As advertising costs continue to rise, eCommerce brands are shifting their focus to influencer marketing to drive awareness and reduce customer acquisition costs. Instead of pouring budgets into traditional ads and in-house content production, brands are investing in long-term influencer relationships and authentic user-generated content.
Brands rely on specialized tools and platforms to scale their influencer marketing efforts without getting bogged down in manual tasks. One such platform is Aspire. It helps brands and agencies streamline their influencer programs by offering features for influencer discovery, relationship management, and campaign tracking.
While Aspire has established itself as a strong platform for managing influencer partnerships and campaign performance, many brands are searching for alternatives that better align with their needs. Let's explore the top 10 Aspire alternatives, but first, let's dive into why brands are looking beyond Aspire.
Drawbacks and Limitations of Aspire:
Poor influencer database & discovery issues: Aspire claims to have an extensive database, but many users report outdated profiles, missing influencers, and limited search options.
Difficult onboarding and UI issues: Users find the interface unintuitive and difficult to navigate, requiring extensive training to onboard teams.
Expensive and requires long contracts: Aspire locks users into 12-month contracts with high upfront costs, making it inaccessible for lean teams.
Lack of flexibility in influencer partnerships: Aspire prioritizes one-time influencer deals rather than long-term ambassador and seeding programs.
Limited integrations and workflow automation: Users report a lack of flexibility in integrations and missing essential automation features for scaling influencer outreach.
Hidden costs and upsells: Many Aspire customers complain about unexpected costs and limited feature access unless they upgrade to more expensive plans.
Aspire Alternatives: All Tools at a Glance
1. SARAL
Who Should Use This?
SARAL is built for everyone—from small DTC brands to large ecommerce teams, and even influencer marketing agencies of any size. Whether you're a founder, CMO, or managing influencer partnerships day-to-day, you’ll find everything you need to build and scale your program.
Pricing:
SARAL offers flexible annual pricing to support you at every stage of your influencer marketing journey:
Starter – $12K/year: Great for brands just getting started with influencer marketing.
Business – $15K/year: Ideal for growing teams looking to scale their existing influencer programs.
Professional – $25K/year: Built for large brands running high-volume campaigns and ambassador programs.
Yep, we do offer a free trial! You’ll get access to explore SARAL’s features right after a quick intro call. Curious to see how SARAL can work for you? Book a quick call and get your free trial—we’ll walk you through everything!
Key Features:
Find the Right Influencers: Find influencers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram with ease. SARAL gives you detailed metrics, audience insights, and direct contact info—so you can connect with creators who truly fit your brand.
Reach Out at Scale (Without Losing the Personal Touch): Send personalized email campaigns automatically using our email drips and AI-powered inbox. It saves time while keeping your outreach genuine.
Manage Relationships Like a Pro: Keep all your influencers, affiliates, and brand ambassadors organized in one easy-to-use CRM. No more spreadsheets or messy follow-ups.
Track Sales Effortlessly: Create affiliate links, discount codes, and UTM links to see exactly who’s driving revenue. Clear insights, no guesswork.
Never Miss a Post: Our social listening tool automatically tracks influencer UGC, so you're always in the loop on brand mentions and engagement.
Plug Into Your Stack: SARAL integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Klaviyo, and PayPal—making it easy to run your influencer program without extra hassle.
Automate the Boring Stuff: From shipping products to tracking posts and following up, SARAL’s built-in automations handle the repetitive tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Powerful influencer search engine with access to over 100 million creators
Flexible pricing and brand-friendly contracts made for ecommerce teams
Cons:
SARAL isn’t a creator marketplace or a limited database
Not the best fit for passive affiliate-only programs
Doesn’t support influencer whitelisting
Can’t track conversions from a creator’s paid ads (yet!)
User Reviews on G2:
Aspire Vs. SARAL:
If you are seeking a creator marketplace with a big budget, then Aspire is a solid choice. But suppose you want a simpler, more intuitive way to find the right influencers quickly, reach out with personalized messages that get real responses, and manage collaborations without unnecessary complexity. In that case, SARAL is the best platform to go with. Plus, unlike Aspire, SARAL lets you connect with influencers directly. No extra hoops to jump through.
