Modash vs Refunnel: Which Is Better? (2026 Comparison)

TL;DR

Modash is the superior choice for Shopify brands needing an all-in-one platform to discover 350M+ influencers and manage payments, while Refunnel excels at automated UGC rights management and whitelisting for existing community content. For more options, explore our all ShortsIntel comparisons page or find a dedicated Modash alternative for your specific workflow.

Feature Comparison
Feature
Modash
Refunnel
Content Discovery
UGC Discovery
4/5
4/5
Brand Mention Detection
3/5
4/5
Untagged Content Detection
3/5
1/5
Video Tracking
Short-Form Video Tracking
4/5
3/5
Creator Management
Creator Analytics
4/5
2/5
Rights Management
2/5
5/5
Intelligence & AI
Competitor Intelligence
2/5
1/5
AI Content Tagging
3/5
2/5
Platform & Integrations
Multi-Platform Support
3/5
2/5
Integrations
3/5
3/5
Reporting & Collaboration
Reporting Dashboards
4/5
3/5
Team Collaboration
4/5
2/5
API Access
3/5
1/5
Usability & Support
Ease of Use
4/5
5/5
Customer Support
4/5
4/5

Feature Deep Dive

When comparing Modash and Refunnel, the primary distinction lies in their core focus: Modash is a discovery and management powerhouse, whereas Refunnel is a specialized tool for harvesting community UGC and whitelisting.

Content Discovery and Database

Modash offers an industry-leading database of over 350 million creator profiles across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Its AI-powered search allows brands to find creators based on audience demographics, engagement rates, and lookalike profiles. This makes it an excellent choice for teams looking to grow their reach through cold outreach and new partnerships. In contrast, Refunnel does not offer a searchable discovery database. Instead, it focuses on 'community sourcing'—automatically pulling content from creators who have already tagged or mentioned your brand. If your goal is to expand your roster, you'll likely need a Modash alternative or Modash itself. However, for brands with a high volume of inbound tags, Refunnel’s automated capture is highly efficient.

Video Tracking and Social Listening

Both platforms provide robust tracking for Instagram and TikTok, but Modash includes YouTube support, which is currently missing from Refunnel. Modash allows for automatic content collection, including the notoriously difficult-to-track Instagram Stories, without requiring creators to sign up for a platform. Refunnel also tracks story mentions effectively, making it a favorite for DTC brands running heavy 'gifting' or seeding programs.

However, both tools have limitations when it comes to untagged content. Modash only offers untagged content detection on its expensive Performance tier ($599/mo), and Refunnel scores a low 1/5 in this category because it relies almost entirely on tags and mentions. For teams that need to find every brand mention—even those without a tag—you might consider the ShortsIntel vs Modash comparison to see how AI-driven listening can capture up to 30% more content.

Creator and Rights Management

This is where Refunnel shines with a 5/5 rating for rights management. Refunnel provides a one-click system for requesting usage rights in bulk, which is essential for brands that want to repurpose creator content for ads. Modash (2/5 in this category) is much more focused on the discovery and payment workflow. While Modash has an enterprise-level payment feature, it lacks the specialized 'whitelisting' capabilities of Refunnel, which allows brands to run ads through a creator’s account without needing access to Facebook Business Manager. If rights management is your bottleneck, check out the ShortsIntel vs Refunnel breakdown to compare rights automation.

Integrations and Analytics

Both platforms are heavily optimized for Shopify. Modash provides deeper creator analytics (4/5), offering fake follower detection and detailed audience authenticity scoring. Refunnel’s analytics (2/5) are more basic, focusing on the volume of content collected rather than the deep demographic data of the creators themselves. For teams managing multiple brands, such as agencies, neither tool is perfectly optimized, and you may want to look into an Archive vs Modash or Archive vs Refunnel comparison to see how other tools handle multi-client reporting.

