Cheapest AI ad generator in 2026: cost per ad across 9 tools

The cheapest AI ad generator for most solo ecommerce sellers in 2026 is Pixair AI if you want image ads and video ads in one tool at the lowest monthly bill: it starts free with 30 credits (no card, and they never expire) and paid plans start at $7 a month. If you mainly need avatar-style UGC video ads, Creatify Standard at $15 a month has the lowest cost per finished video ad we found, at about $1.36. Below is the cost per finished ad for 9 tools, worked out from each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026.

What is the cheapest AI ad generator in 2026?

Of the 9 tools we priced, Pixair AI has the lowest paid entry at $7 a month, plus a free plan. Pencil ($14), Adloura ($14.99) and Creatify ($15) come next. Prices are month-to-month list prices from each vendor's official page, read on Oct 26, 2026.

Tool	Cheapest paid plan	What you get	Free way in
Pixair AI	Starter, $7/mo ($5/mo yearly)	100 credits, image and video tools	Free plan, 30 credits, no card, never expire (image tools only)
Pencil	Core, $14/mo ($11/mo yearly)	50 credits (formerly generations)	6 free ads through a guided signup
Adloura	Paid, from $14.99/mo	Watermark removed; real product placement starts on Pro at $29.99	1 free video ad a month, watermarked
Creatify	Standard, $15/mo ($10/mo yearly)	55 credits, 1 generation at a time	10 credits a month, watermarked exports
Zeely	Starter, $29.95/mo (listed down from $49.95)	2,500 credits	Not stated on the pricing page
Predis.ai	Core, $32/mo ($19/mo yearly)	1,300 credits, 1 brand	3-day trial, card required
AdCreative.ai	Starter, $39/mo	20 credits (1 credit per download)	Free trial with 20 credits
MakeUGC	Starter, $59/mo ($29/mo yearly)	500 credits, 480p and 720p exports	Any plan for $1, renews at plan price
Arcads	Not published outside the app	8,000 credits on Starter	72-hour trial, 1,000 credits, card required

Sources: Pixair, Pencil pricing, Adloura, Creatify pricing, Zeely pricing, Predis.ai pricing, AdCreative.ai, MakeUGC pricing, Arcads help center.

Several top search results for this query are ad copy tools. Ad Campaign Crafter, for example, writes Facebook and Instagram headlines, text and image prompts for €10 a month. You still have to make the image or video yourself, so copy-only tools are left out of the tables.

How much does an AI ad cost per creative?

On the cheapest paid plan, a finished image ad costs $0.14 to $1.95 across these tools, and a short video ad costs $1.36 to about $18. We divided each plan's price by its credits, then multiplied by the credits the vendor says one ad uses.

Tool (cheapest monthly plan)	Price per credit	Image ad	Short video ad
Pixair AI Starter	$7 / 100 = $0.07	4 credits = $0.28 (campaign creative, 3 credits = $0.21)	10s at 720p, 70 credits = $4.90
Creatify Standard	$15 / 55 = $0.27	0.5 credit = $0.14	5 credits = $1.36
Predis.ai Core	$32 / 1,300 = $0.025	from 15 credits = $0.37	UGC video, 250 to 450 credits = $6.15 to $11.08
Pencil Core	$14 / 50 = $0.28	about 4.5 credits per static concept = $1.26	6s film, 24.6 to 64.2 credits = $6.89 to $17.98
AdCreative.ai Starter	$39 / 20 = $1.95	1 credit per download = $1.95	Not published per video
Zeely Starter	$29.95 / 2,500 = $0.012	Not published	500 credits = $5.99, plus start image
MakeUGC Starter	$59 / 500 = $0.118	Not published for the studio	Talking-actor video, 100 credits = $11.80
Arcads Starter	Price not published	Up to 100 images a day free on paid plans	Talking-actor video, 800 of 8,000 credits = one tenth of the plan