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GRIN is a great fit for growing ecommerce brands—especially those with teams of 10 or more and annual marketing budgets of $1M or higher.
Pricing:
$25K - $40K per year. Custom plans are provided upon request only after a demo.
Free Trial? No.
Key Features:
Find and recruit creators who align with your brand.
Dive into audience insights to make smarter partnership decisions.
Score and segment influencers based on fit and performance.
Collaborate easily with creators from outreach to execution.
Collect, manage, and repurpose UGC without the mess.
Set up payments and rewards with flexible compensation tools.
Get clear, visual reports that track what’s working.
Monitor performance with real-time campaign dashboards.
Easily bring in or export data with simple import/export tools.
Pros:
It excels at influencer management, keeping your relationships and campaigns well-organized.
Campaign management is a breeze, with tools that let you track and optimize from start to finish.
Data analytics are comprehensive. Perfect for running high-volume influencer campaigns.
UGC management features help brands managing high number of influencers.
Cons:
Toxic Contracts Lock Brands in With No Way To Cancel.
Onboarding is Long and Takes Forever To Train The Team
Poor Customer Support.
Software is Clunky and Not Easy To Use
Limited Features and Hidden Fees, Constant Upselling.
Instagram Search Functionality isn’t available.
User Review on G2:
Aspire Vs. GRIN:
Choose Aspire if you need agency support, focus on affiliate partnerships, and want to search beyond Instagram. Choose GRIN if you prefer expert-led influencer discovery service, more eCommerce integrations, and custom reporting. But, remember, both come at hefty annual contracts.
3. CreatorIQ
Who Should Use This?
This tool is ideal for global eCommerce and enterprise brands with substantial influencer marketing budgets and large teams. If you're managing a large-scale operation and need robust features to support it, this is the perfect fit.
Pricing:
While specific pricing details are not publicly disclosed, reports suggest that plans typically start at approximately $2,350 per month with an annual commitment, totaling around $28,200 per year. Other sources indicate that pricing may begin at $36,000 per year, depending on the selected features and services.
Free Trial? No.
Key Features:
Access to a database with 20M+ creators.
Easy influencer recruitment, audience insights, and segmentation.
Streamlined collaboration with influencers.
Manage UGC and campaigns in one place.
Influencer whitelisting for more control.
Flexible influencer compensation options.
Visual reporting and analytics dashboards.
Social commerce tools for shopping directly on social platforms.
Seamless integrations with social platform APIs.
Powerful data analytics for deeper insights.
Simple data import and export options.
Pros:
The platform offers efficient influencer management, keeping all your relationships organized.
It provides easier campaign management, making it easy to track and optimize.
You get detailed information and insights to help with better decision-making.
Customer support is always available, ensuring help is just a message away.
Cons:
The platform has some technical issues, with outdated analytics that can make it difficult to access the most recent data.
The interface feels clunky and hard to navigate, leading to complexity in the user experience.
Annual contracts can be quite expensive, making it a high investment for some businesses.
Users have reported inaccuracies in data and audience insights for certain creators, affecting the reliability of the platform.
Some creators may not have access to all analytics, and certain data may be outdated or missing altogether.
The influencer database is smaller compared to competitors, with only 20M influencers in its private network.
User Review on G2:
Aspire Vs. CreatorIQ:
Choose Aspire if you require an influencer marketing tool with agency support, aim to scale affiliate partnerships, and wish to search for influencers across multiple platforms beyond Instagram. Opt for CreatorIQ if you prefer algorithm-based influencer discovery, and advanced data analytics, and need to build custom reports frequently. Just remember that CreatorIQ might be much more expensive than Aspire.
4. Upfluence
Who Should Use This?
Medium to large businesses, especially e-commerce brands, marketing agencies, and enterprises that run high-volume influencer campaigns.
Pricing:
Basic Packages: Some reports indicate that the platform can start as low as $478/month for smaller-scale businesses or more limited feature sets.
