A self-serve Pencil alternative you can start today
Pencil is a well-known generative AI ad platform. If you're a DTC brand or small agency looking for something you can sign up for today, advrt is a self-serve option: ads built around your real product photos, then live tests on Meta judged against your own account.
Free plan: 5 ad generations a month, no card.
The product photo advrt started from
Why teams look for a Pencil alternative
You want to start today
advrt is self-serve: sign up, paste a product URL, and generate angles and ads in the same session. No call needed.
You want tests judged on your own account
Run each creative in its own ad set with an equal budget and compare it to your account's last 30 days, instead of relying on a score.
You want published pricing
advrt's plans are listed on the pricing page: Free, $19.99 and $49 a month.
Where each tool is stronger
Pencil does some things advrt doesn't. Here are both lists.
Pencil is stronger at
- Generative AI built for ads
- Pencil was built specifically for ad creative rather than general design, and it's one of the earlier tools in the category.
- Image and video generation
- Generates ad creative across image and video formats.
- Established in the category
- Pencil has been around longer than most AI ad tools, which matters to some buyers.
advrt is stronger at
- Free plan, no card
- 5 ad generations a month on the free plan, with no card and no watermark.
- Published monthly pricing
- $0 / $19.99 / $49 a month, listed on our pricing page. Pro includes a 14-day trial.
- Live tests judged against your account
- One ad set per creative with an equal daily budget, judged against your Meta account's last 30 days. Losers can be auto-paused; winners get three variations in one click.
- Ads built around your real product photos
- Import from a product URL, Shopify or CSV. Image models edit your actual product photos into scenes rather than inventing a lookalike.
- Multiple brands on one account
- Basic covers 5 brands and Pro 50, each with its own brand kit extracted from its website.
advrt and Pencil, feature by feature
| Capability | advrt | Pencil |
|---|---|---|
| AI image ads | ||
| AI video ads | ||
| Ads built from your real product photos | See vendor site | |
| Live tests vs. your account baseline | Basic+ | See vendor site |
| Publish to Meta + TikTok | Basic+ | See vendor site |
| Talking AI avatars / UGC video | See vendor site | |
| Free plan | 5 ads a month, no card | See vendor site |
Pencil details come from its public site. “See vendor site” and “Not listed publicly” mean we couldn't verify it either way.
Pricing
List prices from each vendor's public site. The plans include different things, so compare what you'd actually use.
advrt
| Free $0/mo | 5 ad generations / month. See your own product in real ads. No card. |
|---|---|
| Basic $19.99/mo | 100 ad generations / month. Launch tests on Meta and keep the winners. |
| Pro $49/mo | Unlimited ad generations. For brands and agencies testing every week. |
Pencil
See vendor site
We haven't verified Pencil's current pricing. Check trypencil.com.
Switching from Pencil
- Is advrt a real alternative to Pencil?
- For DTC brands and small agencies running Meta ads, it can be: advrt covers product import, angles, image and video ads, live tests on Meta and publishing to Meta and TikTok. It doesn't have talking AI avatars, team approvals, SSO or enterprise governance features.
- What if I'm already on a Pencil contract?
- Use advrt's free plan alongside it until renewal and compare the two on your own products.
- Does advrt support enterprise needs (SSO, SOC 2)?
- Not today. advrt doesn't offer SSO, a SOC 2 report, or team roles and approvals. If those are hard requirements, we're not the right fit yet.
- Can I import my Pencil brand kits?
- There's no direct import. Paste your website URL and advrt extracts your colours, fonts, logo and voice into a brand kit.
- How does generation quality compare?
- Try both on your own products. advrt's image models (Nano Banana, Seedream 4, Flux Kontext) edit your actual product photos, which keeps the product accurate. We don't offer talking AI avatars or UGC-style video with voice yet.
Other comparisons
Try advrt next to Pencil.
Run both on your own products before you decide. Free plan: 5 ad generations a month, no card.