Choose Phyllo if your platform needs consent-based, private creator data — income verification, authenticated impressions, multi-platform coverage including LinkedIn and Twitch, or any use case where a creator actively logs in to your product.
Choose Modash if your primary need is large-scale influencer discovery and audience analysis from public data — without requiring creators to authenticate into your system first.
The Fundamental Data Model Difference
Before comparing features, you need to understand that Phyllo and Modash are built on fundamentally different data philosophies. This isn't a matter of one being better — it's a matter of which model solves your actual problem.
Phyllo: Consent-first, authenticated data
Phyllo operates as a universal API gateway where creators explicitly log into your platform via an OAuth flow — essentially the same way users log in with Google or Facebook. Once authenticated, Phyllo retrieves data directly from the source platform on the creator's behalf. This means:
Every data point is first-party and verified. You're not getting estimated follower counts or modeled audience demographics — you're getting the actual numbers the creator sees in their own dashboard. This includes private metrics like actual impressions, Stories performance, verified earnings from platform monetization, and income data that no public API or scraper can access.
The trade-off: Creators must actively connect their accounts to your platform. This makes Phyllo unsuitable for cold discovery — you can't query Phyllo for "find me 1,000 lifestyle creators in Mumbai" without those creators already being in your system.
Modash: Public database, no creator login required
Modash has indexed 380M+ creator profiles across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube by continuously crawling public data. This database approach means you can search, filter, and analyze any creator who has a public profile — without them knowing you looked, without them needing to log in, and in real time.
The trade-off: You're working with public data only. Modash cannot provide earnings, private content metrics, Stories data, or any metric the platform gates behind authentication. Their fake follower detection is statistical — a model that estimates inauthenticity from public signals rather than verified account data.
Related Reading:
If you're evaluating whether to build your own native integrations instead of using either platform, see our guide: Creator Economy Platform Development: How to Access Authenticated Social Data Without Building Native API Integrations. It breaks down the build vs. buy decision with real time-to-integration estimates.
Head-to-Head: Platform Coverage, Data Depth & Accuracy
This table is the most useful reference if you're mid-evaluation. The criteria here are chosen specifically for platform builders — not marketing teams using a UI.
The key insight from this table: Phyllo wins on data depth and compliance; Modash wins on database scale and zero-friction discovery. These are genuinely different products solving different pipeline problems.
Related Reading
Struggling to understand what data each native social API actually provides before you can get it from an aggregator? Our breakdown of Social Media API Pricing 2026: What Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn Actually Cost covers the rate limits, access requirements, and real cost of going direct — before you decide on an aggregation layer.
Pricing Breakdown (2026)
Pricing structures differ significantly here — not just in amount but in model. One is usage-based, the other is commitment-based.
Phyllo API
$199/mo
Usage-based scaling · No annual lock-in
Entry point at $199/month covers core API access across all supported platforms. Pricing scales with API call volume — suitable for early-stage platforms building their first creator data integration. No annual commitment required at entry level. Enterprise pricing available via sales for higher volumes. Full platform coverage (20+ networks) included from day one.
Modash Discovery API
$16.2K/yr
3,000 credits/month · Annual commitment
Discovery API starts at $16,200/year ($1,350/month equivalent) with a mandatory annual contract. This is separate from Modash's platform subscription ($199–$499/month). Raw API (for raw data pipelines) starts at $10,000/year. This pricing is designed for teams building scalable discovery products — not for casual or exploratory use. Credit-based system: each profile analysis, search, or data pull consumes credits.
The bottom line on pricing: Phyllo is meaningfully more accessible for early-stage platform builders and fintech startups. Modash's API pricing reflects its position as an enterprise data provider. If you're building an MVP or validating a creator data use case, Phyllo's entry point is significantly lower risk.
Use Case Decision Guide
Use this as your decision framework. Map your primary use case to the recommended API — and note the several scenarios where using both is the right answer.
Which API should I use for my use case?
Creator income verification for fintech / lending — need verified earnings and social revenue data for underwriting decisions - Phyllo
Influencer discovery at scale — need to find creators by niche, audience demographics, engagement rate from a cold database - Modash
Building an influencer marketing platform — discovery first, then verified campaign tracking after creator onboards - Use Both
LinkedIn creator data — need professional audience demographics, follower data, B2B influencer metrics - Phyllo
Social background screening for HR tech — need legally compliant, consent-based social data for candidate verification - Phyllo
Fake follower detection based on audience quality estimates — need to screen large volumes of cold creators quickly - Modash
Verified audience demographics post-onboarding — creator has joined your platform, need accurate demographics not estimates - Phyllo
Creator CRM enrichment — building profiles of creators who signed up to your app - Phyllo
eCommerce brand running influencer campaigns with Shopify integration — tracking affiliate links, gifting, commissions - Modash
Twitch / Snapchat / Pinterest / Substack creator data — need coverage beyond the big three platforms - Phyllo
When Phyllo Is the Clear Choice
Phyllo is purpose-built for one type of platform: products where the creator is an active user, not a passive subject. If your product requires a creator to log in, create an account, or authorize data sharing — Phyllo is designed for exactly that workflow.
Fintech and Creator Lending Platforms
If you're building a lending, income advance, or creator banking product, Modash simply cannot help you. You need verified earnings data — not public follower counts. Phyllo pulls platform monetization data directly after creator authentication, giving you the ground-truth income signals that underwriting decisions require. No other aggregation layer offers this for creators across 20+ platforms simultaneously.
Influencer Marketing Platforms Building Creator CRMs
Once a creator has onboarded to your platform, you want their real data — not crawled estimates. Phyllo gives you live impressions, actual reach, Stories performance, and accurate audience demographics at the moment of each API call. For platforms competing on data accuracy as a differentiator, this is the winning stack.
