Free
R0
no card required
Meet Chad. Prepare your creator profile.
- Profile, media-kit and rate-card preview
- Light chat and weekly-planning trial
- 10 daily non-stacking credits
- Existing complimentary access stays honoured
For South African creators under 50 000 followers
Get paid for the posts you already make.
One workspace for South African creators under 50 000 followers — shown here exactly as it works. Chat it through with Chad — typed or hands-free voice — price yourself in real rand, put the deal on paper, and write to brands with the send button always yours. Free to start, no card.
Ten apps became one. It’s called Chad.
- Prices in rand
- Nothing sends without your word
- Chad never holds your deal money or takes a cut
- Files stay on your device
- No card to start
Who it’s for
One person, one sale.
A South African creator under 50 000 followers, who has never had a repeat deal. Usually still doing this around a job. Paid once or twice, or never. Gets a brand reply and does not know what to charge it, or sends a price and never hears back.
- One price you can say out loud without flinching.
- An email that sounds like you, without invented evidence or a promised reply.
- A second deal from a brand that already said yes once.
- The invoice, the follow-up and the receipt in the same place as the rest of it.
Not built for agencies, not for brand managers buying media, and not for accounts chasing a 500k following. If you are already running retainers through a manager, most of this is below you.
Found
A listing or a brand you bring yourself — checked, never invented.
Approached
The letter written beside you, reviewed and sent by you.
Paid
The invoice, the chase and the receipt — in rand.
Records
Briefings, deals and documents kept where you can find them.
Found, approached, paid, records — the four chapters your business moves through, held together by the Content calendar and one desk.
How it works
Four steps. Every one of them is a screen you can see.
These are screenshots from the running tool — not illustrations. Where something needs a step first, the step is named.
01
Say it like you would say it.
One page, one box on Chad’s desk. Type what you need in your own words and Chad asks one question at a time. Attach a PDF or a picture and it stays on your device — you choose the exact words Chad may see. When your hands are busy, the floating orb is your hands-free voice, and the audio never leaves your phone or laptop.
Hello and thanks are free. Thinking it through costs credits, and the price shows first — failed generation is refunded.
02
Put the deal on paper.
Your rate card starts from real 2026 South African floors, then lifts for engagement and niche. When a brand says yes, the invoice takes one sitting: who it is billed to, what it is for, the fee in rand, due in 30 days. Print it or save it as a PDF — it does not need a deal behind it, and nothing final happens without your press.
Published 2026 South African rates for one sponsored post — the floor Chad starts from:
Nano
R500 – R2,500
1k – 10k followers · Most first deals happen here.
Micro
R2,500 – R12,000
10k – 50k followers · Where repeat campaigns start.
Mid
R12,000 – R50,000
50k – 250k followers · Usage rights change the number.
Macro
R50,000+
250k+ followers · Usually negotiated per campaign.
| Tier | Followers | Per post | What changes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nano | 1k – 10k | R500 – R2,500 | Most first deals happen here. |
| Micro | 10k – 50k | R2,500 – R12,000 | Where repeat campaigns start. |
| Mid | 50k – 250k | R12,000 – R50,000 | Usage rights change the number. |
| Macro | 250k+ | R50,000+ | Usually negotiated per campaign. |
Source: Juicy Designs, South African influencer rates 2026. Engagement rate outranks follower count.
03
Write to brands — the send button stays yours.
Pick a checked listing or bring a brand you already know. One card per brand: the letter is written beside you from your saved creator context, and you read the whole email before anything happens. Connect your own mailbox and approved letters go out from your own address — every send is one you approved, on a sheet that names the recipient and the attachments.
Honest stages. Automatic follow-up sequences stay off until they pass stop-rule tests. A manual follow-up reminder is not an automatic sequence — nothing follows up in the background.
04
Keep the week and the money straight.
One calendar, one useful next step at a time — today’s tasks, private to you. The wallet shows what is real: what’s outstanding, what’s paid, what credits you have and where they went. And it installs like an app — an Android install and an iPhone home-screen shortcut — so the desk lives in your pocket.
Expected outcomes
What actually changes on a Tuesday.
A quote becomes an invoice in one sitting
Numbered, dated, 30 days out. Print it or save it as a PDF the same minute the brand says yes.
Every email is one you sent
Drafts, previews and an approval sheet that says exactly who receives it and what is attached. Nothing sends behind you.
Rates that stop being a guess
Published 2026 rand floors adjusted by engagement — and a private media kit you send yourself. Nothing is published without you.
A week you can actually run
A calendar that asks for one useful next step, not a productivity sermon. Tasks stay private.
Numbers you can trust
Outstanding against paid, credits and their history in one wallet. What you see is what exists.
The whole desk in your pocket
Install it on Android or add it to your iPhone home screen. Voice in the orb; everything else a tap away.
The numbers behind the bet
1 in 5
South African creators have ever been paid cash for a brand collaboration.
The rest got product, a thank-you, or nothing.
69%
say the one-time nature of a deal is a bigger problem than the money.
They are not asking for more per post. They are asking for a next one.
55%
waited more than a month, or had to chase, before they were paid.
The invoice is not the hard part. The follow-up is.
2.1/5
is how creators rate their own income predictability.
Same talent. Same audience. No system underneath it.
R167k
a year for creators with 8+ campaigns.
Repeat work is the whole argument.
Source: Humanz, Paid to Create: The South African Creator Economy 2026 · Sociaal, what South African creators earn (2026, in rand) · Juicy Designs, South African influencer rates 2026.
No invented numbers and no promised outcomes: what you get is the workflow above, used properly. Chad will not fabricate followers, testimonials or results — and it will not pretend a feature exists before it ships.
