Archive captures the posts, Stories and untagged videos made about your brand on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and reports them in earned media value. viral.app tracks the creators you pay on five platforms and pays them on the views each post earns.
The short version: pick Archive if creators already post about you, for free or for a gift, and you need to find, measure and reuse those posts. Pick viral.app if you pay creators to post and want their pay to follow their views, which Archive doesn't calculate.
We make viral.app, so read this with that in mind. Every Archive fact below comes from Archive's own site, help center, terms, blog and Shopify App Store listing, checked on October 1, 2026, with links at the end. Where Archive doesn't say something publicly, we write "Not public"; where its pages disagree, we show both.
This page is about Archive at archive.com, not the Internet Archive. Are you a creator? Archive has no creator sign-up; for paid UGC work in any country, join the Canvas UGC marketplace.
Each of these 12 jobs goes to the tool that does it better, or is a tie when both do it about as well. Where they work differently, the better pick depends on your program.
Finding posts creators already made about you: Archive does this better.
Tags, mentions, hashtags and Stories captured around the clock, plus Radar for untagged posts on Growth and Enterprise.
Paying creators to post: viral.app does this better.
Base pay, CPM tiers, bonuses and caps, through a merchant of record. Archive's only payment is a reward on a usage-rights request.
Counting the views you pay on: viral.app does this better.
viral.app refreshes every post under 60 days old at each scheduled sync; Archive spaces checks out and stops once a post goes quiet.
An AI agent that vets creators: Archive does this better.
Archie reads each candidate's recent posts in Slack and returns a shortlist with reasons. viral.app has no agent like it.
Instagram Stories and photo posts: Archive does this better.
Archive captures Stories and Feed posts. On Instagram, viral.app tracks Reels only.
Usage rights and ad codes: Archive does this better.
Request rights, Spark codes and partnership ad codes by DM; on Instagram, creators approve with one tap.
Launching creator videos as ads: viral.app does this better.
Create Ad turns any tracked post into a TikTok Spark Ad or an Instagram or Facebook partnership ad on your own ad account. Archive collects the codes; you launch in Ads Manager.
Benchmarking competitors: Archive does this better.
Competitor Insights compares other brands' creator programs by EMV, and Deep Research writes reports on them.
Platforms: viral.app does this better.
TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat. Archive covers the first three.
Finding creators you haven't met: they work differently.
Archive searches 10M+ public profiles and you reach out. On viral.app you post a job and creators apply.
Prices you can check before a call: viral.app does this better.
Plans from $99 with a 7‑day trial. Archive shows current prices only in its app or on a demo.
API, webhooks and MCP: a tie.
Both MCP servers read and write. Archive includes all three on every current plan; viral.app on Ultra and Scale.
Archive's own comparison with Insense frames the choice: commission new content through a creator marketplace, or capture the organic UGC your community already produces. Archive is built for the second. Social Tip sits between the two: it pays your own customers a cash reward for each post about a purchase. Archive's help center says it isn't a marketplace and that deals happen outside it. viral.app covers the first, with pay tied to each post's views instead of a fee per piece.
In Archive: Archive's campaign view ends with who posted and what it was worth: reach, impressions, engagements and EMV per creator, and 20 of 32 creators still marked Not Posted.
In viral.app: viral.app ends with what each creator is owed: base pay per video by platform plus pay on each post's views, with caps, before you approve it.
Archive started in 2021 and says more than 1,000 brands run on it, including DoorDash, Pinterest and L'Oréal. It fits best when:
Tags, mentions and hashtags on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, Stories caught around the clock, and Radar for posts that only show your product.
Creator Monitoring captures everything a listed creator posts, Stories included, back to a past start date, and shows who hasn't posted yet.
Archie vets creators in Slack, Deep Research writes reports from posts, and AI Filters tag content by your own rules.
It also requests usage rights and ad codes by DM, benchmarks other brands' creator programs, and puts shoppable UGC on a Shopify store. If you want every post about your brand, who made it and its earned media value, Archive does that well. If you'd rather search creators by their audience and pitch them by email, our Modash comparison covers that model.
Archive's pricing link opens its demo booking page. Its help center lists the current plans, Startup, Growth and Enterprise, metered by posts captured a month plus credits for AI actions, and sends you to the in-app billing page for prices. The only public price list is Archive's Shopify App Store listing, which still sells the older Starter and Pro plans its help center calls legacy.