LinkedIn-Dependent B2B Influencer Use Cases
Modash does not cover LinkedIn. If your platform serves B2B brands, thought leadership campaigns, or professional creator monetization, LinkedIn data is non-negotiable. Phyllo's LinkedIn integration gives you follower counts, audience demographics, post performance, and professional network data via authenticated access — data LinkedIn's own API restricts heavily for third parties.
HR Tech and Social Background Screening
Consent-based data access is not just a technical choice here — it's a legal one. Using scraped or crawled public data for employment screening creates significant liability. Phyllo's OAuth model means candidates explicitly authorize access, creating an auditable consent trail that supports GDPR and FCRA-compliant workflows.
Related Reading
If your use case is creator income verification for lending or fintech underwriting, see our deep-dive: Creator Income Verification API: How Fintech Platforms Access Social Revenue Data for Underwriting and Lending. It walks through the exact data fields, authentication flow, and integration architecture for this use case.
When Modash Is the Clear Choice
Modash's strength is the cold-start problem: how do you find the right creators before any of them know you exist? This is the discovery problem, and it's where Modash's 380M+ indexed database genuinely shines.
Large-scale influencer discovery
If a brand or agency needs to search "fitness creators in Germany with 50K–500K Instagram followers and an audience that's 60%+ female, 25–34" — that query runs in seconds against Modash's database. No creator action required. This kind of cold-database discovery is the core of influencer marketing workflows for brands, and it's what Modash's product is optimized for end-to-end.
eCommerce and Shopify-native influencer programs
Modash's platform subscription (separate from the API) includes tight Shopify integration for tracking affiliate links, promo codes, and creator-driven revenue. For DTC brands running creator programs at scale, this workflow integration is genuinely valuable and not something Phyllo provides — Phyllo is an API infrastructure layer, not an end-to-end campaign management platform.
Audience quality estimation at discovery scale
Before you invest in creator relationships, you want a quick smell-test on audience authenticity. Modash's statistical fake follower detection works across its entire 380M database — useful for initial screening even if the estimates aren't as precise as authenticated verification. For discovery-phase vetting, this is a practical first filter.
Can You Use Both? (Yes — and Many Platforms Do)
The most sophisticated influencer marketing platforms use Modash and Phyllo at different stages of the creator lifecycle — and this is arguably the best-practice architecture for 2026.
Modash — Stage 1
Discovery & Vetting
- Search 380M+ creators by niche, location, audience
- Initial audience quality screening
- Brand mention history and past collaborations
- Email discovery for cold outreach
- No creator action required
Phyllo — Stage 2
Onboarding & Campaign Tracking
- Creator connects their accounts via OAuth
- Verified impressions, reach, Stories data
- Accurate audience demographics — not estimates
- Real-time campaign performance via authenticated pull
- Income data for payment or verification
This two-stage architecture — Modash for cold discovery, Phyllo for post-onboarding verified data — covers the full creator data lifecycle without compromise. You get Modash's scale for finding creators and Phyllo's accuracy for working with them.
FAQs
1. Does Modash require creators to sign up or authenticate?
No. Modash indexes public creator data without any creator action. You can instantly analyze any public profile on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. The exception is if you want creators to track their own analytics within Modash's platform — but for API usage, no creator authentication is needed.
2. Can Phyllo be used for influencer discovery like Modash?
Phyllo does offer a Creator Search Dashboard with 50+ filters across its 250M+ database. However, discovery is not Phyllo's primary strength — it's a secondary capability. Creators must have authenticated to a Phyllo-connected platform to appear with full data. For cold discovery at scale, Modash's 380M+ crawled database is the stronger tool.
3. Is Phyllo's data more accurate than Modash's?
For the specific data points both cover — engagement, follower counts, audience demographics — Phyllo's authenticated data is verifiably more accurate because it comes directly from the source platform. Modash's crawled estimates are reliable for discovery purposes but introduce modeling error that authenticated data eliminates. For fintech, legal, or compliance-adjacent use cases, that accuracy difference is critical.
4. What platforms does Phyllo support that Modash doesn't?
Phyllo supports 20+ platforms including LinkedIn, Twitch, Snapchat, Pinterest, Substack, and gaming platforms — in addition to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Modash covers only the big three (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube). If LinkedIn or Twitch data is important to your platform, Phyllo is the only aggregation layer that currently provides it.
5. How long does Phyllo integration take?
Phyllo's SDK supports iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, and Web. Most teams complete a working integration in under 7 days. The SDK handles the OAuth flow, token management, and data normalization — removing the most time-consuming parts of building native platform integrations from scratch.
6. Is Modash's API pricing negotiable?
Modash's published Discovery API pricing starts at $16,200/year with an annual commitment, but enterprise pricing is available for higher volumes. For early-stage startups, Modash has been known to offer trial credits — it's worth requesting a call to discuss. That said, the annual commitment structure makes Modash's API a significant budget line for most platform teams.
7. Which API is better for GDPR compliance?
Both are GDPR-aware, but their compliance posture differs. Phyllo's consent-first model is structurally stronger — every data access is creator-authorized, creating a clear legal basis and audit trail. Modash operates on legitimate interest for public data under GDPR, which is accepted but more legally nuanced. For use cases involving employment, lending, or identity verification, Phyllo's consent architecture is the safer choice.
Ready to add authenticated creator data to your platform?
See how Phyllo's OAuth API integrates in under 7 days — and what private metrics you can unlock that no scraper or public database can touch.
No commitment · Integrates in < 7 days · 20+ platforms from day one
