Social-media growth service benchmarks
The numbers behind every review. We ran a hands-on 5-service retention pilot with our own money, then built editorial estimates for the rest of the field from public data, vendor-advertised figures, and spot checks: estimated median retention, delivery speed, price range, and best-in-class per category.
As of Q1 2026, HowSociable tracks 9 growth-service categories across 5 platforms, with a hands-on 5-service retention pilot anchoring the editorial estimates for the rest of the field.
Last updated March 31, 2026
Instagram Followers
Median retention is the strongest quality signal in this category, with delivery speed breaking ties between the closest providers.
- Est. retention
- 82%
- Median price
- $3.24
- Est. same-day
- 61%
Best: Likes.io · 97% measured retention →
Instagram Likes
Delivery speed matters more than retention here: likes that show up in 10 minutes are a different product than likes that drift in over a week.
- Est. retention
- 88%
- Est. price
- $1.79
- Est. same-day
- 94%
Best: Buzzoid · ~99% est. retention →
TikTok
TikTok Followers
TikTok's algorithm throttles unusual follower-growth patterns harder than Instagram: gradual delivery outperforms instant even at the same retention.
- Est. retention
- 78%
- Est. price
- $3.49
- Est. same-day
- 41%
Best: Likes.io · ~94% est. retention →
TikTok Likes
Likes are cheap and retention is high, but velocity matters: TikTok weights early-hour likes toward algorithmic reach.
- Est. retention
- 91%
- Est. price
- $1.49
- Est. same-day
- 89%
Best: Buzzoid · ~99% est. retention →
TikTok Views
Views are the cheapest engagement signal and the least meaningful alone. The benchmark is: did they push the video into the For You Page?
- Est. retention
- 99%
- Est. price
- $1.49
- Est. same-day
- 96%
Best: Likes.io · ~100% est. retention →
YouTube
YouTube Subscribers
YouTube's monetization threshold makes retention existential: a service that drops subscribers demonetizes your channel.
- Est. retention
- 71%
- Est. price
- $9.99
- Est. same-day
- 11%
Best: Likes.io · ~92% est. retention →
YouTube Views
Views without watch time are worthless for ranking: the benchmark is audience retention on the view burst, not the view count.
- Est. retention
- 94%
- Est. price
- $4.99
- Est. same-day
- 28%
Best: Likes.io · ~99% est. retention →
Spotify
Twitter / X
How we measure these numbers
These numbers come from two sources. First, a hands-on pilot: we bought orders from 5 services with our own money and tracked the exact count for 30 days, which gives us real, measured retention curves for that cohort. Second, editorial estimates for the wider field, built from public data, vendor-advertised figures, and periodic spot checks rather than a purchase of every service in every category. The per-category figures on this page are therefore estimates anchored by the pilot, not a full every-service measurement. Where we have first-hand data, the individual review says so.
Cite this data: HowSociable, “Social-media growth service benchmarks (Q1 2026),” howsociable.com/benchmarks (updated March 31, 2026).