Pricing Comparison
Plan Details
Modash
Refunnel
Pricing Model
Flat Rate
Flat Rate
Free Tier
Free Trial14 days
Pricing Tiers
Entry Tier
Essentials$299/moor $2,388/yr
Starter$199/moor $1,788/yr
Mid Tier
Performance$599/moor $5,988/yr
Growth$699/moor $5,988/yr
Top Tier
EnterpriseCustom
EnterpriseCustom
Annual Cost (5-Person Team)*$2,388$1,788
Hidden Costs
  • Profile unlocks are limited per tier - additional unlocks may cost extra
  • Influencer payments feature only available on Enterprise
  • Fee-free affiliate payouts capped at $10k on Performance
  • Email/SMS collection overage: $20 per 500 beyond 10,000 (Growth plan)
  • Shoppable Feed widget listed as add-on across all plans
  • Agency multi-brand pricing is custom and separate

* Annual cost calculated using entry tier pricing. Per-seat pricing multiplied by 5 users. Actual costs may vary based on specific plan and usage.

Pricing Analysis

The pricing structures of Modash and Refunnel reflect their different target audiences and feature sets.

Modash Pricing

Modash starts at $299/month (billed monthly) or $2388/year for the Essentials plan. For a 5-person team, the Performance tier at $599/month ($5988/year) is more likely required to unlock team collaboration features and higher profile unlock limits.

  • Total Annual Cost (Performance): $5,988
  • Key Limitation: Profile unlocks are capped, which can be a hurdle for aggressive discovery phases.

Refunnel Pricing

Refunnel offers a more accessible entry point with its Starter plan at $199/month or $1788/year. However, this tier is limited to 1,000 posts. For a growing team, the Growth plan at $699/month ($5988/year) is necessary, which includes better whitelisting limits and advanced integrations.

  • Total Annual Cost (Growth): $5,988
  • Key Limitation: Even on the Growth plan, whitelisting is capped at 10 creators, and additional email/SMS collection costs $20 per 500 overages.

Value Analysis

If your primary need is discovery, Modash offers better value because of its massive database. If your priority is rights management and turning UGC into ads, Refunnel’s lower entry point makes it more attractive for smaller DTC brands. However, both tools scale quickly into the $6k/year range for full functionality. For teams on a tighter budget looking for specialized video tracking, looking into Modash alternatives or Refunnel alternatives that offer lower entry tiers can save thousands annually.

Who Is Each Product Best For?

Modash

End-to-end influencer marketing platform for discovering, managing, tracking, and paying creators

Best For

  • Consumer brands on Shopify running influencer programs
  • In-house marketing teams managing 10-250+ influencers
  • Brands wanting all-in-one influencer workflow (discover to pay)
  • Teams prioritizing ease of use over enterprise features
  • Companies needing automatic IG Story collection
  • Ecommerce brands tracking affiliate revenue via promo codes

Not Ideal For

  • Brands needing multi-platform coverage (Twitch, LinkedIn, X)
  • WooCommerce or Magento ecommerce stores
  • Teams focused primarily on UGC content licensing
  • Enterprise brands needing advanced compliance/security
  • Agencies managing campaigns for multiple clients
  • Teams needing deep brand mention monitoring in video content
Refunnel

Automated UGC sourcing, rights management, and creator whitelisting for DTC e-commerce brands

Best For

  • DTC e-commerce brands collecting community UGC
  • Brands running UGC campaigns and product seeding programs
  • Companies needing simple creator whitelisting without Business Manager
  • Shopify stores wanting automated UGC collection
  • Brands with active Instagram and TikTok communities

Not Ideal For

  • Brands needing YouTube Shorts or YouTube content tracking
  • Companies requiring untagged content discovery
  • Enterprise teams needing API access or deep integrations
  • Agencies managing many brands (limited multi-brand support)
  • Brands needing advanced creator analytics or competitor intelligence
Use Case Analysis

Choose Modash if...

You are a Shopify-based consumer brand that needs to build an influencer program from scratch. Modash is the right choice if you need a powerful search engine to find new creators, verify their audience authenticity, and handle payments within a single dashboard. It is best for teams that value a massive database and clean UI over advanced content rights management. You can compare it further in our Collabstr vs Modash guide.

