UGC creator rates come in two currencies: a flat fee per video, which published marketplace data puts in the low hundreds of dollars on average, and a commission, which has no average because it depends on what the brand sells and spends. This page gives the sourced figures for both, then the arithmetic for comparing them on a real deal. Every number links to where it came from. None of it is a promise of income.
“They offered 20 % instead of my $200. Is that more or less?”
It is neither until you know the brand’s spend, conversion and order value. Twenty percent of nothing is nothing; twenty percent of a video the brand scales for three months can be a lot more than $200. The rest of this page is how to turn that “it depends” into a number you can act on.
Flat UGC rates, sourced
Two public sources, both from marketplaces, so they describe their own users.
Collabstr, 2026 report. More than 21,000 collaborations and 200,000 creators on its marketplace in 2025. UGC payouts averaged $154 per engagement; the average cost of a UGC campaign fell 5.7 % year over year, from $209 to $197. By platform, average payouts were $255 on YouTube, $193 on Instagram and $186 on TikTok. UGC was 35 % of campaigns (NetInfluencer’s coverage of the report, 12 Jan 2026; the report itself is at collabstr.com).
Billo, UGC rates in 2025. An average near $198 for a short-form asset, and tiers from UGC101’s pricing guide: $50 to $100 per video for entry-level creators, $150 to $500 for mid-level, and $500 and up “before licensing” for established creators (Billo, checked 2026-11-07). Billo adds that usage rights, allowlisting and paid-media use “can easily double or triple costs,” without a figure.
What the two agree on: the center of the flat market sits between $150 and $200 per video, with a wide spread by experience and rights. What they do not tell you: what any one brand will pay you.
Platforms’ own per-video figures, as they state them. viral.app publishes a live-job median of $15 per video as of November 2026 (viral.app rates page, they say, checked 2026-11-07). SideShift says “the median account lands at $7 to $9 a video” over its last 90 days (sideshift.app, they say, checked 2026-11-07). Those are far below the Collabstr and Billo figures because they describe volume posting jobs, not one-off UGC with rights. Always divide a bundle by its count: $200 for 25 videos is $8 a video. Creators who skip that step find out later, as one did: “$40 was not worth 20+ videos” (TikTok, 28 Oct 2026). Each platform’s published pay terms are on its page at /platforms/.
Hourly is a third flat shape: a rate times hours, with the videos that come out of the session. Of the 25 platforms we checked on 2026-11-07, HourlyUGC is the only one that publishes hourly pay for UGC video sessions. On HourlyUGC, hours are booked at hire and paid when the session is marked done (HourlyUGC blog, checked 2026-11-07). No independent hourly UGC benchmark exists, so none is given here.
Commission rates, sourced
No published average for creator commission exists. There are published ranges and schedules.
Amazon Associates. Fixed standard rates by category: 10 % on Luxury Beauty; 4.5 % on Kitchen; 4 % on Apparel, Shoes and Jewelry, and on “All Other Categories”; 3 % on Beauty, Toys, Home, Pets, Sports and Baby; 1 % on Grocery and Health & Personal Care (Amazon Associates, checked 2026-11-07). The floor: no brief, no rights, no negotiation.
Brand programs. Shopify Collabs lets the merchant set the commission and a holding period of 1 to 90 days (Shopify Help Center, checked 2026-11-07). Shopify publishes no average rate.
Creator platforms. On HourlyUGC, brands set a share of sales at 1 % to 50 % of each order or a fixed $1 to $500 per order, and a share of Meta ad spend at 1 % to 30 %. Those are the limits of the form, not what brands typically choose, and the same campaign can carry a per-video or hourly base under the commission.
What this means for you: a commission rate is a negotiation anchored on the brand’s margin and order value. A 10 % share on a $90 order is $9; the same share on a $12 order is $1.20. Ask the order value before you ask the percentage. What “order value” includes: GMV commission for creators.
Flat fee, share of sales or share of ad spend: which deals are worth your time?
Three inputs from the brand: how much they will spend or how many buyers they will reach, how well the product converts, and the order value. One from you: the flat fee you would otherwise charge.
Example. You would charge $200 flat for one video. The brand offers 15 % of each order instead and says it will put $1,500 of Meta spend behind the video over a month, its site converts about 2 % of clicks, and the average order is $50.
- $1,500 of spend at $0.60 a click buys 2,500 clicks.
