# The best creative automation platforms > Creative automation platforms compared: Smartly, Celtra, Bannerflow, The Brief, AdCreative.ai and Pencil. What each does and what it costs, checked 2026-10-20. - **Author**: Marxx - **Published**: 2026-11-16 - **Category**: Creative tools - **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-best/best-creative-automation-platforms --- The best creative automation platforms for large teams are Smartly, Celtra and Bannerflow, which are sold by quote. For small teams, The Brief (formerly Creatopy), Pencil and AdCreative.ai publish prices from $14 to $39 a month. Creative automation means software that makes many versions of an ad from one master design, a template or a product feed. ## Quick comparison | Platform | Best for | Price | |---|---|---| | Smartly | Marketing teams running social, video and connected TV ads | Not listed publicly. Get a demo | | Celtra | Teams that make ads for 100+ media platforms | Custom pricing, no rate card | | Bannerflow | In-house teams and agencies making display, social and video ads | Not listed publicly. Request a demo | | The Brief | Solo designers and small teams | Pro $29/month. Ultra $79/month. Team $49 per seat/month | | AdCreative.ai | Small businesses and agencies that want quick ad images and copy | Starter $39/month, or $20/month billed yearly | | Pencil | Solo marketers up to enterprise teams | Core $14/month. Growth $55/month. Pro custom | Checked 2026-10-20 on each company's own page. ## Enterprise platforms **Smartly.** Its Creative suite helps teams design, personalise and scale ads across platforms. Its page lists social media, conversational commerce, connected TV, open web and video. It also sells media and intelligence suites. **Celtra.** Describes cloud software for creating, activating and measuring ads. Its products are Creative Automation, Dynamic Product Ads and Creative Enablement, with live-data creative for 100+ media platforms. Its pricing page says pricing is custom and depends on your use case, team size, creative volume, ad-serving impressions and add-ons. **Bannerflow.** Scales one master creative into many formats. It lists dynamic ads from product feeds, localisation, approvals and integrations with 100+ ad platforms. ## Self-serve platforms **The Brief.** Its site says Creatopy is now The Brief. Every plan has the full ad studio and AI generation. Ultra at $79/month adds ad serving on 25+ networks, publishing to Meta and Google Ads, and automated A/B testing. All paid plans have a 7-day trial with no card. **AdCreative.ai.** Generates ad images and copy and scores them. Professional is $249/month ($125 billed yearly). Credits vary by plan and tier, so read the page before you pay. A credit is used when you download a creative, and generating is unlimited. **Pencil.** Core has 50 generations a month and Growth has 250. Its page says you can launch and track ads on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Google Display, DV360 and LinkedIn. The Pro plan adds bulk generation from feeds. ## Does it pay for itself? Say you make 4 hooks in 3 sizes (1:1, 4:5, 9:16) and 2 languages. That is 4 x 3 x 2 = 24 versions a batch. 1. By hand, say each version takes 15 minutes. That is 24 x 15 = 360 minutes, or 6 hours. 2. A tool cuts the batch to 2 hours. You save 4 hours. At INR 500 an hour, that is INR 2,000 a batch. 3. Four batches a month saves INR 8,000. The Brief Pro at $29 is about INR 2,465 at $1 = INR 85. If you make one batch a month, the saving is INR 2,000 and the fee is still INR 2,465. Run the numbers with your own batch size. See [creative velocity](/glossary/creative-velocity). ## How to choose 1. Count how many versions you ship each month. If it is only a few, a design tool and a free trial may be enough. 2. Do you run product feeds across many markets? Ask the enterprise vendors for a quote and a sample. 3. Do you need ads published straight to Meta? Check each platform's publishing list. We make Marxx. Its [production canvas](/features/production-canvas) publishes to Meta. It is not a feed-based banner system. For wider lists, see the [best ad creative tools](/best/best-ad-creative-tools) and the [best AI ad generators](/best/best-ai-ad-generators). ## FAQ ### What is creative automation? Software that makes many ad versions from one master design, a template or a data feed. It handles sizes, languages and offers so a designer does not redo each one. ### Is creative automation the same as AI ad generation? Not quite. Automation scales a design you made. AI generation makes a new design from a prompt. Many tools now do both. ### Which platform suits a small D2C brand? Start with a self-serve plan such as Pencil Core or The Brief Pro, and use the free trials before you pay. --- - [More Creative tools articles](https://marxx.ai/library-best/category/creative-tools) - [All articles](https://marxx.ai/library-best)