Insense vs. GRIN [Comparing Features, Pricing & More]

Insense or GRIN, which one do I choose?

That’s the question you’re asking yourself. 

You’ve been looking for a tool that can help you find influencers for your new marketing strategy. 

And so far, you’ve been able to streamline your search down to these two. 

But you need only one. 

To help you make the right choice, we’re gonna put both tools in the ring.

A boxing match. But for influencer marketing tools. 

We’ll take them through five rounds and you’ll be the judge. 

In the end, we’re pretty sure you’ll know which tool to choose.

So, shall we?

Disclaimer: The information below is accurate as of December 11, 2023.‍

What Is Insense?

Insense is an all-in-one digital tool that’s made the process of finding influencers easy. It’s built in a way that makes it hassle-free for anyone to collaborate with influencers for their content marketing campaigns. 

In the past, finding influencers was a lot of work. 

You’d first do a Google search for influencers. And when you eventually had found one after much toiling, contacting them was another battle you faced. 

Stressful! But with Insense? 

You can find influencers and user-generated content (UGC) creators to work with in just three steps. 

1. Fill out a creative brief where you share relevant information about your campaign and what kind of influencers you want to work with. 
2. Insense sets you up with perfect influencers who align with your campaign and brand goals.
3. You start receiving engaging content in real time.

Easy. 

Now, let's take a look at GRIN.

What Is GRIN?

GRIN is influencer marketing software that can help you find creators who use your product or service.

More like customer influencers. 

GRIN is primarily for e-commerce brands. You can integrate it with your favorite marketing tools for a seamless workflow. 

You know, so you can manage all your marketing campaigns in one place.

GRIN is also integrated with an email inbox so you can send emails to influencers directly. 

Essentially, you can use GRIN to:

• Find influencers.
• Manage your relationships with them.
• Monitor your reports.
• Pay influencers directly.

The point is, Insense and GRIN are both great. 

You know that already. 

So, let’s take a look at their pros and cons. 

Starting with Insense. 😉

Insense: Pros & Cons

Every tool, regardless of how great it is, has its advantages and disadvantages. 

What are current users saying about it?

Are they enjoying their experience? 

That’s what we’ll quickly chat about in this section.

Insense pros

Here are a few great things users have said about Insense:

• Time-saving system: With the systems for finding creators on Insense, you won’t waste time looking for people to collaborate with. 

For instance, you can fill out a creative brief in under ten minutes and we’ll match you with creators.

• A broad community of influencers and creators: If what you need is a way to find the right influencers, Insense has the perfect system for you: the Insense creator marketplace. 

Here, you can find influencers and UGC creators well-versed in the inner workings of influencer marketing. 

• Simple payment process: Sometimes, finding influencers is not an issue for you. But paying them? That can be a pain. On Insense, you can automate how influencers are paid. 

All you need to do is top up your wallet! 

• Multiple use cases: You can use Insense for many other things besides influencer outreach. Campaign management. Influencer relationship management. Running creator ads. Content creation. Payments. You name it.

Insense cons

So, what are some cons users have faced with Insense? 

• Reporting limitations: Some users have mentioned that Insense could benefit from more detailed insights into their campaign performance. 
• Platform responsiveness: Others have said they experience slow loading times and bugs occasionally. 

And as for GRIN?

Let’s see its advantages and disadvantages too.

GRIN: Pros & Cons

In GRIN’s case, people say it’s helped them build connections with influencers.

Is that all, though?

GRIN pros

Here are some of GRIN’s major advantages:

• Integration with e-commerce platforms: On GRIN, you can easily integrate creatives produced by influencers on your e-commerce channels. So you don’t have to download and upload when you need to use them. 
• Lookalike searches: You can search for specific influencers whose audience looks like your ideal audience demographic on GRIN.
• Customer influencers: You can go through the list of registered customers to find people who might have the influence you need. 
• Access to campaign metrics: Wanna see what your influencer campaign numbers are saying? You can monitor that on GRIN and track your key performance indicators (KPIs).

GRIN cons

A few disadvantages for the road.

• Unavailable pricing structure: You won’t find clear pricing plans on GRIN. What you can do is watch a demo and contact them if you’re interested. 
• Complicated payment process: If you want to pay influencers on GRIN, you need to go into each campaign to do that. That can be tedious when working with multiple influencers. 
• Poor tracking and reports: Tracking content can be challenging and you may have to make additional payments to get reports on campaign progress. 

