What is a good engagement rate (and how do you calculate it)?
Last updated · by Elena Sofia Marchetti
What counts as a good engagement rate depends on the platform and the account's size. Instagram creators sit at 1-3%, and 3-6% is strong. TikTok runs higher; YouTube is judged against views. To calculate it, add likes, comments, shares and saves, divide by followers, reach or views, and multiply by 100. Only compare creators of a similar size.
How do you calculate engagement rate?
Add up a post's likes, comments, shares and saves, divide by followers, reach or views, then multiply by 100. The number you divide by changes the result, so pick one method and use it for every creator you compare.
The follower-based rate is the only one you can check from outside an account, which is why brands use it for quick vetting. The reach-based rate needs the creator's own analytics, so ask for Insights screenshots. The view-based rate suits Reels, TikTok and YouTube, where videos travel well beyond the follower base. HypeAuditor, for example, looks at a creator's 30 latest posts and counts likes and comments. It divides by views when there are enough recent Reels and by followers when there are not, and it takes the median so one unusual post does not skew the figure.
To get one figure for the whole account, work out the rate for each of the last 10-12 posts and take the median, not the mean.
By followers
Formula: (likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ followers × 100. Worked example: a skincare creator with 50,000 followers posts a Reel that gets 1,400 likes, 80 comments, 60 saves and 40 shares. That is 1,580 interactions ÷ 50,000 = 3.16%. Use this method when public numbers are all you have.
By reach
Formula: interactions ÷ accounts reached × 100. Say the same Reel reached 32,000 accounts: 1,580 ÷ 32,000 = 4.94%. A reach-based rate shows how well the content landed with the people who actually saw it. It comes out higher when only part of the audience sees a post. You need the creator's Insights screenshot to work it out.
By views
Formula: interactions ÷ views × 100. Worked example: a supplement creator's TikTok gets 120,000 views, 6,000 likes, 250 comments, 400 shares and 350 saves. That is 7,000 ÷ 120,000 = 5.83%. This is the fairest way to compare short-form video, because views are not limited by follower count.
What is a good engagement rate on each platform?
A good engagement rate is one that beats the norm for the same platform, the same method and a similar account size. There is no single figure that works everywhere. As a rule of thumb, Instagram creators average around 1-3% by followers (industry range), TikTok runs higher, and YouTube is judged against views.
Brand accounts score far lower than creators. Socialinsider's latest benchmarks, built from 70 million brand posts, put average engagement by followers at 3.70% on TikTok, 0.48% on Instagram, 0.15% on Facebook and 0.12% on X. Its later quarterly updates show Instagram slipping to 0.45%. Treat these as a floor: a creator who only matches a brand account's rate is underperforming.
For creators, around 1-3% by followers is average and 3-6% is strong (industry range). Brand accounts sit well under 1%. Also check creators who post mostly Reels by views. Reels reach people who don't follow the account, so a follower-based rate can make these creators look weaker than they are.
TikTok
Expect higher figures than on Instagram. Measured by followers, one viral video can push a creator's rate up sharply, so engagement by views is the steadier comparison. The TikTok section below gives view-based benchmarks by follower band.
YouTube
Calculate by views, not subscribers: add likes, comments and shares if you can see them, then divide by views. A good video usually earns 3-7% of views (industry range), and anything above that is strong. Subscriber counts tell you little about how many people watch each new upload.
Facebook pages come bottom of the engagement table, so a rate that looks tiny next to TikTok can still be healthy. Use reactions + comments + shares ÷ page followers × 100. Compare a page only with pages of a similar size and category, never with figures from short-form video platforms.
What is a good engagement rate on Instagram?
On Instagram, what counts as good depends on follower count. Small creators should clear 4%, while accounts with more than half a million followers are doing well at 1-2%. HypeAuditor's creator benchmarks show this drop clearly. They also put brand accounts at around 0.5-1%, even when the audience is large.
Its free calculator page gives a 2.2% overall average and slightly different tier figures: 4.8% for 1,000-5,000 followers and around 1% for 100,000 to 1 million. That is because it mixes follower-based and view-based methods. Either way, the lesson is the same: compare a creator only with accounts of a similar size, and use one method for all of them.
Nano (1,000-5,000 followers)
Benchmark: 4-5%. Nano creators often know much of their audience personally, so their comment sections read like conversations. A rate well below this level at this size suggests inactive or low-quality followers. If so, read the comments and check the follower history before you send a brief or a product.
Micro (5,000-50,000 followers)
Benchmark: roughly 2.5-3.5%. Many DTC beauty, supplement and fashion brands target this tier: engagement is still personal, but reach is big enough to drive sales. Ask for reach-based figures too, because Reels can carry a micro creator's content well beyond their followers.
