How Long an Exclusivity Window Is Normal in a Brand Deal?

Exclusivity is the clause that decides who else you are allowed to work with, and for how long, once you take a brand deal. It looks like a small ask. It is often the most expensive line in the whole contract, because it can pull you off the market for every competitor in a category, sometimes for a year, for no extra money.

What a normal window looks like

Two things decide whether an exclusivity clause is fair: how long it lasts, and how wide it reaches. A tight window around your posting dates, so you are not promoting two rival brands in the same week, is normal and usually baked into the fee. Once it stretches into weeks or months, it stops being housekeeping and starts being a right the brand is buying from you.

Length and breadth are really about pay

Every day of exclusivity is a day you cannot say yes to a competing deal. That is the real cost, and it is why the length and the wording matter as much as the fee itself.

Watch the word "category." A fair clause names one narrow lane, like oat milk, or running shoes. A red-flag clause bans an entire "industry," so a single skincare deal locks you out of all beauty, all wellness, and anything a lawyer can argue is close. Broad plus long plus unpaid is the combination to push back on.

The other trap is exclusivity that outlives the campaign. If a brand wants you off-limits to rivals for months after the last post goes live, that is a separate thing they are asking for, and it should be short and paid. This is the same logic as pricing any other right you hand over: see how much for usage rights, which brand deals bundle in the exact same way.

The clause that keeps you on the market

The trap: "Creator shall not work with any competing brand for 12 months."

The fair version: "Creator will not post for a directly competing [category] brand for 30 days from the final post. Broader or longer exclusivity is priced separately."

Three things do the work: "directly competing," a named category, and a short, dated window. Everything past that is negotiable, and it is completely normal to ask for it to be paid.

These figures are market conventions, not law, and they shift with your reach, your niche, and where you are: how far a restrictive clause holds up differs across the US, UK, and EU. None of this is legal advice. For how the rest of the deal should read, start with the creator's brand-deal contract explained.