The sponsored-video marketplacebuilt by a creator, not a boardroom
Brand deals,
no agency cut.
ViewStage is the marketplace where brands hire creators for sponsored video, and both sides keep more: creators keep 95%, brands pay a flat 5% on top1. AI matches brands and creators by fit and reviews every video before the brand sees it. Payment sits in escrow from the moment you agree.
We’re onboarding in waves. Signing up puts you in line.
№ 02How it works, both seats
One marketplace, two doors.
For brands
Post a campaign
Write a brief in minutes. The AI helps you shape it into something creators can actually act on.
Review work that has already been checked
Every submission passes the AI review before it reaches your queue.3 Approve it, and the escrowed payment releases. Nothing leaves escrow until you do.
For creators
Set up your profile
Connect YouTube or TikTok and tell us what you make. Instagram is rolling out next.
Get a feed that fits
Live campaigns, ranked by your match score.2 Every brief shows its per-creator budget before you apply, and you can propose your own rate. No cold pitching, no copy-paste agency emails.
Submit, get approved, get paid
Upload your video. The AI reviews it before the brand sees it.3 If something doesn't pass, you'll see exactly what to fix and where, then resubmit. The money was escrowed before you hit record.
One AI, two shifts.
Before the deal
It matches both sides by fit: brands see ranked creators, creators see ranked campaigns. Nobody cold-pitches.
After the submission
It reviews every video for disclosure, brand safety, do's and don'ts, and production quality before a brand spends a minute on it.3
№ 03Marketplace fees: the part everyone hides
5% each side. Printed on the receipt.
Creators keep 95% of the agreed price. Brands pay 5% on top of it, and that's the whole business model.1 For a brand, that's the agreed price plus 5%, all-in. Not a retainer plus a markup you never see. No subscription before your first deal, no "don't worry about what the brand paid."
The same $1,000 deal, elsewhere4
- Through a talent agency
- 20–50% disappeared in the middle on our founder's own deals, and he never learned the real number.5
- On Fiverr
- The seller keeps ~$800 after the 20% commission; buyers pay another 5.5% on top.
- On Collabstr
- 15% from the creator, 10% from the brand, about $250 gone from the middle.
- On subscription platforms
- $300–$2,500 a month before a single creator gets paid.
“They don't have to tell you what the deal is actually worth. As long as you agree to your number, they keep the difference.”
ViewStage
Deal receipt · shown to both sides
- Agreed deal price
- $1,000.00
- Brand service fee (5%)
- +$50.00
- Brand pays
- $1,050.00
- Platform fee (5%)
- −$50.00
- Creator receives
- $950.00
- ViewStage keeps
- $100.00
- Subscription
- $0.00
- Hidden markup
- $0.00
No middleman was paid
in the making of this deal
№ 04AI video review: quality control
Nothing reaches a brand unreviewed.
Every submission runs through a multi-model AI review of audio, frames, and on-screen text before it lands in a brand's queue.3 Brands review work that already cleared the bar. Creators get judged on published criteria, not a mood, so when a check fails, the creator sees the specific finding, where it happens, and a suggested fix, then revises and resubmits. No silent rejections.
Submission review — automated checks
- FTC disclosure present and audible
- Brand safety: no NSFW, no competitor conflicts
- Sponsor actually appears, by name
- Production quality clears the bar
- Campaign do’s, don’ts & required hashtags respected
Passed → brand queue
One thing we deliberately don't do: force scripts. Briefs here set guardrails: disclosure, safety, do's and don'ts. The jokes, the pacing, the read on your audience? That stays yours. The deals that perform best are the ones where creators keep creative room.
№ 05Why this exists
“Thousands of dollars go to someone who sent an email, for work you did.”
Built by a creator who kept getting burned.
Duke has spent eight years on YouTube: hardcore Minecraft “100 Days” runs, 300,000+ subscribers, tens of millions of views, and a folder of brand-deal stories he wishes he didn't have.
An agency's own broken link nearly cost him an entire payment: a month of chasing and a legal threat, for a video that was already live. Revision rounds relayed through an agent who couldn't explain what to fix, or where. Offers that only made sense if somebody in the middle was quietly keeping 20 to 50 percent.5
ViewStage is the platform he wished existed back when his channel was small: deals made directly between brands and creators, money escrowed before filming starts, review criteria you can actually read, and a flat fee printed where everyone can see it.
