For your team
Video ads for SaaS: show the problem first and the product second
For people who have never heard of you, a SaaS video ad works best when a person names a problem they have. Save the product demo for people who already know you.
In short
- SaaS video ads come in three common kinds: a person naming the problem, a product demo, and an AI avatar explainer.
- A person naming the problem suits people who have never heard of you. A demo suits people who already visited your site.
- Descript records and edits screen demos, from $16 a month billed yearly. Synthesia makes avatar videos, from $18 a month billed yearly.
- Cutroom turns a phone video of the founder or someone from sales naming the problem into a finished vertical ad.
- Your first Cutroom video is free. Lite ($19.99) covers about 11 ads of 30 seconds a month, Basic ($39.99) about 22.
- Share of ads that become winners, per Motion's study of 550,000+ Meta ads
- 5-8%
- A month for Synthesia Starter, billed yearly, for avatar videos
- $18
- 30-second Cutroom ads a month on the $39.99 Basic plan
- About 22
Three kinds of SaaS video ad
Each kind suits a different audience, so you may need more than one.
- A good first line describes the viewer's problem in plain words, like "two people updating the same spreadsheet".
- The doubts buyers raise on sales calls make good first lines, because they are in the buyer's own words.
Three kinds of SaaS video ad
| Kind | What it shows | Best for | Tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Someone naming the problem | A person naming a problem the viewer has, then how the product fixes it | People who have never heard of you | Cutroom |
| Product demo | A screen recording of the product doing one job | People who visited your site or tried the product | Descript |
| AI avatar explainer | An AI presenter reading a script, often in several languages | Explaining features and onboarding | Synthesia |
Kind: Someone naming the problem
- What it shows
- A person naming a problem the viewer has, then how the product fixes it
- Best for
- People who have never heard of you
- Tool
- Cutroom
Kind: Product demo
- What it shows
- A screen recording of the product doing one job
- Best for
- People who visited your site or tried the product
- Tool
- Descript
Kind: AI avatar explainer
- What it shows
- An AI presenter reading a script, often in several languages
- Best for
- Explaining features and onboarding
- Tool
- Synthesia
Tools for SaaS video ads
Descript is for demos, Synthesia for avatar explainers and Cutroom for ads where a real person names the problem.
Tools for SaaS video ads
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen-recorded product demos | Record your screen and camera, then edit the transcript | Web, Mac, Windows | Free plan (watermark); Hobbyist $16/month, yearly | |
 Synthesia | Avatar explainer videos in many languages | Write a script, pick an avatar and a template | Web, API | Free plan (no download); Starter $18/month, yearly |
| Cutroom | Ads where someone from your team names the customer's problem | Upload a phone video of someone talking; it adds captions, stock clips and an opening headline | Web | First video free; Lite $19.99/month |
Descript
- Best for
- Screen-recorded product demos
- Approach
- Record your screen and camera, then edit the transcript
- Platform
- Web, Mac, Windows
- Pricing from
- Free plan (watermark); Hobbyist $16/month, yearly
- Synthesia
- Best for
- Avatar explainer videos in many languages
- Approach
- Write a script, pick an avatar and a template
- Platform
- Web, API
- Pricing from
- Free plan (no download); Starter $18/month, yearly
Cutroom
- Best for
- Ads where someone from your team names the customer's problem
- Approach
- Upload a phone video of someone talking; it adds captions, stock clips and an opening 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.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How to make a SaaS video ad in Cutroom
The founder or someone from sales films a short phone video, up to 3 minutes. It names the customer's problem first, then how the product solves it.
- Cutroom has no screen recorder, so record the product with the tool you already use.
- Keep the video off pricing and feature lists when you film it, because Cutroom cannot delete a line afterwards.
- Stock clips never cover more than 52% of the video, so the speaker stays on screen.
- To try different first lines, film one short video per first line and make one project for each.
From a phone video to a finished SaaS ad
Film a short video
Name the customer's problem, then how the product solves it
Edit
100 credits: captions, stock clips and an opening headline, back in about a minute
Add your product
Upload a screen recording and highlight the words that name the feature
Export
A vertical 9:16 MP4, 20 credits per minute
What Cutroom costs
Cutroom charges in credits: 100 to edit a video and 20 per minute to export it. A 30-second ad costs about 110 credits.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It has a Cutroom watermark across the middle.
- The Lite plan removes the watermark. One 30-second ad costs under $2 on it.
- The money you spend showing the ads is separate. You set that budget in each ad platform.
Cutroom plans and how many 30-second ads they cover
| Plan | Price | Credits | 30-second ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, no card | Your first video | 1, with a watermark |
| Lite | $19.99 a month | 1,250 | About 11 |
| Basic | $39.99 a month | 2,500 | About 22, plus avatars and music |
| Premium | $79.99 a month | 5,000 | About 45 |
Plan: Free
- Price
- $0, no card
- Credits
- Your first video
- 30-second ads
- 1, with a watermark
Plan: Lite
- Price
- $19.99 a month
- Credits
- 1,250
- 30-second ads
- About 11
Plan: Basic
- Price
- $39.99 a month
- Credits
- 2,500
- 30-second ads
- About 22, plus avatars and music
Plan: Premium
- Price
- $79.99 a month
- Credits
- 5,000
- 30-second ads
- About 45
Which tool should you choose?
It depends on who the ad is for and who will be on screen.
Which tool should you choose
Choose Descript if you want product demos and tutorials made from screen recordings.
Choose Synthesia if you want explainer videos with an avatar, especially in several languages.
Choose Cutroom if someone on your team will name the customer's problem on camera and you want a finished vertical ad without editing it yourself. Your first video is free.
Questions people ask
- What kind of video ad works best for SaaS?
- For people who have never heard of you, a person naming a problem they recognise. A product tour means little to someone who does not know they have the problem yet. Demos work for people who already visited your site.
- Can our product interface appear in the ad?
- Yes. Record it with any screen recorder and upload the clip to Cutroom. Highlight the words where the speaker names the feature and the recording appears over them.
- Who should be on camera, marketing or sales?
- Whoever can describe the customer's problem in the customer's own words. That is often the founder or someone from sales.
- How many video ads should a SaaS company test?
- More than one or two at a time. In Motion's study of 550,000+ Meta ads, only 5 to 8% became winners, so one ad rarely tells you anything. Cutroom's Basic plan, $39.99 a month, covers about 22 ads of 30 seconds.
- Do vertical video ads work for B2B software?
- Yes. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn all show vertical video in the feed, and every Cutroom export is a vertical 9:16 MP4.
- What if nobody will speak on camera?
- Use an avatar. Synthesia is built for avatar videos, and Cutroom's Basic plan turns a photo and a voice-over into a talking presenter at 350 credits per minute.
Film yourself naming the problem your customers complain about most, and get the finished ad back. Your first video is free.