Best UGC Platforms for Creators: 10 Compared by Fees and Payouts

The best UGC platforms for creators depend on where you live and what you can show. For paid briefs with no follower minimum in most countries, start with YoCreate. With no audience in the US, UK or Canada, Billo and JoinBrands are also worth a look. With a strong portfolio, try Twirl or Cohley. If you want to set your own prices, use Collabstr.

Compare the fee, then read what sits around it. On JoinBrands' free plan, a $60 video pays you $48. On Influee, the 10% fee isn't on the creator page at all; it's in the terms. And some platforms give brands perpetual use of your video by default, while one assumes 30 days when the brief says nothing.

We read each platform's public creator pages on October 31, 2026, plus its help center and terms where we could find them. We didn't create accounts, so screens inside each app are untested. No platform here publishes a payout threshold, and we flag the other gaps as they come up.

How the best UGC platforms for creators compare

Platforms get you work in one of two ways.

On a job feed you apply to briefs and a brand picks you. Billo, JoinBrands, Influee, Insense, Twirl, Cohley, SideShift and soona UGC work this way. You don't need to find customers, but you compete on every job. Insense tells creators to send at least 20 applications to get chosen in one, which is a useful number to plan around.

On a storefront you list packages at your own prices and bring buyers to your page. Collabstr is the clear example. You keep control of pricing and do your own marketing. YoCreate mixes the two: brands invite you, or you apply.

Before you pick, know what you're selling. SideShift's line is that UGC pays for the content itself, so a brand wants files or a post it can run as an ad. Your audience usually matters less, though Insense and some Cohley briefs do weigh it. Our guide to UGC in influencer marketing covers the difference from the brand's side.

The 10 platforms, one by one

YoCreate

YoCreate is our first pick if you want briefs and don't have an audience or a US address. It says it's free to join, has no follower minimum and works across 150+ countries, while most platforms here accept only a handful of countries. You create a profile and connect your social accounts, then get invited by brands or apply to briefs, so you aren't limited to one way of finding work.

You agree scope and rates, sign an agreement, deliver and get paid. Under its terms, YoCreate engages and pays you, so your contract is with the platform, and it describes its payouts as automated. It doesn't publish a creator fee, payout timing or a list of payout methods, and payment providers may apply their own fees. UGC detail is on its UGC jobs page.

Billo

Billo says no following is required. You need to be 18+ and live in the US, Canada or UK. You upload a short intro video and apply to offers, and 14 completed videos with strong stats open Premium offers that pay more.

Its help center says creators are paid through Stripe every Monday, usually arriving in 1 to 2 business days, and that PayPal is being replaced. Billo also says it covers transfer fees. The app is free to join, but the commission on jobs isn't published.

JoinBrands

JoinBrands is the best-documented platform here. It takes 20% of regular job earnings and performance bonuses, or 15% with Creator Pro at $49.95 a month, with no fee on express jobs, tips or product reimbursement. On fees alone, by our arithmetic, monthly Pro pays for itself at about $1,000 a month in fee-bearing jobs, so we'd start on the free plan.

It also publishes US rates: a UGC video defaults to $60 with a $50 floor, before the fee. Entry is limited to the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Canada. PayPal is the only payout option, it can take up to 7 business days, and free creators withdraw once a week.

Collabstr

On Collabstr you build a page, set your packages and share the link. There's no up-front cost and a 15% fee when you make a sale. Payouts run through Dots, with options including PayPal, Cash App and Venmo. Brands get up to 72 hours after you submit to ask for a revision or open a dispute. No follower minimum is published, though Collabstr audits accounts for fake followers. Its FAQ lists over 35 countries, while brand pages say 150.

Under its terms, a brand and creator introduced there must transact only through Collabstr for 18 months from their first order.

Influee

Influee says you don't need a following, but it reviews every application and says it admits only the top 3%. It says it covers 30+ countries. You make a profile with samples and rates, then apply to campaigns in the app.

The terms set a 10% fee, unless an order form says otherwise, and a 12-month ban on going off-platform. Payout is less clear: the creator page says 5 to 10 days, the terms say SEPA on the last day of each month. Check this in the app if you live outside Europe. Influee says creators typically earn €290 to €850 a month, which is its own figure.

Insense

Insense has the only published audience bar here: 1,000 Instagram followers and at least 500 median TikTok views, with 1% engagement and a strong portfolio. If you need to work out that last number, see how to calculate engagement rate.

The page promises no hidden fees, while the terms say Insense may charge a commission at a rate they don't state. Money moves to your wallet after brand approval, and you withdraw to PayPal or a bank. Bank withdrawal asks for a routing number and a W-9, which points to US accounts. It names 22 countries and claims 35+. Its terms also require 12 months on-platform with sponsors you meet there.

Twirl

Twirl says the advertised pay on a brief is 100% yours and that you don't need followers. Reviews can take days to weeks, applicants may be waitlisted, and Twirl reports 400 to 500+ applications a week. It works mainly with creators in the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UAE. Payment comes through Stripe and Lumanu, within 10 days of brand approval in one section of the page and "within a few days" in another. Twirl quotes $130 to $300+ per project in one place and $90 to $300+ in another.

