Billo vs JoinBrands: rates, approval, fees and job volume for creators

You have a phone, a few products at home and no followers, and every guide tells you to start on Billo or JoinBrands. Then you open Reddit and find one creator calling Billo the worst app they have used, and another calling JoinBrands "straight up poo poo". So which one deserves your evenings?

The honest answer is that they are good at different things. Billo is the easier first yes and the faster first payout. JoinBrands is harder to crack but pays more per deal once brands start picking you. This page compares them on the four things that decide your month: rates, approval, fees and job volume, using each platform's own creator page and what creators on both report.

A quick definition first. UGC (user generated content) here means short videos you film for a brand to use in its ads or on its pages. You are not posting to your own audience, so follower count matters much less than a clean, convincing video.

Billo vs JoinBrands: the short verdict

Join Billo first for a fast first paid video, add JoinBrands the same week for higher paying deals, and do not rely on either alone. Both are free to join and neither requires followers, so the choice is about where to spend your application time, not which one to sign up for.

If you want a wider view of every app worth joining, our guide to the best UGC platforms for beginners ranks the rest.

How much do Billo and JoinBrands pay creators?

Billo pays new creators about $30 to $55 per video, rising to about $70 to $120 after Premium. JoinBrands jobs tend to land around $70 to $100, with some creators reporting deals of $100 or more. Neither platform publishes a standard creator rate, so these figures come from creators.

Billo rates

On r/UGCcreators, a creator who said they love Billo put starting payments at $30 to $55 depending on the brief. Once they hit Premium, which they described as 14 videos, a 90% response rate and a 4.8 rating, offers moved to a minimum of about $70 to $120. Billo's own creator page confirms Premium unlocks after 14 completed videos with excellent stats, without defining the stats.

The low base rate is the most repeated complaint. A brand owner in the same subreddit said a creator received $40 for a video the brand paid $125 for, even after a volume discount. Billo's pricing page says brand videos start at $99 and that creator pay is part of that price, with Billo's fee not deducted from what you are shown. In other words, the number you see is the number you get, but it may be well under half of what the brand paid.

There is a second form of pay: product. One creator took a $40 job with an athletic brand and kept shoes, two joggers and a shirt they valued at about $300. That only counts if you would have bought the product anyway.

JoinBrands rates

JoinBrands advertises to brands that content starts from $7, which tells you the floor is low. In practice, creators report better per deal pay than Billo once they win jobs. One creator wrote that after hundreds of applications they finally landed "a few $100-ish dollar deals". Another creator's monthly breakdown showed JoinBrands paying $210 for 3 videos, about $70 each, against Billo's $160 for 2 deals, about $80 each.

What a month looks like

Here is the arithmetic for a realistic beginner month, using the reported figures:

1. Billo: 3 videos at $40 = $120.
2. JoinBrands: 2 jobs at $80, minus a 20% fee = $128.
3. Total: about $248, plus whatever products you keep.

That is paid practice, not a salary. Our breakdown of how much UGC creators make per video shows where rates go once you pitch brands directly.

Which is easier to get approved on?

Getting into both is easy; getting picked for jobs is hard on both. Billo asks for a short intro video and JoinBrands runs a verification step, but the real filter is the brand choosing between applicants.

On Billo, you record an intro in the app. Billo's creator page says no experience or following is needed. Still, one creator on r/ContentRich said they applied with 8 samples and got a generic rejection, and another on r/UGCcreators applied to 15 to 20 jobs without hearing back. Some creators also get stuck on the upload itself, so export vertical video at a normal resolution and keep it short.

On JoinBrands, every creator goes through verification before brands can see them. After that, the bottleneck is selection: "I have applied to hundreds of jobs there and maybe completed a dozen" is a typical report. The upside is that brands can also find and invite you, so a strong profile keeps working while you sleep.

Tip: On both apps, the first 2 seconds of your sample decide most applications. Show your face and the product immediately, and write one line in each application that proves you looked at the product.

What fees do Billo and JoinBrands take?

Billo charges creators nothing and says its fee comes out of the brand's price, not your pay. JoinBrands lists no joining fee, but Whop reports a 20% fee on paid content. Both statements need reading carefully.

Billo is free to download and has no monthly membership, according to its creator page. The catch is not a fee on you, it is the gap between what the brand pays (from $99, per Billo) and what you see (often $30 to $55 at the start). A review on r/ContentRich estimated creators see roughly 40% to 60% of the brand price.

For JoinBrands, Whop's roundup of UGC platforms reports a 20% fee on paid content, and another creator review mentions a transaction fee only when you complete a paid job. JoinBrands' creator page does not list a creator fee. So on a $100 job, plan on taking home about $80 until you see otherwise in your own payout screen.

Watch out: Some brands on either app ask you to buy the product first and get reimbursed. Check whether reimbursement is included in the job price before you accept.

Which has more jobs?

JoinBrands shows more variety of work, Billo shows a steadier stream of simple product videos, and both can feel empty in a narrow niche. Volume depends heavily on your country, age group and category.

Billo jobs are mostly short product videos for physical goods: beauty, supplements, food, home and tech accessories. One creator complained that many listings they saw were adult only or aimed at specific professions such as dentists, roofers and nurses, which left few jobs that fit them.

JoinBrands covers more formats: UGC videos and photos, TikTok posts, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Amazon reviews and shoppable videos, and TikTok Shop affiliate content, according to its creator page. That breadth means more listings, and also more listings that are not really paid UGC, such as affiliate only offers. Filter for jobs with a fixed fee.

Billo or JoinBrands: which should you start with?

Start on Billo if you want your first paid video fast and your portfolio is empty. Prioritise JoinBrands if you already have three good samples and can handle a lot of rejection for better pay per deal. Most creators should run both.

Whichever you start with, use the first ten jobs to build what matters next: samples, ratings and reviews. The UGC Creator pack walks through building three brand-shaped samples before you apply anywhere.

Mistakes creators make on Billo and JoinBrands

The common failures are applying to everything, accepting jobs without reading the net pay, and staying on low paying apps too long. These come straight from the threads.

• Spray-and-pray applications. Hundreds of generic applications produce a dozen jobs. Fewer, product-specific applications do better.
• Ignoring the fee. A $100 JoinBrands job with a reported 20% fee is $80.
• Treating product as pay. Free items are only worth something if you would have bought them.
• Unlimited revisions. One r/ContentRich commenter warned that brands can turn a $60 video into three rounds of reshoots. Agree on revisions in writing.
• Signing away ad rights for nothing. Billo lets you price optional add-ons such as organic posting or partnership ads. Charge for them.
• Staying forever. A former agency worker on r/UGCcreators called Billo's pay exploitative and said to pitch brands directly. Use the apps to build proof, then move up.

Where to go from here

1. Download Billo and record the intro video today.
2. Sign up for JoinBrands and finish verification.
3. Film three samples in one niche with products you own.
4. Apply to five to ten well matched jobs a week on each app, with one product-specific line in every application.
5. After your first ten jobs, start pitching brands directly at higher rates.

The UGC Creator pack gives you the full step-by-step in 23 lessons across 6 modules, with sample scripts, pitch templates, a rate and usage rights sheet, for a one time $19, or all 16 Money Printer packs for $39. Results vary by niche and effort, and no app guarantees work.