Credits pay for AI and enrichment. Extra credits cost $500 for 21,000, $1,250 for 105,000 or $2,500 for 420,000, which sets the dollar range below.
Posts past your monthly limit are still captured but stay hidden until you upgrade or buy a separate post pack. On trials, Archive's pages disagree: its Shopify listing has a free plan and a 3-day trial, while its Archive vs. Modash post says Archive has no free trial and offers demos. Direct contracts run on an order form that renews for the same term unless either side gives written notice 30 days before it ends, and fees aren't refundable (terms, sections 4.1 and 4.2).
Matched by price, the two listing plans compare like this. As legacy plans, they lack the API and MCP server every current plan includes.
viral.app starts at Pro, $99 a month ($79 yearly) for 10 creators and 1,000 tracked videos, and Enterprise is custom. There's no cost calculator here: Archive meters captured posts and credits, viral.app meters creators and tracked videos, and Archive's current prices aren't public, so any total would be a guess.
Neither fits?
Thirty rows in five groups. "Yes" means the product does it, "Partly" means it covers part of the job, and "Not public" means we couldn't find it on Archive's public pages.
At a glance one mark per row, in table order
| What you need | Archive | viral.app |
|---|---|---|
| 01What each is built aroundWhere the two differ most | ||
| What plans are priced on | Archive Posts captured a month (500, 2,500 or 10,000 on current plans) plus credits for AI actions. | viral.app Active creators, tracked videos and seats: 10, 50 or 500 creators by plan. |
| Posts that tag or mention your brand | ArchiveYes Captured from @mentions and tracked hashtags on Instagram and TikTok, Stories that mention you, and YouTube search terms and channels. | viral.appNo Not offered. viral.app tracks the accounts you add; tag rules can sort their videos by hashtag or caption. |
| Paying creators for posts | ArchivePartly A cash reward on a usage-rights request, claimed through Tremendous, per an Academy video. Otherwise its help center says deals happen outside Archive. | viral.appYes Base pay per video by platform, fixed salary, CPM tiers and milestone bonuses, paid through a merchant of record in 180+ countries. |
| Creator marketplace | ArchiveNo Not offered. Its help center says creators can't sign up. | viral.appYes Canvas UGC marketplace: post a job, creators apply with portfolio, accounts, languages and location. |
| Track creators without them signing up | ArchiveYes Creator Monitoring captures everything a listed creator posts, Stories included, checking up to every 12 hours, with backfill to a past start date. | viral.appYes Any public account from a URL; each account's videos count toward your plan's tracked-video limit. Creators don't need an account, even to be paid. |
| Who contracts the creator | Archive You, outside Archive. | viral.app You, directly. Creators met on the Canvas UGC marketplace must be paid through viral.app for 24 months, or you owe at least EUR 1,000 per deal; creators you bring never are. |
| Where data is hosted | ArchiveNot public Not stated. Its privacy policy uses standard contractual clauses where a country has no adequacy decision. | viral.appYes Built in Germany, under GDPR; databases on Hetzner in Germany and Finland, the web app on Vercel. |
| Folded rows: Creator marketplace; Track creators without them signing up; Who contracts the creator; Where data is hosted. | ||
| 02Tracking and counting viewsArchive listens wider; viral.app counts views for pay | ||
| Platforms | ArchivePartly Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Its pages don't cover Facebook or Snapchat. | viral.appYes TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat. |
| Instagram Stories and photo posts | ArchiveYes Stories that mention you, or from creators in a Creator Monitoring campaign, and Feed photos and carousels. Their views are estimates. | viral.appNo Not tracked. On Instagram, viral.app tracks Reels; Stories, carousels and other Feed posts return no public play counts. |
| How often numbers refresh | ArchivePartly Often at first, then spaced out and stopped once a post goes quiet; posts found more than 7 days after posting aren't refreshed on their own; YouTube weekly. One post can be refreshed free every 5 days, which restarts its checks; bulk refresh costs 5 credits a post. | viral.appYes Every 24 or 12 hours by plan, custom times on Scale, up to every hour on Enterprise, and any account or video on demand for 3 credits per video. |
| Posts that don't tag you | ArchiveYes Radar spots your logo or product in Instagram and TikTok posts from monitored creators with 50,000+ followers, on Growth and Enterprise. Archive calls it a discovery layer, not a catch-all. | viral.appPartly Every post on an account you track counts, tagged or not. There's no logo or product detection. |
| Instagram views on reels shared to Facebook | ArchivePartly One help article says Archive reads Instagram-only views and that about 2.5% of Reels get significant Facebook views; another says it uses the combined total above 100,000 plays. | viral.appYes Instagram-only counts, so Facebook views don't inflate the number or the pay. |
| Volume limits | Archive 500, 2,500 or 10,000 new posts a month; posts past the limit are kept but hidden. Campaigns hold up to 10,000 creators and 10,000 posts. | viral.app 1,000, 5,000 or 20,000 tracked videos by plan. |
| Earned media value | ArchiveYes EMV per post, creator, campaign and competitor brand, from its own model. | viral.appNo Not offered. viral.app reports views and engagement, with app revenue from RevenueCat. |
| Competitor tracking | ArchiveYes Competitor Insights ranks other brands' creator programs by EMV, top posts and top creators, from a brand list shared across customers. | viral.appYes Mark any tracked account as a competitor and see its top videos next to your own. |
| Folded rows: Posts that don't tag you; Instagram views on reels shared to Facebook; Volume limits; Earned media value; Competitor tracking. | ||
| 03Finding creatorsArchive searches and vets; on viral.app creators apply | ||
| Search all public creators | ArchiveYes Creator Search across 10M+ Instagram and TikTok creators, by what's in their videos. Its help center indexes creators with 1,000+ followers; its product page says 2K+. | viral.appPartly No open search of public creators. Each live job lists the marketplace creators who best fit it. |
| AI agent that vets creators | ArchiveYes Archie, in Slack: confirms the brief, reads 6 to 9 recent posts per candidate and gives a reason for each verdict. Early access. Its help center says Instagram only; its product page says across platforms, in Slack or Teams. | viral.appNo Not offered. viral.app ranks marketplace matches for each job instead. |
| How matches are judged | Archive Archie reads each creator's posts against your brief: niche, posting activity, competitor deals and bot patterns, with 90‑day view stats on each card. Creator Search matches on visual similarity. | viral.app AI Matches ranks the creators who best fit each live job. |
| Creators already posting about you | ArchiveYes A creator leaderboard ranks everyone who tags you by performance. | viral.appNo Not offered. viral.app only sees the accounts you track. |
| Outreach | ArchivePartly Relationship statuses, from To Review to Active, and vetting lists to track it. Sending outreach isn't described. | viral.appYes Invite matched creators to apply to your job, 10, 25 or 50 a day by plan. |
| Folded rows: Creators already posting about you; Outreach. | ||
| 04Rights, ads and reuseArchive's strongest area | ||
| Usage rights requests | ArchiveYes Request rights by Instagram or TikTok DM, with one‑tap Approve on Instagram, track every status, and attach custom terms on Enterprise. | viral.appNo Not built in. You agree usage rights with the creator; ad permissions go through TikTok and Meta. |
| Spark and partnership ad codes | ArchiveYes Request TikTok Spark codes, for 7 days up to 1 year, and Instagram partnership ad codes from creators. | viral.appPartly Paste the creator's Spark code or partnership ad code when you create the ad. On Meta you can also ask for account-level permission once. |
| Launch the ad | ArchiveNo Not offered. Its help center says Archive doesn't launch the ad; you use the code in Ads Manager. | viral.appYes Create Ad from any tracked post: Spark Ads on TikTok, partnership ads on Instagram and Facebook, on your own ad accounts, with paid views kept out of creator pay. |
| Download videos | ArchiveYes Without watermarks, one at a time or in bulk, and share collections by public link. | viral.appYes Any tracked video, for 3 credits. |
| Shoppable UGC on your store | ArchiveYes Shoppable UGC feeds for Shopify with A/B tests, and Shopify products linked to posts. | viral.appNo Not offered. |
| Folded rows: Download videos; Shoppable UGC on your store. | ||
| 05AI, API and team | ||
| AI on your content | ArchiveYes Deep Research reports, AI Filters, free sentiment and post summaries, and a weekly AI Insider email. | viral.appYes Copilot answers analytics questions and builds campaigns and briefs, with your approval; AI tagging rules and video analysis, with credits. |
| API, webhooks and MCP | ArchiveYes GraphQL API, webhooks and an MCP server on every current plan, not on older or free plans. Its API article calls the API pull-only; its webhooks article describes push delivery for new posts in a saved view. The MCP server launched read-only in June 2026 and now also writes. | viral.appYes API, webhooks and an MCP server on Ultra and Scale; the MCP server can also build campaigns, briefs and jobs. |
| Alerts in Slack | ArchiveYes When big or verified creators mention you, or a saved view gets new posts, with a usage-rights button. | viral.appNo Not built in yet. Copilot, the API and MCP can report on demand. |
| Team seats and roles | Archive No seat limit published for brand plans; agency plans include 2 seats. Every member has full access; there are no roles. | viral.app 1 on Pro, 10 on Ultra, 20 on Scale, then $15 each. |
| Contract and trial | Archive An order form that renews for the same term unless either side gives 30 days' written notice; fees aren't refundable. Its Shopify plans list a 3‑day trial. | viral.app Monthly or yearly plans, with a 7‑day free trial on Pro and Ultra. |
| Folded rows: Team seats and roles; Contract and trial. | ||
15 more rows in 5 groups, folded to keep the page short. Nothing is left out.
Say you gifted product to 30 creators, Archive shows that 12 posted, and you want the best ones to keep posting with pay tied to views. Term by term:
| Deal term | Archive |  viral.app |
|---|---|---|
| Track the posts of 30 gifted creators | Yes | Yes |
| Get usage rights to the best video | Yes | No |
| $25 for each posted video | No | Yes |
| $1 per 1,000 views, counted for 30 days | No | Yes |
| $100 for each video past 100K views | No | Yes |
| Pay with an invoice in the creator's name | No | Yes |
Archive tracks the posts and their EMV, but the pay is worked out and sent elsewhere. viral.app doesn't handle usage rights; agree them with the creator, or keep requesting them in Archive.
viral.app shows this breakdown before you approve the payout; the creator then claims it with one link, no account needed.
Screens below are from viral.app; under each is the same step in Archive.
Post a job on the Canvas UGC marketplace and get matches ranked by best fit to your job. Or add creators you already work with by URL.
In Archive
Search 10M+ creators by what's in their videos, rank everyone who already tags you, or brief Archie in Slack.
Put the agreed terms in the campaign: base pay per video by platform, CPM tiers, bonuses and caps.
In Archive
Agreed outside Archive. A Creator Monitoring campaign holds the creator list, dates and hashtags.
Every creator's account and post across TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Facebook and Snapchat lands in one table.
In Archive
Posts arrive from mentions, hashtags, Stories and creator pages, with EMV and a Posted or Not Posted status per creator.
Check each calculated payout, adjust it if needed, then pay up to 50 creators at once.
In Archive
Request usage rights or ad codes on the posts you want to reuse.
1. It finds posts you didn't ask for
Tags, mentions, hashtags and Stories around the clock, and Radar for posts that only show your product.
2. Built for gifting and seeding
Everything a listed creator posts, a leaderboard of everyone who tags you, and reach and EMV per creator.
3. AI that reads the videos
Archie vets creators in Slack, Deep Research writes reports, and AI Filters and sentiment sort every post.
4. Rights and reuse
Usage rights, Spark codes and partnership ad codes by DM, plus shoppable UGC feeds on Shopify.
1. Pay that follows views
Base pay, CPM tiers, bonuses and caps on every post, tested on a creator's recent videos before launch.
2. Views counted for pay
Five platforms, Instagram-only counts, a fixed refresh schedule, and paid views kept out of creator pay.
3. Creators who apply
Post a job on the Canvas UGC marketplace and invite the creators who fit it best.
4. Compliant payouts worldwide
Merchant of record, invoices in the creator's name, 180+ countries, by bank, PayPal, Venmo or stablecoin.
David ParkJenni AI Founder“viral.app has become core infrastructure for running organic marketing. It has helped us scale to over a billion organic views.”
Zack HargettQuizlet/Coconote Co-Founder“viral.app feels like the first serious solution for managing high-volume UGC campaigns.”
Julian IvaldyWhoLiked Founder“viral.app has solved our biggest pain points. It’s handling everything from global payouts to invoicing and tax accounting.”
Some teams keep Archive for listening, Stories and usage rights, and run the creators they pay in viral.app, tracking the same accounts from their URLs. Archive's terms have no clause about creators you find with it, so they can move with you. If you're leaving, give written notice 30 days before your term ends; you can download your data up to 30 days after it ends (terms, sections 4.1 and 5.4).
Day 1
Add your creators' accounts
Paste their URLs, or send us the list and we add them. Nobody has to sign up.
Day 1
Write your deals as rules
Test base pay, CPM tiers and bonuses on recent videos before anyone posts.
First week
Hire where you need more
Post a Canvas UGC or Influencer job and invite the best-fit matches.
After that
Keep Archive for listening if you like
Let it catch tags, Stories and usage rights while viral.app pays creators.
The public pages behind the facts on this page, and the date we last checked each one.
Checked Oct 1, 2026
Pages on other sites37
Archive homepage: platforms, Stories, campaign screenshot
archive.comCheckedArchive pricing link: redirects to demo booking
archive.com/Archive help: Understanding Archive pricing (current plans, post limits, legacy plans)
help.archive.com/Archive help: credits and billing (credit costs, $500, $1,250 and $2,500 packs)
help.archive.com/Archive Instagram & TikTok UGC on the Shopify App Store: Free, Starter $260, Pro $858, 3‑day trial, 5.0 from 45 reviews
apps.shopify.com/Archive blog: Archive vs. Modash (no free trial)
archive.com/Archie: creator search agent, Slack or Teams, across platforms
archive.com/Archive help: Archie, how it works (Instagram only, 100 credits per qualified creator, 50 free)
help.archive.com/Archive blog: Meet Archie (Aug 31, 2026)
archive.com/Archive help: content types collected (Stories, Feed, Reels, TikTok, YouTube)
help.archive.com/Archive help: Archive Radar (Growth and Enterprise, monitored creators with 50,000+ followers)
help.archive.com/Archive help: how engagement metrics are refreshed
help.archive.com/Archive help: refreshing one post (free, every 5 days) and bulk refresh (credits)
help.archive.com/Archive help: Instagram view counts (combined total above 100,000 plays)
help.archive.com/Archive help: Reel views vs Instagram's app (Instagram-only views, about 2.5% of Reels affected)
help.archive.com/Archive help: estimated views for Instagram Feed posts
help.archive.com/Archive help: Creator Monitoring campaigns (every post, 12‑hour checks, backfill)
help.archive.com/Archive help: campaign FAQ (10,000 creators and 10,000 posts per campaign)
help.archive.com/Archive help: campaign creator metrics and EMV
help.archive.com/Archive help: creators can't sign up; collaborations happen outside Archive
help.archive.com/Archive Academy: rewards on usage-rights requests, through Tremendous
archive.com/Archive help: usage rights requests
help.archive.com/Archive help: Instagram partnership ad codes (Archive doesn't launch the ad)
help.archive.com/Archive Creator Search: 10M+ creators, 2K+ followers
archive.com/Archive help: Creator Search (1,000+ followers)
help.archive.com/Archive help: Competitor Insights
help.archive.com/Archive help: API (pull-only; what it can and can't do)
help.archive.com/Archive help: webhooks (push delivery for new posts in a saved view)
help.archive.com/Archive help: MCP server (plans, reads and writes)
help.archive.com/Archive blog: Archive MCP launch, read-only (Jun 30, 2026)
archive.com/Archive help: Slack notifications
help.archive.com/Archive help: user permissions (no roles) and seats
help.archive.com/Archive terms of service (last update Aug 25, 2025): sections 4.1, 4.2, 5.4
archive.com/Archive privacy policy (effective Aug 26, 2026)
archive.com/Archive blog: Insense vs. Archive (commissioning vs capturing UGC)
archive.com/Archive comparison pages: 50,000 brands
archive.com/Archive blog: funding round (Sep 2, 2026): investors, 1,000+ brands incl. DoorDash, Pinterest, L'Oréal, started in 2021
archive.com/Pages on viral.app7
viral.app plans and limits
viral.app/viral.app payout rules
viral.app/viral.app creator payments: merchant of record, invoices, KYC, DAC7
viral.app/viral.app tracking: platforms, refresh schedule, Instagram-only views, Stories not tracked
viral.app/viral.app ads: Spark Ads, Meta partnership ads, organic-only creator pay
viral.app/viral.app API, webhooks and MCP server
viral.app/viral.app jobs, Discovery and creator privacy
viral.app/Last updated:
Insense sells creator content deal by deal, on a quarterly plan plus a marketplace fee on every creator payment. viral.app runs creators who keep posting and pays them on views. Here is what each one costs, fees included, what you get, and where each one wins.
Mike Schneider
Co-Founder
Iconosquare publishes, answers and reports for the social profiles you own, from a free plan up. viral.app tracks the creators who post for you on their own accounts and pays them on views. Here is what each covers, what each costs, and where each one wins.
Mike Schneider
Co-Founder
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