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 videos, no agency in the middle. Creators keep 95%, brands pay a flat 5% on top1. AI matches both sides and reviews every video before the brand sees it, and the payment is held 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.
Meet your matches
When your campaign goes live, the matching engine ranks creators for you. Each score weighs how well their content matches your brief, their audience and format, and their reach, with the popularity part capped so the biggest channel doesn't automatically win.2 You get the score, real reach synced from their connected accounts, and work samples in one view, never a self-reported media kit.6
Review only what cleared the AI checks
The AI screens every submission against your published brief before it reaches you,3 so what lands in your queue has already cleared disclosure, brand safety, and quality. Want changes? Add notes, the creator revises, and the AI re-reviews the new cut with your notes in hand. The money was held the moment you agreed the deal, and it releases when you approve.
For creators
Set up your profile
Connect YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram and see your channel analytics in one place. We turn those numbers into your match profile, and you can fine-tune it any time.
Get a feed worth scrolling
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 and anything that needs fixing comes back with the exact spot to change, so you can resubmit. Once it's approved, ViewStage posts it to your connected channel for you, and the payment that was held before you hit record is released.
One AI, two shifts.
Before the deal
It ranks both sides for each other. Brands get ranked creators, creators get ranked campaigns, and nobody has to cold-pitch.
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
From upload to your brand’s queue
- Uploaded
- Transcribed
- Frames read
- Scored
- 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.”
- Channel
- @DrDuke
- On YouTube
- 8 years
- Subscribers
- 300K+
- Lifetime views
- Tens of millions
- Best known for
- Minecraft “100 Days”
Eight years of brand deals taught him what to cut.
Duke has spent eight years on YouTube, building a 300,000-subscriber channel on hardcore Minecraft “100 Days” runs and tens of millions of views, and collecting a folder of brand-deal stories he wishes he didn't have.
One agency almost didn't pay him at all, over a link they had sent him that broke on their end. It took a month of chasing and a legal threat to get paid for a video that was already live. The revisions came secondhand, through an agent who couldn't say what to change or where. The offers only made sense if someone in the middle was quietly keeping 20 to 50 percent.5
So he built the version he wanted back when his channel was small. Brands and creators deal directly. The money is held before filming starts. The review criteria are written down where the creator can read them. And the only fee is a flat 5% each side, printed on the receipt.
The receipt up there? That's his revenge.
The full story, and how the pieces fit№ 06No velvet rope
No follower minimum. Here's the math.
A bigger channel doesn't automatically win here. Your match score blends three things, and reach is the smallest of them, capped on purpose. Duke got his worst offers when his channel was small, so small creators are exactly who this was built for.
How your match score is built2
Content match
How closely what you make lines up with the brief, read from your actual videos, not keywords you typed in.
Audience & format
Your niche, who watches you, the format, the budget, and how often you post.
Reach
Subscribers and recent views, capped so a giant channel stops pulling ahead.
No minimum to join · reach is capped on purpose
№ 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 is held. 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. Most of your match score comes from your content and how well it fits the brief. Your reach counts as well, but it's capped, so a bigger channel can't automatically 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 for it. 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. The AI checks FTC disclosure, brand safety and competitor conflicts, sponsor presence, production quality, and the campaign's declared do's, don'ts, and talking points. The brand stays in control of approving the deal and releasing payment, 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 is held 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, TikTok, and Instagram, with more platforms on the way.
Is ViewStage an agency?
No, the opposite. ViewStage was made by a creator, for creators, to cut the middleman out. Brands and creators deal directly, terms are agreed on the platform, and the only fee is a flat 5% on each side, printed on the receipt.
Is ViewStage an influencer-marketing platform?
Effectively, yes. It connects 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 is held 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) — sources & footnotes
- 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 holds are processed by Stripe, and payment-processing costs come out of our share, not yours.
- 2.A match score blends three signals: 50% how closely your content matches the brief, 30% structured fit (niche, audience, format, budget, posting cadence), and 20% reach, a capped popularity signal built from subscribers and recent views. Past roughly 500K subscribers (or 5M recent views), a bigger channel stops scoring higher. Reach 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 declared talking points. The brand controls approving the deal and releasing payment. When a check fails, the creator receives the specific findings and can revise and resubmit, and the AI re-reviews the new version.
- 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.