Choosing Wisely: Insense vs. Aspire.io [Features, Pricing & More]

You're planning to launch your next influencer marketing campaign and so, you've been on the lookout for the right influencers.

You've reached out to your contacts and scoured social media platforms but it's all been a dead end. 

With the project timeline fast approaching, you decided to go through Google, your old friend.

That's when you found these platforms.

*Sighs in relief*

But as you go through them, it's clear they're both great. So picking one isn't that easy. 

Lucky for you, this article does an in-depth comparison of Insense and Aspire, highlighting their features, pricing, and more. 

You'll learn the main differences between them so you can decide which one is the right fit for you. 

Disclaimer: The information below is accurate as of November 10, 2023.‍

What Is Insense?

Insense is an all-in-one digital platform that can help streamline how you run influencer marketing campaigns.

What do we mean by that?

Well, running a campaign usually covers the following steps:

• Goal setting
• Specifying campaign type
• Finding influencers
• Drafting contracts and copyright
• Content production and publishing 
• Real-time campaign tracking

Now with Insense, you can do all of that without leaving the platform. 

Even setting goals?

Yup, that's because you can't fill Insense's creative brief without having an objective. You'll be motivated to set goals right there. 

And that same brief is where you choose a campaign type and preferred influencer using different filters.

Plus, the brief serves as the binding contract with influencers and creators. 

Copyright?

You get full usage rights as long as you're on Insense. 

See why we said it can help streamline your influencer marketing campaign.

Now let's see what Aspire brings to this comparison table.

What Is Aspire.io?

Aspire.io is a marketing software for brands looking to connect with influential people who can help tell their stories best.

On Aspire.io, finding influencers is a two-way street. You can find them and they can find you too.

It's a platform anyone can use, from influencer marketers to CMOs, growth marketers, PR managers, content managers, and more.

One of Aspire's main features is helping you run customizable campaigns.

So they understand that the way brands run their influencer marketing campaign varies. While one brand might have the budget and bandwidth for different structures, others just want something straightforward.

You know, find influencers >> create content >> review >> run ads. 

But regardless of how you want to run your campaign, you can adjust it accordingly on Aspire. 

Okay so, it's settled: both tools are solid influencer marketing apps.

But is it only wine and roses?

Not really!

Up next, we're gonna highlight the tools’ advantages and disadvantages, leaving no stone unturned.

Insense: Pros & Cons

For this section, we did a deep dive online to find people who've used Insense. 

The point?

To learn what they’re saying and try to identify some of Insense's pros and cons.

Here's a breakdown of what we found, starting with the advantages.

Insense pros

It’s clear that Insense has a number of merits. So for this guide, we’ll stick with the merits we saw mentioned repeatedly. 

• Extensive network of creators and influencers: Looking for a platform where you can find UGC creators and micro-influencers to work with?

Insense is your best pal. With over 20k vetted creators, you can be sure to find the perfect fit for your brand. 

• Unlimited supply of UGC: One feature users have praised Insense for is the production of UGC ads at scale. And that’s because you can collaborate with different creators simultaneously.
• Automated payment process: With Insense’s billing system, your brand can automate how influencers are paid. Just add money to Insense and you can be sure influencers get paid for their approved content. 
• Streamlined campaign management: You can run multiple campaigns on Insense, all at the same time. What’s more, with the centralized campaign dashboard, you can manage your collaborations with different creators and influencers.‍

Insense cons

We applied the same approach to Insense’s disadvantages. Here are the top picks. 

• Limited influencer category: While there are different categories of influencers and creators on Insense, there are still industries that aren’t available. A few examples are photography and the automotive industry. 
• Subscription is a bit pricey: With Insense’s least expensive plan starting at $400, one might say it’s a bit pricey, especially for solopreneurs with a limited budget. 

You’ve seen the good and bad side of Insense. Let’s now do the same for Aspire.io.

Aspire.io: Pros & Cons

Did you know that Aspire.io used to be AspireIQ?

Yup, they’ve been around for about a decade now so they’ve got users with plenty to say about the platform.

Here’s an overview of what they’ve said regarding Aspire’s pros and cons.

Let’s unpack them below.

Aspire pros

Some of Aspire’s advantages include:

• User-friendly interface: Aspire’s interface simplifies how you manage your influencer marketing campaigns. This way, navigating the platform isn’t overwhelming.
• Customizable features: With this influencer platform, you can customize how campaigns are run in a way that aligns with your brand. 
• Seamless influencer management: Aspire streamlines how you communicate with influencers. It ensures all of your partnerships are centralized in a single location for easy access. 
• Easy payment processing: You can process payments with ACH transfers and pay influencers directly from PayPal.‍

Aspire cons

Regarding Aspire’s disadvantages, here are a few from users: 

• No free trial: At the moment, Aspire.io doesn’t have a free trial. What you can do is book a demo with the Aspire team to see it in action. 
• Undisclosed pricing plans: Aspire’s subscription plans aren’t available on the website. You’d have to reach out to the team to know how much using the platform will cost you. 
• Irrelevant influencers: Sometimes, algorithm-recommended influencers aren’t always relevant to your campaign.  

