---
title: "Compare: audit vs consultant, agency, in house | MarginFix"
description: "Weighing a marketing audit against a consultant, your agency, or an in house review? Side by side comparisons of cost, speed, independence and outcomes."
url: https://marginfix.ai/compare/
lastmod: 2026-10-12
---

Your number See this page in your own figures: industry, spend and the estimated leak. [Run the estimator →](/estimator/)

[Home](/) › Compare

Compare · honest, side by side

# Audit, consultant, agency or in house?

How an independent marketing and margin audit stacks up against the alternatives, including what each alternative is genuinely built for.

- Median finding $58k a year across 74 audits

Which is your situation?

- [Thinking of hiring a consultant](/compare/marketing-audit-vs-consultant/)

- [Our agency offered a review](/compare/independent-audit-vs-agency-review/)

- [We can do it in house](/compare/marketing-audit-vs-in-house-review/)

- **74** audits in the corpus

- **$4.5M+** margin identified

- **$58k** median finding a year

- **5 to 7** working days to findings

Source: the [MarginFix benchmark dataset](/benchmark/), 74 published audits.

01

## Three comparisons

Every table says what the other option is built for.

- /compare/marketing-audit-vs-consultant/vs consultant

### Marketing audit vs. hiring a consultant

- Both promise to fix your marketing. Cost, speed, independence and what you actually walk away with.

- **What it is built for** Ongoing strategic partnership and execution Read the comparison →

- /compare/independent-audit-vs-agency-review/vs agency review

### Independent audit vs. your agency reviewing itself

- Asking the agency to grade its own spend is asking it to do its own homework.

- **What it is built for** Optimization within the current strategy Read the comparison →

- /compare/marketing-audit-vs-in-house-review/vs in house

### Marketing audit vs. an in house review

- Your team knows the business. What it cannot buy is an outside benchmark.

- **What it is built for** Continuous monitoring you own Read the comparison →

02

## The comparator

The most asked comparison, row by row. Open the full page for the verdict and the questions it answers.

| Criterion | Independent audit | Marketing consultant |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Time to findings | 5 to 7 working days, a fixed window [74 cases](/findings/) | Weeks to months per engagement |
| Cost | Fixed fee, $1,450 to $5,950 | Retainer or day rate, open ended |
| Independence | No stake in your channels, agency or tools | May steer toward their own services or partners |
| What you get | An evidenced leak list with the annual figure for each leak, in priority order | Strategy and recommendations; the format varies |
| Scope | Marketing spend plus unit economics, every channel | Whatever the brief defines |
| What it is built for | A fast, objective answer to "where is my budget leaking?" | Ongoing strategic partnership and execution |

[Read the full comparison →](/compare/marketing-audit-vs-consultant/)

03

In their words

What clients said after the readout. Every statement sits on a published case; open the case for the audited figure.

04

## What the audit is

Fixed fee. 5 to 7 working days. Every finding tied to your own numbers.

Median finding across 74 published audits: **$58k a year**. Guaranteed floor per tier ($10k to $50k), or your money back. [74 cases](/findings/) [One case at the median](/cases/promotional-fee-waivers-were-never-switched-off/)

![Portrait photograph of Cristian Bragau](/assets/founder/cristian-bragau-2026-10.jpg)

The auditor's note

Whatever you decide next, decide it on audited numbers. In 5 to 7 working days you know exactly where the margin is leaking and what it is worth. Most clients fix the biggest items with the team they already have, using the report as the plan.

**[Cristian Bragau](/about/cristian-bragau/)** Founder & Lead Auditor · 17 published cases · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristian-bragau-828b8526/)

Cite this figure A MarginFix marketing audit is fixed fee ($1,450 to $5,950) with findings in 5 to 7 working days; the median audit identifies $58k of annual margin. MarginFix, marginfix.ai/compare/

## Still comparing? Book a 15 minute fit call.

No pitch, one auditor. Bring the numbers you have and leave with the next step.

[Book the fit call](/book/call/) [Request the audit](/book/)

Fixed fee. No retainer. NDA first.

Go deeper

## Read on from the comparisons

- [How it works The week, day by day: access, analysis, readout and the report.](/how-it-works/)

- [Pricing Three fixed fee tiers from $1,450, each with its own findings floor.](/pricing/)

- [Glossary Blended ROAS, MER, incrementality and the other terms behind every audit.](/glossary/)

- [All 74 findings Ranked by annual value, $58k median, each one a real case.](/findings/)

- [What an audit costs The 2026 market ranges with sources, against the fixed fee tiers.](/marketing-audit-cost/)

- [Agency markup What a normal markup is, and the contract, invoice and platform reconciliation.](/agency-markup/)