How to find UGC creators for your brand: we tested 5 ways on 126 profiles (2026)

A brand UGC creator is a person a brand pays to make videos and photos that the brand posts on its own accounts or runs as ads. You pay for the footage and the right to use it, so the creator's audience matters less than the work. That is UGC in the marketing sense, not Roblox UGC items and not India's UGC NET exam, which share the letters. To find brand UGC creators, search for people who write "UGC creator" in their bio or name. Then open each profile and check six things: they offer UGC to brands, work in your niche, live in your market, posted in the last 30 days, link a portfolio, and show an email.

We tested this on October 24, 2026 with two briefs: US skincare UGC creators on Instagram and US food UGC creators on TikTok. We ran five common ways of finding them, took the first 20 accounts from each, and opened all 126 profiles and their bio links. Before that we counted every account in Virev's index of 180M+ creators that names UGC in its bio, name or handle.

The pages that rank for this question are mostly UGC marketplaces and agencies that list places to look. Influee's guide gives 10 ways, Brighter Click gives 12, and Billo says it has "5,000+" vetted creators. None of them counts UGC creators beyond its own network, or checks how many of the accounts each way turns up are active, in the right niche and reachable. This page does both.

What a UGC creator is, and why followers matter less

An influencer sells a post to their audience. A UGC creator sells you the video, and you decide where it runs: your TikTok, your product page, or a Meta or TikTok ad. So you judge a UGC creator on the portfolio and on the rights you get, and a small account can be a strong pick.

Our data shows how small most of them are. Of the accounts in Virev's index that name UGC, 78% on Instagram and 64% on TikTok have under 10,000 followers. The median Instagram account has 2,616 followers and the median TikTok account 5,924. Only 1.9% on Instagram and 4.0% on TikTok have more than 100,000.

If you set a minimum of 10,000 followers, you drop nearly 4 in 5 of the UGC creators on Instagram. Our micro and nano influencer study covers small accounts that sell posts. This page covers the ones that sell the footage.

How many UGC creators there are

Virev's index has 182,831 Instagram accounts, 20,202 TikTok accounts and 22 YouTube channels that match "UGC". We drew a sample of 3,040 Instagram and 2,158 TikTok accounts across all follower sizes. In 99.9% of the Instagram sample and 99.4% of the TikTok sample, UGC is in the bio, the display name or the handle. We then read 120 Instagram bios and 60 TikTok bios by hand. 111 and 54 of them were people who offer to make content for brands. The rest were brands and agencies, course sellers, accounts with no clear UGC offer, and accounts about India's UGC NET exam, which matches 0.6% of the Instagram sample.

UGC is a small group even among creators. Among accounts with 1,000 or more followers, 1 in 312 Instagram accounts and 1 in 97 TikTok accounts in our index names UGC.

Of the Instagram UGC accounts with a known last post, 78.2% had posted within 30 days of our last read, and 90.1% within 90 days. Among bios that name a country, the US comes first on both platforms. It is 19.6% on Instagram, ahead of India at 13.7% and the UK at 7.5%, and 67.8% on TikTok, ahead of Mexico at 6.2%.

The niche shares explain part of our test. Beauty is the biggest UGC niche, so a skincare brief has plenty of supply. Food and drink is named in about 1 in 15 UGC bios on both platforms, so a food brief has far fewer people to pick from.

Why the email check is easier with UGC creators

UGC creators want brands to contact them. 41.4% of Instagram UGC accounts and 71.8% of TikTok UGC accounts write an email address in the bio. Across all creators, our link in bio statistics found 6.9% on Instagram and 11.7% on TikTok. In our influencer test the email was the check most accounts failed. With UGC creators, the portfolio is the harder check.

At least 9.8% of Instagram UGC accounts link a portfolio site such as Canva, Behance or Notion straight from the profile or use the word portfolio, and 6.9% link a Canva site. That is a floor, because many put the portfolio one tap away inside a Linktree or Beacons page, and our test below opened those.

The test: 5 ways, 2 briefs, every profile opened

We picked two briefs before we ran anything, and scored every account on the same six checks.

1. The account offers UGC to brands, and the bio and link page do more than sell a course to other creators.
2. The bio, or two of the eight newest posts, are about the niche: skincare and beauty for brief A, food and drink for brief B.
3. The bio, name or link titles name a place in the US.
4. The newest post that is not pinned is from September 24, 2026 or later.
5. A bio link leads to a portfolio: a link titled portfolio or UGC, a Canva, Carrd or personal UGC site, or a link page that lists a portfolio, case studies, a media kit or a rate card.
6. An email address is in the bio, in the business email or on the linked page.

We did not run Instagram hashtag search, because Instagram shows hashtag pages only to signed-in accounts. TikTok's web search for users returned an error page to a signed-out browser, so we used TikTok's public discover page, which lists videos for a search phrase. We also opened the public pages of three UGC marketplaces, covered further down. Every profile was read signed out, and the full list of 140 accounts and their checks is in a CSV.

