Pencil vs Smartly (2026): which should marketers use?
Thinking before the brief
Campaign Idea and Media Planner agents draft the plan. A Brand Strategy Agent joins where GWI is connected.
Tests you can inspect
AdEvals publishes worked tests by use case, with the model, prompt and verdict. Failures are included.
Terms you can read
Pencil publishes its Pro terms, including the output indemnity and the no-train commitment.
Smartly starts at production and media. Pencil starts at the strategy and runs to results.
Meta description: Pencil vs Smartly compared for 2026: workflow coverage, creative production, pre-launch prediction, models and indemnity, side by side, with sources.
Last checked: 30 September 2026
The short answer
Smartly is an advertising platform that combines creative production with media buying. AI Studio generates and resizes ads across feeds, and Creative Predictive Potential scores attention, sentiment and engagement before launch. In April 2026, Smartly became OpenAI's first creative ad-tech partner for ChatGPT ads.
Choose Smartly if production and media buying at scale are the whole job. Choose Pencil if you also want agents for ideas and planning before the brief, named model vendors and published tests.
Pencil works with the tools you already use. Photoshop files import directly, After Effects projects import in beta and Figma designs import from a link. Finished work exports to Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Google Ads, YouTube, DV360 and CM360.
Workflow coverage
How we compared
Pencil wrote this comparison. Pencil is part of The Brandtech Group.
We compared public documentation from Smartly and from Pencil, checked on 30 September 2026.
Please note: “Not found” means we searched Smartly's public product pages, documentation, press releases and legal pages and found no description of that feature. It does not mean the feature does not exist.
Products change often, so check with each vendor before you buy. If you think we have something wrong, tell us through trypencil.com/contact and we will review it.
Pencil starts before production
Smartly's Creative Insights groups themes from past ads and writes summaries you can use in future briefs. AI Studio then generates, translates and resizes ads across feeds. We did not find a strategy or brief-writing tool in Smartly's public documentation.
Pencil adds agents before the brief. Campaign Idea and Media Planner agents draft the thinking, and a Brand Strategy Agent outlines positioning where GWI is connected. Brief Mode structures the work, and Workflows chain the steps through to export.
Both score ads before launch, in different ways
Smartly's Creative Predictive Potential uses computer vision and eye-tracking models to predict attention, sentiment and engagement. Pencil's Media Performance Score predicts how a new ad will do against your own past ads, from your connected ad account.
The two answer different questions. One reads how people are likely to look at an ad. The other compares the ad with what has worked for you before.
Pencil publishes its tests and its terms
The Smartly pages we checked do not name the models behind AI Studio or publish indemnity terms.
Pencil names its model vendors and publishes worked tests of how they perform in AdEvals, failures included. Its Pro terms are public: the output indemnity, its exclusions and its cap, and the no-train commitment.
Choose Smartly if
- Production, versioning and media buying at scale are the whole job.
- You run paid social across Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat, and want to test ChatGPT ads.
- You want attention-based prediction before launch.
Choose Pencil if
- You want AI across the workflow, from ideas and planning to results.
- You want to know which vendors' models make your work, with published tests.
- You want an output indemnity in published terms.
- You want to connect AI visibility tracking through Share of Model.
Frequently asked questions
Smartly is an advertising platform that unifies creative production and media buying across channels. Pencil is an agentic marketing platform that also covers ideas, planning and briefing before production, and exports finished work to your ad accounts.
It depends on the job. Smartly is built for production and media buying at scale across paid social. If you want AI before the brief, named model vendors, published tests and a published output indemnity, Pencil covers those.
Yes. Media Performance Score predicts how a new ad will do against your own past ads. Smartly's Creative Predictive Potential also predicts before launch, using attention signals.
Pencil exports finished work to connected Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Google Ads, YouTube, DV360 and CM360 accounts, and imports results back.
Yes, for teams that want more than production and buying. Pencil covers generation, adaptation, approvals and export, and adds strategy agents before the brief. Smartly offers media buying and a channel list that includes ChatGPT ads.
