What Do Brand Deals Pay Creators in 2026

Jess Karp has made 71 Squarespace-sponsored videos that we have logged, from July 2021 to June 2026.

That is what a brand deal looks like when it works: the same sponsor coming back again and again.

Squarespace does it at scale. It bought 3,022 spots from 523 creators, about six paid videos per creator.

A brand deal in 2026 is any paid spot between a sponsor and a creator.

We track 8,496 creators in this niche and 14 priced deals, with median rates from $500 at 10K to 50K subscribers to $16,800 at 1M plus.

Sponsor repeat rate is 43%, the clearest sign a deal worked.

What's Inside

1. The 4 shapes a brand deal takes.
2. The sponsors running the most brand deals.
3. How 8,496 tracked creators split across 5 subscriber bands.
4. What the priced creators earn per integration.
5. A worked negotiation script at the 120K-sub level.

What Are the 4 Shapes a Brand Deal Takes?

The first shape is the flat-fee spot.

The brand pays a one-time amount for a set deliverable.

This is what 14 priced creators in our niche map to.

The second shape is the affiliate-only deal.

The brand pays nothing up front.

The creator earns a cut on tracked sales.

The third shape is the gift-only deal.

It is unpaid but still needs an FTC tag.

The fourth shape is the hybrid.

It blends a base fee with a bonus tied to results.

Most reportable rate data sits in the first and fourth shapes.

Which Sponsors Run the Most Brand Deals?

The most active sponsors measured by deal count.

Here is what I see a lot in the brand-deal data.

The same dozen sponsors show up over and over across thousands of creators.

They have built easy-to-join affiliate programs that any working creator can sign up for.

The table below is our full count.

It shows the deal count and the number of separate creators each brand has paid.

Source: Influencer Advisory first-party coverage across our full sponsor deal table.

Read the Squarespace line.

It bought 3,022 spots from just 523 creators.

That is close to six paid videos per creator.

That is the repeat-rate sign in plain sight.

A brand that comes back five or six times has decided the channel works.

Gamer Supps is the most extreme.

1,437 deals spread across just 201 creators is about seven repeat buys each.

Eight of the top twelve are direct-to-consumer or software brands.

Each one has a tracked promo code or signup link.

That is why they can run programs at this scale.

Every shape of brand deal carries the same disclosure obligation.

How Are 8,496 Creators Split by Subscriber Count?

We hold a confirmed rate for 14 of these creators.

All 8,496 split like this.

Source: Influencer Advisory creator coverage across 8,496 creators.

Two-thirds of inventory lives between 10K and 250K subscribers.

What Do 14 Priced Creators Earn Per Brand Deal?

From the creators where we hold a confirmed rate, the medians by subscriber count.

Source: Influencer Advisory confirmed rates. 13 of the 14 priced creators fall in these four ranges.

The 50K to 250K median of $1,450 rests on two priced creators, so treat it as a starting point for the talk.

Who Are the Brand-Deal Workhorses?

Rate medians tell you the price.

Deal counts tell you who is doing the work.

A few named creators in our table carry a lot of paid spots.

That is the clearest proof a channel has turned brand deals into a steady line of income.

Source: Influencer Advisory first-party creator coverage, channels with 50 or more tracked deals.

These are real channels with public sponsor logs.

Our Coffee Shelter, at 733K subs, has logged 456 paid spots.

Its top repeat sponsor is the espresso brand 9Barista.

John Coogan, the startup channel at 459K, has worked with Figma more than any other brand we track.

More Than Farmers, at 442K, repeats most often with the drink mix brand LMNT.

The pattern holds across all five.

A working creator does not chase one big deal.

They build a rotation of brands that come back.

A Worked Negotiation at 120K Subscribers

Say you run a 120K-sub channel.

That sits in the 50K to 250K range, where a third of the creators we track sit.

Our priced data puts the median for that range at $1,450 per spot.

Creators in that range average about 50,700 views per sponsored video.

Here is the talk.

The brand opens with a $700 flat fee and a 10% affiliate code.

You counter with the median.

You say a peer at your size clears $1,450 for a 60-second spot.

You point to your real average of 50K views.

You keep the 10% code on top as the performance layer.

That is the hybrid shape, the fourth deal type.

It is the one most working creators settle into.

The flat fee covers your time.

The code rewards the brand if the video wins.

The mistake creators make is taking the brand's first number.

The median is the anchor that holds, because it is what creators your size clear.

Where we come in

A brand deal is a sales talk.

We run that talk for brands and creators.

We find named sponsor matches in your niche from the 281,264-deal log.

We handle the rate talk against the priced medians.

We manage the FTC tag list so the spot ships clean.

If you want to land your next brand deal at the median rather than the opening number, speak with us.

For broader context see our creator economy primer and how much influencer marketing costs.