Version 1.0 · Updated 2026-08-23
The UGC Rate Index, 2026 edition
240 benchmark rates for user-generated content work — five deliverable types, six audience tiers, and all eight usage-rights tiers — computed from a formula whose every constant is published in full.
These are model-computed benchmarks derived from a published formula — not survey data, not observed transactions, and not a report of what brands actually paid.
A survey you cannot audit and a model you can are different kinds of claim. We would rather publish the weaker claim honestly: here is the arithmetic, here are the constants, here is where the constants came from, and here is how to disagree with them precisely. Read the methodology and check our arithmetic.
What the index shows
Read across a row rather than down a column. The spread from left to right — the licence — is far wider than the spread from top to bottom, which is the audience. That single observation is the most valuable thing in this document: in user-generated content the brand does the distributing, so what a creator is really selling is a licence, and the licence is the term that is negotiable on every brief.
Every cell holds the remaining inputs at their neutral setting: average engagement, no exclusivity, one included revision round, no rush. Those axes are not missing — they are published as multipliers on the methodology page, so any figure outside this slice is one multiplication away.
Photo
| Following | Organic only | Paid usage, 30 days | Paid usage, 90 days | Paid usage, 6 months | Paid usage, 12 months | Whitelisting / spark ads | Broadcast / OOH | Perpetual / buyout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5K | $60.00 | $75.00 | $90.00 | $105.00 | $120.00 | $78.00 | $120.00 | $165.00 |
| 5K–25K | $75.00 | $93.75 | $112.50 | $131.25 | $150.00 | $97.50 | $150.00 | $206.25 |
| 25K–100K | $97.50 | $121.88 | $146.25 | $170.63 | $195.00 | $126.75 | $195.00 | $268.13 |
| 100K–500K | $120.00 | $150.00 | $180.00 | $210.00 | $240.00 | $156.00 | $240.00 | $330.00 |
| 500K–1M | $150.00 | $187.50 | $225.00 | $262.50 | $300.00 | $195.00 | $300.00 | $412.50 |
| 1M+ | $187.50 | $234.38 | $281.25 | $328.13 | $375.00 | $243.75 | $375.00 | $515.63 |
Short video / Reel / TikTok (<60s)
| Following | Organic only | Paid usage, 30 days | Paid usage, 90 days | Paid usage, 6 months | Paid usage, 12 months | Whitelisting / spark ads | Broadcast / OOH | Perpetual / buyout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5K | $120.00 | $150.00 | $180.00 | $210.00 | $240.00 | $156.00 | $240.00 | $330.00 |
| 5K–25K | $150.00 | $187.50 | $225.00 | $262.50 | $300.00 | $195.00 | $300.00 | $412.50 |
| 25K–100K | $195.00 | $243.75 | $292.50 | $341.25 | $390.00 | $253.50 | $390.00 | $536.25 |
| 100K–500K | $240.00 | $300.00 | $360.00 | $420.00 | $480.00 | $312.00 | $480.00 | $660.00 |
| 500K–1M | $300.00 | $375.00 | $450.00 | $525.00 | $600.00 | $390.00 | $600.00 | $825.00 |
| 1M+ | $375.00 | $468.75 | $562.50 | $656.25 | $750.00 | $487.50 | $750.00 | $1,031.25 |
Video (60s–3min)
| Following | Organic only | Paid usage, 30 days | Paid usage, 90 days | Paid usage, 6 months | Paid usage, 12 months | Whitelisting / spark ads | Broadcast / OOH | Perpetual / buyout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5K | $320.00 | $400.00 | $480.00 | $560.00 | $640.00 | $416.00 | $640.00 | $880.00 |
| 5K–25K | $400.00 | $500.00 | $600.00 | $700.00 | $800.00 | $520.00 | $800.00 | $1,100.00 |
| 25K–100K | $520.00 | $650.00 | $780.00 | $910.00 | $1,040.00 | $676.00 | $1,040.00 | $1,430.00 |
| 100K–500K | $640.00 | $800.00 | $960.00 | $1,120.00 | $1,280.00 | $832.00 | $1,280.00 | $1,760.00 |
| 500K–1M | $800.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,200.00 | $1,400.00 | $1,600.00 | $1,040.00 | $1,600.00 | $2,200.00 |
| 1M+ | $1,000.00 | $1,250.00 | $1,500.00 | $1,750.00 | $2,000.00 | $1,300.00 | $2,000.00 | $2,750.00 |
Long-form / dedicated YouTube
| Following | Organic only | Paid usage, 30 days | Paid usage, 90 days | Paid usage, 6 months | Paid usage, 12 months | Whitelisting / spark ads | Broadcast / OOH | Perpetual / buyout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5K | $640.00 | $800.00 | $960.00 | $1,120.00 | $1,280.00 | $832.00 | $1,280.00 | $1,760.00 |
| 5K–25K | $800.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,200.00 | $1,400.00 | $1,600.00 | $1,040.00 | $1,600.00 | $2,200.00 |
| 25K–100K | $1,040.00 | $1,300.00 | $1,560.00 | $1,820.00 | $2,080.00 | $1,352.00 | $2,080.00 | $2,860.00 |
| 100K–500K | $1,280.00 | $1,600.00 | $1,920.00 | $2,240.00 | $2,560.00 | $1,664.00 | $2,560.00 | $3,520.00 |
| 500K–1M | $1,600.00 | $2,000.00 | $2,400.00 | $2,800.00 | $3,200.00 | $2,080.00 | $3,200.00 | $4,400.00 |