Instagram: US skincare UGC creators

Google gave the best list on this brief, because UGC creators put "UGC creator" and their niche in the name and bio that Google indexes. One of its 20 profiles did not load, and of the other 19, all offered UGC and all were about skincare. Google lost accounts on the other checks, because 7 named no US place and 6 had not posted in 30 days, including one whose newest post was from May 2025.

Virev held the US and recent posts, with 17 and 19 of 20, but only 9 of the 20 were about skincare. The search "ugc skincare" matches either word, so it returned UGC creators in other niches, such as a Nashville mom and a Las Vegas festival videographer. Virev also labeled an account in Shymkent, Kazakhstan as US. Few small accounts have a country label in Virev, so the US filter cut the pool to 422.

FeedSpot's list runs in order of followers, and its top 20 had 28,000 to 280,000 when we read them. Seven of them mainly sell UGC courses, coaching or a creator academy, with bios such as "6000+ creators taught" and "100% student success rate". Two profiles did not load. The one that passed all six checks was @reginaugc, who makes "UGC for beauty, wellness & hospitality brands" in Miami and links a UGC portfolio site.

The 11 accounts that passed all six checks had 1,364 to 34,026 followers. Four of them show what a strong profile looks like.

• @melnik_ugc, in California with 2,080 followers, names Neutrogena, Wet n Wild and Clarins in the bio, links a Canva portfolio and has Instagram's paid partnership label on 14 of her 94 newest posts.
• @ugc_liya_yas, in New York with 7,019 followers, names Revlon, La Roche-Posay and Bioderma in the bio, links a site with a portfolio page and has the paid partnership label on 50 of her 94 newest posts.
• @lena_baranovskaa, with 7,097 followers, makes "UGC for beauty, skincare and haircare brands" and links her own portfolio site.
• @tusyastrizh, in St. Petersburg, Florida with 24,027 followers, links a Canva portfolio and an email address set up for UGC work.

Search UGC creators in Virev by content style, then open the profiles and check them against your brief.

TikTok: US food UGC creators

Food was the hard brief on every way, and only 3 different accounts passed all six checks.

• @vianka_b, in Orlando with 25,283 followers, posts recipes and city food videos, writes "UGC creator" in the bio, links a Canva portfolio through Linktree, and turned up on both Google and the discover page.
• @octaviasyd, in Houston with 70,288 followers, posts recipes and brand videos, links a portfolio through Linktree, lists a business email in the bio, and turned up on the discover page.
• @byseptemberhouse, in Utah with 1,713 followers, posts cooking and baking UGC examples, says in her bio that she also teaches UGC, and turned up on the hashtag page, the discover page and Virev.

Google found UGC creators, 17 of 20, but only 2 named a US place. Creators from the UK, Canada and Australia rank well for "ugc creator food".

The hashtag page and the discover page shared 9 of their 20 creators, and each had 3 course sellers. The best-known one, @heyimtran with 110,445 followers, came up on Google, the hashtag page and the discover page. Her bio sells a "UGC Masterclass".

Virev's search for "ugc food" returned big food accounts that do not offer UGC, such as @tommywinkler with 12.5 million followers, next to small UGC creators. Its list also had the fewest portfolio links, 3 of 20.

Many TikTok UGC creators post spec ads labeled "UGC example", so the grid itself works as a portfolio. Our portfolio check counted only a bio link, so it scores these creators lower than a brand watching their videos would.

What the UGC marketplaces show before you sign up

The marketplaces rank for "find ugc creators", so we opened their public pages on October 24, 2026. Billo, Collabstr and JoinBrands have no field for a creator's Instagram or TikTok handle, so you cannot run the six checks before you join. FeedSpot's list is in the last row for comparison, and it shows every handle.

A marketplace handles the brief and the payment, and some include the rights, which can be worth the fee. A brand in the r/UGCcreators thread said one platform kept showing "the same 15-20" creators. If you want a wider pool, find creators yourself and check them the same way.

Watch for course sellers

UGC has a second market, people who teach others to become UGC creators. In our index sample 2.6% of Instagram UGC bios and 3.0% of TikTok bios sell a course or coaching. They are far more visible than that. Seven of the top 20 on FeedSpot's list and 3 of the first 20 creators on each TikTok page mainly sell courses, and several more both teach and take brand work.

A course seller is not a bad pick if the portfolio holds work for real brands in your niche. Check that the portfolio videos show brand products and not lesson examples, and that the bio offers work to brands, not to students.

How to find UGC creators on Instagram

1. Search Google with site:instagram.com "ugc creator" plus your niche and your country or a city, which gave the best list in our test with 8 of 20 passing every check.
2. Search a creator database for "UGC" and your niche, then read each bio for the niche, because a two-word search can match either word.
3. Open each profile and look for "UGC" in the name or bio and a link titled portfolio.
4. Check that the newest post that is not pinned is less than 30 days old.
5. Open the portfolio and the link page, and find the email there or in the bio.
6. Use FeedSpot's list to see who is well known, and expect big accounts and course sellers at the top.

For a wider search beyond UGC, see our test of 5 ways to find influencers and finding micro-influencers beyond hashtag lists.

