Vet the deal before you sign.
Canvas deals pay by performance, not a flat fee. Fill this in, run the math on the brand's real average views, then make your call.
Canvas UGC vetting worksheet
Canvas deals pay by performance (CPM, a share of sales, or a hybrid with base pay), not a flat fee. Use this before you sign anything.
What kind of deal is this?
Traditional UGC
- Flat fee per finished video
- Paid regardless of performance
- Fixed floor, fixed ceiling
- The brand supplies a script and you deliver a polished video
Canvas UGC
- Paid by CPM (per 1,000 views), a share of sales (GMV), or a hybrid with base pay
- Pay tracks how the video actually performs
- Lower floor, higher ceiling
- Volume is often high, sometimes dozens of videos a month, across platforms and sometimes on new accounts
Canvas is commission work. That is not a red flag on its own. It is the same risk and reward tradeoff as commission sales in any business. A capped view count or a slow week can mean pennies. A video that pops can pay far more than a flat rate would. Go in knowing which one you are signing up for.
Get the numbers in writing
Dollars per 1,000 views
A cap on how many views count toward pay
Their average, not their best clip. Ask for it. If they will not share it, that is information too.
Do the math before you sign
CPM rate × average views ÷ 1,000 = pay per video. At a $4 CPM with 15,000 average views, that is $60 per video. At 40 videos a month, that is $2,400. But if this brand's accounts actually average 2,000 views, the same math pays $8 per video, or $320 for the month.
Run the brand's real average through this formula before you agree to a video count. The CPM rate alone tells you almost nothing.
Uses your base pay, CPM, average views and cap if you entered them. A GMV share cannot be estimated without their average sales per video, so ask for that number too.
Run the checklist
Your portfolio call
Canvas deals pay on performance, so treat the money as an estimate, not guaranteed income. A common approach is to keep one or two deals with a guaranteed base for your floor and layer CPM or Canvas deals on top for upside. Do not build your whole month on pure commission unless you are deliberately choosing to.
Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere. Print it or save it as a PDF if you want to keep your answers.
How to use it
- Use it on a real offer. Get the numbers in writing first, then fill in section 02. The math in section 03 updates as you type.
- The average is the number that matters. The CPM rate means little until you multiply it by what this brand's accounts actually average per video, not their best clip.
- Terms vary by brand. This describes common Canvas structures, not any one program. Read the contract, and ask about caps, base pay, exclusivity and how fast you are paid.
- Pair it with the calculator. The Canvas UGC pay calculator shows what a month could look like in dollars per hour. This worksheet covers the questions the calculator cannot.
- Nothing is saved. Your answers stay in your browser. Print the page or save it as a PDF if you want a copy.
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