For your team
Video ad creation for advertisers: four ways, from free to $169 a video
Advertisers make video ads in four main ways: edit footage themselves, hire creators, use an AI actor tool or have a clip edited for them. Whichever you pick, test many ads, because only a few become winners.
In short
- Advertisers usually make video ads by editing footage themselves, hiring creators, using AI actors or having a clip edited for them.
- Creatify and Arcads make ads with AI actors, and Billo matches you with real creators from $99 a video.
- Only 5 to 8% of ads become winners, according to Motion's analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads, so test ten or more a month.
- Cutroom turns one clip of a real person talking into a finished vertical ad for about 110 credits, or $1.76.
- Twelve 30-second test ads cost about 1,320 Cutroom credits, which fits in Basic at $39.99 a month.
- Ad creatives that become winners, per Motion
- 5-8%
- Billo's price for one 15-second creator video
- $99
- About what one 30-second Cutroom ad costs
- $1.76
Four ways to create video ads
Each way trades money against your own time. Here is what you do, which tools do it and what it costs.
- AI actors work well for explaining a product and testing many scripts. A testimonial should come from a real customer.
Four ways to create video ads
| Way | What you do | Tools | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edit it yourself | Film, then cut, caption and add clips on a timeline | CapCut, VEED | CapCut is free to start; VEED from $10 per user a month, billed yearly |
| Hire creators | Send a brief, and a creator films your product on their phone | Billo | From $99 for a 15-second video |
| Use an AI actor | Write or generate a script, and an AI actor reads it | Creatify, Arcads | Creatify from $39 a month; Arcads shows no price |
| Have your clip edited for you | Film someone talking, and send the clip off to be edited | A freelance editor, an agency, or Cutroom | Freelancers and agencies set their own price; Cutroom is about 110 credits ($1.76) for a 30-second ad |
Way: Edit it yourself
- What you do
- Film, then cut, caption and add clips on a timeline
- Tools
- CapCut, VEED
- Cost
- CapCut is free to start; VEED from $10 per user a month, billed yearly
Way: Hire creators
- What you do
- Send a brief, and a creator films your product on their phone
- Tools
- Billo
- Cost
- From $99 for a 15-second video
Way: Use an AI actor
- What you do
- Write or generate a script, and an AI actor reads it
- Tools
- Creatify, Arcads
- Cost
- Creatify from $39 a month; Arcads shows no price
Way: Have your clip edited for you
- What you do
- Film someone talking, and send the clip off to be edited
- Tools
- A freelance editor, an agency, or Cutroom
- Cost
- Freelancers and agencies set their own price; Cutroom is about 110 credits ($1.76) for a 30-second ad
How many video ads should you test?
Only 5 to 8% of ad creatives become winners, according to Motion's analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads.
- If you test three ads a month, you will usually find no winner at all.
- Ten ads give you roughly an even chance of finding one winner.
- A simple test plan is 3 openings, 2 offers and 2 kinds of proof, like a customer quote or a result. That makes 12 ads.
About one winner in every 13 to 20 ads
At 5 to 8%, it takes roughly 13 to 20 ads to find one winner.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Video ad tools for advertisers
These five tools cover the four ways. Cutroom edits a clip of a real person for you. A freelance editor or an agency does the same job by hand.
Video ad tools compared
Prices as each company publishes them on the day shown. Plans change, so check before you buy.
| Tool | Best for | Editing approach | Platform | Pricing from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Creatify | Product ads with an AI actor, made from a product link | You paste a product page link, and it writes a script and makes an ad with an AI actor | Web | Free plan with watermark; Starter $39/month |
 Arcads | Creator-style ads with AI actors, in large numbers | You write a script, and an AI actor reads it like a creator filming on a phone | Web | Not published |
 Billo | Real creators filming your product on their own phones | You send a brief, Billo matches you with a creator, and they film and deliver the video | Web | $99 per 15-second video; $139 per 30 seconds; $169 per 60 seconds |
 CapCut | Editing ads yourself for free | You edit on a timeline with templates and AI tools | iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, web | Free; Pro $19.99/month or $179.99/year, varies by region |
| Cutroom | Turning one clip of a real person into a finished 9:16 ad | You upload one clip of someone talking, and it cuts it and adds captions, stock clips and a headline | Web | First video free; Lite $19.99/month |
- Creatify
- Best for
- Product ads with an AI actor, made from a product link
- Approach
- You paste a product page link, and it writes a script and makes an ad with an AI actor
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- Free plan with watermark; Starter $39/month
- Arcads
- Best for
- Creator-style ads with AI actors, in large numbers
- Approach
- You write a script, and an AI actor reads it like a creator filming on a phone
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- Not published
- Billo
- Best for
- Real creators filming your product on their own phones
- Approach
- You send a brief, Billo matches you with a creator, and they film and deliver the video
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- $99 per 15-second video; $139 per 30 seconds; $169 per 60 seconds
- CapCut
- Best for
- Editing ads yourself for free
- Approach
- You edit on a timeline with templates and AI tools
- Platform
- iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, web
- Pricing from
- Free; Pro $19.99/month or $179.99/year, varies by region
Cutroom
- Best for
- Turning one clip of a real person into a finished 9:16 ad
- Approach
- You upload one clip of someone talking, and it cuts it and adds captions, stock clips and a headline
- Platform
- Web
- Pricing from
- First video free; Lite $19.99/month
Prices and plans read from each vendor's own pricing page on 21 September 2026.
