Brand Deal Rates for 10k Followers: What to Charge

At about 10k followers, most creators should quote around US$1,000 for one video with organic use. Our bands put 1k to 10k followers at US$250 to US$1,000 and 10k to 50k at US$1,000 to US$4,000, so 10k sits at the seam. Average views, engagement, usage and exclusivity then move the number up or down.

You just crossed 10k, a brand slid into your DMs, and now you are asking ChatGPT "how much should I charge with 10k followers?" This guide gives you the number, what moves it, and the exact message to send back.

What are typical brand deal rates for 10k followers?

A brand deal rate is the fee a brand pays you for a defined piece of work: the video, where it posts, how long the brand can use it, and any limits on who else you work with. Follower count is the first thing a brand looks at, so start with the bands. These are The Creator List's 2026 house bands for one video, the same whether it posts on your own account or goes to the brand as a UGC video:

• Under 1k followers: US$50 to US$150
• 1k to 10k followers: US$250 to US$1,000
• 10k to 50k followers: US$1,000 to US$4,000
• 50k to 100k followers: US$3,000 to US$8,000
• 100k to 500k followers: US$6,000 to US$20,000
• 500k+ followers: US$15,000 to US$50,000

At 10k you sit right on the line between two bands. Therefore you usually start at the top of the lower band or the bottom of the next one, which is the same place: around US$1,000 for one video with organic use. Not US$100. Not US$5,000 either, until your views earn it.

The band is the room you are standing in. Where you stand inside it is decided by everything below.

Why is follower count only a starting point?

Because brands are not buying followers. Instead, they are buying people who watch the video and the video itself. Two accounts at 10k can be worth very different amounts to the same brand.

Brands say this too. For example, in the IAB's 2025 Creator Ad Spend and Strategy Report, 56% of ad buyers rated audience fit as very important when choosing creators. Fit is about who watches and whether they care, which a follower number cannot show on its own.

So treat the band as where the conversation opens, then use these seven things to place yourself inside it:

1. Average views. Take your last ten videos and work out the average. If it beats your follower count, price from views (more on that below).
2. Engagement. Comments, shares and saves against views. A strong engagement rate measured against views tells a brand the audience is awake, not just present.
3. Niche. Skincare, finance, parenting and tech audiences are worth more to the brands that sell to them than broad entertainment audiences.
4. Production quality. Clean audio, good light, a hook in the first two seconds and an edit that holds. Better work earns the top of the band.
5. Deliverable type. One story frame is not one edited video. A 60-second scripted piece with a voiceover is more work than a 15-second clip.
6. Usage. Organic posting is usually included. Paid ads are a separate licence (see below).
7. Exclusivity. If the brand wants you to turn down its competitors for a period, that costs you deals, so it costs them money.

When should a creator price from views instead of followers?

Whenever your average views are higher than your follower count. That happens a lot on short-form video, where the feed pushes your post well past the people who follow you.

Say you have 10k followers but your last ten videos average 25k views. A brand paying for a video on your account is paying for those 25k people, not for 10k. Read the bands by your typical views instead and you land well inside the 10k to 50k band rather than at the bottom of it.

Two rules keep this honest:

• Use the average, not the best. One video at 400k views is a great day, not your rate. Take the last ten posts and leave the outlier in or out, but say which you did.
• Show the proof. Send a screenshot of your analytics for the last 30 days, or list the view counts. A brand will believe a number it can check.

On the other hand, if your views are lower than your followers, price from followers and lean on quality, niche and deliverable type instead. Do not drop below the band because of one slow month.

Why are page-one rate tables for 10k followers so much lower?

Search "brand deal rates 10k followers" and many of the tables near the top come from platforms that sell creator access to brands. Those pages are written for the buyer. Their job is to help a brand set a budget, so they lean toward what a brand hopes to pay.

In addition, they blend everything into one average: gifted posts, tiny one-off deals, story frames and full videos all counted together. An average dragged down by free product will always look lower than what a properly scoped paid video costs.

However, that does not make those numbers fake. It makes them the floor of the conversation, not the answer. When a brand quotes one back at you, you are not wrong. You are reading a different table. If the offer lands far below the band, how to turn down a lowball offer has the counter message and the decline message.

