Rate calculator
UGC rate calculators
Turn a brief into a defensible number before you reply.
The reason pricing feels impossible early on is that most advice answers the wrong question. "What do UGC creators charge?" has no single answer, because the same thirty-second video is worth very different amounts depending on what the brand is allowed to do with it afterwards.
A calculator is useful precisely to the extent that it models that. One that asks for your follower count and returns a number is modelling influencer sponsorship, which is a different product — in UGC you are selling production plus a licence, and the licence is often the larger half.
What to look for
- Usage rights as a first-class input
- Organic-only versus paid social versus whitelisting versus a perpetual buyout are not adjustments to a rate, they are different products. Any calculator that treats usage as a tick-box is going to underprice the expensive cases badly.
- Duration and territory, separately from media
- Thirty days differs from twelve months, and one market differs from worldwide. Collapsing these into a single "paid usage" toggle loses most of the negotiating surface.
- Exclusivity priced explicitly
- Agreeing not to work with competitors for six months has a real cost — it removes future income you cannot get back. It should be a line, not goodwill.
- Revisions and rush treated as scope
- Extra revision rounds and compressed turnaround are additional work. Pricing them at zero is how a good rate turns into a bad hourly one.
- A visible method
- A number you cannot explain is a number you cannot defend in a negotiation. The value of a calculator is largely that it gives you a reason for the figure.
The options
| Option | Where it wins | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Asking in a community | Free, fast, and gives you real context on what brands in your niche are paying right now. | Wildly inconsistent, because the people answering are quoting different usage terms without saying so. Two creators reporting very different rates for "a TikTok video" are usually both right. |
| A published rate card or benchmark report | Useful anchoring, and a citable reference point in a negotiation. | Static and averaged. It cannot price your specific brief, and many published figures do not state which usage terms they assume — which makes them close to meaningless. |
| A follower-based calculator | Appropriate for sponsored posts on your own channel, where audience genuinely is the product. | The wrong model for UGC entirely. It prices reach when the brand is buying footage and a licence, which is why it produces low numbers for creators with small followings doing high-value work. |
| A formula-based UGC calculator | Prices the brief — deliverable, usage, term, exclusivity, revisions, rush — and shows the working. | Produces a defensible starting point, not a market price. It cannot know a specific brand's budget or how badly they want you. |
Where sproutUGC sits
There is a free rate calculator on this site with no signup, using the same formula as the paid app, so a quote you build here and a rate card you save later cannot disagree. The published Rate Index shows the full grid across all eight usage tiers with the method documented, so you can cite the number rather than assert it. It is a starting point for a negotiation, not a market price.
You don’t need a tool for this if…
- You have an established rate card that is winning deals at a rate you are happy with — a calculator will only confirm it.
Questions
How much should I charge for a UGC video?
It depends almost entirely on usage rights, which is why single-number answers mislead. The same short-form video priced for organic-only use, for thirty days of paid social, and for a twelve-month worldwide buyout are three very different figures — the buyout commonly lands at a multiple of the organic rate. Price the production first, then add the licence as a separate line, and always quote what the number covers.
What should I put on a UGC rate card?
Deliverable types with a starting price for each, usage rights priced separately and by term rather than bundled in, what a base rate includes — revision rounds, turnaround, formats — and what costs extra, such as rush, raw footage, exclusivity, and extra platforms. Date it. A rate card without dated usage tiers invites the brand to assume the broadest possible rights are included.
Does follower count affect UGC rates?
Much less than creators expect, and that is the good news. In a pure UGC deal the brand is buying footage and a licence for their own channels, so production quality, category fit, and the rights granted drive the price. Follower count starts to matter when the deal also asks you to post on your own account, which is a different, additional product.
Try it before you decide
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