Credit costs per ad: Creatify's FAQ says 10 credits make up to 2 video ads or 20 image ads. Predis.ai's credit guide puts an image ad from 15 credits and a detailed UGC video at 250 to 450. Pencil's credit guide gives example briefs of about 4.5 credits per static concept on its priciest models and 24.6 to 64.2 credits for a 6-second film. Zeely's video ad guide lists 500 credits for its recommended video model, and MakeUGC's API docs list 100 per talking-actor video. Pixair bills about 4 credits per static ad, 3 per campaign creative, and video per second (5s at 360p is 10 credits, 10s at 720p is 70, 10s at 1080p is 105).

Billed yearly, the order shifts a little. Pixair drops to $0.05 a credit ($0.20 per static ad), Creatify to about $0.18 ($0.91 per video ad), and MakeUGC to $0.058 ($5.80 per talking-actor video).

What does month one cost for 10 image ads and 3 video ads?

For a typical first month of testing (10 image ads plus 3 short video ads), Pixair AI is the cheapest at $7 if 5-second 360p test clips are enough. At 720p video quality, Creatify comes in lowest at $15, and Pixair AI costs $24. Here is the math per tool, on monthly billing.

Tool	Credits needed	Plan that covers it	Month-one bill
Creatify	10 x 0.5 + 3 x 5 = 20 of 55	Standard	$15
Pixair AI (360p video)	10 x 4 + 3 x 10 (5s clips) = 70 of 100	Starter	$7
Pixair AI (720p video)	10 x 4 + 3 x 70 (10s clips) = 250 of 400	Pro	$24 ($18 yearly)
Predis.ai	10 x 15 + 3 x 250 to 450 = 900 to 1,500 of 1,300	Core, plus a $29 pack of 1,200 credits at the high end	$32 to $61
Pencil	10 x 4.5 + 3 x 24.6 = about 119	Growth (250), since Core stops at 50	$55
MakeUGC	3 x 100 = 300 for video, image cost not published	Starter (500)	$59 ($29 yearly)
Zeely	3 x 500 = 1,500 for video, static cost not published	Starter (2,500)	$29.95 if statics fit in the other 1,000
AdCreative.ai	10 downloads for images; video cost not published	Starter (20)	$39 for the images
Arcads	3 x 800 = 2,400 of 8,000; images free up to 100 a day	Starter	Price not published

Two things stand out. First, the cheapest tool depends on your mix: an image-heavy seller pays least on Pixair, while a seller who wants several avatar videos pays least on Creatify. Second, plan caps matter more than the headline price. Pencil Core and Arcads Starter stop generating at the limit, so one extra test can force an upgrade.

Which free AI ad generator for Shopify is actually free?

Pixair AI's free plan gives 30 credits with no card, and they never expire, which covers about 7 static ads at 4 credits each. Creatify and Adloura also have ongoing free plans, but both watermark free exports. The rest offer trials.

• Pixair AI: 30 credits that never expire, without a card. Covers Product Link to Ads, the agent, all templates, Brand Kit, AI Canvas and MCP. Video tools need a paid plan. Start free here.
• Creatify: 10 credits every month (up to 2 video ads or 20 image ads), exports watermarked.
• Adloura: 1 free video ad a month with a small watermark.
• AdCreative.ai: a free trial with 20 credits.
• Pencil: 6 free ads through a guided signup, then a paid plan.
• Predis.ai: 3 days free, card taken up front, charged when day 3 ends.
• Arcads: 72 hours and 1,000 credits, card required, then the Starter monthly plan starts automatically.
• MakeUGC: any plan for $1, renewing at the plan price unless you cancel.

For Shopify, Amazon and TikTok Shop sellers, the first week shows whether a tool gets your product right. A trial that bills on day 3 puts a deadline on that test.

Why do cheap AI ad tools cost more than the sticker price?

