEO optimized per page
- Internal linking automation

20 × Short-form reels (2 channels)
- 60-90 second video duration
- Creative storyboard design
- Motion graphics + animation
- UGC creators on demand
- AI or human voiceover
- Internal linking to blog post
1 × SaaS premium video
- Explainer or product demo
- Motion graphics + animation
- Voiceover
- Multi-platform cuts

30 × Creative design images
- SOCIAL Social ads
- Posters
- Deck slides
- One-pagers
- Email headers
- Unlimited revisions
- 72h turnaround

Also included

Analytics + conversion tracking setup
Shared asset library on your tools
Brand foundation (colors, type, voice)
Async weekly check-ins

One-time setup fee. Paid upfront, or split across the 3 setup months.

Build the foundation Or build a custom bundle

Most pick this2 / qtr · waitlist

Engine

/02

Setup · Q1 quarter

$17,500

Then / month

$7,500

Year-1 total$85,000

Inside this plan

You save $36,210(67% off)

vs. à la carte $53,710

60 × Blog posts

Deep keyword + SERP research
Up to 3,500 senior-written words
6 unique custom images per post
Schema + entity linking + on-page SEO

Full build: Custom CMS built directly on your own website · You own all the code + content forever

Included: 4 EXECUTIVE GHOSTWRITING · Founder or CxO byline · Interview-led drafting · Voice-matched · LinkedIn companion post included

10 × Premium landing pages that convert
- Premium design system
- Custom development
- Motion graphics + interactions
- A/B test harness
8 × Static landing page
- Feature pages
- Comparison pages
- Case studies
- About / press

300 × Programmatic pages
- Up to 5 data topics + clusters covered
- Deep keyword + topic + data research
- 10-section page templates
- Unique copywriting per page
- Custom motion graphics
- GEO + AEO + SEO optimized per page
- Internal linking automation

80 × Short-form reels (3 channels)
- 60-90 second video duration
- Creative storyboard design
- Motion graphics + animation
- UGC creators on demand
- AI or human voiceover
- Internal linking to blog post
3 × SaaS premium videos
- Explainer + product demo + hero
- Motion graphics + animation
- Voiceover
- Multi-platform cuts

70 × Creative design images
- SOCIAL Social ads
- Posters
- Deck slides
- One-pagers
- Email headers
- Unlimited revisions
- 72h turnaround

Also included

Multi-channel attribution setup
LLM-surface citation tracking
Shared Slack + async weekly sync
Priority creative queue

One-time setup fee. Paid upfront, or split across the 3 setup months.

Launch the engine Or build a custom bundle

2 / qtr · waitlist

Dominance

/03

Setup · Q1 quarter

$25,000

Then / month

$12,000

Year-1 total$133,000

Inside this plan

You save $128,650(84% off)

vs. à la carte $153,650

120 × Blog posts

Deep keyword + SERP research
Up to 3,500 senior-written words
6 unique custom images per post
Schema + entity linking + on-page SEO

Full build: Custom CMS built directly on your own website · You own all the code + content forever

Included: 10 EXECUTIVE GHOSTWRITING · Founder or CxO byline · Interview-led drafting · Voice-matched · LinkedIn companion post included

15 × Premium landing pages that convert
- Premium design system
- Custom development
- Motion graphics + interactions
- A/B test harness
15 × Static landing page
- Feature pages
- Comparison pages
- Case studies
- About / press

1,500 × Programmatic pages
- Up to 10 data topics + clusters covered
- Deep keyword + topic + data research
- 10-section page templates
- Unique copywriting per page
- Custom motion graphics
- GEO + AEO + SEO optimized per page
- Internal linking automation

150 × Short-form reels (4 channels)
- 60-90 second video duration
- Creative storyboard design
- Motion graphics + animation
- UGC creators on demand
- AI or human voiceover
- Internal linking to blog post
6 × SaaS premium videos
- Explainer + demo + hero + case studies
- Motion graphics + animation
- Voiceover
- Multi-platform cuts

150 × Creative design images
- SOCIAL Social ads
- Posters
- Deck slides
- One-pagers
- Email headers
- Unlimited revisions
- 72h turnaround

Also included

LLM-surface citation engineering
Custom cross-channel attribution model
Board-reporting framework
Priority everything

One-time setup fee. Paid upfront, or split across the 3 setup months.

Take the slot Or build a custom bundle

Or, the 4th optionSave up to 27%

Markingo Custom.

Build your own bundle. Pick the exact engines you need from our à la carte catalogue, choose your commit length, and the system applies a transparent bundle discount on the way out. No retainer mystery, no hidden math.

Build my bundle See à la carte catalogue

Bundle widthup to −20%

Pick 2 engines, save 10%. Pick 4, save 15%. Pick 6 or more, save 20%.

Commit lengthup to −7%

Month to month at zero. 6-month commit takes another 3% off. 12-month commit another 7%. Stacks with bundle width.

