Arcads alternatives, compared fairly.
Arcads is a self-serve app for AI actor ads. The alternatives split three ways: other self-serve apps (cheaper per video, you do the work), done-for-you studios (you approve, they make), and human creator marketplaces. Here's each one, with prices from their own pages.
Five alternatives side by side
| Tool | Type | Starting price | You pay for | One 15-second talking video, roughly | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model Citizens Studio | Done for you | $49 for one ad; $197 for 5 | Finished videos | $49 to $19.95, finished and checked | Brands that want finished ads without making them |
| Creatify | Self-serve app | Free; paid from $15 a month ($10 billed yearly) | Credits (55 a month on Standard) | About $1.36 on Standard (5 credits for a 15-second avatar video) | Teams making many variations themselves |
| MakeUGC | Self-serve app | From $29 a month (billed yearly); $1 trial | Credits (500 a month on Starter) | Not published | Self-serve UGC ads in many languages |
| HeyGen | Self-serve platform | Free; paid from $29 a month | Credits (600 a month on Creator) | About $0.37 on Creator (Avatar IV, video look) | Long videos, training, translation |
| Billo | Human creators | From $99 a video; packs start at $1,000 (checked 4 Nov 2026) | Videos from real people | From $99, after you ship the product | Ads that need a real person using the product |
How we worked out "roughly": the cheapest paid monthly plan's price divided by the videos its credits make, using each company's own published credit rules (Creatify: $15 for 55 credits, 5 credits a 15-second avatar video; HeyGen: $29 for 600 credits, 31 credits a minute for Avatar IV). MakeUGC doesn't publish how many credits a video uses. For the self-serve apps, that's the software only: you still write, direct and check each ad. Ours is a finished, checked ad. Read on 6 Nov 2026; prices change, so check their pages before you decide. Tell us if anything here is out of date and we'll fix it.
Choose a self-serve app if…
You want dozens of variations a week, longer videos, many languages or an API, and someone on your team has time to write scripts, direct the actor and judge every render. Per video, they're the cheapest way to make AI ads.
Choose done-for-you if…
You want finished ads to upload, not software to learn. With us you paste a product link, approve a script written from your page, and get a 15-second ad within 72 hours of your approval, with no credits and free remakes until it's right. That's $49 for one ad; $39.40 a video in the 5-ad pack; $29.70 to $19.95 a video on monthly plans.
Questions
What is the best Arcads alternative?
It depends on how much of the work you want to do. If you want to make lots of variations yourself, Creatify, MakeUGC and HeyGen are self-serve apps that cost less per video. If you want finished ads made for you, Model Citizens Studio writes, films and checks them, and Billo uses real human creators.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Arcads?
Per video, yes: on their own published credit rules, Creatify and HeyGen work out at roughly $0.37 to $1.36 for a 15-second talking video on their cheapest paid plans, before your own time. Arcads' Starter plan works out at about $11 a video at the price third parties report.
Why would I pay more for Model Citizens Studio?
Because you get a finished, checked ad instead of software credits: the script is written from your product page, you approve it, and the video is filmed, checked and delivered. If you don't love a finished ad, we remake it free until you do.
Do any of these use real people?
Billo does: real creators film your product, which takes longer and needs the product shipped. The others, including us, use AI creators or avatars, and we label every ad as AI.
More comparisons
vs Billo · vs Arcads · vs Creatify · vs MakeUGC · vs HeyGen · Arcads pricing explained · Our pricing · Cost calculator
Prices
- Ad Pack$197 one-off5 videos ($39.40 each)
- Starter$297 a month10 videos ($29.70 each)
- Growth$597 a month25 videos ($23.88 each)
- Pro$1,197 a month60 videos ($19.95 each)
- Creative plansfrom $497 a monthvideos + still ads
Every plan: videos and still ads are yours to keep on any channel, and if you don't love a finished ad we remake it free until you do. Cancel monthly plans any time. See every plan
Extra languages: $49 per language per video, for Spanish, French, German, Portuguese or Italian. Spanish is included on Creative Growth and Creative Scale. Choose them when you approve the script.
See your own product first
Paste your product link and one of our creators holds it in a sample ad in about a minute. Free, no card.
Get a free sample ad