How to find UGC creators on TikTok

1. Open TikTok's public pages for a niche hashtag, such as tiktok.com/tag/foodugc, and a discover page, such as tiktok.com/discover/food-ugc-creator, which both open signed out.
2. Check the country by hand, because Google and the hashtag pages mix in many UK and Canadian creators.
3. Expect an email in the bio, since 71.8% of TikTok UGC accounts in our index write one.
4. Watch two or three videos labeled "UGC example", because on TikTok the grid often is the portfolio.
5. Skip accounts whose bio link sells a masterclass unless their samples show paid brand work.

How to find UGC creators for free

Google site: search, TikTok's tag and discover pages and FeedSpot's top 60 are all free to use, and they cost time. Across the 140 account checks in our test, 14 different creators passed all six. You can also post your brief in r/UGCcreators. In the 2024 thread above, creators answered within 40 minutes, and 11 of the 43 replies linked a Canva portfolio.

What to check in a UGC portfolio

1. Look for work in your category, so a skincare brand should see skin videos with texture shots, before and after framing and product handling, not only fashion or food.
2. Watch the first 3 seconds of at least three samples, because the hook decides an ad, and Brighter Click gives the same rule of three or four samples.
3. Look for brand names you can check, the way @melnik_ugc and @ugc_liya_yas name brands in their bios and carry Instagram's paid partnership label on 14 and 50 of their newest 94 posts.
4. Check the sound, the light and whether the creator talks to camera, does voice-over or shows hands only, so you know what styles you can order.
5. Ask for the raw footage policy and the number of hooks per video, because ads need several openings to test.
6. Check that the faces and voices in the portfolio are the creator's own.

What usage rights to ask for

The rights change the price. JoinBrands says organic-only use costs far less than a license for paid ads, and Brighter Click says to confirm whether a video's price includes paid ad rights, for how long, and on which platforms. Ask for these five terms in writing before the creator starts.

1. Agree where the video can run, such as organic posts on your accounts, your website and email, or paid ads.
2. Agree how long you can use it, such as 3, 6 or 12 months, or without end.
3. Name the ad platforms, and say whether you can run the video from the creator's account as an Instagram partnership ad or a TikTok Spark Ad.
4. Agree whether you get the raw files and can cut new versions.
5. Agree whether the creator can make the same kind of video for a competitor, and for how long.

Price production and rights as two lines. Our guide to budgeting usage rights separately from production shows how, and planning Instagram partnership ads before production covers the ad permissions. To prepare the agreement, see preparing a creator contract discussion.

What to send in the first message

Put the terms in the first email, so the creator can quote. A short version:

Hi [name], I run marketing at [brand], a vitamin C serum for dry skin. I watched your [brand] serum video and liked the texture shots. We want 3 videos of 20 to 30 seconds, each with 2 hooks, filmed at home with the product, for paid ads on Meta and TikTok for 6 months, with raw files. We ship the product next week and need drafts by [date]. What is your rate for this, and can you send two skincare samples?

The message names the product, the number of videos and hooks, the use, the length of the rights, the timeline and the question. Our guide to writing a creator pitch that makes the offer clear has more examples. Use the email the creator published, and read finding a creator's published business email if it is not in the bio.

How we ran the test

We counted UGC accounts on October 24, 2026 with the same search API the Virev app uses, one search per platform and follower band, with the query "ugc". We split the results into follower ranges small enough to page through, drew pages of 50 accounts at random in proportion to each range's size, and weighted the shares by range. A script matched UGC, emails, links and niche words in each bio, and we read 180 bios by hand to check what the matches were.

For the test we ran each way once per brief, as a marketer would, and took the first 20 accounts in the order shown. We read Instagram profiles and their newest posts and TikTok profiles and their newest videos through Virev's crawler, signed out. We opened every bio link, and read Linktree and Beacons pages in a browser. We judged the niche, the country, the UGC offer and course selling from the bio, the link titles and the newest captions, and applied the same rules to every way.

Twenty accounts per way is a small sample, and reading a bio for the niche or a course offer is a judgment call. The US check counts only a place written on the profile, so it misses creators who live in the US and do not say so. The portfolio check counts only a bio link, so it misses TikTok creators whose portfolio is their grid. The index covers only the accounts Virev crawls, and it has few TikTok accounts under 1,000 followers. Marketplace pages were read without an account and can show more after signup.

Data for journalists

The test covers 140 accounts from 7 runs, 126 different profiles, with all six checks per account. The index tables cover 182,831 Instagram and 20,202 TikTok accounts that name UGC, with follower bands, email and link shares, niches and the hand check. Download the accounts and checks as how-to-find-ugc-creators-test-2026.csv and the index tables as ugc-creators-index-2026.csv. Cite as: Virev, "How to find UGC creators for your brand", October 2026, virev.ai/blog/how-to-find-ugc-creators.

Find UGC creators for your brief

Virev's UGC creator search covers 180M+ creators on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Search posts and profiles by the style you want, filter to small creators, and open the profiles that come back. Try UGC creators on Instagram, UGC creators on TikTok or skincare UGC creators in the US to start.