- 2 % of 2,500 is 50 orders.
- 50 orders at $50 is $2,500 in sales.
- 15 % of $2,500 is $375 before the leak.
Now the leak. A sale counts only inside the window and on your touch. Meta Ads Manager’s default attribution setting is 7-day click and 1-day view (Jon Loomer’s guide, updated 1 Mar 2025); HourlyUGC counts the last touch within 7 days. If a third of buyers come back later or through another path, you are credited for about 33 orders and $250. Above the $200 flat fee, but only because the brand spends $1,500. If the brand will spend $500, the same arithmetic gives about $80. Example numbers, not a forecast.
The rule that falls out: commission beats flat when the brand’s spend or traffic is large and committed. When it is small or uncertain, the flat fee wins. The risks behind the leak, holds and rights: Is commission UGC worth it?.
Break-even in one line. Flat fee divided by the rate equals the credited sales you need. $200 at 15 % means $1,333 in credited sales. Ask the brand whether one video has ever produced that in a month. If they do not know, propose a base.
Ad spend share and CPM
Share of ad spend removes the conversion variable. At 15 % of $1,500 of spend, you get $225 whether or not the site converts, paid on spend the brand reports per ad. It still pays nothing if the brand never runs the video. Brands like this model for the same reason you should: one growth marketer’s advice to brands is to “pay creators a % of the spend on their video” so they only pay for the winners (X, 5 Oct 2026). Compare it with the flat fee the same way: fee divided by rate equals the spend the brand must commit. $200 at 15 % means $1,333 of spend.
CPM pays per 1,000 views of your own organic post. It belongs to creators with an audience and is set per deal. Several platforms publish their own per-view figures, which this site repeats as their claims: viral.app a live-job median of $1 per 1,000 views (viral.app rates page, checked 2026-11-07); Elev8or live listings at $0.80 to $2.00 per 1,000 (Elev8or creator campaigns, checked 2026-11-07); SideShift performance bonuses of $1 to $4 per 1,000 views in its creator FAQ (sideshift.app, checked 2026-11-07). At $1 per 1,000, a post needs 200,000 views to match a $200 flat fee, and some programs pay nothing until a post passes a view floor, so ask what the floor is. Floors are set by the brand and vary by deal: one brand wrote that it does not pay “for videos with less than 250 views” (X, 15 Oct 2026), and a creator on another program found that “you have to hit 1000 views before they pay you” (r/UGCcreators, 21 Sep 2026). Treat CPM as a bonus on a base, not a replacement for one. Brands on HourlyUGC can add it on top of any base.
How to quote a rate that mixes both
Give the brand two or three options, equal to you on expectation and different in risk.
| Option | What you get | Who carries the risk |
|---|---|---|
| Flat | $200 per video | Brand |
| Mixed | $100 per video + 10 % of orders on your code | Shared |
| Commission | 20 % of orders, or 20 % of ad spend | You |
The mixed row is the one most brands pick. It shows you will take risk and leaves you a floor. Quote the commission row with a rights limit: rights for the period you are paid, extension for a fee. On HourlyUGC, all three rows are shapes a brand can set in one campaign, so the quote is one they can run as is. How to put the options in a message: How to pitch a brand for a commission deal. The brand’s side of the same arithmetic: How to set UGC commission rates.
What moves the rate
- Usage rights. Organic only, paid ads, creator-handle ads, and for how long. Billo’s guide says paid-media use can double or triple a base asset’s cost (Billo, checked 2026-11-07).
- Exclusivity. Not working with competitors for a period is worth money.
- Raw footage. Handing over unedited takes is separate work and a separate line.
- Revisions. One round is standard; more is a fee.
- Volume. Several videos a month justify a lower unit rate and a higher share.
- A sales record. A previous commission deal that converted moves every number up.
What not to do
- Quote a commission with no video attached. Brands buy videos.
- Take commission only with permanent rights.
- Accept a rate without the order value, the window and the hold in writing.
- Believe any page, including this one, that gives you an income figure. The sourced figures above are averages from marketplaces; your deal is not an average.
Find campaigns on HourlyUGC
Brands on HourlyUGC pay in every way: hourly, per video, commission on sales at 1 % to 50 % of each order or $1 to $500 per order, a share of Meta ad spend at 1 % to 30 %, CPM, samples, or a mix. The terms are on the brief before you accept. Pick the deals that fit you. Find campaigns on HourlyUGC.