Compared on public facts

Aspire vs GRIN

Updated Nov 7, 2026

HourlyUGC is our product. Every fact links to its source. Methodology.

Aspire and GRIN both list pay per video, commission on sales and product seeding. Aspire also lists flat amount per order, bonuses and ads launched from the platform, which GRIN does not list publicly.

9 facts known on both sides. "Not listed publicly" means we did not find it on their public pages on Nov 7, 2026; it does not mean they lack it.

Why brands pick HourlyUGC over Aspire and GRIN

HourlyUGC lists 7 ways to pay creators on its public pages: hourly sessions, pay per video, commission on sales, flat amount per order, share of ad spend, pay per 1,000 views and product seeding. A brand can combine them in one campaign. 1 2 3
Aspire lists pay per video, commission on sales, flat amount per order, bonuses and product seeding publicly. HourlyUGC also lists hourly sessions, share of ad spend and pay per 1,000 views, which Aspire does not list publicly (checked Nov 7, 2026; not listing is not the same as not offering). Aspire lists bonuses, which HourlyUGC does not list publicly. 1 2
GRIN lists pay per video, commission on sales and product seeding publicly. HourlyUGC also lists hourly sessions, flat amount per order, share of ad spend and pay per 1,000 views, which GRIN does not list publicly (checked Nov 7, 2026; not listing is not the same as not offering). 1 2 3
Meta Partnership Ads with the creators' videos, launched from inside HourlyUGC: the ad goes out from the creator's handle with the brand's budget. GRIN does not list this publicly. 1 2
Who counts the sale: Counted either by the ad platform (Meta) or by HourlyUGC: a connected Shopify store or the Hourly Pixel, last touch within 7 days, with creator links and codes. 1 2 3

Start a campaign on HourlyUGCFacts checked Nov 7, 2026. HourlyUGC is held to the same sourcing rule as every other platform here.

Which pay models each one lists

Side by side

Pay model	Aspire	GRIN
Hourly sessions	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Pay per video	Paid collaborations and UGC programs with a negotiated fee per deliverable; creators set their own rates on their profile. Per-video pricing is not itemised publicly. 1 2	Paid and UGC programs with a flat creator fee set per program, marked fixed or negotiable; terms lock at acceptance. Per-video pricing is not itemised publicly. 1
Commission on sales	Commission structures per creator: flat, percentage or tiered, tracked through affiliate links and promo codes. 1 2	Affiliate programs with links, codes and commissions; commissions are paid from the brand's funded wallet and tracked in a commissions ledger. 1 2
Flat amount per order	A flat commission amount per conversion is one of the three commission structures listed (flat, percentage, tiered). 1	Not listed publicly
Share of ad spend	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Pay per 1,000 views	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Retainers	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Bonuses	Tiered incentives that open up as creators hit conversion targets (example on the page: a free product after 50 conversions). 1	Not listed publicly
Product seeding	Gifting and seeding programs; creators pick from a curated catalog or receive products, fulfilled through the Shopify integration. 1 2	Gifting and seeding programs on every plan, with monthly gift limits by plan; a gift counts when its $0 order or shipment is created in GRIN. Gifting-only campaigns need no wallet deposit. 1 2
Ads launched from the platform	CreatorAds suite: request ad rights, publish to Meta or save a draft for Ads Manager, review in an ads dashboard. Meta only; included in the subscription; ad-rights fees are negotiated with the creator separately. 1 2	Not listed publicly
Money and tracking	Aspire	GRIN
How sales are attributed	Unique tracking links per creator and campaign, promo codes tied to creator performance, and shoppable Shopify storefronts. Commission payouts are sent from Reporting > Sales Tracking. No attribution window is published. 1 2	Affiliate links and discount codes. Shopify connects in one click; custom or headless stores send signed order webhooks through the API naming the creator who drove each sale, on every plan including Free. No attribution window is published. 1
Platform fee	Not published. Brands pay a payment processing fee on each creator payment (amounts on a separate fees page, not listed). Creators receive 100 % of the agreed amount with no PayPal fee; the platform is free for creators. 1 2	A management fee is added on top of every wallet deposit: 20 % on Free, 10 % on Starter, 7 % on Growth, 5 % on Scale, custom on Enterprise. Charged at funding; not refunded if unspent funds are withdrawn. Card deposits may carry a processing fee; ACH is the lowest-cost option. GRIN says it takes nothing from what creators earn. 1
Brand pricing	Not published; sales-led. The /pricing and /plans pages lead to a demo form. The Shopify App Store listing says free to install, with external charges billed by Aspire separately. 1 2	Free $0/month (2 live campaigns, 10 gifts in total, 20 % fee); Starter $200/month (10 % fee, 100 gifts/month, 30-day free trial); Growth $500/month (7 %, 300 gifts/month, multiple brands); Scale $1,500/month (5 %, 1,000 gifts/month); Enterprise custom with annual agreement. Prices monthly in USD. Paid and affiliate campaigns need at least $250 in the wallet before going live. 1
Creator payout	PayPal only. After the brand submits a payment, Aspire's accounting team sends the funds within 7 business days; payments are USD only and PayPal converts for international creators. Creators without a PayPal email on file are reminded every two weeks. PayPal issues 1099-K forms where thresholds apply. 1 2	Creator fees are held in escrow in the brand's wallet until payout. The pricing page says payouts go through Stripe with tax handling; the help center article for non-U.S. creators (6 Aug 2026) says payments are sent as a bank transfer processed through Trolley after a W-8BEN is on file, with 24 % withholding without a verified foreign tax ID. Unclaimed payments expire after 30 days and return to the brand's creator fund. No payout schedule is published. 1 2
Regions	No country list is published. Payouts are in USD only, converted by PayPal for international creators; the home page shows United States and LA-based creator filters. 1 2	No country list is published. Prices are in USD; reporting and payouts are described as correct in any currency; non-U.S. creators are paid by bank transfer after a W-8BEN. 1 2
Scale they publish	They say: They say: trusted by 800+ brands, $52M+ in affiliate sales driven, 300K creators activated, $100M+ in influencer payouts (home page); $80M paid out to creators in the last 12 months (creator page). 1 2	They say: They say: $1.2B+ in creator-driven GMV, 5,000 brands since 2017, 700K+ creators supported, $215M+ earned by creators. 1

