Compared on public facts

Aspire vs SideShift

Updated Nov 7, 2026

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

Aspire and SideShift both list pay per video, commission on sales, bonuses and ads launched from the platform. Aspire also lists flat amount per order and product seeding, which SideShift does not list publicly. SideShift lists pay per 1,000 views and retainers, which Aspire does not list publicly.

10 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 SideShift

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
SideShift lists pay per video, commission on sales, pay per 1,000 views, retainers and bonuses publicly. HourlyUGC also lists hourly sessions, flat amount per order, share of ad spend and product seeding, which SideShift does not list publicly (checked Nov 7, 2026; not listing is not the same as not offering). SideShift lists retainers and bonuses, which HourlyUGC does not list publicly. 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. 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	SideShift
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	Payment per post; the brand sets the base fee and creators apply at that rate. They say the median account lands at $7 to $9 a video over the last 90 days. 1 2
Commission on sales	Commission structures per creator: flat, percentage or tiered, tracked through affiliate links and promo codes. 1 2	A creator affiliate program with commission terms in the partner agreement; sales are measured in the brand's own affiliate tracking (links or codes), not inside SideShift. 1
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	Payment per view and view bonuses on top of a base fee; their creator FAQ cites performance bonuses of $1-$4 per 1,000 views. 1 2 3
Retainers	Not listed publicly	A retainer can be the campaign's payment terms, alone or combined with per-post or per-view pay. 1
Bonuses	Tiered incentives that open up as creators hit conversion targets (example on the page: a free product after 50 conversions). 1	Performance bonuses set by the brand, typically tied to views. 1
Product seeding	Gifting and seeding programs; creators pick from a curated catalog or receive products, fulfilled through the Shopify integration. 1 2	Not listed publicly
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	Partnership ad codes from creators are kept with the creator agreement and usage rights; the brand runs the ads in its own ad account. 1
Money and tracking	Aspire	SideShift
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 sales are measured in the brand's own affiliate tracking with links or codes. SideShift reports ROAS and revenue per creator (attributed ad revenue divided by ad spend) and syncs attribution from App Store Connect and Stripe. 1 2
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 software subscription paid by the brand; creator payments are separate and funded by the brand. They say SideShift charges brands, not creators, with small fees on creator bank withdrawals; brands review payment-processing charges when funding the wallet. 1 2
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	Starter $299, Growth $499, Scale $999 a month; or $210, $349 and $699 a month billed yearly ($2,520, $4,188, $8,388). 14-day free trial on monthly plans only. Plans differ by creators live at once (15 / 50 / unlimited), job listings (1 / 2 / 3), invites a day (30 / 100 / 500) and tracked videos a month (600 / 2,000 / unlimited); extra invites $0.10 each. Managed service from a $20,000 monthly campaign budget. 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	Creators are paid through SideShift after each campaign, with funds released to a creator wallet within a few days; nothing is paid until the brand approves the work; identity checks before payouts; 1099s handled. 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	Creators based in the US, Canada, UK and Australia; they say more countries are coming. 1
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: trusted by 3,000+ brands; 71,472,850,048 views on live posts created in the 90 days before 8 Sep 2026; $10 million+ paid to creators in the past 30 days (reported 26 Sep 2026); 2,692,829 creator posts tracked in 90 days. 1

What the facts say

Where they overlap

Pay per video
Commission on sales
Bonuses
Ads launched from the platform

Aspire lists, SideShift does not

Flat amount per order: A flat commission amount per conversion is one of the three commission structures listed (flat, percentage, tiered).
Product seeding: Gifting and seeding programs; creators pick from a curated catalog or receive products, fulfilled through the Shopify integration.

Checked Nov 7, 2026

SideShift lists, Aspire does not

Pay per 1,000 views: Payment per view and view bonuses on top of a base fee; their creator FAQ cites performance bonuses of $1-$4 per 1,000 views.
Retainers: A retainer can be the campaign's payment terms, alone or combined with per-post or per-view pay.

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

SideShift

brands that can attribute sales and want to pay on orders
brands that budget per approved video
brands paying for organic reach per 1,000 views
brands running longer creator programs with retainers or bonuses

Questions people ask

What do Aspire and SideShift have in common?

Both list pay per video, commission on sales, bonuses and ads launched from the platform on their public pages (checked Nov 7, 2026).

What does Aspire list that SideShift does not?

Aspire lists flat amount per order and product seeding. SideShift does not list them publicly; that is not the same as not offering them.

What does SideShift list that Aspire does not?

SideShift lists pay per 1,000 views and retainers. Aspire does not list them publicly.

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
SideShift: sideshift.app: Creator payments and payouts, read 2026-11-07 · sideshift.app, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “such as a retainer, payment per post, payment per view or a combination”
SideShift: sideshift.app, home FAQ, read 2026-11-07 · sideshift.app, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “the median account lands at $7 to $9 a video”
SideShift: sideshift.app: Affiliate Marketing use case, read 2026-11-07 · sideshift.app, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Sales measured in your affiliate reporting”
SideShift: sideshift.app: For creators FAQ, read 2026-11-07 · sideshift.app, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “performance bonuses ($1–$4 per 1,000 views)”
SideShift: sideshift.app: Plans for brands, FAQ, read 2026-11-07 · sideshift.app, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “set creator fees and any performance bonuses”
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
SideShift: sideshift.app: Ambassador Marketing use case, read 2026-11-07 · sideshift.app, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Keep usage rights, creator agreements and partnership ad codes together.”
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