What does a worked example at 10k followers look like?

Meet a creator with 11k followers on TikTok in the skincare niche. Their last ten videos average 18k views, with strong comments and saves. A brand asks for one 30-second video on the creator's account, one round of revisions, and the right to run it as a paid ad for 30 days.

Here is how the number gets built:

1. Band: 11k followers puts them in the 10k to 50k band.
2. Views: 18k average views beat 11k followers, so they sit above the very bottom. Base video fee: US$1,200.
3. Usage: 30 days of paid ads adds about 30%, so US$1,200 × 0.30 = US$360.
4. Total: US$1,560, written as two lines so the brand sees what each part buys.

If the brand later asks for 90 days of ads instead, the usage line becomes 40% to 60% of the video fee for that 90-day window, so US$480 to US$720 on top. The full usage ladder, including renewals, is in usage rights for creators.

Here is the message to send:

Hi [Name], thanks for the brief, this one fits my audience well.

For one 30-second TikTok on my account with one round of revisions, my fee is US$1,200. Running it as a paid ad for 30 days is an extra US$360, so US$1,560 in total. My last ten videos average about 18k views, and I can send the analytics.

If you would rather skip the ads for now, the video on its own is US$1,200. Which works better for you?

One number per line, proof of views, and a choice at the end. The Creator Rate Calculator does the same maths with your own views and niche.

How do rates compare at 5k, 25k and 50k followers?

The same logic runs at every size. Here is where a creator usually starts for one video with organic use, before views, usage and exclusivity move the number:

Read across, not down. For instance, a 5k creator averaging 30k views can price like a 25k creator. A 50k account with views stuck at 5k should not expect the top of its band.

Paid ad usage goes on top at every row: about 30% for 30 days, 40% to 60% for 90 days.

What mistakes cost creators at 10k followers?

• Quoting a per-follower formula. "US$10 per 1,000 followers" gives you US$100 at 10k. That is an under-1k price for work that sits two bands higher.
• Throwing in ads for free. "Can we also boost it?" is a second deal. Price it as a usage line every time.
• Saying yes to exclusivity without a fee. Ninety days of no competing brands can cost you more than the deal pays. The exclusivity clause guide shows how to price or narrow it.
• Leaving the scope vague. A price with no deliverables, revisions or usage written next to it invites scope creep.
• Forgetting the disclosure. A paid post must be labelled as an ad. The FTC's Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers sets out what that looks like, and most platforms have a paid partnership label built in.

Why does the first number you send matter so much?

Because the first number in a negotiation tends to shape where the deal ends. Across three experiments, whichever side made the first offer got the better outcome, and first offers strongly predicted final prices (Galinsky and Mussweiler, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology).

So if you wait for the brand to name a figure, theirs becomes the anchor. If you send a clear, scoped number first, yours does. That is why a dated rate card beats a fresh guess every time a DM arrives.

How do you turn your number into a rate card?

Take the figure you worked out above and write it down as a menu:

• One video, organic use: your base fee, for example US$1,200.
• Three videos: a small bundle saving, for example US$3,200.
• Paid ads, 30 days: about 30% of the video fee.
• Paid ads, 90 days: 40% to 60% of the video fee.
• Extra revision round: a set fee, so "one more change" has a price.
• Valid until: a date three months out, so old numbers do not follow you.

The creator rate card guide walks through each line. If you would rather not build it from scratch, the Creator Workspace keeps a rate card with usage and exclusivity pricing as one link you can paste into any DM, with a Starting Price Calculator behind it. There is a 14-day free trial, then a monthly plan (pricing).

Key takeaways

• At about 10k followers, start near US$1,000 for one video with organic use.
• 10k is where the 1k to 10k band ends and the 10k to 50k band begins, so both point to the same starting figure.
• Price from average views when they beat your followers, and send proof.
• Paid ad usage is extra: about 30% for 30 days, 40% to 60% for 90 days.
• Page-one rate tables are written for buyers, so treat them as a floor.
• Write your number into a dated rate card and send it before the brand names a figure.

One action today: average the views on your last ten videos, place yourself in the band, and save your number in the Creator Rate Calculator before the next DM lands.