What the facts say

Where they overlap

Pay per video
Commission on sales
Product seeding

Aspire lists, GRIN does not

Flat amount per order: A flat commission amount per conversion is one of the three commission structures listed (flat, percentage, tiered).
Bonuses: Tiered incentives that open up as creators hit conversion targets (example on the page: a free product after 50 conversions).
Ads launched from the platform: CreatorAds suite: request ad rights, publish to Meta or save a draft for Ads Manager, review in an ads dashboard. Meta only; included in the subscription; ad-rights fees are negotiated with the creator separately.

Checked Nov 7, 2026

GRIN lists, Aspire does not

Nothing in the models we track.

Checked Nov 7, 2026

Which brand each one fits

From the models each lists, nothing else.

Aspire

brands that can attribute sales and want to pay on orders
brands that budget per approved video
brands that ship product to creators
brands running longer creator programs with retainers or bonuses

GRIN

brands that can attribute sales and want to pay on orders
brands that budget per approved video
brands that ship product to creators

Questions people ask

What do Aspire and GRIN have in common?

Both list pay per video, commission on sales and product seeding on their public pages (checked Nov 7, 2026).

What does Aspire list that GRIN does not?

Aspire lists flat amount per order, bonuses and ads launched from the platform. GRIN does not list them publicly; that is not the same as not offering them.

What does GRIN list that Aspire does not?

Nothing in the pay models we track.

Where do these facts come from?

From each platform's public pages, linked next to every fact with the date we checked. A fact without a public source is not shown.

Sources

Each fact above links to one of these. Checked Nov 7, 2026.

Aspire: Aspire creator page · aspire.io, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “paid collaborations”
Aspire: Aspire home page · aspire.io, checked Nov 7, 2026
GRIN: GRIN platform page · grin.co, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “When a program includes a paid fee, GRIN automatically requires the terms”
GRIN: GRIN home page · grin.co, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Affiliate links, codes and commissions”
GRIN: GRIN pricing page · grin.co, checked Nov 7, 2026
Aspire: Aspire on the Shopify App Store · apps.shopify.com, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Select & send products to your creators”
Aspire: Aspire help center, CreatorAds FAQ · help.aspireiq.com, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Currently, CreatorAds supports Meta ads. TikTok Ads support is coming soon.”
Aspire: Aspire CreatorAds suite · aspire.io, checked Nov 7, 2026
Aspire: Aspire help center, how payments work · help.aspireiq.com, checked Nov 7, 2026
Aspire: Aspire plans page (demo form) · aspire.io, checked Nov 7, 2026
GRIN: GRIN help center, setting up payouts as a non-U.S. resident · intercom.help, checked Aug 6, 2026 · “processed through Trolley”