Best UGC Platforms To Grow Your Audience

Brands pour their time, energy and resources into sourcing, sharing and employing user-generated content to impact overall marketing goals. In fact, nearly 30% of e-commerce marketers in North America believe UGC has the greatest influence on purchase decisions and is the most effective tool for building customer trust. 

But how do you help center your brand in the online narrative and make the most of UGC? We’re reviewing 10 UGC platforms so you can find the best software for your unique needs and niche.

Without a dedicated UGC platform, your team can miss opportunities to repost content or discover high-performing earned media, or even simply waste time manually sourcing this content from your social platforms. 

The right UGC platform will help your team effortlessly find and vet UGC creators and content to ensure it aligns with your social media and business goals. With that, let’s take a look at 10 popular UGC platforms, including pros, cons and which industries can benefit from them most.

1. Dash Social

With Dash Social’s UGC platform, social teams can centralize their UGC strategy to discover, source, publish and measure the impact of user-generated content. Social teams can also easily request posting rights, reducing time spent on outreach and managing approvals. UGC tools also benefit from the inclusion of Vision Predictive AI — this tool uses intelligent predictive content analytics to determine which pieces of UGC (and owned content, too) have the best chance to perform based on your past performance. With Vision’s Predictive AI, you can even use visual search to source trends — whether specific colours, shapes or other elements — from UGC to easily find content to support any social media campaign.

What’s more, Shoppable Galleries let social teams leverage their UGC even further, embedding content directly to their website, customer emails, within a carousel or curated gallery or on their LikeShop profile. These galleries let you incorporate social proof into your online presence while offering another shoppable opportunity for visitors to your website.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Robust analytics 
• Wide variety of features 

Cons: 

• Some API limitations 

What users are saying: 

"There are many features I love about Dash such as multi platform scheduling, ability to easily tag and filter comments and messages, the competitor overview, easy ability to duplicate posts to other platforms and the library function to easily find and organize UGC. I also love the saved replies feature in community." Meagan S.

Channels supported: TikTok, Instagram 

Best for: Fashion and Luxury, Beauty, Retail, CPG

2. Embedsocial

Embedsocial’s UGC feature, simply titled ‘Embedfeed’, helps brands embed social media feeds to their websites from Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads, YouTube, Google and LinkedIn. This tool is excellent for businesses with a diverse tech stack seeking a simple tool to embed UGC in a range of styles and formats. 

However, Embedsocial lacks some of the typical features of social UGC platforms, like engagement metrics or ROI calculations. However, for businesses seeking a range of website widgets, this is a great option to diversify sitewide UGC.

Pros:

• Easy to use 
• Helpful customer support 
• Wide range of integrations 

Cons: 

• Limited customization options 
• Feature limitations 
• Lacks analytics dashboard to measure performance 

What users are saying:

"EmbedSocial has been a game-changer for our business! The seamless integration and user-friendly interface made it easy to showcase our customer reviews, boosting our online credibility and engagement. Highly recommend this tool for anyone looking to enhance their social proof!" - Wandi T.

Channels supported: TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, X, Google

Best for: Travel and Tourism, Agencies

3. Synup

Synup is a UGC tool that specializes in helping brands list and optimize their business profiles — this tool is best for brands, particularly those with multiple regional focuses, to aggregate positive reviews to share on-site. They can also respond to queries directly from the platform, making this a great option for brands seeking the ability to pull in reviews from social media, Google Business, Yelp and more.

Pros:

• Offers review management 
• Range of features 

Cons: 

• Steep learning curve for some
• Difficult to navigate all features 

What users are saying:

"Synup has a very easy user interface. We have a company with many different locations and it is very easy to update individual information for locations. Synup makes the updates very quickly. Using Synup is much better than individually updating Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, and other local listings. The ability to update using an excel of all of our locations is very helpful." - Marelena S.

Channel supported: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Pinterest

Best for: Insurance, Consumer Electronics and Technology

4. Tagshop

Tagshop provides UGC software to help e-commerce brands source authentic customer content that matches a brand’s niche. With Tagshop, brands can find UGC from social media and online reviews and ratings, streamlining the collecting, curating and posting process for UGC marketing.

‍Pros:

• Shopify integration 
• Decent range of features 

Cons: 

• Limited integrations 
• Technical issues 

What users are saying:

“What I like best about Taggbox UGC Suite is its ease of use in managing and securing user-generated content. You can quickly get permission from content creators and use their work legally. The platform's smart features help you find and organize content effortlessly. Plus, the ability to add user content to your website and download high-quality images makes it a great tool for making your brand look authentic and trustworthy.” - Vaibhav K.

