Grace Sullivan
Collabstr is an influencer marketplace: brands search creator profiles, buy fixed-price content packages or post a campaign brief, and pay through escrow. This review looks at what its pricing page and FAQ said on 6 November 2026, what it costs brands and creators, how far its vetting claims go, and what users report.
We work from desk research and didn’t sign up, pay or run a campaign on Collabstr. The facts below come from Collabstr’s own pages, Trustpilot and the US Federal Trade Commission, all read on 6 November 2026, and figures such as Collabstr’s creator count are its own claims.
Quick answer: Collabstr is a live, self-serve marketplace for hiring Instagram, TikTok and YouTube creators and UGC makers. Brands can search and hire for free and pay a 10% fee per order; Pro costs $299 a month ($249 billed yearly) and adds campaigns and tracking, and Premium at $399 a month ($333 yearly) cuts the fee to 5%. Creators list for free and pay 15% of each sale. Payments sit in escrow until the brand approves the work. It has a 4.5 Trustpilot score from 503 reviews, with recent complaints about stuck payments.
Status: active. Price from: $0 plus a 10% fee per order. Safety: no Instagram login or automation involved; check each creator yourself before paying.
What Collabstr is
Collabstr’s FAQ calls it “a marketplace to find and hire influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube” and says it isn’t an agency. Creators publish a profile with fixed-price packages; brands either buy a package or post a brief that creators apply to. The pricing page claims more than 1.3 million creators, which we didn’t verify, and Trustpilot’s company details give an address in Vancouver, Canada.
Data tools in our Influencer Platforms category can analyse any public account. Collabstr only lists creators who have joined it, so a search there shows a marketplace, not all of Instagram.
How it works for brands
The simplest route is a direct hire: you buy a package from a creator’s profile, the creator has 72 hours to accept, and you aren’t charged until they do. Campaigns work the other way round. You write a brief with targeting, and matching creators apply with their prices. That needs Pro or Premium, and Collabstr says most campaigns get their first applications within the first hour, a claim we couldn’t check.
On Pro and above you can also message creators before ordering to agree deliverables, timelines and usage rights, and paid plans track live posts for reach and engagement for up to three weeks per post. For product reviews, the creator sends an address in the chat and you ship the product yourself. If this is your first creator deal, our guide to Instagram influencer marketing covers briefs, pricing and measuring results.
How it works for creators
According to the FAQ, creators build a page, list services for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, X (Twitter) or UGC, and share the link in their bio. Listing costs nothing up front; Collabstr takes a 15% transaction fee when you make a sale. Payouts run through a provider called Dots, with options such as PayPal, Cash App and Venmo. You can decline orders and you don’t sign a contract with Collabstr. The FAQ says it supports creators in more than 35 countries. For other ways to land brand deals, see our guide on how to get sponsors on Instagram.
Pricing and fees
These are the US dollar prices on Collabstr’s pricing page on 6 November 2026. Annual billing is advertised as “2 months free”.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Brand fee per order | Main inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 10% | Search, direct hire, escrow payments |
| Pro | $299 a month | $249 a month | 10% | 1 campaign a month, chat before ordering, 5 tracked posts, 20 audience reports |
| Premium | $399 a month | $333 a month | 5% | Unlimited campaigns, 15 tracked posts, 50 audience reports, priority support |
| Enterprise / Agency | From $1,000 a month, billed yearly | not stated | Subaccounts, team seats, white-label reports | |
Creators separately pay 15% of their payout, so one order carries a fee on each side. You see the brand fee before you confirm. Monthly subscriptions can be cancelled at any time and there’s no contract, but the pricing page says nothing about refunding subscription fees.
Vetting and fake followers
Collabstr’s FAQ says it verifies each creator’s identity, runs “a full audit of their social media to look for signs of fake followers & engagement” and looks at past brand deals, and the pricing page says every creator is verified before joining. How strict that is can’t be checked from outside. Use the follower count as a starting point and look at recent posts, comments and audience data yourself; our guide to finding Instagram influencers lists what to check. Instagram’s own Recommendations Guidelines say it tries not to recommend accounts that build followings through misleading practices, as our update on shadowbans and reach explains.
Payments, disputes and risks
Brands pay by card through Stripe, and Collabstr holds the money until the work is submitted and approved. After delivery the brand has 72 hours to ask for a revision or open a dispute. In principle that protects both sides. It also means a creator’s payout depends on the brand approving, or on Collabstr settling a dispute.
Your Instagram account isn’t at stake here, because Collabstr doesn’t log in to Instagram or automate anything there, unlike growth bots. Paid posts do have to be labelled: the FTC’s Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers says creators must make a “material connection” to a brand obvious, including payment or free products. Agree in the chat, before paying, whether the brand may use the content in ads and for how long.
What users say
Collabstr had a 4.5 out of 5 TrustScore on Trustpilot from 503 reviews when we read it on 6 November 2026, with 87% five-star and 6% one-star ratings and 155 reviews in the last 12 months. Trustpilot notes that the company hasn’t invited reviewers recently, so the reviews may not be representative, and that it replied to 19% of negative reviews.
Most recent praise, much of it from reviewers writing as creators, is about ease of use, communication and getting paid. The recent negative reviews are more specific. One creator said a brand went silent after delivery and the payment stayed in escrow, another user said a promised refund went unanswered for 11 days, and a brand said two listed influencers told it they had never signed up. You can read them all on Trustpilot.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free to search and hire, with fees shown before you pay.
- Fixed-price packages make budgets easy to compare.
- Escrow holds payment until the brand approves the work.
- Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and UGC in one place.
- Creators can list for free and decline orders.
- Strong Trustpilot score overall.
Cons
- Fees on both sides: 10% for brands on Free and Pro, 15% for creators.
- Campaigns and pre-order chat need Pro at $299 a month.
- Only covers creators who have joined, not all of Instagram.
- Vetting standards can’t be checked from outside.
- Recent reports of payments stuck when a brand stops responding.
Who it suits
Small brands and founders who want a few creator posts or UGC videos at a fixed price, without negotiating contracts, are the obvious fit, along with creators who want a public rate card brands can order from. Brands running regular campaigns may find Pro or Premium worth paying for the applications and tracking. Teams that need a database of every Instagram account for audience research will find it too narrow; our list of top Instagram influencers gives a sense of the wider field.
Alternatives
Other marketplaces and influencer platforms charge differently, and some are databases rather than marketplaces. When you compare them, look at the fee model, who pays it and how payment is protected, using each platform’s own pricing page on the day you decide.
Collabstr FAQ
Is Collabstr free?
For brands, searching and hiring cost nothing up front, but each order carries a 10% fee, and campaigns need a paid plan. Creators list for free and pay 15% when they make a sale.
How much does Collabstr cost?
On 6 November 2026, Pro was $299 a month or $249 billed yearly, Premium $399 a month or $333 yearly, and Enterprise from $1,000 a month billed yearly.
What fee does Collabstr take?
Brands pay 10% per order on Free and Pro and 5% on Premium. Creators pay 15% of their payout.
Is Collabstr legit?
It’s an active marketplace with escrow payments and a 4.5 Trustpilot score from 503 reviews. Some recent reviews report stuck payments and profiles that the creators say they didn’t create, so check each creator before ordering.
How does Collabstr pay creators?
Once the brand approves the work, payouts go through a provider called Dots, with options including PayPal, Cash App and Venmo.
Do I need to disclose a Collabstr deal on Instagram?
The FTC says creators must clearly disclose a material connection to a brand, and payment or free products count, so a paid Collabstr post needs a disclosure.