So, we’re about to put these tools through the wringer. 

Let’s see who comes out on top.

Comparison Point #1: Main Platform Features

And so the battle begins between Insense and GRIN. 

The first round is called Features. We’re gonna look at what features users enjoy and are raving about in both tools.

Let’s start with Insense.

Insense features

The first thing to note is that Insense is a creator management platform where you can find relevant influencers with ease. 

In addition to that, you’ll also get these useful features like:

• Content rights: Will you get full access to influencer-generated content (IGC) after you receive the creatives? On Insense, that’s a big yes. You’ll have full rights to the content you receive on the platform. It’s one of the perks of being a part of the family. 😉
• Creator portfolio: Get an in-depth look at an influencer’s profile before hiring them. If they’ve worked on other projects in the past, you can go through them too. This way, you can see first-hand what they can do for you.
• Direct chat: After you’ve found influencers to work with, chatting with them is the next step. You wanna see if they understand the brief, review payments, and just get started with the project. Insense’s chat feature makes talking with creators a breeze. You also get to make payments, monitor the collaboration, manage campaigns, and more.

There are still other features like creator ads, creative briefs, audience insights, etc…

But let's see what GRIN has to offer.

GRIN features

For sure, GRIN has great features too. Here are some of them: 

• Influencer discovery and recruitment: GRIN offers different ways to find influencers. They’ve got creator/influencer search, social listening, hashtags, web extensions, and more. All with one goal – helping you find authentic content creators quickly.
• Reporting and analytics: GRIN allows you to monitor how your influencer marketing campaign is doing. Are people engaging with the content? Is it having the kinda impact you want it to have?  
• Content management: Now on GRIN, you can monitor IGC and identify which is performing well, allowing you to repurpose high-performing content across the board. 

Which is better?

When it comes to features, it seems that Insense is a better tool.

Why? 

For starters, Insense has more features that can help you streamline and optimize an influencer marketing campaign from start to finish. Plus, the features are straightforward so you can get the job done in no time. 

So… round 1 is completed. Let’s move on to the next.

Comparison Point #2: Pricing

How much a tool costs is such an important consideration when deciding which one to get. 

You wanna weigh everything to know if it’s the right partnership for your brand. 

To help you with that, here’s an overview of Insense and GRIN’s pricing structure.

Insense pricing

There are two types of offers on Insense. The self-service and managed service plan. 

We begin with self-service. 

What does that even mean? 

That you’ll be handling everything you do on Insense. Here, you’ve got four pricing plans to choose from: 

• Trial version: Costs $500/mo. With this plan, you can try all the features on Insense, just to see if it’s a tool you wanna use. But it’s only for one campaign and one brand. 
• UGC plan: Costs $400/mo. This one is for one brand but it comes with unlimited campaigns. You’ll also get a dedicated customer success manager to help run the campaign.  
• UGC+creator ads: Cost $450/mo for creator licenses, UGC production at scale, creator ads, audience insight, and more. 
• Advanced plan: Costs $1,500/mo for everything from other plans including personalized customer support on creative strategies, post-production editing, chat management, and more.  

Now the managed service option, on the other hand, simply means handing over your campaign keys to Insense.  

You sit back and relax while Insense handles everything for you. 

Finding the best influencers. Negotiating with them. Sharing your objectives. Fraud detection. 

You have only one job here. Review and approve IGC when it’s done.

For this plan, you have three options: 

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

GRIN pricing

At the moment, GRIN’s pricing structure is only available on request. 

You can, however, request a demo of the platform. Just to see how it works.  

Which is better?

When it comes to pricing, Insense is better. 

You know what you’re going to pay up front. You also know what each plan has to offer before you commit. 

That’s great for planning and tracking your overall return on ad spend.

In this second round, Insense is still leading the fight.

But who knows what might come next?

Comparison Point #3: Creators

So, influencers. 

That’s why you are looking at these platforms. 

You need to take a good look at what both tools have so you’re sure at least one has what you need. 

You can check this graphic for a brief overview of what Insense and GRIN’s influencer or creator pool is like. 

Insense creators

On Insense, there are two kinds of influencer partnerships you can have. 