Which way should you choose?
It depends on who will be in the ad and how many versions you need.
Which way should you choose
Choose Creatify if you sell products online and want ads made from your product page with an AI actor.
Choose Arcads if you want many creator-style versions of a script with AI actors, and do not need a price before you sign up.
Choose Billo if you want real creators filming your product, at $99 for 15 seconds, $139 for 30 or $169 for 60.
Choose CapCut if you have time to edit every ad yourself and want to pay nothing.
Choose Cutroom if you can film someone talking and want each clip turned into a finished ad for about $1.76. Your first video is free.
How Cutroom turns a clip into an ad
You upload the clip and get a finished vertical MP4 with captions burned in, in about a minute.
- The people to film are usually close by: a salesperson answering a common objection, a customer saying why they switched, or the founder.
- You need a phone, a quiet room and up to 3 minutes of someone talking. No studio or lights.
- Highlight a phrase, and a clip goes over exactly those words.
- A weak line stays in the ad, because Cutroom cannot delete a line, so film the clip again if it matters.
- A new headline or caption style exports from the same edit, at 20 credits per minute. A different opening needs a new clip.
From a phone clip to a file in your ad account
Film one clip
Up to 3 minutes, on a phone
Cutroom edits it
Cuts, captions, stock clips and a headline
Change the words
Fix a word, move a clip, pick a theme
Export
A 9:16 MP4 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts
What Cutroom ads cost
Each ad costs 100 credits to edit plus 20 credits per minute of export, so a 30-second ad is 110 credits.
- The dollar amounts are the same on every plan, because each plan works out at about 1.6 cents per credit.
- Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, about 11 ads. Basic is $39.99 for 2,500, about 22. Premium is $79.99 for 5,000, about 45.
- A $39.99 top-up adds 2,500 credits in a busy month.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom watermark, which Lite removes.
Credits and dollars per test ad
| Item | Credits | About |
|---|---|---|
| Editing one clip | 100 | $1.60 |
| Exporting a 30-second ad | 10 | $0.16 |
| One finished 30-second ad | 110 | $1.76 |
| 12 test ads | 1,320 | $21 |
Item: Editing one clip
- Credits
- 100
- About
- $1.60
Item: Exporting a 30-second ad
- Credits
- 10
- About
- $0.16
Item: One finished 30-second ad
- Credits
- 110
- About
- $1.76
Item: 12 test ads
- Credits
- 1,320
- About
- $21
Ad format and limits
Every export is a 1080x1920 vertical MP4, the shape Reels, TikTok and Shorts use.
- There is no landscape or square version, so 16:9 placements need another tool.
- Captions are burned into the picture, so the ad works with the sound off. There is no subtitle file.
- Stock clips cover at most 40 to 52% of the ad, depending on the edit style you pick before you upload. The person you filmed is on screen for the rest, about half the ad or more.
- If nobody wants to be on camera, Basic and up can make a talking avatar from a photo and a voice recording, at 350 credits per minute.
A finished Cutroom ad
A headline at the top, a stock clip over the words and captions in the picture.
Questions people ask
- How do advertisers create video ads?
- In four main ways: editing footage themselves in a tool like CapCut, hiring creators through a service like Billo, using AI actors in Creatify or Arcads, or filming someone talking and having it edited in Cutroom.
- How much does it cost to make a video ad?
- From nothing to a few hundred dollars. CapCut is free if you edit yourself, Billo charges $99 to $169 per creator video, Creatify starts at $39 a month, and a 30-second Cutroom ad costs about $1.76 in credits.
- How many ad creatives should I test a month?
- At least ten. At a 5 to 8% win rate, ten ads give you roughly an even chance of one winner, and three ads usually give you none.
- Should I use AI actors in my ads?
- For explaining a product and testing many scripts, yes. For testimonials, no: use real customers, because an AI actor presented as a customer misleads viewers.
- Does Cutroom export landscape or square ads?
- No. Every file is a 1080x1920 vertical MP4, made for Reels, TikTok and Shorts. Use another tool for anything that needs 16:9.
- Can one clip become more than one test ad?
- Partly. A different caption style, headline or hook theme exports from the same edit at 20 credits per minute. A different opening needs a new clip: 100 credits to edit plus the export.
Film one clip of someone talking and get a finished 9:16 ad back for about 110 credits. Your first video is free.