Choose Refunnel if...

You are a DTC brand with an active community already posting about your products. Refunnel is perfect for teams that focus on product seeding and want to automate the 'grunt work' of asking for usage rights and whitelisting content for Meta or TikTok ads. If you don't need to 'discover' new influencers because they are already finding you, Refunnel is the more streamlined tool.

Neither might be right if...

You need to track brand mentions that aren't tagged, or if you need to monitor competitors and industry trends across YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok simultaneously. Both Modash and Refunnel have gaps in 'untagged' detection and specialized video analysis. If you find yourself manually scrolling through social feeds to find content your tools missed, it may be time to compare any two tools on our platform to find a more specialized social listening solution.

Consider a Third Option

ShortsIntel
Recommended

Scale creator marketing with data, not grunt work.

While Modash and Refunnel are excellent for managing the people side of influencer marketing, they often leave a gap in the content intelligence side. This is where ShortsIntel comes in as a powerful third option.

Why Consider ShortsIntel?

ShortsIntel is a specialized video social listening tool designed specifically for the era of short-form video (TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts). Unlike Refunnel, which relies on tags, and Modash, which charges a premium for untagged detection, ShortsIntel uses AI to detect brand mentions even when the creator forgets to tag you.

Key Advantages over Modash & Refunnel:

  1. 30% More Coverage: ShortsIntel’s AI analyzes video frames and audio, finding 'hidden' UGC that other tools miss.
  2. AI Content Tagging: Instead of manual categorization, ShortsIntel automatically tags videos by format, visual elements, and trends.
  3. Affordability: With a Starter plan at just $99/month, it is significantly more affordable than Modash ($299/mo) or Refunnel ($199/mo) for brands that primarily need tracking and rights management.
  4. YouTube Shorts Focus: Unlike Refunnel, ShortsIntel provides full support for YouTube Shorts, ensuring you don't miss a major pillar of short-form content.

If you are tired of paying for 'profile unlocks' you don't use or missing out on content because of a missing hashtag, check out ShortsIntel vs Archive or the Brandwatch alternative section to see how AI-first tracking compares. For those specifically focused on high-end enterprise features, our CreatorIQ alternative guide also offers relevant insights.

Why Choose ShortsIntel

  • Purpose-built for short-form video (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) unlike general social listening tools
  • Detects untagged content that competitors miss (claims 30% more coverage)
  • AI-powered content tagging analyzes videos frame-by-frame for format, visual elements, and trends
  • Automated rights management with magic-link consent system and audit trails

Best For

DTC/B2C brands running UGC creator campaigns
Marketing teams drowning in content but starving for insights
Brands needing to track creators who forget hashtags or tags
Teams wanting to build a library of ad creatives from UGC

Starting at $99/mo

7-day free trial

Try ShortsIntel Free

Full Comparison: All Three Options

Feature Comparison
Feature
Modash
Refunnel
ShortsIntel
Recommended
Content Discovery
UGC Discovery
4/5
4/5
5/5
Brand Mention Detection
3/5
4/5
5/5
Untagged Content Detection
3/5
1/5
5/5
Video Tracking
Short-Form Video Tracking
4/5
3/5
5/5
Creator Management
Creator Analytics
4/5
2/5
4/5
Rights Management
2/5
5/5
5/5
Intelligence & AI
Competitor Intelligence
2/5
1/5
4/5
AI Content Tagging
3/5
2/5
5/5
Platform & Integrations
Multi-Platform Support
3/5
2/5
4/5
Integrations
3/5
3/5
3/5
Reporting & Collaboration
Reporting Dashboards
4/5
3/5
4/5
Team Collaboration
4/5
2/5
3/5
API Access
3/5
1/5
3/5
Usability & Support
Ease of Use
4/5
5/5
4/5
Customer Support
4/5
4/5
4/5

Frequently Asked Questions

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Track UGC, discover creators, and monitor brand mentions across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts.

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Last updated: January 29, 2026