What a UGC rate card is, and how it differs from a media kit or portfolio

A UGC rate card is a one-page list of what you sell and what each thing costs — the document you send when a brand asks "what are your rates?" You'll also hear it called a rate sheet or a price list.

It gets mixed up with two others, so here's the split:

  • Your portfolio is the work: the 9:16 videos a brand can press play on.
  • Your media kit is the summary of you: niche, formats, how to reach you.
  • Your rate card is the pricing: what each deliverable costs.

All three can share a page, but they do different jobs (more in media kit vs portfolio). And the rate card is usually the last one a brand looks at — prices rarely come up until the videos have earned the question.

What to include on a UGC rate card

A UGC rate card should include everything a brand needs to work out a total without emailing you back, and nothing else. That's six things:

  1. Your name, niche and contact, plus a link to your videos.
  2. Your base rate for one finished video, with the spec written out: length, format, number of hooks.
  3. What the base includes: revision rounds and organic usage, with the term.
  4. A bundle price for three or more videos.
  5. Usage and add-ons, each on its own line: paid ad usage, whitelisting, raw footage.
  6. A date, so an old screenshot can't be quoted back to you later.

What stays off matters just as much:

  • Follower counts. UGC pays for the content, not your reach.
  • A range for the same deliverable. A brand reads the lower number as the price.
  • "All usage included." Once usage is folded into the base, it's free.

If it isn't listed, it isn't included. And when a brand asks for something that's off the card, "let me quote that for you" is a normal answer.

A beginner UGC rate card example you can copy

A blank page is the hard part, so here's a full beginner UGC rate card, line by line. It uses a $100 base, the top of the total-beginner range, so the percentages are easy to read. Treat it as a template for your own rate card, rate sheet or price list, and swap in your numbers.

  • Header: [Your name], UGC creator, [niche]. [Email]. [Link to your videos].
  • One UGC video: $100. One 15-30 second 9:16 video, one hook, filmed and edited.
  • Included: one revision round, plus organic use on the brand's own channels for 3 months.
  • Three-video bundle: $250.
  • Paid ad usage: + $30 per video, per platform, per license term.
  • Whitelisting / Spark Ads (ads run through my account): + $40 per video.
  • Raw footage (the unedited clips): + $40 per video.
  • Extra hooks, extra revision rounds, rush delivery and exclusivity: priced separately, quoted with the project.
  • Footer: Rates as of [month] 2026. Final quote depends on scope and usage.

Every number comes from a rule, so you can rebuild the card at any base:

  • Base rate: one 15-30 second 9:16 video, one hook, with organic use is $50-$100 for a total beginner, $100-$150 with a few solid videos in your portfolio, and $150-$250 once brands re-book you. More in how much to charge for UGC.
  • Organic use: usually included for 3-6 months. The example uses 3.
  • Bundle: three or more videos get a modest per-video discount. The example prices three at 2.5 times the base; structuring UGC packages goes further.
  • Paid ad usage: 20-40% of the base, per platform, per term. The example uses 30%.
  • Whitelisting: a flat monthly fee, or an extra 25-50%. The example uses 40%.
  • Raw footage: usually 30-50% of the base rate. The example uses 40%.

A lower base scales every line down with it. The UGC rate calculator does the arithmetic for a specific deal, and usage rights pricing explains how license terms work.

Should you put prices on it, or write "rates on request"?

Yes, put the prices on it. A rate card without numbers is only a list of services, and "rates on request" just adds a round of emails.

The real choice is who gets to see it:

  • Keep it private and send it when asked, which leaves room to fit each quote to the scope and usage.
  • Publish one "starting from" line with your base rate, which filters out brands with no budget.

Early on, sending on request tends to serve you better, because your rates are still moving.

It's normal to feel exposed with a number in writing. The card is a starting point, not a contract. If a brand's budget comes in under it, a good move is to trim the scope and leave the rate where it is.

Where your rate card lives and when to send it

Your rate card should live somewhere you can share in seconds, and the moment to send it is when a brand asks for your rates. Three places work:

  • A one-page PDF or doc you attach to an email.
  • A rates section on your portfolio page, under your videos, so one link carries the work and the pricing.
  • A saved text version for DMs, where attachments get awkward.

It's best left out of a first pitch. A cold email does more with your videos, and pricing lands better once they've seen the work.

When you do send it, try pointing at the right line: "For a launch like this, I'd suggest the three-video bundle."

How often to update your rate card

A rate card is worth updating when your position changes, not on a calendar. The usual signals: brands start re-booking you, you have more inquiries than you can take, or every quote gets an instant yes.

A sensible step is 15-25% at a time. New inquiries get the new card straight away; repeat clients get a heads-up before their next booking, never mid-project. How to raise your UGC rates has the wording.

Each time you edit, change the date and retire the old version. A UGC rate card for 2026 should say 2026.

FAQ

Do I need a rate card as a beginner? You need your numbers decided before a brand asks. The layout matters much less, and a plain list in a doc does the job.

What should a UGC rate card look like in 2026? One dated page: a base rate with its spec, what's included, a bundle price, and usage and add-ons on separate lines. Keeping paid ad usage apart from the base rate matters most.

What's the quickest way to make one today? Copy the example above into a note on your phone, swap in your own base rate, and date it. That's a working rate card. The design can come later.

A rates section on a portfolio page does the job of a rate card, and Ninefolio is one tool made for that.