One with micro-influencers or UGC creators. 

So, what are they?

Micro-influencers are a type of influencer with an average following of between 10k and 100k. 

Doesn’t look like much, right?

Eh. Sometimes looks can be deceiving. 

What they don’t have in numbers they make up for it in effectiveness. Micro-influencers tend to have a community of people in a particular niche. 

As such, it’s easy for them and their community to engage with their post. With micro-influencers, you get a high engagement rate and brand loyalty.

And UGC creators?

These are like your typical social media users. But what makes them different is that they’ve mastered the art of creating content their followers love and wanna engage with. 

People wanna watch their content because it doesn’t feel like they’re trying to sell every time. 

GRIN creators

What type of creators can you find here?

Macro- and micro-influencers. 

We explained micro-influencers already.

Macro-influencers are kinda higher in the influencer spectrum but only in terms of the numbers. 

They usually have over 100k followers. However, macro-influencers are typically good if your campaign goal is to boost brand awareness. 

You know, letting people know about your product or service. 

Anyway, those are the kinds of creators you’ll find on GRIN. 

Which is better?

Well, it’s a tie in this round. 

Which tool is better in this case depends on what your goals are. 

Wanna just spread the word that your brand is in town? GRIN is the tool you wanna use. 

Wanna build a community of people who you can recruit eventually as brand ambassadors? Insense will be the better option.

Comparison Point #4: Additional Services

Aside from finding influencers and the other perks we’ve mentioned so far, what else does each tool bring to the table? 

That’s something to consider. 

You don’t want to start sourcing for certain services like video editing again after investing in one of these platforms.  

Let’s go over them quickly.

Insense additional services

You can enjoy up to three different additional services on Insense. 

Post-production: This service aims to provide you with ready-to-use UGC after production. So you won’t have to stress over whether or not the creative needs polishing.

Additional brands for your plan: Let’s say you’ve chosen a plan to start working. You can include more brands (up to 30) in your plan. You get to do more without buying another subscription

Fully managed service: Too busy to begin your campaign? That’s okay. With this service, you can sit back and still leverage IGC or UGC ads without the work. Insense will help you monitor the whole process.

GRIN additional services

On the flip side, GRIN has one main additional service. 

And that’s the option of a fully managed service. 

You can request that they help handle the campaign while you focus on other things. 

However, that option could be expensive. 

Which is better?

You know this one. 

When it comes to additional services, Insense offers many more services. All of them are structured to make your campaign a smooth one. From the post-production services to adding brands to your plan. 

One more round and we’re good to go!

Comparison Point #5: Use Cases

Last but not least, we’re gonna look at the use cases of these tools. 

What else can they do for you?

Besides the finding influencers function, of course. 

Let’s find out!

Insense use cases

Here’s a rundown of some of Insense’s use cases:

UGC videos: Need an unlimited source of UGC videos for your digital marketing campaigns? Insense can help you with that. With a large community of vetted creators, you can get enough UGC to help you test what works and scale your campaign.

White-listed ads: Yes, with Insense you can post whitelisted influencer ads on Facebook and Instagram. That’s the type where you boost ads using a creator’s profile. You just need to indicate this when filling out the creative brief so the influencer is aware. 

Influencer posting: You can also have influencers post the content they produced for you on their page. This way, the content has more reach.

GRIN use cases

So what are some of GRIN’s use cases?

Well, they’ve got two major ones.

First is influencer posting. 

You can discuss with the influencers or creators you’re collaborating with to post the creative on their page. This can be for social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 

Secondly, integration with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), and WooCommerce. With this integration, you can have seamless product gifting and streamline getting affiliate links for referral tracking. 

Which is better?

When it comes to use cases, it seems that Insense is better. There are multiple use cases you’ll enjoy on the influencer marketing platform.

While GRIN does have a couple, Insense’s options are more relevant to influencer marketing campaigns. 

***

And that brings us to the end of this guide. So, who won the rounds?

You know, right?

It’s time to meet your winner. 

A Better Alternative to GRIN

That’s Insense…no doubt. 

It’s a platform that ensures you have a smooth influencer marketing campaign. 

We’ve got every feature that can help you hit the mark and scale your campaign. 

But you don’t have to just take our word for it. 

Feel free to book a demo and see for yourself what Insense can do for you.