The plan price hides rerolls, expiring credits and fees on ad spend. Most sellers keep only some of what they generate, so the real cost per usable ad is higher than any table shows.

Rerolls. Every regenerate spends credits on most of these tools. If you keep 1 in 3 outputs, triple the per-ad numbers above. AdCreative.ai only charges a credit when you download, so generating and comparing costs nothing there.

Expiring credits. Creatify credits last 2 months. Predis.ai, Pencil, MakeUGC and Arcads Starter credits reset each cycle. Pixair's free credits never expire.

Ad spend fees. Zeely's pricing FAQ says it may charge up to 12% when you run Facebook and Instagram ads through Zeely. Pixair, like most tools here, only makes the creatives; you upload them to your own ad account.

Resolution limits. MakeUGC Starter exports at 480p and 720p. Pixair's 360p clips are the cheapest way to test a hook, but you will likely re-render winners at 720p or 1080p.

How to make cheap ad creatives in Pixair

The lowest-cost route in Pixair AI is to test with static ads first and spend video credits only on angles that earn clicks.

1. Start from your product link

Paste a Shopify, WooCommerce or other store link into Product Link to Ads. The agent pulls your photos and details, and Brand Kit applies your logo, colors and fonts. This step costs nothing until you generate.

2. Make a matched campaign set

Use Campaign mode to get a set of ads from different angles, such as pain point, benefit and social proof. Campaign creatives cost 3 credits each, so 10 angles cost 30 credits, which the free plan covers.

3. Animate the winner

When one static ad wins, Ad Animator turns it into a 6-second video. That gives you a video version of a proven angle without scripting a new ad from scratch.

4. Render UGC video for the best angle

Once an angle is proven, make a UGC video ad with an AI creator holding or wearing the product. A 5-second 360p test clip costs 10 credits ($0.70 on Starter), and a 10-second 720p version costs 70 ($4.90).

Examples of entry-tier UGC video ads

These are UGC-style video ads made with Pixair from single product photos.

Video captions come in styles such as Handwritten and Whisper.

For a deeper cost breakdown of video specifically, including UGC creators and studios, see how much a product video ad costs in 2026.

Which cheap AI ad maker should you pick?

Pick by the ad mix you will actually run. Each tool below wins for a specific kind of seller.

• Pick Pixair AI if you want image ads and video ads from one product photo or link, and the lowest monthly bill to start. The free plan lets you test before paying anything, and $7 covers a month of static testing.
• Pick Creatify if most of your budget goes to avatar UGC video. At about $1.36 per video ad on Standard, it was the cheapest per video in our math. Compare it in our Creatify alternative breakdown.
• Pick AdCreative.ai if you want to generate many variations and only pay for the ones you download, and $39 a month fits. See the full AdCreative.ai pricing breakdown.
• Pick Arcads or MakeUGC if talking-actor videos are your main format and you want a large actor library. Check Arcads pricing for the credit math.
• Pick Predis.ai if you also want social scheduling and posting from the same tool.
• Pick Zeely if you want the tool to set up and run Facebook and Instagram campaigns for you, and the possible fee on ad spend is acceptable.

Tips to cut your cost per ad

1. Test hooks on static ads first. A static ad costs 3 to 4 credits in Pixair, while a 10-second 720p video costs 70. Find the angle on statics, then pay for video.
2. Test video at low resolution. Use 5-second 360p clips to check a hook, then re-render the winner at 720p or 1080p.
3. Count your keep rate. Track how many outputs you actually run. A tool with cheap credits and a low keep rate can cost more per live ad than a pricier one.
4. Match billing to your rhythm. Yearly billing cuts Pixair's credit price from $0.07 to $0.05, but monthly suits sellers who test in bursts around launches and sales.
5. Reuse one angle across placements. One proven ad, resized for Meta feed, Stories and TikTok, costs less than three new concepts. More on that in our guide to static ad creatives for Facebook.

Turn any product photo
into a winning ad

Start for free