How much to charge for UGC in the UK (2026)

Ask ten UGC creators what they charge for one video and you will get ten different answers, most of them prefaced with "it depends". That is not evasion. Price genuinely does depend on what the brand is buying, and the most common mistake new creators make is quoting one flat number for what are really several different things bundled together.

This guide does not give you a magic figure. Anyone who tells you "UGC pays £X per video" is averaging across niches, experience levels and usage terms that have nothing to do with you. Instead, it gives you a structure: a base rate for making the video, and separate line items for everything the brand wants on top. Once you price that way, negotiations get easier, because you can move individual pieces instead of dropping your whole fee.

What a brand is actually paying for

A UGC deal is usually a mix of up to five things. Separate them in your head before you quote:

• Production. Your time to script, film and edit the video, plus your skill at making something that converts.
• Usage rights. Permission for the brand to use the video, where and for how long. Organic posting on their own channels is different from running it as a paid ad.
• Exclusivity. A promise not to work with competing brands for a set period.
• Extras. Raw footage, extra hooks, alternative edits, cut-downs in different lengths.
• Revisions. Changes after delivery beyond what you agreed.

Pure UGC is not the same as influencer work. If the brand also wants you to post the video to your own audience, that is a separate service with its own value, and it should be priced separately.

Step one: work out your base rate

Your base rate covers production only: one video, delivered to the brief, with organic usage for a short period. Build it from the bottom up rather than copying someone else's number.

1. Count your real hours. Include reading the brief, scripting, setting up, filming, re-takes, editing, captions, exporting and the emails back and forth. For most creators this is several hours per video, not the thirty minutes the finished clip suggests.
2. Pick an hourly figure you would accept for skilled freelance work. Remember you are self-employed: no holiday pay, no sick pay, no pension contributions from an employer, and you pay your own tax and National Insurance.
3. Add your costs. Props, products you had to buy, lighting, software subscriptions, a share of your phone or camera.
4. Multiply and round up. Hours × hourly figure + costs gives you a floor. Do not quote below it.

As an illustration only: if a video takes you five hours end to end and you value your time at £40 an hour, your production floor is £200 before costs. Your own figures will differ, and that is the point. You now know your number rather than borrowing one.

As your portfolio grows and you can show results, your hourly figure should rise. Brands are not paying for your hours; they are paying for videos that sell. Hours just stop you underpricing yourself.

Step two: price usage rights separately

This is where the real money sits, and where creators most often give value away for free. A video that runs as a paid ad for six months is worth far more to a brand than one posted once on its Instagram grid.

Price usage as an add-on to your base rate, scaled by three things:

• Type. Organic (the brand posts it) versus paid (the brand spends money promoting it, including running ads through your account via whitelisting or partnership ads).
• Duration. 30 days, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months. Longer costs more.
• Channels and territory. Social only, or also their website, email, TV or out-of-home? UK only, or worldwide?

Many creators express paid usage as a percentage of the base rate per period, for example a set percentage for each month of paid usage. Whatever method you choose, write it down and use it consistently, so you are not making it up on every call. Be wary of "perpetual" or "in perpetuity" usage; if a brand wants it, it should cost significantly more, because they are buying your work forever.

Step three: add the extras

Each of these is a separate line on your quote:

• Extra hooks. Brands test different openings on the same body. Each additional hook is extra filming and editing time.
• Cut-downs. A 15-second and a 30-second version of a 60-second video is more work, not a free bonus.
• Raw footage. Handing over your raw files lets the brand re-edit your work indefinitely. Charge for it, and make clear that the usage terms still apply.
• Exclusivity. If you cannot work with competitors for three months, you are losing income. Price that loss in, and define "competitor" narrowly in writing.
• Revisions. Include one round of reasonable changes in your base rate. Further rounds, or changes that contradict the original brief, are billed.

A simple quote structure

Laid out like this, a brand can see exactly what it is paying for and choose what to drop if the budget is tight:

When a brand says your quote is too high, do not cut your base rate. Offer to reduce the scope instead: shorter usage, fewer hooks, no raw footage. That protects your rate for the next brand.

UK basics that affect what you keep

Your fee is not your take-home pay. A few UK specifics are worth knowing:

• Tax. UGC income is self-employment income. If your total trading income is over £1,000 in a tax year, you will generally need to register for Self Assessment with HMRC. Put a share of every payment aside for tax.
• VAT. You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover goes over the threshold, which is £90,000 at the time of writing. Check HMRC for the current figure. Below it, do not add VAT to your invoices.
• Gifted products. A free product given in exchange for content can count as income too. If in doubt, ask an accountant.
• Payment terms. Put your terms on every invoice, for example 30 days. If a business pays you late, UK law allows you to claim statutory interest and a fixed compensation sum under the late payment rules.

This is general information, not tax advice. An accountant who works with freelancers is worth the fee once your income becomes regular.

When to raise your rates

Review your prices on a schedule rather than when you feel brave. Good triggers:

• You are booked up and turning work away.
• Brands are accepting your first quote without any push-back.
• A brand has re-ordered from you, or shared results showing your video performed.
• Your portfolio now covers a niche brands keep asking for.

Raise rates for new clients first. For existing clients, give notice before the next project rather than surprising them on an invoice.

Keep a record of every deal

Pricing gets much easier when you can look back at what you charged, what was included and what the brand accepted. Keep a simple log of every deal: fee, deliverables, usage terms, when the usage ends and whether you have been paid. Over a few months it becomes your own rate card, based on real deals rather than internet averages, and it tells you when a usage period has expired and the brand needs to pay again to keep running your video.