Cohley

Cohley says it takes no cut of your pay, and a person reviews your portfolio or socials. It publishes no country list or follower minimum. PayPal is the only method, and the pay-by date is 30 days after the brief's due date, so delivering early doesn't help. Its help page says standard PayPal payouts carry no fee, while its terms mention 2.9% PayPal fees, so check your own. Read each brief too: a $0.00 brief is product only. The terms add a six-month non-solicit.

SideShift

SideShift says it charges brands, not creators, apart from what it calls "really small" bank withdrawal fees, amount unpublished. An optional paid subscription exists but isn't required for the marketplace. No follower minimum is published. It supports the US, Canada, UK and Australia, and you apply or get invited. Funds reach your wallet within a few days of a campaign, though its terms allow a hold of up to 180 days in fraud, compliance or risk situations.

The creators page says $200 to $2,000 a month plus view bonuses, while a brand-facing page says the median account over 90 days lands at "$7 to $9 a video". SideShift doesn't explain how these relate, so we wouldn't plan income around either.

soona UGC (formerly Trend)

Trend.io is becoming soona UGC, and soona says it's moving its best creators over, which doesn't promise everyone a place. The old trend.io creator page still takes applications without mentioning the change, so we'd skip it and apply to soona with 3 to 6 video samples.

It's US only. soona says pay starts at $37 to $115 a video, and payment is by PayPal at the end of the following month, so April work pays at the end of May. The creator fee isn't published.

What a $100 job actually pays

On a $100 job, before processor fees:

Rates matter as much as the cut, so don't compare fees alone. A $100 job at 20% beats a $60 job at 0%. The best public data we found is Collabstr's: in its 2026 report, UGC packages averaged $180 asked and $154 paid in 2025. That covers one marketplace, based on 472,000+ packages and 21,000 collaborations. We found no independent, market-wide survey of per-video rates.

Blog posts that quote a "median UGC rate" mostly trace back to vendors, so treat those numbers as marketing.

Usage rights are the term to read first

A fee comes off one job at a time. A usage license can let a brand run your face in ads for years without paying you again, and the defaults differ widely.

Insense assumes 30 days of ad use if the brief doesn't say. Influee's license, when granted, is non-exclusive and perpetual for digital channels, you keep ownership, and print and out-of-home are handled separately. SideShift defaults to a perpetual license for organic and paid media unless the campaign narrows it. Cohley licenses custom materials to clients worldwide and perpetually, including editing with artificial intelligence. YoCreate sets usage rights and fees in the agreement you sign, so read it before accepting.

None of this makes a platform bad. Where the rate is negotiable, price perpetual rights in. We couldn't find a reliable source for the usage-fee percentages that circulate online, so treat any such table as someone's opinion.

"Whitelisting" is the industry word for a brand running ads through your account. TikTok calls it Spark Ads and Meta calls it partnership ads. Ask how long it lasts and what it pays, since it's a separate request from delivering a video.

Which UGC platform should you start with?

Sign up for two platforms and no more at first. One job feed plus one storefront is a good pair, because a storefront needs you to bring traffic and a feed doesn't.

Build your samples before you apply. Most platforms here review portfolios, and a few spec videos for products you already own give you something to show. Open them with a hook that holds attention; YoTrends' weekly list of TikTok hooks shows real opening lines from videos with 50,000+ views. Be honest in those videos: the FTC tells endorsers not to describe experience with a product they haven't used.

Treat a request for money in exchange for work as a warning. The FTC puts it plainly: "Never pay anyone to get paid." That guidance covers job scams in general and isn't specific to UGC, but a stranger on WhatsApp offering "brand deals" for a sign-up fee fits it.

FAQ

Can you do UGC with no followers?

Yes. YoCreate, Billo, Influee and Twirl each say no following or follower minimum is needed, and JoinBrands describes a social account as a plus. Insense is the exception, with 1,000 Instagram followers. You'll still need samples.

Can you actually make money doing UGC?

Yes, but platform figures vary too much to plan on. JoinBrands' default is $60 a video, soona says pay starts at $37 to $115, and Collabstr's UGC packages averaged $154 paid. Income depends on how many jobs you land, and the platforms' own monthly claims don't show that.

Is UGC still a thing in 2026?

On Collabstr it grew from 15% to 35% of campaigns in 2025, while the average UGC campaign cost fell 5.7% to $197. That's one marketplace, and a share rather than a job count, but it suggests UGC is taking more of the work at slightly lower prices.

Is UGC content legal?

Generally yes, with conditions. In the US, if you're paid or get free products with an expectation of promotion, the FTC says you generally need to disclose in posts you publish. We found no FTC guidance on ads a brand runs without you posting. Copyright starts with the author, so what a brand may do with your video depends on your agreement. In the US, self-employment tax applies from $400 of net earnings. This isn't legal or tax advice.

What to do this week

1. Cut the list to platforms that accept your country. That alone removes most of them for many readers.
2. Shoot three spec videos for products you own. Make one a talking hook, one a demo and one a voiceover.
3. Apply to one job feed and one storefront.
4. Before your first job, read the usage section of the terms and write down what the default is.
5. Where you can negotiate, set a price for ad use and perpetual rights now, so you aren't deciding on the spot. To keep your samples current, use a routine like this weekly trend check.