Alright, with that out of the way, it’s time to pitch both tools side-by-side and see how they compare. 

Let’s start with their features.

Comparison Point #1: Main Platform Features

Now, all the comparison points in this tutorial were based on user reviews of both tools. 

So, what did users say about Insense and Aspire’s features? 

Here’s an overview of their features.

That said, let’s go into more detail.

Insense features

Sure, Insense is an influencer discovery platform anyone can use. But what else can it offer? 

• Custom-made content: This is one of Insense’s main features. With it, you can start and scale the production of user-generated content ads for your digital marketing campaign. 

In other words, you’ll get a consistent flow of UGC like never before from influencers in your industry. And you can use it for running campaigns or even A/B testing. 

• Creator ads (aka influencer whitelisted ads): With this feature, you can run ads on different influencer profiles directly on Insense. After agreeing with an influencer, all you gotta do is click the Connect to Facebook Ads Manager button within the chat environment. Then, boom, you can connect with the influencers' Facebook or Instagram profiles. 
• Direct chat: Does this describe how you used to communicate with influencers before? You’d send a DM on the different platforms they were on and wait for replies. If they didn’t respond, you’d have to find their email address to write to them. 

If you didn’t hear from them, that was the end. That was pretty much it, right?

With Insense’s direct chat feature, communicating with influencers just got easier. After hiring them, you can chat with them within the chat environment. Aside from communication, you can also see the status of your collaboration, make payments, manage campaigns, and more. 

• Creative brief: This is probably the holy grail of Insense’s features. With the creative brief you’ll fill in, you can: 

1. Provide instructions about the campaign to influencers. Including details like what hashtags to use or if you’re product seeding. 
2. Choose your preferred content type. 
3. Specify what type of influencer you want.
4. Select content type. 
5. Determine how you’ll send products across if there are any. 

The brief also serves as the legal contract binding you and the influencer. It’s with the creative brief that Insense then selects influencers for you based on your selection. 

There’s more though, but let’s not keep Aspire waiting. 😉

Aspire.io features

Aspire.io also has outstanding features you can leverage. These include:

• Influencer recruitment: On Aspire, there are two major ways to find creators or influencers — the search engine and creator marketplace. 

The influencer search engine is where you get outbound results, finding brand ambassadors and influencers using search filters, insights, and brand aesthetics. 

In the marketplace, on the other hand, you get inbound applications. That means you list a campaign and get flooded with applications from people who believe they’re the perfect fit.

• Campaign analytics: Aspire’s partnership with social media platforms can give you insight into how your campaign is performing. You get to know your top-performing posts so you can boost them. Aspire also has a dashboard where you can track metrics like conversion rates, clicks, brand visibility, and more.  
• Third-party integrations: Aspire has a growing list of apps you can integrate to streamline your influencer marketing campaigns. From e-commerce tools like Shopify or WooCommerce to payment apps like PayPal, TikTok, Instagram, and other outreach platforms, they’ve got apps to help your influencer discovery. ‍

Which is better?

When it comes to features, it seems that Insense has the upper hand, especially if you‘re running a DTC or even SaaS business.

How so?

Well because most DTC businesses don’t always have a lot of time. So, having to go through applications from several influencers might be overwhelming. 

A better way is to just specify what you’re looking for and let someone else do the hard work. 

Also because you’re concerned about sales, getting influencer content at scale is most likely something you’re big on. You know, to engage your potential or existing customers. 

Based on that, you can see Insense perfectly fits that profile. 

Alright, let’s move on to the next comparison point. 

Comparison Point #2: Pricing

If you’re going to invest in a tool, you need to know how much it costs so you can plan around it.

This way, you can probably predict a possible return on investment (ROI) and get your team on board.

Feel free to check out this graphic showing the prices of both platforms.

And now, for a detailed review. 

Insense pricing

Insense has two types of plans — self-service and managed service plans alongside a demo. 

Let’s start with the self-service option. 

First, it just means you’re in charge of all the processes on Insense. Under this service plan, there are four pricing options. 

They include:

• Trial version: Starting at $500/mo, this plan lets you explore all the different features on Insense for just Insense. However, you’d get one campaign for just one brand. 
• UGC plan: This starts at $400/mo, $1,200 per quarter. It includes one brand with unlimited campaigns and a dedicated customer success manager. The UGC plan is recommended for brands that want to amplify UGC production. 
• UGC+creator ads: Costing about $450/mo and $1,350 per quarter, this plan happens to be the most popular on Insense. It offers UGC production, creator ads, creator licenses, audience insight, and more. 
• Advanced plan: A plan for the big brands, this costs $1,500/mo. With this plan, you’d get one-on-one support on creative strategies and chat management, unlimited editing on creatives post-production, and more.  

Now if you’re gonna need additional creator licenses, post-production, or creative strategy sessions, they’re available as add-ons at prices ranging from $60 to $300.

How about the managed service option?

It means Insense would be handling the bulk of the tasks in your campaign. From briefing creators to vetting and shortlisting them, the whole works. 

