Motion vs Pencil: Creative Analytics and Reports or Generations, Agents and Account-Trained Scoring
Motion fits creative teams that want detailed reports on which hooks, formats and angles work. Pencil fits teams that want agents and a model trained on their own ad account, at a low entry price.
Choose Motion if you want AI tags and reports on your creatives, and have the budget for a $999 starting price. Choose Pencil if you want a low entry price and scoring trained on your own ad account's data. If you also need automation rules, Madgicx does that, from $45 a month.
See how we reached this recommendation| Motion | Pencil | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Plans are cut by monthly ad spend: Starter is $999 a month for up to $50,000 of spend. Pro and Growth are priced through sales. | Monthly generations: Core $14 a month ($11 billed annually), Growth $55 ($44 billed annually). Pro is custom. |
| Free plan or trial |
No free plan is listed. Its pricing page has a Start free trial button but does not state the trial's length.
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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 |
Static ad generation is listed on the site of its AI teammate, Runneth, and not on its main pricing page.
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Agents generate images and ads from briefs and assets, using third-party image models.
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| Video ads | Not confirmed: we found no video ad generation on its pages. Pro adds first-pass video QA in Slack. |
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 did not find a score for new ads before launch on its pages. |
A model trained on your own ad account data scores new creatives.
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| Analysis of your live ads |
AI tags each Meta creative by format, messaging theme, offer and hook, and reports show top and declining ads. Reports update with live data.
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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 |
Its plans list benchmarks. Not confirmed: a library of competitors' ads.
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Not confirmed: we read nothing on its pages about browsing other brands' ads. |
| Publishing to ad accounts |
Runneth's site says it launches ads to Meta Ads Manager, and a July 2026 demo shows them staged as paused drafts. We found no help article on it.
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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 | 4.5 from 114 reviews | 4.7 from 16 reviews |
Where they differ
How the price grows
Motion: Motion's price steps up with monthly ad spend, from $999 a month at up to $50,000 to custom quotes above that. Seats and ad accounts are not capped. 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
Motion: Motion is built for brands and creative teams that spend $50,000 a month or more on ads and want reports they can share with freelancers and agencies. 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
Motion: Motion reads your ad data, tags each creative with AI and builds reports and recommendations about which angles, hooks and formats work. Its AI teammate, Runneth, works in Motion and Slack. 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
Motion: G2 lists 4.5 from 114 reviews. Reviewers on G2 say Motion is easy to use, 6 of the 10 most recent reviews we read. 2 of those 10 mention wrong data from the AI agent or reliance on consistent ad naming. 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 | Motion | Pencil |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | Starter: $999 a month for up to $50,000 of monthly ad spend, with unlimited seats and ad accounts. | Core: $14 a month, or $11 billed annually (50 generations, 1 workspace) |
| Mid level | Pro: price not published, for brands spending over $50,000 a month. Adds attribution integrations and first-pass video QA in Slack. | Growth: $55 a month, or $44 billed annually (250 generations, unlimited workspaces) |
| Larger or custom | Growth: price not published, for brands spending over $125,000 a month. Adds a customer success manager and advanced security. | Pro: custom, sold through a demo (unlimited generations, users and brands) |
Our verdict
Choose Motion if
- You get reports on top and declining ads that update with live data.
- You can share reports with freelancers and agencies without giving them platform access.
- You get unlimited seats and ad accounts on every plan.
Choose Pencil if
- 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.
- You get agents such as Scribble that run creative work from a brief within your brand guidelines.
Neither fits when
You need what happens after the creative. We found no rules on Motion's pages that pause ads, scale them or change budgets. Madgicx has ready-made and custom automation rules. Madgicx has ready-made and AI audiences. Madgicx lists next steps for your ad account that you approve or dismiss, so every change is approved by you. 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 (motionapp.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. Motion's pricing page was re-read on 5 November 2026 and matches the repo pages; its feature facts date from 22 October 2026. 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 Motion and Pencil cost?
Motion is from $999 a month. Pencil is from $14 a month. Motion entry level: Starter: $999 a month for up to $50,000 of monthly ad spend, with unlimited seats and ad accounts. Pencil entry level: Core: $14 a month, or $11 billed annually (50 generations, 1 workspace)
Does Motion have a free trial?
No free plan is listed. Its pricing page has a Start free trial button but does not state the trial's length.
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 Motion the same as the Motion calendar app?
No. Motion at motionapp.com is a creative analytics tool that tags ads and builds reports on your ad data.
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
- Motion on G2, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Motion pricing, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Motion help center and demos, reviewed 22 October 2026
- Runneth site, reviewed 4 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
