Compared on public facts

Insense vs SideShift

Updated Nov 7, 2026

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

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

8 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 Insense 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
Insense 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 Insense does not list publicly (checked Nov 7, 2026; not listing is not the same as not offering). 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	Insense	SideShift
Hourly sessions	Not listed publicly	Not listed publicly
Pay per video	Creators are hired per deal and paid per delivered content; their FAQ says UGC campaigns start at $100 per video. Creator payments are separate from the subscription. 1	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	Affiliate campaigns: find influencers already in affiliate programs or enrol them in your own, and pay commissions on sales through Insense. Included on the Brand and Agency plans, not on the Trial. 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	Not listed publicly	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	Not listed publicly	Performance bonuses set by the brand, typically tied to views. 1
Product seeding	Product seeding with a Shopify integration and bulk shipping exports; barter (product-only) campaigns are allowed and then only the subscription is paid. On the Brand and Agency plans. 1 2	Not listed publicly
Ads launched from the platform	Meta Partnership Ads: request account-level access from eligible influencers in one click; TikTok Spark Ad codes delivered through Insense. Partnership Ads connections are limited by plan (1 on Trial, 10 on Brand, unlimited on Agency). The ads run from the brand's ad account. 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	Insense	SideShift
How sales are attributed	Not listed publicly	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	A marketplace fee added to each creator payment: 20 % on Trial, 10 % on Brand, 7 % on Agency (pricing page). Their FAQ page instead says a 15 % / 20 % fee on content produced through the platform. 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	Trial from $650 for one month (upgrades to Brand unless cancelled 48 hours before it ends); Brand from $500 a month ($1,500 billed quarterly) or $400 a month billed yearly ($4,800); Agency from $800 a month ($2,400 quarterly) or $640 a month yearly ($7,680). Extra seats $30 a month, extra brands $100 a month, 5 extra Partnership Ads connections $125 a month. Creator payments not included. 1	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	When a brand hires a creator the agreed payment is deducted from the brand's account and held by Insense; once the brand approves the content and completes the deal it moves to the creator's Insense wallet. Withdrawals to PayPal take about 4 business days, to a bank account about 7. 1	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	They say 115k+ creators across 57+ countries. 1	Creators based in the US, Canada, UK and Australia; they say more countries are coming. 1
Scale they publish	They say: They say 115k+ responsive creators across 57+ countries and 3,500+ DTC brands, mobile apps and advertising agencies. 1	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
Ads launched from the platform

Insense lists, SideShift does not

Product seeding: Product seeding with a Shopify integration and bulk shipping exports; barter (product-only) campaigns are allowed and then only the subscription is paid. On the Brand and Agency plans.

Checked Nov 7, 2026

SideShift lists, Insense 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.
Bonuses: Performance bonuses set by the brand, typically tied to views.

Checked Nov 7, 2026

Which brand each one fits

From the models each lists, nothing else.

Insense

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

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 Insense and SideShift have in common?

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

What does Insense list that SideShift does not?

Insense lists product seeding. SideShift does not list it publicly; that is not the same as not offering it.

What does SideShift list that Insense does not?

SideShift lists pay per 1,000 views, retainers and bonuses. Insense 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.

Insense: insense.pro: Pricing FAQ, read 2026-11-07 · insense.pro, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “UGC campaigns start at $100 per video.”
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”
Insense: insense.pro, home, read 2026-11-07 · insense.pro, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “enrol them into your own program and easily pay commissions through Insense”
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”
Insense: insense.pro: FAQ, read 2026-11-07 · insense.pro, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Yes, you compensate creators by providing them with products or services”
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.”
Insense: Insense creator help: A detailed guide of how payments work on Insense, read 2026-11-07 · help-creators.insense.pro, checked Nov 7, 2026 · “Withdrawals to PayPal typically take 4 business days to reach your account.”