Mid-tier (50,000-500,000 followers)
Benchmark: roughly 2-2.5%. Production quality rises, and comment sections get busier but less personal. At this size, check results across the last 10-12 posts instead of trusting an average. Compare sponsored posts with organic ones to see whether paid content keeps people's attention.
Macro and mega (500,000+ followers)
Benchmark: about 1-2%. A lower rate is normal here, because large audiences include many casual followers. Judge these accounts on reach, views and where their audience lives as well as engagement. A 1.5% rate on a million followers still means thousands of interactions on every post.
Beauty brands and creators
Beauty is one of Instagram's busiest categories, so rates vary a lot between sub-niches. Tutorials and honest reviews usually get more comments and saves than polished flat-lays. A beauty or skincare brand account should aim to beat the brand-account norm, not match creator figures. Compare creators with beauty peers of the same size.
Nano vs micro vs macro vs mega influencers: which tier should you work with
How do you work out TikTok engagement rate?
Divide a video's likes, comments, shares and saves by its views and multiply by 100. On TikTok, views are a fairer base than followers, because the For You feed shows videos to people who don't follow the account. Work out the rate for each video, then take the median of the last 10-15 videos.
Socialinsider's TikTok benchmarks cover 2 million videos from more than 214,000 profiles. They put average engagement by views at 4.20% for the latest full year, easing to 3.85% in the most recent quarterly update. The range between follower bands is narrow: from 4.40% for 1,000-5,000 followers to 3.75% for 50,000-100,000. A rate well below its band's average deserves a closer look.
Follower-based TikTok rates for creators are typically 4-8% (industry range). They jump with every viral hit, so treat them as a secondary check, not the main number.
From the creator's analytics
Creators can see views, likes, comments, shares and saves for each video in TikTok's built-in analytics. Ask for screenshots covering the last 10-15 videos, not one hand-picked hit. This also shows how steady views are, which matters more than any single result when you book a paid video.
From outside the account
Public videos show view counts and most interaction counts, so you can work out a close estimate without logging in. Add the visible interactions, divide by views and multiply by 100. Your figure may be slightly low, which is fine as long as you use the same method for every creator you compare.
Brand account engagement benchmarks
- 3.70% Average TikTok engagement by followers for brand accounts, the highest of the four platforms measured.
- 0.48% Average Instagram engagement by followers for brand accounts, almost flat on the year before.
- 0.15% Average Facebook page engagement by followers, unchanged year on year and well below TikTok.
- +45% Year-on-year rise in TikTok shares per post, while TikTok comments per post fell 24%.
Which engagement rate calculator should you use?
Use the calculator on this page for quick checks. Enter followers, reach or views plus likes, comments, shares and saves, and it shows all three rates side by side with the benchmark for that tier. For ongoing work, use it alongside the platform's own analytics, and add a third-party tool if you have a long shortlist.
The best calculator is one that tells you its method. Free tools differ in four ways: whether they count shares and saves, whether they divide by followers or views, how many recent posts they look at, and whether they use the mean or the median. That is why the same creator can score differently on two sites.
Once you have a creator's rate, look at it alongside reach to judge whether their fee is fair.
Native analytics
Instagram Insights, TikTok analytics and YouTube Studio are the most accurate sources. They include reach, saves and shares, which outsiders cannot see. Ask creators for screenshots covering a fixed date range, not single posts, and calculate the rate yourself.
Free web calculators
These are good for a fast estimate from public data. Check that the tool states its formula and how many posts it looks at, then run every shortlisted creator through the same tool. Switching tools halfway through vetting makes your comparisons meaningless, because each tool counts interactions differently.
Instagram vs TikTok calculators
An Instagram calculator usually divides by followers, or by views for accounts that post mostly Reels. A TikTok calculator should divide by views. If a TikTok tool divides by followers, treat the result as a rough signal only and check it against the creator's own analytics.
How much do influencers charge? Influencer rates by platform and follower count
How do brands use engagement rate to vet creators?
Brands use engagement rate as a first filter, because it shows whether a creator's audience actually responds. Before booking, they also check consistency, comment quality and audience fit. A creator at or slightly above their tier's norm with steady results usually beats one with a single spike.
Look at the spread across the last 10-12 posts. Read the comments for real questions rather than strings of emojis. Compare sponsored posts with organic ones, and check that past paid or gifted posts were clearly labelled. The ASA and CMA's influencers' guide explains when paid and gifted content must be disclosed and how to make clear that ads are ads. Gifted still counts as an ad: label it 'Ad' up front in the UK and '#ad' in the US.
If you would rather start from a pre-screened shortlist, every creator on #Collabz is vetted before they can apply to briefs.
A rate far above the tier norm
Very high engagement is not automatically good news. A small account with a rate several times its tier average may be using engagement pods or bought likes. Check whether the comments come from real, relevant accounts and whether the creator's other posts show similar results.