Channels supported: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X, Pinterest

Best for: Consumer Electronics and Technology

5. Walls.io

Walls.io is a dedicated platform that helps social teams embed stylized social media walls featuring UGC directly onto their websites. It can aggregate UGC from social networks including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. It also provides real-time updates and lets brands curate and moderate content before displaying it on websites, event screens or other digital displays.

Pros:

• Simple to set up
• Easy for customers and users to engage with 

Cons: 

• Lack of new visual options 
• Fewer options for Facebook and LinkedIn

What users are saying:

“Our team loves the interactive features Walls.io provides, especially polls. Having people vote right on the social wall and like their favorite posts makes the wall so much more than just a content aggregation tool. We love how it helps connect attendees with the brand and each other.“ - Sara S.

Channels supported: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Vimeo, Reddit

Best for: Non-profits

6. tagembed

The tool tagembed helps brands collect and curate UGC to embed on their websites. It offers a wide range of templates that include different styles, from horizontal carousels, to list views and sliders. This tool is ideal for agencies, since there’s no limit to how many websites you can embed content on and even includes Slack widgets for internal communication.

Pros:

• Great customer support
• Robust customization options 

Cons: 

• Expensive
• Complex for some users to learn

What users are saying:

“During my first week using tagembed I had a problem with some javascript conflicts on one particular page where I was embedding a widget that was working perfectly on two other pages. I asked for help in chat, and it wasn't more than a half hour later that the tech team figured it out, added something to my account to fix it, and I'm all set. I'd love it it every 3rd party tool vendor delivered like this.“ - Amy B.

Channels supported: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Amazon

Best for: Automotive, Agencies 

7. Loox

Loox is built specifically for Shopify. It lets brands collect and display customer-generated visual product reviews, including UGC videos. The platform incentivizes customers to leave visual testimonials by offering discounts or rewards, which can help build relationships and loyalty with customers.

Pros:

• Relatively low-cost 
• Easy to use 

Cons: 

• Lack of customization 

What users are saying:

“The flexibility and customization of our brand and product reviews, providing transparency and UGC contents in the same time at a very competitive pricing with the features that a business needs“ - Chin J.

Channels supported: X, Facebook, Instagram 

Best for: Fashion, CPG, Food and Beverage

8. Social Walls 

Social Walls is a UGC platform created by Taggbox. It is perfect if you need to showcase embed galleries on digital signs or screens for events. Their software lets you embed UGC on screens for private events — think webinars, large digital screens at in-person events, digital billboards and more. Social Walls includes moderation features and customization options to ensure displayed content aligns with brand messaging and drives conversions.

Pros:

• Easy to use 
• Great customer support 

Cons: 

• Some users report technical issues 
• Limited customization options 

What users are saying:

“The best thing we liked about Social Walls was the number of things we could do with the UGC we collected. Showcasing content from Instagram as well as Facebook at one place surely worked in our favor. As a bonus, we also found a perfect theme to showcase the content which made it look even better.“ - Nadz R.

Channels supported: Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube

Best for: Beauty, Education 9. Taggbox

9. Taggbox

While Taggbox offers Social Walls explicitly tailored for events, its core UGC tool is designed with digital marketers in mind. Similar in functionality to Social Walls, this platform is meant for embedding content on websites and other online platforms. Taggbox supports different content formats, including images, videos and online reviews, to help brands create visually engaging social proof. 

‍Pros:

• Easy to use, simple interface
• Great customer support 

Cons:

• Limited filtering options 
• Some users report technical issues 

What users are saying:

“The Taggbox display is easy to use and set up, but looks professional. I appreciated that there was a free version to try out and use before deciding to purchase. Customer service was also very helpful.“ - Sheila M.

Channels supported: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest

Best for: ‍Health and wellness, Real Estate

10. CrowdRiff

CrowdRiff is built specifically for travel industry marketing, using AI search tools to recommend brands the best UGC to showcase a variety of destinations. From there, you can request licensing, track your requests on the platform, and finally, post them on your website or social media accounts. It also has auto-tagging to tag content with relevant keywords and integrations with Google, so you can include Google location information to encourage users to take a trip.

Pros:

• Makes it easy to find and get rights to UGC.
• Creates eye-catching galleries for websites.
• Connects with social media for easy content sharing.

Cons:

• Can be expensive for smaller teams.
• Has fewer analytics and customization options than some tools.

What users are saying:

“I love using Crowdriff because it saves me HOURS of time looking for UGC for our tourism account. We couldn't thank Crowdriff more for the benefit this application has had on our digital communications strategy. Crowdriff is a fantastic application to use as storage for your photo database, sharing photos with partners, getting rights to photos and more.“ - Randa H.

