UGC Statistics 2026: Original Data on Reactions, Prices and Creators

Which UGC reactions do advertisers license most in 2026?

Surprise-type reactions. Surprised, shocked and amazed clips were licensed 4.53 times each on average, seven times the rate of neutral clips (0.64), in 13,718 licences of 7,480 labelled DansUGC clips.

• The 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index found surprised, shocked and amazed clips made up 16.4% of 7,480 labelled real-creator clips but 40.5% of 13,718 licences (November 2026).
• In the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index, a surprise-type reaction clip was licensed 4.53 times on average versus 0.64 times for a neutral clip, a 7.1x gap (November 2026).
• Among the 1,999 surprise-type and neutral clips added before August 1, 2026 (so every clip had at least three months on sale), the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index found surprise clips were licensed 6.30 times each versus 1.18 for neutral clips, a 5.3x gap (November 2026).
• Neutral clips were 32.9% of the clips in the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index but drew only 11.5% of licences (November 2026).
• The most-licensed emotions per clip in the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index were surprised (4.77 licences per clip, n=570), amazed (4.51, n=129), shocked (4.28, n=528), excited (3.45, n=218) and sad (3.24, n=241) (November 2026).
• The least-licensed emotions per clip in the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index were neutral (0.64, n=2,460), curious (0.85, n=293) and playful (1.19, n=904) (November 2026).
• 89.9% of amazed and 82.6% of surprised clips were licensed at least once, versus 34.3% of neutral clips and 53.0% of all 7,480 labelled clips, according to the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index (November 2026).

See the reactions behind these numbers: reaction clips by emotion or the full real-creator clip library.

How long should a UGC reaction clip be?

15 seconds or less. Those clips were licensed 1.96 times each, against 0.87 for longer clips, and took 94.4% of all licences.

• The 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index found clips of 15 seconds or less made up 88.2% of 7,317 labelled clips with a known length and earned 94.4% of their 13,393 licences (November 2026).
• In the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index, clips of 15 seconds or less were licensed 1.96 times each on average versus 0.87 for clips longer than 15 seconds, 2.2 times as often (November 2026).
• Clips of 5 seconds or less had the highest licence rate in the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index: 2.74 licences per clip (n=333), against 0.65 for clips over 30 seconds (n=119) (November 2026).
• The median DansUGC library clip is 11 seconds long and the mean is 12 seconds, measured on 7,744 published real-creator clips (November 2026).

Where are the best-selling UGC clips filmed, and who is in them?

In the car and at home, mostly by women aged 18–24. In-car clips had the highest licence rate of any setting (2.41 per clip); bathroom and rooftop clips the lowest (0.43).

• In-car clips were 7.5% of the clips in the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index but earned 9.9% of licences, 2.41 licences per clip, the highest of any filming location (n=563) (November 2026).
• Bathroom clips had one of the lowest licence rates in the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index: 0.43 per clip (n=313), against 1.83 for the library as a whole (November 2026).
• 86.7% of the 7,480 labelled clips in the 2026 DansUGC Reaction Index feature women, and those clips earned 88.7% of licences (November 2026).
• 66.5% of labelled DansUGC clips feature creators aged 18–24 and 33.2% creators aged 25–34; only 22 of 7,480 clips (0.3%) feature anyone 35 or older (November 2026).
• DansUGC rejected 9.1% of the 3,373 creator clips submitted for review between August 27 and November 10, 2026.

How much does UGC cost in 2026?

About $4 per clip in a ready-made pack, $9–$13 for a single library clip and from $25 for a custom video. The median DansUGC package price is $165 for 40 videos.

• The 2026 DansUGC UGC Price Index found the median ready-made UGC package costs $3.98 per clip, across 60 active DansUGC packages holding 3,151 videos (November 2026).
• Half of all DansUGC packages cost between $1.99 and $6.74 per clip; the median package is $165 for 40 videos, and prices run from $49 to $519, according to the 2026 DansUGC UGC Price Index (November 2026).
• A single real-creator library clip costs $9 on the DansUGC Pro plan and $13 without a plan; custom UGC videos start at $25 each with a $250 minimum order (DansUGC pricing, November 10, 2026).
• Buying UGC in a pack is 56% cheaper per clip than buying single library clips on a plan: $3.98 versus $9, according to the 2026 DansUGC UGC Price Index (November 2026).
• A custom UGC video from $25 costs 6.3 times the median ready-made package clip ($3.98), according to the 2026 DansUGC UGC Price Index (November 2026).

Current prices: DansUGC pricing, ready-made UGC packages and the Viral UGC Bundle. Estimate a campaign with the UGC cost calculator.

How many UGC clips does a brand buy?

A dozen, and they come back. The median DansUGC buyer licensed 12 clips, and almost two in three bought on more than one day.

• The median DansUGC buyer licensed 12 real-creator clips, across 709 buyer accounts and 13,883 licences (January 20 to November 10, 2026).
• 63.9% of 709 DansUGC buyers licensed clips on two or more separate days, and 93.9% licensed more than one clip (November 2026).
• No single buyer dominates: the top 10 of 709 DansUGC buyer accounts held 17.7% of 13,883 licences (November 2026).

How many UGC creators are there, and where are they?

DansUGC alone has 792 active, approved creators in 67 countries. A quarter of those who list a country are in the United States.

• The 2026 DansUGC Creator Census counted 792 active, approved UGC creators on DansUGC on November 10, 2026.
• The 518 DansUGC creators who list a country live in 67 countries, according to the 2026 DansUGC Creator Census (November 2026).
• 25.5% of DansUGC creators who list a country are in the United States, followed by Romania (8.7%), Moldova (4.2%), Portugal (3.7%), Italy (3.5%) and the United Kingdom (3.3%), per the 2026 DansUGC Creator Census (November 2026).
• The 7,907 published clips in the DansUGC library were filmed by 58 real creators, an average of 136 clips per creator (November 2026).

Which hook formats do viral TikTok videos use?

Curiosity gaps and POVs, shown in the first frame. They are the two most common patterns among 1,249 high-performing TikTok hooks, and 73.5% of the hooks sit in frame one.

• The 2026 DansUGC Hook Index grouped 1,249 high-performing TikTok hooks into 376 reusable patterns; the most common formats were curiosity gap (15.3%), POV (13.3%), question (10.2%), transformation (9.7%), listicle (8.6%) and callout (8.6%) (November 2026).
• 73.5% of the 1,249 hooks in the 2026 DansUGC Hook Index appear in the first frame of the video; 6.1% appear in the second frame and 20.4% work in either (November 2026).
• The 61 viral TikTok formats DansUGC tracks had a combined 194.6 million views; the median format video had 703,263 views and ran 14 seconds (scraped November 6, 2026).

Does real UGC beat AI UGC?

Audiences push back on AI people in ads: 62% of US adults say AI-generated people or voices in ads are unacceptable even when disclosed (Gallup and Bentley University, August 2026). DansUGC sells only real-creator clips, so our own data can't compare the two head to head yet.

What do other studies say about UGC and creators?

Figures from other organisations, each checked on the original report and linked to it. They are not DansUGC data; credit the organisation named, not this page.

Methodology