How to find UGC creators for your brand
UGC creators (UGC is user-generated content) make videos or photos of your product for you to use in your own ads and pages. The style looks like a real customer made it. Start with your own customers and the creators they point you to. Then search TikTok and Instagram, or use a marketplace. Expect to pay per video. Put the usage rights in writing. Those are your permission to use the videos in ads.
In this guide, UGC means content made for a brand, usually paid, that looks like it came from a real customer. A UGC creator is paid per piece and often never posts it. That is the main difference from an influencer, who posts to their own audience. An affiliate earns a commission on sales.
Four places to find UGC creators
These are the four places, in the order we would try them.
| Where | What it costs you | Effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own customers | A free product or a small fee | Low | Real use, easy trust |
| Referrals from creators you use | Nothing | Low | Quality, after the first one |
| TikTok and Instagram search | Your time | Medium | Seeing the work before you ask |
| Marketplaces | A per-video price | Low | Speed, and set terms |
Start with your own customers
Check who tags you. A customer who already posts your product needs no pitch. Send a short message. Offer a free product or a small fee, and ask to use the video in your ads. Our influencer gifting note examples show how to word the first message.
Ask for referrals
Ask every creator you hire, "Who else makes content like this?" Good creators tend to know each other, so one hire can lead to the next. It costs nothing to ask.
Search TikTok and Instagram by hand
Search the tag #ugc. Then search "UGC creator" plus your niche, such as "UGC creator skincare". Open the profiles. A good creator keeps a pinned post or a link to a portfolio of past brand videos. Check that the video quality and the voice suit an ad.
Look at the comments on your own posts and on your rivals' posts too. People who make content about a product type are already in the conversation.
Use a marketplace
A marketplace is a site where brands post a brief, a short note on what they want, and creators apply or accept. Billo is one. Its own page says "Billo videos start at $99 per video", seller-listed. Billo says that price includes full usage rights and two revisions within your brief. You pay for the product and shipping (Billo, 9 October 2026, checked 27 October 2026). Collabstr and Backstage are others. Most UGC prices online come from companies that sell UGC, so read them as seller-listed.
The trade is simple. A marketplace saves search time and sets the terms. You pay for that, and you pick from the people who joined.
How much do UGC creators cost?
Prices vary a lot, so treat any single number as a guess. The seller-listed figures come first. JoinBrands publishes estimates by level. It puts beginners at $150 to $400 a piece. Intermediate creators are $400 to $1,000. Professionals are $1,000 to $3,000 or more. It adds usage costs on top. Expanded usage, which JoinBrands defines as use on all paid channels for six to twelve months, adds 25% to 40%. Perpetual rights, the right to use the video forever, add 50% to 100% (JoinBrands, 15 August 2026, checked 27 October 2026). These are JoinBrands' estimates, not a market survey.
We found no independent survey with a stated sample size. The closest check is a March 2024 study by the agency Influence4you. It says a single UGC video costs about €180 as a base price, and that brands pay about €320 on average for good content that follows the brief. It does not state its sample size, so treat it as a rough check (Influence4you, checked 27 October 2026). Its base price sits inside JoinBrands' beginner range.
Here is a worked example for a small brand. Let's say you want five videos for ads.
| Route | Math | About |
|---|---|---|
| Billo's listed entry price, with rights and two revisions | 5 x $99 | $495, plus product and shipping |
| Beginner creators, base rate | 5 x $150 | $750 |
| Beginner creators, expanded usage added | $750 + 25% to 40% | $938 to $1,050 |
| Beginner creators, perpetual rights added | $750 + 50% to 100% | $1,125 to $1,500 |
| Intermediate creators, base rate | 5 x $400 to $1,000 | $2,000 to $5,000 |
So five videos can cost about $500 on a marketplace's entry price, $750 to $1,500 from beginner creators, and $2,000 to $5,000 from intermediate creators. The level of creator and the rights you buy decide where you land. Professionals cost more again. Ad spend is extra. Try two or three creators first, not twenty, and judge each on one ad.