The receipt up there? That's his revenge.
The full story, and how the pieces fit№ 06No follower minimum, no velvet rope
1,000 followers or 1,000,000: fit decides.
There's no follower minimum here. Matching puts fit first: most of a match score is what you make and how it fits the brief, and the follower-count part of the score is capped, so bigger doesn't simply win.2 Duke got his worst offers when his channel was small. Small creators are exactly who this place was built for.
№ 07Asked & answered
Fair questions, straight answers.
What does ViewStage cost?
A flat 5% on each side, and that's the whole business model. On a $1,000 deal the brand pays $1,050 and the creator receives $950; ViewStage keeps $100. No subscription, no retainers, no hidden markup, and payment-processing costs come out of our share.
Who sets the price of a deal?
The brand does. Every campaign is posted with a per-creator budget, and creators see it before applying. A creator can propose their own rate against it, and the amount both sides agree on is exactly what goes into escrow. No number is hidden from either side.
Is there a follower minimum to join?
No. There's no follower minimum and no tier to unlock. Matching puts fit first: most of a match score is what you make and how it fits the brief, and the follower-count part of the score is capped, so a bigger channel doesn't simply win.
How do brands and creators find each other?
Both directions are matched by AI. When a brand sets a campaign live, the matching engine ranks creators by fit against the brief. Creators get a feed of live campaigns ranked by their match score and apply to the ones they want. Nobody cold-pitches, and no agency sits in the middle.
What does the AI review actually check?
Every submission is screened before it reaches the brand: FTC disclosure, brand safety and competitor conflicts, sponsor presence, production quality, and the campaign's do's, don'ts, and required hashtags. Humans make the final approval call, and briefs set guardrails, not scripts.
What happens if a video doesn't pass review?
The creator sees the specific findings (what failed, where in the video, and a suggested fix) and can revise and resubmit. Nothing is silently rejected: the AI screens against published criteria, and humans make the final call on every deal.
When do creators get paid?
The brand's payment goes into escrow when the deal is agreed, before filming starts. Approval releases it, and the creator keeps 95% of the agreed price. No invoicing, no chasing, no waiting on an agency. Payments are processed by Stripe.
Which platforms does ViewStage support?
Campaigns run on YouTube and TikTok today. Instagram is rolling out next, and more platforms are on the way.
Is ViewStage an agency?
No. It's the opposite. ViewStage was built by a creator specifically to remove the middleman: brands and creators deal directly, terms are agreed on the platform, and the only fee is the flat 5% on each side, printed on the receipt.
Is ViewStage an influencer-marketing platform?
It does that job, connecting brands with creators for sponsored video, but as a flat-fee marketplace rather than a subscription influencer-marketing platform or a talent agency. AI matches both sides, every video is reviewed before the brand sees it, and payment sits in escrow from the start.
№ 08Admission
Take your seat.
We’re onboarding in waves. Sign up now and you’re in line when the doors open.
The fine print (we mean it)
- 1.ViewStage's standard rate is 5% added on the brand's side and 5% deducted on the creator's side of the agreed price, about 10% of a deal combined, all of it disclosed to both parties. Payments and escrow are processed by Stripe, and payment-processing costs come out of our share, not yours.
- 2.A match score is mostly fit: 50% semantic match between the brief and what you make, 30% structured fit (niche, format, budget, platform), and 20% an audience signal that's deliberately capped. Past roughly 500K subscribers, a bigger channel stops scoring higher. Audience size is never a requirement to join.
- 3.Automated checks cover FTC disclosure, brand safety, competitor conflicts, sponsor presence, production quality, and the campaign's do's, don'ts, and required hashtags. Humans make the final call. When a check fails, the creator receives the specific findings and can revise and resubmit.
- 4.Sources, checked June 2026: Fiverr charges sellers a 20% commission plus buyers a 5.5% service fee (fiverr.com). Collabstr charges creators 15% plus brands a 10% hiring fee on its free tier (collabstr.com). Subscription platforms such as Upfluence, Aspire, and #paid list plans from roughly $300–$2,500+ per month.
- 5.Duke's lived experience across years of sponsored video, not a market survey. Talent agencies are not required to disclose the value of the underlying deal to the creator.
- 6.Creators connect their channels via platform OAuth; the reach and audience numbers brands see are synced from the platform's own APIs, not self-reported media kits.