UGC usage rights calculator
Shooting the content and licensing it are two different things. Enter your creation fee and the use the brand is asking for, and get an indicative range for what you could add for the rights.
Calculator form
Indicative estimate
UGC usage rights estimate
Your estimate will appear here
Enter your creation fee and the use being asked for, then press “Calculate rights”. You will not see a figure until then.
- Enter the creation fee you have already agreed.
- Pick the use the brand is asking for, and for how long.
- Press “Calculate rights” or load the example.
- Low
- —
- Reference
- —
- High
- —
An indicative range to negotiate with, not a rate card. It includes the creation fee you entered.
How that number is built
Each row shows the low — high range. Every percentage applies to the creation fee, never to the result of another line.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Creation fee | |
| Usage rights | |
| Whitelisting / Spark Ads | |
| Exclusivity | |
| Total |
Terms of the agreement
These details appear in the result so they end up in writing in your quote. In this version they do not change the calculation.
- Type of use
- Usage term
- Territory
- Platforms
- Exclusivity term
Assumptions applied
Worth noting
What this tool calculates
This calculator estimates what you could add to your creation fee for licensing specific usage rights. It returns a range with three figures: low, reference and high.
It starts from a creation fee you have already negotiated. If you do not have one yet, work it out first in the UGC rate calculator and bring that figure here.
It does not set official or universal prices: the contract, the market, the platform, the term, the territory, the brand and your negotiating position can all change the real price.
What moves the price
- Creation and rights are separate line items
- Creation pays for your work conceiving, shooting and editing. Rights pay for what the brand can do with the material afterwards. Blending them into one price is the most common mistake when quoting UGC.
- Organic use versus paid ads
- Posting the video on the brand's profile is not worth the same as putting it behind media spend that can reach millions of people.
- Usage term
- A 30-day licence and a 12-month one are different products. The longer the content works for the brand, the greater the value licensed.
- Whitelisting and Spark Ads
- When the brand advertises from your handle, it is using your name and credibility, not just your footage. It is charged separately from usage rights.
- Exclusivity
- If you cannot work with competitors while the agreement runs, you are giving up income. That has a price too.
- Territory and platforms
- One country is not the world, and one platform is not five. In this version we record them and flag them, but we apply no invented multipliers.
What it actually returns
The result is an indicative range, not the rights you must charge. We give three figures because an exact number would suggest a precision that does not exist: low and high bound the negotiation, and the reference is always their midpoint.
The total includes the creation fee you entered, so you see the full quote. The breakdown keeps it separate from the rest.
Rights presets by type of use
Percentages applied to the creation fee. Every row declares its nature and its confidence level; none is an official rate. Long terms no longer carry a proposed percentage.
| Use | Range on the creation fee | Nature |
|---|---|---|
| Organic use on the brand's channels | 0 % | Our own heuristic low |
| Paid ads · 30 days | 30 % – 50 % | Derived medium-low |
| Paid ads · 90 days | 40 % – 75 % | Our own heuristic low |
| Paid ads · 6 months | You set it | No preset low |
| Paid ads · 12 months | You set it | No preset low |
| Perpetual or buyout, no end date | You set it | No preset low |
| Custom: I set the range | You set it | No preset low |
| Whitelisting surcharge | You set it | No preset low |
| Exclusivity surcharge | You set it | No preset low |
No percentage in this table is an official rate. The ones marked as derived synthesise what UGC platforms publish about licensing and paid amplification; the rest is our own criterion.
No preset: whitelisting, exclusivity, perpetual buyout and the six- and twelve-month licences carry no proposed percentage. You enter it.
From a source: a figure taken from an identifiable source. Derived: a transparent synthesis of several sources. Our own heuristic: the project’s own criterion, with no external source. No preset: we propose no value and you enter it.
Reviewed on 24 August 2026. The sources consulted and their limitations are on the sources page.
How it is calculated, step by step
Every line shares the same base and none is calculated on top of another. There is no compounding:
- Usage rights = creation fee × rights percentage.
- Whitelisting = creation fee × whitelisting percentage.
- Exclusivity = creation fee × exclusivity percentage.
- Total = creation + rights + whitelisting + exclusivity.
- Nothing is rounded between operations: rounding to two decimals is presentation only.
What is a preset and what you set yourself
- Derived
- The 30-day paid-ads range. It synthesises what several UGC platforms publish about licensing and paid amplification, and it is listed on the sources page with its limitations.
- Base preset
- The 0% for organic use. We are not claiming organic rights should always be free: it is a starting point. If your deal charges for them, use the custom mode.
- No preset
- Perpetual buyout, whitelisting and exclusivity. We invent no percentage for those: you enter the range.
- Informational
- Territory, platform count and exclusivity term. They appear in the result and can raise a note, but in this version they move no figure.
What the result excludes
- Taxes, withholdings and platform or agency fees.
- Reimbursable costs such as shipping, travel or buying product.
- Extra production: if the brand asks for more deliverables, quote that in the UGC rate calculator.
- Any specific market value: this is an estimate to negotiate with, not a valuation.
The project's general methodology
The criteria shared by every calculator in the project, and the limits that apply to any estimate, are described on the methodology page.
Sources
The base range in this calculator is an indicative reference put together by the project and does not yet rest on any verified external source. When one exists, it will be published with its review date on sources and updates. We would rather say so than cite a reference we have not checked.
Frequently asked questions
Are these the rights I must charge?
No. It is an indicative estimate to start negotiating from. The calculator does not know your contract, your sector, the brand or what it has budgeted.
Why does organic use start at 0%?
Because it is the most common starting point when the brand will only post the content on its profiles with no media spend behind it. It does not mean licensing organic use has to be free: if your deal charges for it, use the custom mode.
Why does perpetual buyout have no preset?
Because there is no honest range to publish: a licence with no end date can affect the value of the content enormously and depends entirely on the deal. We would rather ask you for the range than invent a +100%.
Is whitelisting added on top of the rights?
No. Every percentage applies to the creation fee, never to the result of another line. That way the quote does not inflate depending on the order the items are added in.
Why does territory not change the price?
Because we have no multiplier we could justify. We would rather tell you that worldwide scope is worth revisiting the percentage for than apply an invented factor.
Is anything I type stored?
No. The whole calculation happens in your browser. There is no server, no account, no cookies and no local storage: reload the page and nothing remains.
What is the difference between whitelisting and paid ad rights?
Where the ad runs from. With paid ad rights the brand promotes the content from its own accounts; with whitelisting it promotes it from yours, with your name and your face on it. They are two different grants, so they are calculated separately, both on top of the creation fee.
Can I use this to put a quote together?
Yes, that is what it is for. The breakdown keeps creation, rights, whitelisting and exclusivity as separate lines, which is exactly how they should be presented: if the brand shortens the term or drops a channel, you can see which line goes down and by how much.
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