This option offers three tiers: 

• Package 1 at $2,800/mo for 6x UGC video ads. 
• Package 2 at $3,500/mo for 12x UGC video ads. 
• Package 3 at $4,200/mo for 18x UGC video ads.

With the managed service plan, you won’t have to worry about the content production process. You just need to review and approve the content when it’s ready. 

Aspire.io pricing

So uhm, here’s the thing with Aspire.io:

Pricing is only available on request. 

There are no free trials available either. What you can get is a demo of the digital platform. 

You just have to provide some information about yourself and the company and you’ll see Aspire in action.

Which is better?

For this pricing round, it seems that Insense won the standoff with a clear pricing structure, stating precisely what users will get from the different plans. 

This way, you already know what your spend would be like upfront. 

As it stands, it’s Insense 2: Aspire 0.

Do you think Aspire can perhaps make a dramatic comeback before we wrap up?

Let’s find out!

Comparison Point #3: Creators

When choosing an influencer marketing platform, you need to also look at the kind of influencers and creators they have. 

Do they fit your brand’s requirements?

To help you answer that, here’s a graphic showing how they match up. 

Let’s expand on them. 

Insense creators

One of Insense’s key selling points is having a database of over 20k vetted creators and influencers. 

You know what that means?

That you can be sure creators you hire on Insense have a good level of professionalism. 

They know what they’re doing and can be a great asset to your marketing campaign. 

It’s something users have said too. 

For instance, when writing a review about Insense, Nat said “There are lots of great creators here who really know what they are doing and just get it.”

Another user, Mark wrote, “This platform makes it a breeze to connect with quality creators for your social media campaigns.” 

Now what type of creators can you find on Insense?

There are basically two kinds: micro-influencers and UGC creators.

From Insense’s pricing plans, you’ll probably have noticed the focus on user-generated content.

You know, with the UGC and UGC+ Creator Ads plan.

So, how about Aspire?

Aspire.io creators

While there’s no specific number of influencers listed on Aspire.io, it’s a community of vetted influencers. 

You can be certain of collaborating with influential people who know how to get the job done. 

In the words of Cassidy, an Aspire.io user, “Since using Aspire, I've been able to work with more influencers for our current collection than ever before with less effort, freeing up more time for me to work on other aspects of my role.” 

On Aspire.io, the kind of creators you’d get to work with are micro-influencers. 

Alright…time to declare the winner for this round. 

Which is better?

It was almost a tie here. But when it comes to creators, it seems that Insense is a better alternative.

Here’s why:

There’s a large community of both micro-influencers and UGC creators you can leverage with Insense. 

What’s the difference? 

Well, creators specialize in producing social media content and have a community that trusts them. 

Influencers, meanwhile, have an engaged following of people online and can influence their decisions. 

Three comparisons down, one more to go. 

Let’s see if Aspire can still inspire a comeback.

Comparison Point #4: Additional Services

And now for the final face-off, we’re gonna compare what additional services Insense and Aspire.io have that can further streamline your workflow. 

An extra incentive or function to fight their case. 

You’ll find a highlight showing this in the graphic below.

First on the block is Insense.

Insense additional services

With Insense, there are quite a few services you can add to spruce up your campaign. 

They include: 

• Post-production option: Adding this service to your plan ensures you receive well-prepped, ready-to-use creatives when influencers send content. It’s a good option if you don’t have an editing team or the budget to hire one. 
• Adding brands to your plan: If you're a marketer collaborating with multiple brands, this add-on will come in handy for you. It allows you to add brands to your existing plan instead of purchasing a new plan. 
• Fully managed service: With this option, you hand over the keys of your influencer marketing campaign to a dedicated creative team. This can help you save time and money. Also, it provides you with a template to run future campaigns.

Aspire.io additional services

So, what additional services does Aspire.io offer? 

Here are some of them:

• Add additional brands: On Aspire, you can also include more brands in your plan. So, you can do more with additional costs. 
• Curated creators: With this special service, you’ll get influencers who’ve been handpicked by Aspire’s team for your campaign. All you need to do is accept them and get to work. It’s a good way to build new influencer relationships. 
• Aspire agency service: If you want someone else to worry about ‘the right demographics’, ‘engagement rates’, ‘collab experience’, and the campaign in general, this is a service for you. You’d be partnering with Aspire’s in-house team for your influencer program.

Which is better?

When it comes to additional services, it seems that this round is a tie. Both Insense and Aspire have services that are helpful add-ons. 

Whether it’s Insense’s special post-production service or Aspire’s curated creators option, you’ll agree they classify as nice-to-haves in a marketing campaign. 

At the end of the final round, though, it’s clear who the winner of this digital standoff is. 

And with that, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to introduce you to a better Aspire alternative.

A Better Alternative to Aspire.io

“Huhn, you guys are just saying that because it’s your tool.” 

Well, yes and no!

Yes, because we’re definitely confident about Insense and what it can do. 

*Smiles like a proud parent* 😁 

No, because the report speaks for itself. When it comes to content creation, scaling, and launching influencer marketing campaigns, Insense is a leader. 

Still not convinced?

Go ahead, book a demo with Insense, and see what we mean.