| 1M+ | $2,000.00 | $2,500.00 | $3,000.00 | $3,500.00 | $4,000.00 | $2,600.00 | $4,000.00 | $5,500.00 |
Photo set (5–10 photos)
| Following | Organic only | Paid usage, 30 days | Paid usage, 90 days | Paid usage, 6 months | Paid usage, 12 months | Whitelisting / spark ads | Broadcast / OOH | Perpetual / buyout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5K | $240.00 | $300.00 | $360.00 | $420.00 | $480.00 | $312.00 | $480.00 | $660.00 |
| 5K–25K | $300.00 | $375.00 | $450.00 | $525.00 | $600.00 | $390.00 | $600.00 | $825.00 |
| 25K–100K | $390.00 | $487.50 | $585.00 | $682.50 | $780.00 | $507.00 | $780.00 | $1,072.50 |
| 100K–500K | $480.00 | $600.00 | $720.00 | $840.00 | $960.00 | $624.00 | $960.00 | $1,320.00 |
| 500K–1M | $600.00 | $750.00 | $900.00 | $1,050.00 | $1,200.00 | $780.00 | $1,200.00 | $1,650.00 |
| 1M+ | $750.00 | $937.50 | $1,125.00 | $1,312.50 | $1,500.00 | $975.00 | $1,500.00 | $2,062.50 |
Bundles
Bundles are not tabulated here, and that is deliberate rather than an omission. A bundle can be any combination of any quantity of the five deliverables, so there is no finite table to publish — a grid would just be one arbitrary basket presented as though it were canonical. The rule instead: sum the base rates of the components, apply the bundle discount to that sum, then continue with the follower multiplier and every add-on exactly as above. The methodology page works one through step by step, and the bundle rate page prices a common starter package.
Cite this index
Free to quote, in full or in part. We ask only that the attribution keeps the word “model” in it — a benchmark reported as a market statistic is a claim we have not made and would not stand behind.
Plain text
sproutUGC. "sproutUGC UGC Rate Index, 2026 edition." Version 1.0, 2026-08-23. Model-computed benchmarks, not survey data. https://www.sproutugc.com/rates/ugc-rate-index-2026
HTML
<p>Rate figures from <a href="https://www.sproutugc.com/rates/ugc-rate-index-2026">sproutUGC UGC Rate Index, 2026 edition</a> by <a href="https://www.sproutugc.com">sproutUGC</a> — model-computed benchmarks from a published formula, not survey data.</p>
Licence
Released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Copy it, republish it, chart it, build on it, use it commercially — including in a paid product or a client deliverable. The one condition is attribution: name sproutUGC and, where the medium allows, link back to the index.
For machines
The whole index is available as JSON at https://www.sproutugc.com/rates/ugc-rate-index-2026.json. It carries every coefficient, every label, the citation line and the disclosure alongside the numbers, so a figure lifted from it arrives with the caveat still attached. This page also carries schema.org/Dataset markup describing the same thing.
Questions
What is the UGC Rate Index?
A published set of 240 benchmark rates for user-generated content work, computed from a parameterised formula whose every constant is public. It covers five deliverable types, six audience-size tiers and all eight usage-rights tiers. It is a model, not a survey — no creators were polled and no transactions were observed.
How much should a UGC creator charge for a perpetual buyout?
A perpetual buyout carries the largest add-on in the model at 175% of the core rate, so it roughly triples the price of the same deliverable licensed organically. That reflects what a buyout actually is: the sale of an asset that would otherwise generate a renewal conversation every year, indefinitely.
What should whitelisting cost on top of a normal UGC rate?
In this model whitelisting adds 30% of the core rate, and it is designed to stack on top of a paid-usage licence rather than replace it — running ads from a creator's own handle borrows their identity as well as their footage.
Does follower count or usage rights matter more for UGC rates?
Usage rights, by a wide margin. Across the whole range, audience size moves the price by a factor of about three, from a 0.8 multiplier to 2.5. Usage rights move it by a factor of nearly three on their own, from no add-on to a 175% one — and unlike reach, the licence is negotiable on every single brief.
Can I cite or republish these figures?
Yes, and we would like you to. A citation line is provided on the page. We propose making the index available under CC BY 4.0; that licence is not yet ratified, so please ask before republishing the full tables.
sproutUGC UGC Rate Index, 2026 edition. Published 2026-08-23, last updated 2026-08-23. These are model-computed benchmarks derived from a published formula — not survey data, not observed transactions, and not a report of what brands actually paid.
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