Channels supported: Instagram, Facebook

Best for: Travel industries, PR and Communications

UGC platforms are literally built to make social media managers' lives easier, but that isn’t the only advantage. Here are just a handful of benefits you’ll notice when you invest in the right platform: 

Saves Time and Resources

If a UGC platform’s purpose is to make your life easier, it starts by saving you time and resources. With the help of a reliable platform, you will save hours of time that would normally be spent manually searching through various social channels to find user-generated content. This massive save on time also reflects in the amount of resources you need to allocate for sourcing UGC. What was once someone's entire day or week can now be refocused on other parts of your strategy, like content creation or performance reporting. 

Diversifies Content

UGC platforms also help diversify your content mix in more ways than one. Not only will it help break the mold of your current content schedule, but it will also help you find different types of content you may not have considered before or even content from creators that are underrepresented on your feed currently. Plus, many platforms pull in content from social channels you may not typically monitor, giving you access to a wider range of UGC. This is often where you’ll uncover a goldmine of untapped, high-impact content.  

Increases Engagement

User-generated content is one of the most powerful ways to boost engagement on any social media platform. When your brand consistently shares UGC — whether in your feed or Stories — it signals authenticity and creates a more interactive experience for your audience. This not only encourages users to engage with your content but also motivates them to participate in the hopes of being featured themselves. 

Reaches New Audiences

One of the most underrated perks of user-generated content is the new audience it helps you reach. By making an effort to repost or share user-generated content, you are then opening your account up to all of the followers of the accounts you’re sharing and beyond. Your brand inevitably reaches people who may have never seen or heard of you before just because you simply shared a post that promotes your brand. It doesn’t get any easier than that! 

Selecting the best UGC platform for your brand’s needs requires an in-depth understanding of your marketing strategy and precisely what you need your tool to do. For example, suppose you’re primarily concerned with social media UGC. In that case, you’ll want to look for a tool with more social features, while a strategy focused on user reviews will want a platform that pulls in reviews and ratings from your Google Business Profile and other platforms. 

Here are some additional factors to consider when sourcing a UGC platform:

Audience

It might go without saying, but we must stress that knowing your audience makes a significant difference in nailing your UGC strategy. The UGC creators you choose should either relate to your target demographic or resonate with their interests. This might be UGC from a creator that matches your demographic’s criteria, or an influencer they overwhelmingly follow or engage with. 

Short-Form Video Strategy

If short-form video is a core part of your plan, your user-generated content platform should support video collection and even editing, if necessary. If you plan to use video in advertisements, finding a tool with both capabilities — to source and repurpose this content for paid ads — will be helpful in streamlining the process.

Integrations

Having the right integrations in your UGC platform is key. For example, if your brand is more focused on brand reputation management, you might look for integrations specific to online reviews, while brands seeking creator UGC require social media integrations for the platforms they’re most active on. 

Performance Tracking

Social media analytics tools are another crucial component of UGC platforms. Without these, how can you truly determine whether your content is performing well? Social media analytics and monitoring features allow you to measure engagement, conversion rates, ROI and more to determine which UGC performs best.

Finding the perfect UGC platform doesn’t have to be a challenge. The most important thing to remember is that no tool is one size fits all, so be sure to have clear goals, a budget and a list of non-negotiables. The best tip? Utilize free trials where you can. This will ensure you get a taste of what a platform has to offer before putting any money down or getting stuck in a lengthy contract.

What is a UGC platform?

A UGC platform is a tool built for brands to collect, manage and showcase content created by their customers or audience. UGC platforms make it easy for brands to access and leverage content made by genuine users of their products for marketing and/or e-commerce purposes.

How do UGC platforms find content?

Depending on the tool you’re using and the channels it has access to, how UGC platforms source content is actually quite simple. The tool works in the background, regularly scanning the available channels for mentions or tags of your brand name and then creates a folder to track and share everything it finds. Some UGC tools even allow you to have certain keywords that are being scanned for as well, so you never miss a single post. 

Why should brands use UGC platforms?

UGC platforms make what can be an extremely manual process, simple. With the time and resources saved and opportunities built from using a UGC platform, brands will be able to foster a stronger community, create content their users love and most importantly, track results and ROI. 

How can you encourage user-generated content? 

One simple way brands can encourage UGC is to share UGC. By sharing this type of content, users and fans of your brand might be excited by the prospect of being featured on your social accounts. Another common way brands can encourage UGC is to create branded content, like hashtags, and engage with creators who use them on social. Some brands tap into contests or giveaways to source UGC; however, while this is a great way to give back to fans and customers, it might not seem as authentic as other forms of UGC.