Marpipe vs Pencil: Catalog Creative and Testing or Generations, Agents and Account-Trained Scoring
Marpipe fits online stores that run catalog ads and want branded creative for every product. Pencil fits teams that want agents and a model trained on their own ad account, at a low entry price.
Choose Marpipe if you run catalog ads and want designs built from your product feed. Choose Pencil if you want a low entry price and scoring trained on your own ad account's data. If you also need an AI assistant that works with your Meta ad account, Madgicx does that, from $45 a month.
See how we reached this recommendation| Marpipe | Pencil | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Catalog Creative has a free plan, Startup at $199 a month and Enterprise at $999 a month. Feed Management is priced per SKU. | Monthly generations: Core $14 a month ($11 billed annually), Growth $55 ($44 billed annually). Pro is custom. |
| Free plan or trial |
A free Catalog Creative plan covers design exploration and previews. Its pricing page does not state a trial length for paid plans.
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No free plan and no trial of the full platform. A guided sign-up creates six ads at no cost.
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| Image ads |
Its home page says it makes catalog ads look like real ad creative, with generative designs for your product catalog.
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Agents generate images and ads from briefs and assets, using third-party image models.
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| Video ads |
Product Level Video turns every SKU into a video, and it is listed on the Enterprise plan.
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Its blog and home page present video as live, but its pricing table marks AI video Coming soon on every plan, so its pages disagree.
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| Scoring new ads before launch | Not confirmed: we saw no score for new ads before launch on its home and pricing pages. |
A model trained on your own ad account data scores new creatives.
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| Analysis of your live ads |
SKU optimization filters out the worst-performing products, and Enterprise includes performance reviews. Its blog describes multivariate testing.
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Shows which of your creatives perform best and why, from 90 days of history plus ongoing data.
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| Ad inspiration and research |
We saw no ad library or inspiration feed on its home and pricing pages.
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Not confirmed: we read nothing on its pages about browsing other brands' ads. |
| Publishing to ad accounts |
Its home page says it launches product ads everywhere, across Facebook, Instagram, Google, Snapchat, Pinterest, X and Reddit.
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Its help center describes exporting finished ads to connected accounts, while its pricing and integrations pages say it launches or publishes, so its pages disagree.
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| G2 rating | 4.9 from 7 reviews | 4.7 from 16 reviews |
Where they differ
How the price grows
Marpipe: Marpipe's price steps up by channels, live designs and SKUs, and by how much work it does for you. Its pricing page offers brands spending under $50,000 a month on ads 50% off Enterprise for the first year. Pencil: Plans sell monthly generations: 50 on Core and 250 on Growth, with unlimited generations only on the sales-only Pro plan.
Who each is built for
Marpipe: Marpipe is built for marketers who run catalog ads, from large brands to smaller direct-to-consumer companies. Its home page says 7,000+ marketers trust it. Pencil: Owned by The Brandtech Group, with larger brands and agencies named on its news page. The $14 Core plan reads as aimed at small teams.
What each one is built to do
Marpipe: Marpipe builds branded designs from your product feed and tests creative variations. Enterprise adds done-for-you designs with a dedicated design strategist. Pencil: Agents read a brief and make ads, and a model trained on your ad account's history scores them. Its Scribble agent, launched 28 September 2026, runs creative work in the background.
What reviewers say
Marpipe: G2 lists 4.9 from 7 reviews, too few to show a pattern. Pencil: G2 lists 16 reviews. In 10 recent ones, 5 praise fast creation, resizing and feeds, 3 mention off-brand output needing manual edits and 3 mention instability or export problems.
Price
| Example | Marpipe | Pencil |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | Free: $0 a month for design exploration, generative design previews and un-enriched dynamic product ads. | Core: $14 a month, or $11 billed annually (50 generations, 1 workspace) |
| Mid level | Startup: $199 a month for 1 channel, 1 market, 3 live designs and a 500 SKU cap. | Growth: $55 a month, or $44 billed annually (250 generations, unlimited workspaces) |
| Larger or custom | Enterprise: $999 a month, or $999 plus $0.50 per SKU billed yearly, with unlimited channels and live designs and a dedicated design strategist. | Pro: custom, sold through a demo (unlimited generations, users and brands) |
Our verdict
Choose Marpipe if
- You get ads across Facebook, Instagram, Google, Pinterest and more channels.
- You get catalog ads that look like real ad creative, built from your product feed.
- You get a free plan to explore designs before paying.
Choose Pencil if
- You get a low entry price: Core is $14 a month, or $11 billed annually.
- You get new creatives scored by a model trained on your own ad account data.
- You see which of your own creatives perform best and why.
Neither fits when
You need what happens after the creative. Madgicx's MCP connector lets an AI assistant work with your Meta ad account. Madgicx creates campaigns, ad sets and ads from a chat, paused until you approve. Madgicx analyzes which creatives and lines of copy bring results on your live ads. Seats and ad generations are unlimited in every plan, from $45 a month.
How we compare: methodology
- What each tool generates, researches or analyzes: images, video, text and ad libraries.
- Whether the tool scores new ads, analyzes live ads or both.
- What the price buys: credits, generations or seats.
- What recent G2 reviewers praise and complain about.
Published by Madgicx, which competes with both tools. We use each vendor's pricing and product pages (marpipe.com and trypencil.com) and the most recent G2 reviews we could read, with dates listed below. This is our editorial view of fit, not independent test results. Confirm any capability not listed here with the vendor. Marpipe has few G2 reviews. Pencil's pricing table marks almost every feature Coming soon, so we could not use it to tell what each plan includes.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Marpipe and Pencil cost?
Marpipe is from $199 a month. Pencil is from $14 a month. Marpipe entry level: Free: $0 a month for design exploration, generative design previews and un-enriched dynamic product ads. Pencil entry level: Core: $14 a month, or $11 billed annually (50 generations, 1 workspace)
Does Marpipe have a free trial?
A free Catalog Creative plan covers design exploration and previews. Its pricing page does not state a trial length for paid plans.
Does Pencil have a free trial?
No free plan and no trial of the full platform. A guided sign-up creates six ads at no cost.
Is Marpipe only for catalog ads?
Its home page and plans center on catalog creative, product video and feed management. We saw no general-purpose ad generator for non-catalog ads.
Can Pencil make video ads?
Its blog and home page present video generation as live, but its pricing table marks AI video as Coming soon on every plan. Ask Pencil which plan includes it.
Sources
- Marpipe on G2, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Marpipe pricing, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Marpipe home page, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Marpipe blog, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Pencil pricing, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Pencil home page, help center, blog and feature hub, reviewed 22 October 2026
- Pencil on G2, reviewed 22 October 2026
- Madgicx pricing, reviewed 5 November 2026
