RunAds vs a freelancer at a glance
| RunAds | Upwork freelancer | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | About 5% of ad spend; packs from $25 | Median $25/hour, typically $15 to $40, plus Upwork's client fee |
| When work happens | Every day; the agent watches the account | The hours you buy, on their schedule |
| Builds campaigns | Yes, from your website, after approval | Yes, by hand |
| Approval | Approval mode by default; every change is a card | As agreed with the freelancer |
| Platforms | Google Ads; Meta Ads since Nov 2026 | Whatever the freelancer knows |
| Conversation and judgment | Chat with Caleb AI and the MCP | A person who can learn your business |
| Quality | Same process on every account | Varies by person |
What does each cost at $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000 a month?
| Monthly ad spend | RunAds credits | Freelancer, 8 hours at $25 | Freelancer, 20 hours at $40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | About $100 | $200 | $800 |
| $5,000 | About $250 | $200 | $800 |
| $10,000 | About $400 to $500, or $499 / 4 weeks | $200 | $800 |
A freelancer's cost is flat while your spend grows, which favors the freelancer at higher budgets if a few hours a month is enough. The catch is the hours. Eight hours a month is two hours a week, enough for a check-in and a few edits, not for building new campaigns or catching a problem on a Saturday. For agency-level fees, WebFX publishes 10% to 20% of spend or $1,000 to $3,000 a month.[2]
What do the hours actually buy?
With a freelancer you pay for time and get whatever that person does with it. A strong freelancer audits the account, fixes tracking, rebuilds the structure and checks search terms. A weak one changes a few bids and sends a report.
RunAds does the same steps on every account. A mission reads your site and account, plans campaigns, writes the ads and images, and stops for your approval. Google dry-runs each campaign first. After launch the agent sends budget and bid changes as cards, Ad Grades scores every ad, and the Account Audit flags problems in accounts you connect.[4] You can ask Caleb AI, the RunAds media buyer, why a change was proposed.
If you hire a freelancer, what should you check?
- The ad account and conversion tracking stay in your name, with the freelancer added as a user.
- They can show work on an account at a similar budget and in a similar business.
- You agree on hours, what a month includes, and how changes are reported.
- They explain search terms and negatives in plain language, not just CTR.
- You can end the contract without losing access to anything.
Which fits you?
- A freelancer if you want a person to talk to, have unusual tracking or site needs, or run Microsoft Ads.
- A freelancer if your budget is large, steady and needs only a few hours of upkeep a month.
- RunAds if you want campaigns built and watched daily without paying for hours.
- RunAds if you want to see and approve each change before it happens.
RunAds pricing: credit packs from $25, used at 5 credits per $1 of Google ad spend: 4 above $10,000 a month, 3.5 above $100,000, 3 above $1,000,000. Unlimited is $499 every 4 weeks, covering up to $10,000 a month of managed spend. See pricing.
Method
Upwork's pages refused our automated requests on Nov 9, 2026, so the rates come from Upwork's own cost page as shown in its search listing that day. Freelancer hours in the cost table are examples, not quotes. RunAds facts come from our pricing and product code. RunAds is our product.