The products are the easy part — you already know how to shoot them. The paperwork around them is what this desk is for.
Money
Three plans in rand. Nothing off the top.
Free, Standard R149 or Pro R229. One calendar month per payment, renewed manually. No automatic charge.
Standard
Complete workflowR149
per calendar month · renew manually
The complete ordinary creator workflow.
- 1,000 credits per paid month
- Media-kit and rate-card export; saved chats
- Weekly planning, scripts, captions and shooting guidance
- Saved creator context, checked listings and reviewed emails
- Follow-ups, deals, briefings and real-deal invoices
Pro
R229
per calendar month · renew manually
Protect and organise your creator business.
- 1,000 credits per paid month
- Everything in Standard
- Private Contract Advisor — clause guidance, not legal advice
- SARS Vault — income, expenses and accountant exports; not tax filing
Unused monthly credits expire at the end of their paid period; they do not roll over. Renew manually — no automatic charge. Early renewals start after existing paid time and become usable then. Existing balances and complimentary access are preserved separately. Costly actions show their price first; failed generation is refunded. New creators join the closed wait-list; payments remain unavailable until the provider is configured and validated.
The free tier, in full — no card, no timer
- Profile, media-kit and rate-card preview
- 15 chat messages a day, subject to available credits
- 10 daily credits, non-stacking
- Light chat and weekly-planning trial, with price shown first
- Commercial workflow opens on Standard; approved existing grants stay honoured
- No storefront, builder, contract scanner or SARS vault for sale on Free
Standard opens the ordinary workflow. Pro adds private contract guidance and business records, not withheld basic essentials. Removed owner-only tools are not upgrade offers. Built in Pretoria. Prices in rand. No dollar pricing, no card required to start.
Trust, stated plainly
Quiet about the things that matter.
Workspaces never see each other
Every row is scoped to the account that owns it, enforced in the database and again on the server. Tenant isolation is not a setting you can turn off.
You never need an API key
One platform key serves every workspace, held and rotated by the super-admin. You are metered by credits, never by keys — and the vault panel is read-only for tenants.
Heavy work stays on your device
Kits, posters and rate cards are rendered in your browser. Your artwork and documents are not uploaded so they can be rendered back to you.
No private details to providers
Before any request leaves the server, a privacy shield replaces keys, tokens, phone numbers and internal addresses with placeholders. Fail closed, not fail open.
What Chad will not do
- Chad will not email a brand in your name — the send button stays yours.
- Chad will not invent follower counts, engagement numbers or testimonials.
- Chad will not take a cut of anything you sell. You are the merchant, not us.
- Chad will not pretend a feature exists before it ships. If it is coming, this page says so.
Personal information is handled under POPIA: collected for the purpose you gave it, kept only as long as it is useful, never sold. Read the privacy notice.
Questions, answered properly
The things a creator actually asks.
What is Chad Studio?
Chad Studio is a South African creator workspace that turns a following into paid brand work. It builds your media kit and rate card, finds brands in your lane and drafts the first email, drafts the follow-ups you approve, invoices the deal, keeps approved briefings, deal records and invoices together. Free to start, from R149 a month.
Is Chad Studio for small accounts?
Yes — it is built for a South African creator under 50 000 followers, usually still doing this around another job, who has never turned one post into a second deal. Engagement rate matters here far more than reach, so an engaged nano account prices properly. Nothing on the page assumes an audience bigger than the one you have.
How do I price a post in South Africa?
Start from the published 2026 market rates: nano creators under 10k followers charge roughly R500 to R2,500 per post, micro creators R2,500 to R12,000, mid-tier R12,000 to R50,000 and macro R50,000 upward. Then adjust for engagement rate, which matters more than follower count. Chad builds the rate card from those tiers so you are not guessing.
What if the brand never pays me?
That is the most common complaint in South African creator work. Chad numbers the invoice, dates it at 30 days and drafts a follow-up you review, so chasing is a system rather than an awkward message you keep putting off. The tone escalates from friendly to firm to final, and you approve each step.
Do you take a cut of my sales?
No. Chad is a subscription, not a middleman, so the platform cut is 0%. Brands pay you directly. Chad does not hold your deal money or sell a storefront. The only cost is the monthly plan you choose.
Do I need to register for tax?
Tax obligations depend on your own circumstances. Keep records of paid work and speak to a registered South African tax practitioner or SARS for current rules. Chad does not file tax returns or replace professional advice; the Pro SARS vault organises your income, expenses and accountant exports — records, not filings.
Does Chad email brands in my name?
No. Chad finds the brand, matches it to your work and drafts the mail, but the send button stays yours. If a message reaches a brand, you sent it. That rule exists so nobody can spend your reputation without your fingerprint on it.
What does the free plan actually include?
Free includes profile preparation, media-kit and rate-card preview, light chat and a weekly-planning trial using the daily credit grant. Standard includes the complete ordinary commercial workflow; Pro adds a private rule-based Contract Advisor and SARS record vault with the same 1,000 monthly credits. Approved existing complimentary access is honoured. No plan sells storefronts, Builder or owner tools. Contract guidance is not legal advice; the vault organises records, not tax filings.
Can I cancel, and what happens to my pages?
Each payment buys one calendar month and renewal is manual, with no automatic charge. Unused monthly credits expire at period end. Early renewals queue after existing paid time. Existing balances and approved complimentary access remain protected separately; records are not deleted when a paid period ends.
Your next brand deal starts with a place at the desk.
Join the wait-list for your media kit, rate card and brand-work workspace. We’re welcoming creators in small groups. No card needed to apply.