Would you rather pay a creator $300 upfront, or give them free access and split the upside?

Been going back and forth on this one.

$300 upfront is simple. Fixed cost, no ambiguity, creator gets paid regardless of what happens. But you're paying before you know if it works, and the creator has zero skin in the game once the check clears.

Free access + rev share flips the risk. Nobody gets paid if nothing happens. But it takes longer to pay off, and not every creator wants to bet on your product instead of getting cash today.

Ran into this exact fork a few times and I don't think there's a clean answer. Feels like it depends on how confident you are that the product actually converts once someone tries it.

Which one would you pick, and why?