A UGC agency for brands that want real creator videos

What is UGC, and how is it different from an influencer post?

UGC (user-generated content) is a video a creator films about your product in their own voice, with their own face and room. It looks like something a customer would post. An influencer post is the same kind of video published to the creator's followers. The difference is whose audience sees it. With a post you rent the creator's viewers for one video. With a UGC file you get footage to show your own audience.

Best for: a posted video when you want the creator's audience, a handed-over file when you need footage for your own page and ads. HypeCollabs runs both under one brief.

TikTok, Instagram and YouTube UGC: posted or handed over

We work with UGC creators on four platforms, and every video ends up in one of two places.

Posted videos can still become ads. On TikTok, Spark Ads let a brand advertise with organic posts, including other creators' posts with their authorization (TikTok, 2026). On Instagram, a partnership ad is "content a brand posts in collaboration with a creator to promote a product or service" (Instagram, 2025). Either way, the creator has to agree to it first, which is why we put it in the brief. Platform details are in our guides to TikTok influencer marketing and Instagram influencer marketing.

How much does UGC cost?

You pay two things: the creator's rate, and our fee for finding and running the creator.

UGC creators price the video itself, since you are not paying for access to their followers. In the Influencer Marketing Hub benchmark report (2026), "roughly 80% of all responses sit under $500" for UGC creators, with the rest mostly between $500 and $2,000. Ad rights raise the quote. The same publisher found that budgets "can rise 30% to more than 100%" when creator content is extended into paid advertising (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2026).

You pay creators directly, and your money never passes through us. We agree the rate, help the creator prepare an invoice and send you their payment details.

HypeCollabs charges the same fee for UGC as for posted videos: $100 per creator a month at 5 creators, down to $75 from 40. On the Starter, our work on the first 2 creators is free. We charge our fee only for videos that are delivered: live on the creator's account, or accepted by you as a file.

For creator rates by platform and audience size, see how much influencers charge.

UGC ads and usage rights: who can run the video?

Only the people the creator agreed to, for as long as they agreed. "Brands must secure explicit permission from the creator before repurposing UGC in ads," writes Influencer Marketing Hub (2026). That permission "should clearly define usage scope, duration, and whether paid amplification is allowed."

HypeCollabs agrees usage rights with each creator in writing before filming, and you approve the terms. Any fee for ad rights goes to the creator as part of their rate.

Before a creator films anything, these points are in writing:

• Where the video can run: your organic page, your website, paid ads, or all three.
• For how long, and what happens when that period ends.
• Whether you can cut it into shorter versions or swap the hook.
• Whether the creator's handle runs the ad (Spark Ads, partnership ads) or your brand account does.

How hiring UGC creators works with us

1. You tell us what you need. Your product, the platforms, how many videos, and whether creators should post them or hand them over.
2. We shortlist creators. You see who they are, what they have filmed before and what they ask. You approve every creator and their rate before anything is signed.
3. Each creator gets a brief. Talking points, the shots you need, links, the deadline and the file format if the video is handed over.
4. We check the script, then the video. Both are checked against the brief before anything is published or delivered.
5. You get the result. A posted video: the link the day it is live, plus the creator's own link or promo code. A handed-over video: the file, delivered once you accept it against the brief, with up to 2 rounds of changes. If a video is not delivered or not accepted, we drop our fee for that creator or replace them.

First videos usually take roughly 2 to 4 weeks. That is an estimate: the more creators you book, the longer the full run takes.

How to compare UGC companies

Lists of "best UGC agencies" mostly compare logos. These five questions tell you more about what working with one will be like:

• Who pays the creators? Some agencies bill you one number that includes the creator. Ask to see the creator's rate on its own. With us you pay creators directly.
• Do you approve each creator? You should see the person and the rate before they are signed.
• Are usage rights written down per video? Ask for the scope, duration and paid-ads terms in writing.
• What happens if a video never arrives? Ask for this in writing, before you pay.
• Can they work outside the US? We have signed creators in 20+ countries and 10+ languages.

Disclosure on posted UGC

When a creator posts your video on their own account, it is an ad, and the label has to say so. The FTC's guidance for influencers says to "disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand" (FTC, 2019). Every brief names the platform's label: Paid Partnership on Instagram, the content disclosure setting on TikTok, paid promotion on YouTube. We check it before the video goes live. Footage handed over for your own ads runs under your brand, inside the platform's ad rules.