The term covers two different businesses. Some marketplaces are run by TikTok, YouTube, Meta and Amazon, and they mostly work as a free introduction service. Others are independent companies that earn money from each deal, charging the brand, the creator or both.
What does a creator marketplace do?
It connects brands that want creator content with creators who will make it, and sometimes it handles the payment. Who runs the marketplace decides what it charges and who pays.
Brands use marketplaces to search creators by audience, send briefs and track results. Creators use them to get inbound offers without cold pitching. The real difference between marketplaces is money. Some hold the brand’s payment until the work is approved, and others step out after the introduction and leave invoicing to you.
How do the TikTok, YouTube, Meta and Amazon marketplaces work?
All four take nothing from creators. Where brands pay the platform at all, it is normal ad spend to boost the content, or in Amazon’s case a bonus on product sales.
| Marketplace | What brands pay | Creator cut | Who handles payment | Creator entry bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok One | No access fee or minimum ad spend, plus the creator’s fee | 0% through TikTok One Pay | TikTok holds it until the brand approves your video | 18+, 1,000 followers for projects |
| YouTube Creator Partnerships | Free creator search in Google Ads, plus the negotiated fee | 0% | The brand pays you directly | 18+, in the YouTube Partner Program, 24 countries |
| Meta Creator Marketing Hub | No fee listed, plus the negotiated fee | 0% | The brand pays you directly | 18+, 1,000 followers, professional account |
| Amazon Creator Connections | A bonus of at least 10% on a budget of at least $5,000 | 0% of the bonus | Amazon, about 60 days after the month ends | Bronze tier or higher in Creator Stars |
TikTok One is the only one of the three content marketplaces that holds the brand’s money. TikTok One Pay, announced in September 2026, promises brand deal payments within 30 days of your video posting. YouTube and Meta stop at the introduction, so a brand that pays late is your problem.
Amazon pays commission on sales, not flat fees for content. A 10% bonus on a 3% category pays you 13%, but only on purchases made within 24 hours of a click. Brands also face stricter entry rules there, since they need Brand Registry and a US advertising account.
What happened to TikTok Creator Marketplace, BrandConnect and Instagram’s creator marketplace?
All three were renamed or merged between 2025 and 2026. Older articles still use the old names, which makes searching for them confusing.
| Old name | Current name | When it changed |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok Creator Marketplace | TikTok One | The old site stopped working on April 1, 2025 |
| YouTube BrandConnect, originally FameBit | YouTube Creator Partnerships | Relaunched on March 24, 2026 |
| Instagram creator marketplace | Meta Creator Marketing Hub | Merged with Partnership Ads Hub in September 2026 |
TikTok stopped new Creator Marketplace campaigns and applications on March 1, 2025, and past campaigns carried over to TikTok One. YouTube said no BrandConnect features were dropped, and the program has grown from 7 markets at relaunch to 24 countries and regions. Meta’s merger added Facebook creators next to Instagram creators, so expect its menus to keep shifting for a while.
How do independent marketplaces like Collabstr and GRIN work?
Independent marketplaces charge for the matchmaking through subscriptions, per-order fees or both. Most take nothing from creators, but Collabstr and Passionfroot do.
| Marketplace | What brands pay | What creators give up |
|---|---|---|
| Collabstr | $0, $299 or $399 a month, plus a 10% hiring fee, or 5% on Premium | 15% of each sale |
| Insense | From $500 a month billed quarterly, plus a 7% to 20% marketplace fee | 0%, plus $3 on withdrawals under $50 |
| Billo | From $99 per video, no subscription | 0% |
| Aspire | A custom quote after a demo, plus a 2% handling fee and processing | 0%, though international creators pay PayPal’s conversion fee |
| GRIN | $0 to $1,500 a month, plus a 5% to 20% fee on wallet deposits | 0% |
| Passionfroot | Plans not published, plus 5% on deals creators bring in | 0% on your own deals, 15% on deals its network finds |
Collabstr’s double fee is the one to watch. On a $100 order the brand pays $110 and the creator gets $85, so Collabstr keeps $25. Passionfroot’s 15% follows every repeat booking with a brand it introduced, which adds up if that brand becomes a regular.
Payment protection is better here than on YouTube or Meta. Collabstr holds the brand’s money in escrow, Insense freezes it when you’re hired, GRIN pays from a wallet the brand funds in advance and Billo brands prepay a balance.
Which creator marketplace should a brand use?
Pick by what you are buying. One-off posts, UGC for ads and long-running ambassador programs each have a different best fit.
Collabstr suits a small brand buying a few posts this week, since the free plan charges only the 10% fee per order. For UGC ad videos, Billo needs no subscription, while Insense suits a steady flow of Meta Partnership Ads and TikTok Spark Ads if you can commit to $1,500 a quarter. Our Insense vs Billo comparison and Collabstr vs Insense comparison go deeper on cost.
GRIN and Aspire are built for Shopify brands running gifting, affiliate and ambassador programs. GRIN publishes its prices, and Aspire makes you sit through a demo to learn yours, which we see as a real drawback. See GRIN vs Aspire for the full split.
The platform-run marketplaces are free for brands to use. Pick TikTok One if you want TikTok to hold payment, and use YouTube or Meta if you plan to boost the sponsored content as ads.
Which creator marketplace should a creator join?
Join every platform-run marketplace you qualify for, since none of them cost you anything. Then add one independent marketplace that fits your niche.
Meta Creator Marketing Hub has the lowest bar, 1,000 followers and a professional account, and it is open almost everywhere Meta sells ads. TikTok One projects also open at 1,000 followers, but only where TikTok One has launched. YouTube Creator Partnerships needs the YouTube Partner Program, which means 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. Our TikTok One vs YouTube Creator Partnerships page compares the two.
Billo needs no followers at all if you are 18 or older and live in the US, Canada or the UK. Insense asks for 1,000 Instagram followers and 500 median TikTok views, in one of 22 countries. Passionfroot tops our creator marketplace ranking at 7.0 out of 10, best for B2B newsletter and LinkedIn creators, followed by Billo at 6.6 and GRIN at 6.5.