Whitelisting cost: what Spark Ads and Partnership Ads really cost

Whitelisting costs you twice: a surcharge to the creator for the right to advertise through their account, and the ad spend you pay the platform yourself. How high the surcharge is depends mainly on duration, exclusivity and channel – on creatordeal it appears as a separate line in the booking.

Two cost blocks: usage rights and ad spend

With whitelisting, your ad runs through the creator’s account and appears under their name. You pay for two separate things. The creator gets a surcharge because they hand over their face and name for advertising they don’t control themselves. The ad spend, on the other hand, goes to the platform where the ad runs – whether TikTok, Instagram or Facebook – and is billed there like any other ad. If you only budget for the surcharge, you underestimate the campaign. If you only see the ad spend, you’ll be surprised by the extra line in the booking. Plan both separately from the start.

What drives whitelisting costs up

Duration has the biggest impact: an ad that runs for a few weeks is something different from one that appears under the creator’s name for a year. Then there’s category exclusivity, if the creator isn’t supposed to promote any competitor during that time. The channel itself counts too – a creator with a large, trusting audience puts a higher price on lending their name. Several creatives or edit variations running through their account also increase the effort. And some creators rule out whitelisting entirely because they don’t want to be responsible for comments under someone else’s ads. That’s why no blanket dollar or euro amounts can be given.

Spark Ads cost and Partnership Ads: how the process works

On TikTok, whitelisting is called Spark Ads. The creator generates an authorization for a specific video in their app and passes it on to you; you add it in your ad account and promote the post from there. On Instagram and Facebook the same thing is called a Partnership Ad: the creator allows you in their settings to use their posts as ads. In both cases you set budget, audience and duration in your own ad account. The costs there depend on the competition for ad placements, not on the creator. The menu details change often, so it’s worth checking the platform’s current help pages.

Whitelisting or an ad under your own name?

Not every campaign needs whitelisting. If the video runs under your brand name, the paid ads tier is enough, and the surcharge is lower. Whitelisting pays off when the creator’s credibility is the real lever: the ad feels like a recommendation from the feed, not like a company’s advertising. That makes sense above all for products people don’t buy without trust. If it’s about lots of variations, fast tests and plain product presentation, an ad under your own name is often the leaner choice. You can combine both: test under the brand first, then run the strongest creative as a whitelisted ad.

How to book whitelisting on creatordeal

You choose the usage rights right when you book. Whitelisting is one of the tiers and includes paid ads under your name and organic use. Each creator sets the surcharge per tier themselves and can rule out individual tiers entirely. Duration and category exclusivity appear as separate items next to it, so you see what the right costs before you pay. The duration starts when you approve the delivery, not when you pay. When it ends, the ads have to be stopped. The ad spend itself doesn’t go through creatordeal; it stays in your ad account.

Planning your budget: start small, expand later

If you’re unsure whether a creative will work, book a shorter duration first and test with a small ad budget. If the ad performs well, you extend the usage right afterward: a higher tier, a longer duration or more exclusivity, paid as an add-on once the creator has agreed. It doesn’t work in the other direction, which is why the smaller start is the more flexible one. Also expect good ads to need several variations – a different hook, a shorter cut, a different ending. Request such variations right in the brief instead of booking them one by one later.

Questions

Frequently asked.

Key answers at a glance. Everything else is in the guides and in the FAQ.

How much does influencer whitelisting cost?

A surcharge the creator sets for the right to advertise through their account, plus your own ad spend with the platform. On creatordeal the surcharge appears as a separate line in the booking before you pay.

Who pays the ad spend for Spark Ads?

The brand. You book the budget in your own TikTok ad account; the creator only authorizes their video.

What do Spark Ads costs depend on?

The creator’s surcharge depends mainly on duration, exclusivity and channel. The ad costs themselves depend on the competition for ad placements and your budget.

Is whitelisting included in the package price?

No. The package price includes publishing on the creator’s channel; whitelisting is a separate usage rights tier with its own surcharge.

Can I extend the whitelisting period later?

Yes. Usage rights can be extended afterward – to a longer duration, a higher tier or more exclusivity. The creator agrees, and you pay the surcharge as an add-on.

Find creators who offer whitelisting

Choose the usage rights when you book and see the surcharge before you pay.

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