Enterprise Packages: For larger businesses or those needing more advanced features, the pricing can go up to $2,000/month or more.
Free Trial? No.
Key Features:
A large database of creators and bloggers to choose from.
Tools for influencer recruitment, scoring, and audience segmentation.
Easy collaboration with influencers throughout the campaign.
Manage UGC and campaigns all in one place.
Influencer whitelisting to control who’s allowed to promote your brand.
Flexible options for compensating influencers.
Detailed reporting and dashboards to track campaign performance.
In-depth analytics to monitor and optimize campaigns.
Simple import and export tools to manage your data.
Pros:
Campaign management is streamlined, making it easy to track and optimize your campaigns.
The platform is incredibly easy to use, with a user-friendly interface.
Influencer management is efficient, keeping all your relationships organized.
Easy integrations with other tools, making setup and data sync hassle-free.
Cons:
Audience analysis is limited, providing fewer insights than expected.
Customer support is poor, with delayed responses and unresolved issues.
There are inaccuracies in creator data, affecting the reliability of the platform.
Users are locked into contracts despite early dissatisfaction with the service.
The pricing structure lacks clarity, making it difficult to understand costs upfront.
User Review on G2:
Aspire vs Upfluence:
Choose Aspire for easier content scheduling, intuitive influencer collaboration, and efficient follow-ups. But if you need deeper campaign analytics, influencer compensation management, and easier UGC handling, Upfluence is the better choice.
5. Later
Who Should Use This?
This tool is perfect for global and enterprise brands managing high-volume campaigns and customer loyalty programs across both influencer as well social media channels.
Pricing:
No set prices. Custom pricing plans will be provided upon request after a demo.
Free Trial? No.
Key Features:
Effortlessly recruit influencers, analyze audiences, and segment based on performance.
Smooth collaboration with influencers from start to finish.
Social media management and monitoring tools to track brand performance.
Manage UGC and campaigns with ease.
A customer loyalty engine to keep your audience engaged long-term.
Flexible influencer compensation options.
Detailed reporting and dashboards to track everything in one place.
In-depth campaign analytics to optimize results.
Simple data import and export tools to sync your data.
Social commerce tools that integrate shopping directly into social platforms.
Pros:
The platform comes with social media management tools making it easy to consolidate both influencer & social media channels under one tool.
Influencer management feature is streamlined, helping you keep all your partnerships organized.
Campaign management is efficient, allowing you to track and optimize campaigns effortlessly.
Communication with influencers is smooth, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Customer support is responsive, providing assistance whenever you need it.
Cons:
The creator database is quite small, limiting your options compared to other platforms.
There are frequent technical issues, which can disrupt the user experience.
Bug issues are common, affecting the smooth operation of the platform.
Social Media Management features may be overkill & unnecessary for brands requiring influencer management only.
The user interface is poorly designed, making it hard to find what you need quickly.
User Review on G2:
Aspire Vs. Later:
Choose Aspire if you need a larger influencer database, advanced filtering, and affiliate integrations. If you prefer strong analytics with predictive performance metrics and daily ROI tracking, then go with Later Influence. Aspire offers agency support but comes at a higher cost, while Later Influence provides a more budget-friendly option.
Getting authentic, high-converting UGC from influencers—without the high price tag is highly possible with the right tactics. Check out this FREE guide to learn proven strategies for sourcing cost-effective but authentic influencer content that feels real and drives tangible results.
6. Meltwater
Who should use this?
This tool is ideal for enterprise ecommerce brands or marketing agencies of any scale running integrated social media & influencer campaigns.
Pricing:
There are three plans: Essentials, Suite, and Enterprise. All pricing plans will be provided upon request after a demo call.
Free trial? No.
Key features:
Easily identify the right influencers for your brand.
Create custom reports to track performance and insights.
Dashboards for quick access to key metrics.
Target influencers based on specific keywords.
Set up custom feeds and alerts for real-time updates.
Measure social media performance across platforms.
Comprehensive reporting to keep track of results.
Sentiment analysis to understand audience perception.
Track media channel coverage for better outreach.