Spiky results
One viral post can make a creator's average look much better than their typical post. Use the median of recent posts, and ask how sponsored posts performed compared with organic ones. Steady, moderate engagement tells you more about what your paid post will get than one breakout hit.
Generic comments
Comments that are mostly emojis, vague praise or requests to collaborate suggest automated or low-effort activity. Real audiences ask about shades, sizes, ingredients and prices. For beauty, supplement and fashion brands, product questions in the comments are the best sign that people may buy.
Sudden follower jumps
A big jump in followers with no giveaway, press or viral moment to explain it can mean bought followers. Those accounts never engage, so the creator's rate drops over time. Ask about the jump directly and check whether audience location still matches your market.
How can you improve your engagement rate?
Post content that gives people a reason to respond, reply to comments quickly, and give each format a clear job: Reels and TikToks for reach, carousels and Stories for saves and conversation. Your engagement rate goes up when more of the people who see a post have a reason to act on it.
Brands briefing creators should build these tactics into the brief from the start. Adding them after the content is posted rarely works.
Hook viewers in the first seconds
Put the most interesting moment first: the result, the before-and-after, or the surprising claim. People decide within seconds whether to keep watching, and only those who stay will like, comment or share. Tight edits that cut the filler keep viewers watching to the end.
Ask questions people want to answer
End captions or videos with a real choice, such as which shade, which routine or which outfit, rather than a generic 'comment below'. Choices are easy to answer and get people talking to each other, which lifts both comments and how far the post travels.
Reply early
Reply to comments in the first hour or so after posting. Replies show viewers that someone is listening, keep the conversation going and add to the post's early interactions. For sponsored posts, brands can ask creators to stay active in the comments while interest is highest.
Use Story stickers
Polls, question boxes, quizzes and emoji sliders in Instagram Stories turn passive viewers into participants. A beauty creator could run a poll asking 'Which shade would you pick?'. That gets taps and also gives the brand quick feedback it can use in its next brief.
Run giveaways carefully
Giveaways boost comments fast, but they attract followers who never engage again, which drags future rates down. If a brand supplies the prize or product, the post is an ad. The FTC's Disclosures 101 guidance says free or discounted products count as a material connection, so the post needs a clear '#ad'.
Sources and further reading
- ASA and CMA, Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads — Advertising Standards Authority
- Disclosures 101: New FTC resources for social media influencers — Federal Trade Commission
- 2026 Social Media Benchmarks — Socialinsider
- 2026 TikTok Benchmarks — Socialinsider
- HypeAuditor, Instagram Engagement Rate in 2026 (updated August 2026)
- HypeAuditor, Free Instagram Engagement Rate Calculator, 2026
- HypeAuditor, Free YouTube Engagement Rate Calculator
Frequently asked questions
What engagement rate does a TikTok creator with 400K-500K followers usually get?
There is no verified public benchmark for that exact band. Socialinsider's TikTok data puts profiles with 100,000 to 1 million followers at an average engagement rate by views of 3.95%, so a creator in the 400K-500K range at or above that is performing normally. Ask for analytics screenshots rather than relying on third-party estimates.
How do you find a creator's engagement rate on Instagram or TikTok?
Take their last 10-12 posts and add up the likes and comments on each, plus shares and saves if you can see them. Divide by followers or views, multiply by 100, and take the median. For exact figures, including reach and saves, ask the creator for screenshots from Instagram Insights or TikTok analytics.
How do you calculate YouTube engagement rate?
Divide a video's likes, comments and shares by its views and multiply by 100. HypeAuditor's YouTube guidance treats 3-7% as good, 7-10% as high and anything above 10% as exceptional, with the average around 2%. Use views, not subscribers, because subscriber counts say little about how many people watch each new video.
Is there a Facebook engagement rate calculator?
Yes. The calculator on this page works for Facebook if you enter reactions, comments and shares as interactions and page followers as the base. Facebook pages usually score well below Instagram and TikTok, so compare a page only with similar pages.
How do you work out engagement rate across several social media platforms?
Work out each platform separately using the base that suits it best: followers or reach for Instagram feed posts, and views for Reels, TikTok and YouTube. Then report the results side by side. Combining them into one social media engagement rate hides the differences and flatters whichever channel has the smallest audience.
Why is an engagement rate showing 0%?
Usually the tool cannot read the data. The account may be private, like counts may be hidden, there may be no posts in the date range you chose, or the platform's data may not have refreshed yet. Check the account yourself and re-run the calculation over a longer period before assuming nobody engaged.
Should you use the average or the median engagement rate?
Use the median when vetting creators. One viral post can push the mean up sharply, while the median shows what a typical post earns. A typical post is the best guide to what your sponsored post will get.