Ownership100%, always

Custom bundles inherit every Markingo principle. You own the code, content, brand system, and you can leave with everything intact.

Engine & Dominance are capped at 2 clients per quarter · 8 per year total. Once a quarter is booked, applications go to the waitlist for the next one opens. Foundation has no slot limit. Markingo Custom is uncapped.

The honest grid

Everything, side-by-side. No asterisks.

Grouped by category. Top sections expand by default; collapse / expand any row to scan only what matters.

Compare

·

Foundation

Enginepopular

Dominance

Setup (one-time Q1)

Foundation$12,000

Engine$17,500

Dominance$25,000

Monthly after setup

Foundation$4,000

Engine$7,500

Dominance$12,000

Year-1 total

Foundation$48,000

Engine$85,000

Dominance$133,000

You save vs à la carte

Foundation41% off

Engine67% off

Dominance84% off

Commit after setup

FoundationMonth-to-month

Engine6 months

Dominance9 months

Slots per quarter

FoundationUnlimited

Engine2

Dominance2

Custom CMS + Blog Pipeline build

FoundationIncluded

EngineIncluded

DominanceIncluded

Blog posts (setup)

Foundation30 + calendar

Engine60 + calendar

Dominance120 + calendar

Blog posts (monthly)

Foundation6 / mo

Engine12 / mo

Dominance20 / mo

Executive ghostwriting (setup)

Foundation0

Engine4

Dominance10

Landing pages (setup)

Foundation10 (5 motion + 5 static)

Engine18 (10 motion + 8 static)

Dominance30 (15 motion + 15 static)

Landing pages (monthly)

Foundation2 / mo

Engine4 / mo

Dominance7 / mo

Programmatic pages launched

Foundation60

Engine300

Dominance1,500

Data topics + clusters covered

FoundationUp to 2

EngineUp to 5

DominanceUp to 10

Per-page features

Foundation10 sections + unique copy + motion + GEO/AEO/SEO

Engine10 sections + unique copy + motion + GEO/AEO/SEO

Dominance10 sections + unique copy + motion + GEO/AEO/SEO

Channels per post

Foundation2-channel bundle

Engine3-channel bundle

Dominance4-channel bundle

Social posts (setup)

Foundation80

Engine200

Dominance500 + 20 LI thought

Social posts (monthly)

Foundation24 / mo

Engine50 / mo

Dominance80 + 10 LI thought / mo

Short-form reels (setup)

Foundation20

Engine80

Dominance150

Short-form reels (monthly)

Foundation4 / mo

Engine8 / mo

Dominance12 / mo

Premium SaaS videos (setup)

Foundation1

Engine3

Dominance6

The other math

What it costs to build the same in-house.

The honest comparison isn’t à la carte freelancers, it’s the loaded cost of hiring a real marketing team. Salaries, benefits, payroll tax, tools, equipment, ramp-up time. Here’s the math.

5-person in-house teamannual loaded cost

Senior content writer + editor$65,000
Senior brand / web designer$72,500
SEO / GEO strategist$72,500
Motion / video designer$65,000
Content / social manager$57,500

Total$332,500

+ ~$60k tools / SaaS subscriptions / equipment. + 6 months of hiring + ramp before the first deliverable ships.

Sources & methodology

Base salaries reflect 2026 averages for senior B2B SaaS roles (US, remote-eligible) per Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and Built In. Loaded cost applies a 1.35× multiplier (base + benefits + payroll tax + tools + ramp) per SHRM and BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, Q4 2025.

Markingo · year-1 totalships in 30 days

$85,000

Year-1 all-in · setup + 9 monthly invoices

You save vs in-house74% off

$247,500

That’s a senior strategist + designer + writer + dev + paid lead, all already hired, all already trained, shipping work by week two. No headcount on your books, no ramp, no risk.

No hiringNo rampNo tools to procureCancel anytime after commit

See Engine plan

Not ready for a quarterly commit?

Every service has a published unit price. Buy a single line at the unit price for a flat-fee one-off, or bundle 2+ engines as a Markingo Custom and save up to 27 percent. Either way, the spend rolls into a subscription later with full credit toward setup.

Build a bundle or browse à la carte

How we charge

What’s fair & transparent.

One-time setup fee. Then monthly retainer. Net-15 invoicing.
30-day offramp after the commit period.
Every item has a unit price. You always know what you're buying.
Media spend passed through at cost under $15k/mo. Flat management fee instead of % markup.
Third-party tools stay on your billing. No markup.
Month-13 pricing review. We lower what's now cheap to ship.

How we don’t charge

Never these anti-patterns.

No hourly billing. Ever.
No performance-only deals. They misalign incentives.
No rev-share. Keeps us honest.
No change orders for scope we should have predicted.
No hidden markups. We show the math on every line.
No lock-in. If the system stops working, you should be able to leave.

Ready when you are