Geographic coverage to target audiences in specific locations.
Pros:
Discover influencers that align with your brand’s values and goals.
Access comprehensive analytics to measure campaign success.
Robust reporting functionality to track and present key data.
Detailed influencer data to help you make informed decisions.
Social Media suite to bring both social media & influencer management under one roof.
Cons:
The platform is very complex to use, making it difficult for new users to navigate.
Users often face social media reauthentication issues, disrupting workflows.
Technical glitches are frequent, causing disruptions in the platform’s performance.
Manual search for micro-influencers can be time-consuming and inefficient.
Social media suite may be unnecessary for brands requiring influencer management only.
User Review on G2:
Aspire Vs. Meltwater:
Choose Aspire if you prioritize ease of use, setup, administration, and good customer support. Choose Meltwater if you require comprehensive media monitoring across various channels(not only influencers) and extensive geographic coverage. If you want a tool solely for influencer marketing, then Aspire is a better choice.
7. Tagger Media(Now Sprout Social)
Who Should Use This?
This tool is ideal for large eCommerce brands that run integrated marketing campaigns across social media & influencer channel.
Pricing:
No public pricing or monthly plans are available. All prices will be provided upon request after a demo.
Free Trial? No.
Key Features:
Discover influencers, evaluate their audiences, and categorize them according to their impact.
Work seamlessly with influencers from start to finish of the campaign.
Handle UGC and campaigns all in one simple platform.
Offer versatile payment options for influencer compensation.
Access detailed reports and dashboards to measure success.
Track influencer activity in real-time for better oversight.
Use in-depth campaign insights to refine and improve strategies.
Easily import and export data for efficient management.
Pros:
The platform makes influencer discovery simple and efficient.
It’s easy to use, with a user-friendly design that’s accessible to everyone.
Customer support is responsive, ensuring you get help when needed.
The user interface is well-designed, making navigation smooth and intuitive.
Cons:
Influencer management can be difficult, with some features requiring more effort to organize.
The search functionality has issues, making it harder to find the right influencers quickly.
Setting up the platform can take weeks, causing delays in getting started.
There are occasional creator issues that can affect campaign performance.
Training your team on the platform takes time and effort to ensure everyone is up to speed.
User Review on G2:
Aspire Vs. Tagger:
Choose Aspire if you seek a dedicated influencer marketing platform with influencer discovery, campaign management, and content creation tools, with flexible pricing options. If you prefer a comprehensive social media management tool that includes influencer marketing features, then Sprout Social's influencer marketing platform is an option, though it comes at a higher price point and may not require other features if you’re solely focused on influencer marketing.
8. Captiv8
Who should use this?
Large-sized eCommerce brands and marketing agencies with larger marketing budgets running high-volume influencer campaigns.
Pricing:
Reports have said that basic plans start from $2000/month with a commitment period of 6 months. Custom pricing plans will be provided after a demo call.
Free Trial? No.
Key Features:
Recruit influencers, analyze audiences, and segment based on performance.
Easy collaboration with influencers throughout the campaign.
Manage UGC and campaigns seamlessly in one platform.
Flexible influencer compensation options for smooth payments.
Detailed reporting and dashboards to track all campaign metrics.
Influencer whitelisting for more control over content.
In-depth campaign analytics to optimize strategies.
Simple data import and export tools for easy data management.
Seamless eCommerce integrations to connect with your online store.
Social commerce tools for direct shopping integration across social platforms.
Pros:
You can track hashtags and locations to enhance influencer discovery.
Hourly post analysis helps determine the best time to post for optimal engagement.
AI tags and categorizes influencers, ensuring more accurate and relevant results.
The platform offers seamless campaign management, keeping everything organized and efficient.
Cons:
Limited onboarding makes the learning process slower for new users.
New features are launched with little guidance, making it difficult to fully understand them.
There are inaccuracies in the data, which can affect decision-making.
Technical issues are common, causing disruptions in the platform's performance.
User Review on G2:
Aspire Vs. Captiv8:
Choose Captiv8 for better customer support, advanced audience analysis, and highly customizable link management. However, if your focus is on influencer collaborations and user-generated content management, is the better choice.
