MomentIQ vs IMA: What Happened to IMA
One of these is not a live option. The 2019 merger ended IMA as a brand; Monks carries the practice. MomentIQ is the side you can actually brief.
Skip the manual hunt
Search 10M+ verified creators by niche, engagement and audience quality, then export contacts. Free to start.
Which one is right for you
Three buyers, three picks. Find the column that sounds like your team.
Choose MomentIQ if
- You want to sell on TikTok Shop
- You want live-commerce and GMV focus
- You want direct ByteDance ties
Look up IMA if
- You want to be pointed at Monks instead
- You need to rule IMA in or out
- You arrived on this name and meant Monks
Choose Flinque if
- You want verified creators and fake-follower checks with no sales call
- You want flat published pricing you can start free
- You want lean discovery, not a commerce or full-service agency
MomentIQ vs IMA vs Flinque
The factors below are set out for both. Only MomentIQ is a live option. IMA has not been a hireable name since MediaMonks absorbed it in 2019. Flinque is the flat-price software option on the right.
| Factor | MomentIQ | IMA | Best valueFlinque |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Brands selling on TikTok Shop | Not available, brand retired | Teams running discovery in-house |
| Agency type | TikTok Shop live-commerce agency | Europe's largest full-service agency | Self-serve software, not an agency |
| Engagement model | Custom, GMV-focused | Custom, full-service | Flat monthly subscription |
| Typical minimum | Not established (homepage and about checked Sep 2026) | Not established (Monks page checked Sep 2026) | Free, then $49/mo |
| Published pricing | No | None, nor any at Monks | $0 to $150/mo, public |
| Creator network | Affiliate network built to sell | Worldwide creator reach | 10M+ verified, 200 data points each |
| Platforms covered | TikTok-first, commerce | All platforms, global | Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X |
| Services | Live-commerce, TikTok Shop | Strategy, creative, production | Discovery, vetting and audience data |
| Campaign management | fully managed | fully managed | You run it, software assists |
| Content and usage rights | TikTok Shop Partner, FastMoss Top 10 agency | Backed by S4 and MediaMonks | You negotiate directly with creators |
| Paid amplification | Fixated on GMV and selling | Worldwide production scale | Run your own whitelisting |
| Measurement and reporting | Los Angeles, founded 2023 | Not available | Audience and fake-follower data built in |
| Team and locations | After a discovery call | Amsterdam, until 2019 | Software with support included |
| Time to launch | Best for TikTok Shop sales | Best for European scale | Shortlist in minutes on the free plan |
How we compared: Engagement models and minimums come from each agency's own site plus public reporting and client reviews, cross-checked and dated June 2026. Where an agency hides its pricing we say undisclosed rather than guess a number. The verdicts are ours, not the agencies'.
What each agency actually does
What is MomentIQ
MomentIQ was created to turn TikTok into a register. It helped build the plumbing. Launched in Los Angeles in 2023 by Alex Elsea, who also founded the TikTok agency Ubiquitous, it concentrates on TikTok Shop and live commerce with direct pipes into ByteDance and TikTok Shop, access that keeps it quick on a platform that moves week to week. Selling over awareness is its edge: it runs a commerce-led affiliate network and fixes on GMV and live selling rather than impressions, having pushed past 100 million dollars in TikTok Shop sales. The offer is plain, so a brand wanting TikTok to drive buys lands a partner made for precisely that. That sell-first, TikTok-native build is its calling card. Against IMA's European production scale, MomentIQ is the TikTok Shop live-commerce specialist.
Rates are bespoke and unposted, set per campaign and pegged to GMV, as managed shops price. The buy is TikTok commerce from a TikTok Shop Partner: a commerce-led network of 30,000+ creators, a fixation on GMV and live selling and case studies such as Coop passing $100K in monthly LIVE GMV within 90 days. For a brand wanting TikTok to drive buys, that focus is the pull. The catches follow. It is TikTok Shop-specific, so a brand after IMA's broad European full-service production meets a narrower fit. It is sell-first over a global creative shop. And being a managed agency, no self-serve tier exists. IMA has no live answer here.
What MomentIQ does well
- Concentrated on TikTok Shop and live commerce
- TikTok Shop Partner status
- A commerce-led affiliate network
- Fixed on GMV and live selling
Where it falls short
- TikTok Shop-specific, narrower elsewhere
- Commerce-first, not a worldwide creative shop
- No self-serve tier, fully managed
- Custom pricing tied to GMV
What IMA was
IMA cannot be hired. It merged into MediaMonks in August 2019. This is easy to verify: imagency.com redirects to the Monks influencer marketing page and monks.com/ima returns a 404.
The category mix was broad, from fashion and beauty to automotive and travel. Eight client names carry a first-party source: Pernod Ricard, Under Armour, Beiersdorf, Diesel, Microsoft, Heineken, Samsonite and Booking.com. At the merger S4 Capital put the network at 40,000 influencers and the team at 85 digital experts.
Nothing published since 2019 updates these numbers, so none should be inferred. The name to search for now is Monks.
What IMA was known for
- Fashion, retail, travel and consumer electronics work
- Founded 2010 by Emilie Tabor and Maddie Raedts
- A team of 85 digital experts at the 2019 merger
- A network S4 Capital put at 40,000 influencers in 2019
Why it is not a live option
- No current client list exists under it
- Every figure on record is dated 2019
- The Monks page never uses the name
- monks.com/ima returns a 404
Head to head
A head-to-head here is misleading without one fact stated first. Anyone searching this name should know IMA is a former name. The evidence is straightforward: the agency's own domain forwards to Monks and no IMA-branded page survives anywhere on it. It merged into MediaMonks in August 2019. Since MomentIQ is the one still trading, what follows is mostly an account of IMA.
Which should you actually pick
Forget the pitch decks for a second. Match the partner to the situation you are in.
You are researching IMA
If you came here for IMA, the live answer is Monks.
→ Read the historyYou want lean discovery, not a retainer
No commerce agency, no full-service retainer. You want 10M+ verified creators across four platforms with a fake-follower check on each. Start free on Flinque and upgrade at $49 only if you keep using it.
→ Pick FlinqueYou want verified creators without overhead
MomentIQ runs TikTok commerce and IMA European full-service work. Flinque's free plan lets you find and vet verified creators with no card, then scales at a flat $49 a month.
→ Start with FlinqueFlinque: verified discovery at a flat price
If both feel like too much retainer and too little control, Flinque does one job and does it well. Find and vet real creators yourself, fast, then run the campaign in-house. No pitch deck, no monthly retainer, no discovery call to learn the price.
- 10M+ verified creators
- 4 platforms: IG, YouTube, TikTok, X
- 200 data points per creator
- 12 search filters
- Fake-follower check on every profile
- Free, $49, $150, published
See Flinque in action
Short walkthroughs on pricing, discovery and vetting from the Flinque team.
Influencer Discovery Platforms That We Made Easy and Affordable
Find Influencers for $49 a Month: Flinque vs Modash and HypeAuditor (2026)
Common questions about MomentIQ and IMA
What is the main difference between MomentIQ and IMA?
Which is more affordable, MomentIQ or IMA?
Which should I pick for TikTok Shop?
Which should I pick for European scale?
How does each find creators?
What is MomentIQ best for?
Can you still pick IMA over MomentIQ?
Is there a leaner alternative to both?
Find your next 10 creators in the next 10 minutes
Free plan. No credit card. Verified contacts included.
Try Flinque free →