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Measured on six things

Free tool to compare true costs of marketing agency vs in...

Speed

Lighthouse 58/100 with TBT 1.8s; LCP is fine but main-thread blocking hurts interactivity. No user complaints found.

Screenshots

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Marketing Team Cost Calculator | Agency vs In-House Calculator

About this app

This free calculator helps you determine whether to hire a marketing agency or build an in-house team by revealing the true total cost of ownership for both options. It takes into account salaries, employer NI, pensions, benefits, recruitment fees, training, tools, and management overhead for in-house teams, as well as agency retainers and potential savings. The tool offers three levels of analysis (quick, detailed, comprehensive) and provides personalized recommendations based on your revenue, team size, and growth stage. It's a must-have for decision-makers who want to avoid hidden costs and make data-driven choices.

Key features

1Three analysis levels: Quick (2 min), Moderate (5 min), Comprehensive (8 min) with 5/10/15 questions.
2UK-specific cost breakdown: salaries, employer NI, pensions, benefits, recruitment, training, tools, management overhead, office space.
3Personalized recommendations based on revenue, team size, and growth stage; includes break-even analysis and savings potential.

Target customer profile

Drawn from the product itself, not from a survey.

Demographic

Marketing Directors and CMOs

Pain points

Uncertainty about build vs. buy decisions; need to justify marketing budget to executives.

Primary needs

Comprehensive cost comparison to make a case for agency or in-house strategy.

Demographic

Finance Directors and CFOs

Pain points

Difficulty evaluating true marketing costs; hidden expenses like NI and pensions are overlooked.

Primary needs

Accurate cost breakdown to optimize budget allocation and ensure cost efficiency.

Demographic

CEOs and founders of SMEs and scale-ups

Pain points

Limited budget; struggling to decide on marketing structure while scaling.

Primary needs

Clear recommendation on whether to invest in an agency or build a team, considering growth stage.

Scout Review

Written by AI from measured evidence, scored out of 100.

This free calculator addresses a genuine pain point—hidden costs of in-house vs agency marketing—with a UK-specific focus and three analysis depths. The design is clean but cluttered, usability is hampered by information overload and a lead-capture wall, and speed/security are average. Accessibility is good but not perfect. Growth potential is real but undifferentiated; it needs a stronger hook to stand out from generic alternatives. Overall, it's a useful tool for its target audience, but it needs polish and a clearer value proposition to truly shine.

Measure by measure

Usability

Clear three-level structure and lead capture, but info overload and no interactive preview make it hard to see value before committing.

Design

Clean but dense: red accent system and three-tier cards are decent, yet long bullet lists and no visible calculator UI drag it down.

Speed

Lighthouse 58/100 with TBT 1.8s; LCP is fine but main-thread blocking hurts interactivity. No user complaints found.

Security

HTTPS and SPF/DMARC present, but no HSTS, CSP, or frame protection. No compliance claims; typical for a small agency site.

Accessibility

Lighthouse 92/100 but fails on ARIA misuse, heading order, and missing main landmark. No a11y statement, but site is responsive.

Growth

Real problem, UK-specific costs, three analysis depths—but no clear wedge vs alternatives; category has room but competition is generic.

Improvement areas

Add a live demo or sample results before lead capture to reduce friction.
Streamline landing page content; reduce bullet-list density and improve visual hierarchy.
Implement security headers (HSTS, CSP) and fix accessibility issues (ARIA, heading order, main landmark).

Design & Usability

The design is competent but unremarkable: a consistent red accent system and clear three-tier cards show some craft, yet the page drowns in long bullet lists and lacks any visible calculator UI, making it feel more like a brochure than a tool. Usability suffers from high information density—users must wade through extensive explanations before reaching the actual calculator, and the lead capture form demands personal details upfront without offering a preview. Navigation is standard, but the many menu items compete for attention. Overall, it's a functional but not delightful experience that could benefit from streamlining content and showing the tool's value immediately.

Speed & Security

Speed is middling: Lighthouse desktop performance scores 58/100, with a solid LCP of 1.3s but a concerning TBT of 1.8s that suggests main-thread blocking, likely from heavy scripts. Security is basic: HTTPS is enforced, and SPF/DMARC are present, but HSTS, CSP, and frame protection are all missing, leaving the site vulnerable to common attacks. No compliance certifications are claimed, which is typical for a small agency site but still a gap for a tool handling business data. The site is not a security disaster, but it's not a fortress either—adequate for a lead-gen calculator, but not reassuring for CFOs.

Accessibility & Growth

Accessibility is decent but flawed: Lighthouse scores 92/100, yet fails on prohibited ARIA attributes, heading order, and missing main landmark—issues that could confuse screen readers. No accessibility statement is provided, and the site is UK-only, limiting multi-language support. Growth potential is moderate: the problem of hidden marketing costs is real, and the UK-specific focus (NI, pensions) is a differentiator, but the alternatives (Growth Mentor, HubSpot) are generic and well-known. The three-level analysis and personalized recommendations add value, but without a clear wedge—like a free, no-email-capture version—it risks being just another calculator in a crowded space.

Conclusion

If you're a UK marketing director or CFO wrestling with build-vs-buy decisions, this calculator is worth a try—just be prepared to wade through a lot of text and hand over your email first. The tool's strength is its thoroughness, but its weakness is the same: it's a lot of work to get to the answer. With some UX streamlining and a free preview, it could be a go-to resource. For now, it's a solid, if unremarkable, addition to the calculator landscape.

Suggestions for improvement

Add a live demo or sample results before the lead capture form to show value instantly.
Reduce the bullet-list density on the landing page; use accordions or tabs to keep content accessible.
Implement HSTS, CSP, and frame protection headers to improve security posture.
Fix ARIA attributes, heading order, and add a main landmark to boost accessibility score.

How we score

Alternatives comparison

Named competitors, point by point. Nobody paid to appear here or to be left out.

	Marketing Team Cost Calculator \| Agency vs In-House Calculator	Agency vs In-house Calculator by Growth Mentor	Marketing Cost Calculator by HubSpot
Analysis depth	Three levels: Quick, Moderate, Comprehensive with 5/10/15 questions	Simple comparison based on team size and agency fees	Focuses on marketing spend and ROI, not specifically agency vs in-house
UK-specific costs	Includes employer NI, pensions, UK location adjustments	Not UK-specific; generic cost estimates	Not UK-specific; general marketing spend data
Personalized recommendations	Based on revenue, team size, growth stage	No personalization; static comparison	No personalization; general statistics
Lead capture requirement	Requires name, email, company, position before results	Likely no lead capture; instant results	No lead capture; free access to statistics