The short version
Pick it if
- You’re a brand running five or more YouTube deals a month
- You want sponsorships found, booked and managed for you
- You care about real deal prices more than search filters
Skip it if
- You want a self-serve database you can log into today
- You want to contact creators yourself
- You’re a creator looking for brand contacts
ThoughtLeaders is a managed YouTube sponsorship agency first: brands pay it to find, book and run creator deals, and creators join its network for free. Around that it has built its own data platform, with a web app, a Chrome extension, an open-source Data CLI and a custom API. It’s the oldest and largest business in this ranking: based in Tel Aviv, bootstrapped, about 50 staff and $50M+ in creator deals (vendor says).
Its data has one edge nobody else can match: because it books the deals, it sees real prices and results. It reads transcripts, and has used a model to separate sponsored from organic mentions since 2021. It still ranks sixth, because it’s a service rather than a tool. Brands pay a 25% markup per campaign or a retainer from $6,000 a month, and the self-serve tier is still a pilot with a waitlist.
ThoughtLeaders at a glance
- Company
- ThoughtLeaders, LTD
- Headquarters
- Tel Aviv, Israel
- Founded
- 2018 (vendor says; some sources say 2017)
- Founders
- David Tintner (CEO) and Dan Conn
- Team
- About 50; bootstrapped
- Product type
- Managed agency with its own data platform
- Built for
- Brands; creators join the network free
- Platforms
- YouTube only
- Data
- 25,000+ booked deals (vendor says); index size not published
- Pricing
- 25% markup per campaign, or retainer from $6,000 a month
- Self-serve
- Not yet; a pilot with a waitlist
- Tools
- Web app, Chrome extension, Data CLI, custom API
- Contacts
- Not offered; it sits in the middle of the deal
Pricing
There’s no subscription. Brands pay per campaign or on a retainer, and the API, CLI and Chrome extension have no published prices. The homepage’s structured data lists a free account and $25 and $200 seats, but the pricing page says self-serve isn’t available yet.
Entry plan per month, compared
From our YouTube sponsorship tools ranking.
Using ThoughtLeaders
Signing up
Brands can’t sign up and start searching. The pricing page says self-serve isn’t available and points to a waitlist for a 2026 pilot, so the route in is a sales conversation. Creators apply to the network with no fee and no exclusivity; its Partner Program is invite-only, for about the top 5% of network creators.
Making a request
The Data CLI (tl) is open source on GitHub and built for AI agents. It needs Python 3.12+ and a ThoughtLeaders account, and installs with pipx or uv. “tl setup claude” (or codex, gemini or opencode) installs its skills, and “tl describe” lists resources with their credit costs. Its README covers deals, brands, channels, transcripts, view curves and a recommender that matches brands and channels.
Documentation
The CLI’s README is the most detailed public documentation. The API is custom and set up through sales, with documentation linked from its API page and no published pricing. The “methodology” page is marketing and doesn’t explain detection.
Support
Support runs through account managers, as you’d expect from a managed service.
Verdict
The right call for a brand that does five or more YouTube deals a month and would rather not run them in-house: nobody else here has real prices from booked campaigns. For everyone else it’s the wrong kind of product. Brands that want to do their own research should start with ChannelCrawler, and creators looking for brands should start with SponsorRadar or Sponsorbook.
Visit ThoughtLeadersAlternatives
Questions
How much does ThoughtLeaders cost?
Brands pay the creator’s rate plus a 25% markup per campaign (its example is a $5,000 rate plus a $1,250 fee), or a retainer from $6,000 a month with creator media at face value. It suggests the retainer at five or more deals a month.
Is ThoughtLeaders free for creators?
Joining the network is free, with no exclusivity. It doesn’t say whether it takes a cut on the creator side; its published pricing is the fee charged to brands.
Can I use ThoughtLeaders self-serve?
Not yet. Its for-brands page says it’s piloting a self-serve tier for 2026, with a waitlist. The homepage’s structured data lists a free account and paid seats, which conflicts with that, so ask before you count on it.
How does ThoughtLeaders detect sponsorships?
It indexes transcripts, and says it built an AI model in 2021 to tell sponsored brand mentions from organic ones. It doesn’t publish the method in detail, or how many channels it tracks.
Does ThoughtLeaders have an API?
Yes: a custom API set up through sales, plus an open-source Data CLI built for AI agents and a Chrome extension that overlays sponsorship history on YouTube pages. The CLI needs a ThoughtLeaders account.
Is ThoughtLeaders legit?
Yes. It has run since 2018 by its own account, has about 50 staff in Tel Aviv, and names clients including Magic Spoon, Boot.dev, Monday.com and MongoDB (vendor says). Independent reviews are thin: none on Trustpilot and a handful of short ones elsewhere.