Trend.io Pricing for Agencies: Trend Credits vs soona UGC Cost

Short answer: Trend.io sold UGC through prepaid credit packages: $550 for 60 credits (up to 6 videos), $1,045 for 140, $1,980 for 280 and $3,872 for 560 (up to 56 videos), which works out to $69 to $92 a video with entry-level creators. Trend is now soona UGC, which drops credits and prices each asset directly: $89 to $259 a video and $32 a photo. Trend accounts are supported through the end of 2026.

If your agency buys UGC on Trend for clients, that last sentence is the one that matters. Every client program on Trend has to move by December 31, 2026, the pricing model changes on the way, and the migration is not automatic. This article covers what Trend charged, what soona UGC charges now, what the switch does to your per-video cost, and whether the replacement is the right platform for an agency at all. We build one of the alternatives, so treat the comparison as an outside view and check the numbers against soona's own pages before you commit a client.

Trend.io pricing: the credit packages

Trend never charged a subscription. You bought a package of Creator Credits, spent them hiring creators, and every dollar went to content rather than software. These were the four packages on trend.io/pricing in September 2026.

The mechanics sit underneath the table. A credit lists at $9.16, and the price per credit drops on larger packages. Hiring a creator costs 20, 40 or 60 credits depending on the creator's skill level, and each hire delivers either 2 videos or 5 photos. The "up to" counts assume every hire is a 20-credit creator. Hire a 60-credit creator from the Starter package and one 2-video job uses the whole $550, which is roughly $275 a video. Credits expire 12 months after purchase, first-time buyers got 10% off with a code, and Trend advertised 15% off large packages booked through its sales team.

What you got for that price was the same on every package: unlimited project requests, applications from a diverse creator network, no creator negotiation, a guarantee against lost product, and full licensing and distribution rights on everything delivered.

What does soona UGC cost?

soona, the product photography company, bought Trend in 2023 and ran it separately until April 2026, when the beta of soona UGC launched as its replacement. The new model has no credits. soona UGC starts at $89 a video and $32 a photo, video prices range from $89 to $259 depending on the creator tier you pick, and bundled studio and UGC packages are quoted by soona's sales team.

For a brand that bought the Starter package once a quarter, soona UGC is a small price cut and far less bookkeeping. For a brand that prepaid the Scale package, the entry price per video goes up from about $69 to $89, roughly 29% more, unless a bundle quote brings it back down. soona still vets creators hard, approving about 35% of applicants, and it keeps Trend's model where creators apply to your campaign.

What happens to your Trend account and credits

This is the part agencies need on a calendar. From soona's own FAQ:

• Trend accounts, campaigns and content are supported through the end of 2026. Download every approved file and its licensing record before then.
• soona asked customers to finish existing and planned campaigns on Trend through June 2026.
• From July 1, 2026, remaining credits transfer to soona UGC at full value on request, with no reduction and no migration expiry. The transfer can take up to 72 hours.
• Accounts are not migrated automatically. You request the move, and soona transitions the account by hand.

For an agency, "not automatic" multiplies by the number of client accounts. If each client brand sits in its own Trend account, each one needs a transfer request, its own content export and its own new setup on soona. That is the natural moment to ask whether soona is where those clients should go, or whether the move is the time to change platforms.

Is Trend or soona UGC right for an agency?

For one brand buying a few videos a month, soona UGC is a good deal and hard to beat on simplicity: no subscription, a posted price per asset, perpetual rights and a vetted pool. Those are real strengths, and they carry over from Trend intact.

For an agency reselling UGC across a roster, three things get in the way. First, neither Trend's pricing page nor soona's UGC pages publish an agency plan, multi-brand billing or client separation. Trend's enterprise page offers to work "like your agency", which is a pitch to brands, not to agencies. Second, the price is public. A client who searches for UGC pricing finds $89 a video in a minute, and your retainer is now being compared to it. Third, per-asset pricing ties the platform cost to every video the client orders, so the gap between what you charge and what you pay is set by soona's price list rather than by you.

An agency platform solves the opposite problem. On AgencyUGC the platform is a flat monthly plan, you agree rates with creators directly, and client reports and invoices show the client rate you set, never the creator's. What the client does and does not see is covered in detail on our white label UGC platform page.

Trend and soona UGC vs a flat agency platform: cost per video

Per-video cost on a flat platform is the creator's rate plus the plan spread over the month's output. The table uses AgencyUGC Plus at $149 a month for 10 client workspaces, and creator rates of $75 and $100 for a basic 15 to 45 second clip, the low end of the ranges in our UGC creator rates in 2026 breakdown.

Read it honestly. At soona's entry tier, a flat platform only wins on raw cost when your creators charge under about $74 at 10 videos a month, or under about $85 at 40. At $100 creators, soona's $89 tier is cheaper per asset. The flat platform earns its place on what the per-asset price does not include: a workspace per client, a client rate that is yours to set, reports that do not reveal the creator's pay, and the freedom to hire the specific creator a client likes at whatever rate you agree. Trend's old Scale package was the cheapest option of all, and it is going away at the end of the year.

Once a client's new videos are live in paid social, most of the return depends on the page the ads land on. If conversion from that traffic is weak, a conversion rate audit of the landing page usually moves the numbers faster than another batch of creative.

Other Trend alternatives agencies compare

If the migration is the moment to reprice, these are the platforms that come up next to Trend, with the model each one bills on. Billo sells finished videos at about $99 each through directories, but keeps agency pricing private; see Billo pricing for agencies. Insense has a real agency plan at $800 a month billed quarterly plus 7% of creator pay. JoinBrands Max is $499 a month plus 8%. Cohley is quote-only with a paid 3-month pilot, which we compare with published options on the Cohley alternative for agencies page. AgencyUGC is $49, $149 or $499 a month by number of client workspaces, with no fee on creator pay, listed on the AgencyUGC pricing page.

To see whether a flat workspace fits one of the clients you are moving off Trend, write that client's next brief in the builder at the top of this page with the same platform, content type and budget. It matches vetted creators without an account, so you can compare them with your Trend hires before the December deadline forces the decision.