Check three things before you hire
Look at these.
- Past work. Ask for two videos in your category. A beauty portfolio does not prove a creator can sell a dog bed.
- Fit with your product. A creator who owns or uses the type of product will sound natural.
- Delivery. Ask how long a video takes, how many changes you get and the file format.
Do not judge on follower count. A UGC creator is paid for the video, not the audience.
Put the rights and rules in writing
Write down five things in your brief before any money moves. Organic posts are your normal, unpaid posts.
- What they make. The number of videos, the length and the format.
- Where you may use it. Your site and organic posts, or paid ads too. This is the usage right: permission to use the content, for a set time and in set places.
- For how long. Thirty days, a year, forever. Each costs a different amount.
- Changes. How many rounds of edits you get.
- Disclosure. If the creator posts the video, it must show that they got paid or got free product.
On disclosure, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says free or discounted product counts as a connection you must disclose. It also says a disclosure must be hard to miss. In a video it belongs in the video itself (FTC, Disclosures 101, November 2019). It also says your company is "ultimately responsible for what others do on your behalf" (FTC Endorsement Guides Q&A, checked 26 October 2026).
The FTC's rule on fake reviews has applied since 21 October 2024. It bans fake or false reviews. That includes buying reviews you knew or should have known were fake, and paying for reviews on condition that they are positive. The agency can seek civil penalties for knowing violations (FTC, reviews and testimonials rule Q&A, checked 26 October 2026). So do not present a paid video as a customer's own review on a product page. Label it as an ad. Honest reviews you ask for are a different matter. Rules differ by country. This is not legal advice.
How do you write to them?
Keep the first message short. Say what you make, what the job is, what you pay and what you need. This is a made-up example.
Hi Priya, I found your pet-gear videos and liked how you show a real dog settling into a bed. We're Fieldwork, and we sell dog beds. We'd like three upright phone videos of 20 to 30 seconds for our ads. We pay $200 each plus the bed, and use them on our site and in paid ads for 90 days. Are you open to it?
Copy the shape, not the words. Our guide to the influencer outreach email template has a cold version and a follow-up.
Will a UGC creator send you sales?
Not on their own. They make the content, and you run it. To get buyers sent to you, you need an influencer with an audience or an affiliate with a link. Our guide to how creator partnerships are structured compares gift, fee and commission. A Shopify brand selling skincare or pet gear, for example, can pay a creator for five videos once and run them as ads, then separately recruit affiliates who post to their own followers. If you sell on Shopify, our Shopify page shows how to find affiliates for a store.
To find the affiliates, RecruitAffiliates.ai finds the websites, blogs, review sites, podcasts and creators already promoting your rivals. It looks up their email and shows whether each address was checked (what each result means). The 7-day free trial includes 20 email lookups and needs no card.
Frequently asked questions
What is a UGC creator?
A UGC creator makes videos or photos of your product, paid per piece, in a style that looks like a real customer. They hand you the files for ads and your site. They often do not post them.
How much do UGC creators charge?
JoinBrands, which sells UGC, estimates $150 to $400 a piece for beginners. Wider usage rights add 25% to 100%. Billo lists its videos from $99 (seller-listed). An Influence4you study put the base price near €180. Prices vary, so test with two or three creators.
Where can I find UGC creators for free?
Search #ugc and "UGC creator" plus your niche on TikTok and Instagram. Check who tags your brand. Ask your customers and the creators you already know. These cost your time. If you then hire someone, you pay their price.
Do I need to tell people a UGC video is an ad?
If a creator posts it, yes. A paid or gifted post needs a clear disclosure in the video itself. If you run it as your own ad, call it an ad. Do not show it as a customer review.
Sources
- JoinBrands, UGC creator rates (15 August 2026)
- Billo, How Billo pricing works (9 October 2026)
- Influence4you, UGC video pricing in 2026 (March 2024 study)
- US Federal Trade Commission, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers (November 2019), FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking and Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers