Grade or viral.app? Only pay your creators, or also find, track and boost them.

Mike SchneiderCo-Founder · September 25, 2026 · 9 min read

The short version: Grade is a payouts tool: free tracking, then 5% on each payout, with Grade as merchant of record. viral.app runs the whole program around payouts, from finding creators to ads, for a plan plus a 3% fee that never comes out of creator pay. Pick Grade to pay creators you already have with no monthly fee. Pick viral.app when payouts are one part of the program you run.

We make viral.app, so read this with that in mind. Every Grade fact below comes from Grade's own site, help centers, terms, blog and API docs, checked on September 25, 2026, with links at the end. Where Grade doesn't say something, we write "Not public". Where its own pages disagree, we show both. Grade is run by Creator Check Technology and its payout emails come from creatorcheck.io, so some creators know it as CreatorCheck.

Are you a creator? This page is for brands. For paid UGC work, join the Canvas UGC marketplace; if you have a Grade payout to claim, the questions at the end explain how.

Who Grade is great for

Grade is a well-built payouts tool, and for some teams it's the right one. It fits best when:

It also sends alerts to Slack and Discord, pays a whole spreadsheet of creators at once, and gives marketplaces an API and an MCP server to build payouts into their own product. If you only need to pay the creators you already have, Grade is a sound choice. The rest of this page is about what changes when payouts are one part of a bigger program.

A payouts tool, or payouts inside your creator program

Grade's work starts once you have a creator's email and a deal: it tracks their posts, works out what they're owed and pays them. viral.app does the same, plus the steps before and after.

1. Find creators

   Post a job on the Canvas UGC marketplace and get matches ranked on the views creators actually get, after a location check. Grade starts with creators you already have.

2. Agree the deal and test it

   Both write fixed pay, CPM, bonuses and caps. viral.app runs the whole deal on a creator's recent videos before launch, so you see what they would have earned.

3. Track what they post

   Any public account from a URL on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat, next to competitors and a viral video library updated several times a day. Grade tracks TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X accounts for free.

4. Pay and stay compliant

   Both pay creators as merchant of record, with KYC and invoices. viral.app's 3% is always on your side; Grade's 5% can come out of creator pay.

5. Boost what works

   Create Ad turns any tracked post into a Spark Ad or partnership ad on your own ad account, and paid views stay out of creator pay. Grade's pages describe no ad tools.

What you pay, and who pays it

Grade has no plan. It charges 5% on each payout, which it says covers instant global payouts, compliance and tax handling. Its blog says the fee is taken on the creator side; its help center lets you choose whether creators, you or both pay it. viral.app charges a plan from $99 a month plus 3% on each payout, always on your side. On a $1,000 payout:

Payout method fees, such as PayPal's, come on top on the creator's side with either tool. Topping up Grade's wallet costs 0.8% (up to $5) from a US bank account or 2.9% plus $0.30 by card; bank top-ups into viral.app are free. Grade has no plans to match, so here is what you get for $0 on Grade next to viral.app's entry plan.

Above Pro, viral.app Ultra is $299 a month ($239 yearly) with 10 seats, 5,000 tracked videos, 50 active creators, 2 live jobs, and the API and MCP server. Scale is $499 ($399 yearly) with 20 seats, 20,000 videos and 500 creators, and Enterprise is custom. Grade publishes one rate, 5%; a lower rate at volume isn't on its pages.

Which one should you pick?

Both are merchant of record. Here is what each one covers.

Compliance is Grade's strongest pitch, and a fair one to weigh. With either tool you never send money to creators directly: a merchant of record pays them, checks who they are and issues the invoices. The difference is in what each one says it covers, so here are both, in each company's own terms.

Which rules apply to you

Whether DAC7 or the Platform Work Directive applies to your program depends on how you work with creators, and each merchant of record describes its coverage in its own words. Our guide to the Platform Work Directive, DAC7 and creator misclassification walks through each rule with primary sources, so you can check what applies to you before you choose. Either way, paying through a merchant of record takes the payment side off your plate.

Every difference, row by row

Twenty-two rows in four groups, starting with fees. "Yes" means the product does it, "Partly" means it covers part of the job, and "Not public" means we couldn't find it on Grade's pages.

Showing 13 of 22 rows. Each section starts with the rows that decide most choices.

Show all 22 rows

What you need
Fees and fundingWhere the cost difference comes from
Fee on each payout	Grade 5%, which Grade says covers instant global payouts, compliance and tax handling. No monthly fee.	viral.app 3%, plus a plan from $99 a month.
None of the fee comes out of creator pay	Grade PartlyOnly if you pay the fee. Its blog says the 5% is taken on the creator side; its help center lets you pick the creator, you or a split.	viral.app YesAlways. The 3% is on your side; creators only pay a method fee for some methods, such as PayPal.
Topping up the wallet	Grade Through Stripe: 0.8% (up to $5) from a US bank account or 2.9% + $0.30 by card, at least $500. Wire transfer on request.	viral.app Free bank transfer by SEPA, UK Faster Payments, US ACH, wire or SWIFT, from an account in your company's name. Cards aren't accepted.
Currencies	Grade Payouts in USD, CAD, GBP or EUR, converted from a USD wallet at current rates.	viral.app Payouts in USD, EUR, GBP or CHF, one per campaign, from a wallet in that currency, with no conversion fee on your side.
Compliance and paperworkBoth are merchant of record; the claims differ
Merchant of record	Grade YesGrade buys each creator's services and resells them to you, and your finance team gets one invoice per payout cycle.	viral.app YesOur payout partner pays each creator in its own name, with a sender invoice for you and a self-billed one in the creator's name on every payout.
Worker status and unregistered creators	Grade Its compliance page says the employment relationship is between Grade and the creator, shielding you from misclassification risk across the EU.	viral.app The payout partner carries the liability if a creator works without a required business or self-employment registration.
DAC7 reporting	Grade YesAutomatic for every creator payout and filed on your behalf, per its compliance page.	viral.app YesThe payout partner can take over DAC7 reporting for your payouts once it's switched on for your team.
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Paying creatorsGrade has more payout methods; viral.app tests deals first
Payout methods	Grade YesPayPal, local or international bank transfer, Payoneer, AirTM, crypto, prepaid cards and gift cards, by country, in 190+ countries.	viral.app YesBank transfer, PayPal, Venmo, USDC or EURC, in 180+ countries. Bank payouts in EUR, GBP, CHF and by US ACH are free for creators.
Pay rules	Grade YesFixed fees (with an upfront part, or prorated), CPM with minimum and maximum views, spend caps, and bonuses on total views, each post or the best post.	viral.app YesBase pay per video by platform, fixed salary, CPM tiers, milestone bonuses, caps, minimum views and an eligibility window.
Test a deal before launch	Grade PartlyThe bonus editor shows example payouts at set view counts.	viral.app YesSimulate the payout for one of your creators on their recent videos.
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Tracking and the rest of the programWhere viral.app goes further
Find new creators	Grade NoNot offered. You add creators you already work with by email.	viral.app YesCanvas UGC marketplace: post a job and get matches ranked on real views, measured posting and niches, after a location check.
Platforms	Grade YesTikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X (accounts only), per its help center. Its homepage says any platform.	viral.app YesTikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat. No X.
How often numbers refresh	Grade Once a day, per its help center; a January blog post says every hour. Campaign videos can be refreshed 3 times each, at most every 4 hours.	viral.app 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.
Show 4 more rows in this section

See the full comparison: all 22 rows

9 more rows across 3 sections. Nothing is left out, only folded to keep the page short.

What each one costs for your program

Set your creators, team, video volume and what you pay creators each month. The calculator picks the cheapest viral.app plan and counts Grade's 5% in full, as if you pay it. If your creators pay it instead, your bill is lower and their pay is 5% lower. Grade doesn't publish its tracking or team limits, so those show as open items.

Grade has no plan, so the comparison is its fee against our plan plus fee. With Grade's 5% counted in full, viral.app costs less once creator pay passes about $5,000 a month on Pro, $15,000 on Ultra or $25,000 on Scale. On yearly billing those points drop to about $4,000, $12,000 and $20,000. Below them, Grade costs less. Topping up Grade by card adds about 2.9% more; bank top-ups into viral.app are free.

The same deal in both tools

Grade's pay rules are as flexible as ours: fixed fees with an upfront part, CPM with minimum and maximum views, spend caps, and bonuses on total views, each post or the best post. The difference is the last step. viral.app runs the whole deal on one of your creators' recent videos before launch; Grade's bonus editor shows example payouts at set view counts. Here is one common deal, term by term.

Due payouts land in one queue: check each calculated amount, adjust it if needed, then pay up to 50 creators at once.

Creators get one link when a payout is approved and choose how to be paid. They don't need an account, and none of your 3% fee comes out of their pay.

Where each one is better

What teams running creator programs say

Moving payouts from Grade

The one thing to plan is the money already in your Grade wallet. Grade's public pages describe refunds to the wallet when you cancel a payout, but not how to withdraw a balance, so pay out what's left first or ask Grade before you switch. Tracking on Grade is free, so both tools can run side by side for a cycle.

1. Day 1Add your creators' accountsPaste the account URLs, or send us the list and we add them. No creator has to sign up.
2. Day 1Write your deals as rulesEnter each creator's terms and test them on recent videos before the next payout.
3. First weekSet up payoutsConnect the payout system, verify your company once, usually in 24 to 48 hours, and fund the wallet by free bank transfer.
4. Next cyclePay from viral.appCreators claim with one link and pick their method. Pay out the rest of your Grade balance there first.

Questions about Grade

Other Grade alternatives

• SideShiftA large creator marketplace with tracking and payouts.viral.app vs SideShift
• ShortimizeShort-form tracking with creator payments through Contra.viral.app vs Shortimize
• GrowiCreator tracking and payouts for ecommerce and app brands.viral.app vs Growi
• LaunchPointAn enterprise creator marketing platform.viral.app vs LaunchPoint