9. Traackr
Who Should Use This?
Large Enterprise Brands, Brands Focused on Influencer Spend Compliance, Agencies Managing Enterprise Clients, and Data-Driven Marketing Teams.
Pricing:
Growth Plan - $25K/year, Standard Plan - $32K/year, Plus Plan - $55K/year.
Free Trial? No.
Key Features:
Discover and select influencers, assess their audiences, and categorize based on performance.
Facilitate smooth collaboration with influencers throughout the campaign.
Manage user-generated content (UGC) and campaigns all in one place.
Control which influencers are included through whitelisting options.
Provide varied compensation methods for influencers.
Generate detailed reports and track campaign performance with dashboards.
Integrate social commerce features for direct purchases from social platforms.
Analyze data deeply to gain insights and refine strategies.
Import and export data easily for seamless management.
Pros:
Influencer management is efficient, allowing you to track and organize your partnerships.
Campaign management is streamlined, helping you stay on top of all your initiatives.
Detailed influencer data is available, providing insights into each creator's performance.
Metrics tracking is comprehensive, enabling you to monitor key campaign outcomes.
Cons:
Slow Loading.
Inaccurate Influencer Data.
Automated Influencer Outreach Isn’t Possible.
Search Functionality Issues.
Clunky and Hard To Use.
User Review on G2:
Aspire vs Traackr:
Choose Aspire if you prioritize user-generated content management, influencer recruitment, and content approval. Choose Traackr if you need a comprehensive blogger database and strong influencer segmentation, making it easier to find and categorize influencers, though it comes at a hefty pricing plan.
10. Shopify Collabs(formerly Dovetale)
Who Should Use This?
Small-to-medium-sized eCommerce businesses, exclusively Shopify merchants new to influencer and affiliate marketing.
Pricing:
Shopify Collabs is free for both merchants and creators to use. The only cost is a 2.9% fee on automated payments for sales driven through creator collaborations.
Free Trial? Yes.
Key Features:
The platform includes a creator marketplace, making it easy to find the right influencers.
Creator management is streamlined, allowing you to oversee all partnerships in one place.
You can track creator performance effectively, helping you measure the success of campaigns.
Affiliate payments are handled seamlessly, ensuring influencers are compensated on time.
Pros:
The platform offers easier access to influencers, making it simpler to find the right partners.
Management is straightforward, allowing you to efficiently oversee all influencer relationships.
Automated payments and tracking save you time and effort while ensuring smooth transactions.
Creator recruitment is made simple, helping you quickly build your influencer network.
It’s ideal for new brands looking to scale their influencer marketing efforts.
Cons:
The marketplace network is restricted, limiting your options for influencer partnerships.
It’s not ideal for long-term influencer seeding or ambassador programs.
Bulk email outreach isn’t supported, making it harder to scale communication.
The platform has limited features, which may not meet all your needs.
Customer support is unresponsive, making it difficult to get timely assistance.
User Review on G2:
Aspire Vs. Collabs:
Choose Shopify Collabs if you're a Shopify merchant seeking an integrated, cost-effective influencer marketing platform that simplifies creator partnerships and affiliate management. However, if you require more advanced influencer discovery tools, comprehensive campaign management features, and are prepared for a higher investment, Aspire may be the better choice.
Which Platform To Choose?
If you’re exploring Aspire alternatives, the most important thing to remember while choosing a tool is that one that fits your budget, bandwidth, campaign goals, and priorities. Different tools cater to different needs. Tools like CreatorIQ, Later, and GRIN are best suited if you run multiple, high-volume influencer campaigns with big budgets. Tools like Shopify Collabs & Upfluence are best suited if you are on a small budget starting with influencer marketing, but you do have a third and a better option.
You can use SARAL, which has one of the largest influencer search engines(100M+), bulk outreach automation tools, influencer management features, social listening, and advanced reporting & analytics tools, making it an excellent choice to launch and scale your influencer marketing efforts at a brand-friendly pricing.