The three tools at a glance
All three sell the same outcome, a vertical ad with an AI person in it, but they are built differently. MakeUGC and Arcads are studios with large AI actor libraries and many video models. Agent Media is built around one chat agent that writes the script, picks the actor and returns the video, and it can be called from other AI assistants.
| MakeUGC | Arcads | Agent Media | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $29/mo billed yearly (Starter) | Not public; shown in the app | $39/mo billed monthly (Creator) |
| Trial | Any plan for $1 | 72 hours, 1,000 credits | 3 days, $0, up to 10 ads at 480p, card required |
| Monthly credits | 500 / 1,000 / 2,000–5,000 | 8,000 to 192,000 by plan | 3,900 / 6,900 / 12,900 |
| AI actors | 300+ to 1,000+ by plan | 1,000+ library (Arcads home page), custom actor or a clone of yourself | Agent picks an AI actor; actor count not stated |
| Video models named | 15+ to all premium models by plan | Seedance 2.5 and 2.0, Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0, MiniMax H3, Wan 3.0, Grok Video and more | Seedance 2.0 and 2.5 |
| API / MCP | Included on every plan | Arcads MCP for Claude and ChatGPT | Studio, MCP, CLI and API on every plan |
| Credit rollover | No | Pro and above only | No for plan credits; bought credits never expire |
Sources: MakeUGC pricing, Arcads Help and Agent Media pricing, checked October 23, 2026.
MakeUGC
MakeUGC sells three self-serve plans and Enterprise. Its pricing page lists Starter at $29, Growth at $39 and Pro at $79 a month, each billed yearly, and says yearly billing saves up to 51% compared with paying monthly (quarterly saves up to 31%). Any plan can be tried for $1, and the checkout shows the trial length and renewal amount.
- Starter: 500 credits a month, 300+ AI actors, 200+ AdFlow templates, 15+ premium models, one video and one image generating at a time, and export at 480p or 720p.
- Growth: 1,000 credits, 500+ actors, 500+ templates, 50+ premium models, 10 parallel videos and 10 images, HD to 4K export, one custom avatar of yourself, 3 seats and 200 promo credits.
- Pro: 2,000–5,000 credits, 1,000+ actors, all templates and premium models, unlimited parallel jobs, 3 custom avatars, 5 seats and 500 extra promo credits.
Every plan lists 50+ languages with lip-synced voices, Product in Hand, Motion Control, AI Flows, Batch Mode, an ad Content Library with Ad Remake, watermark-free exports with commercial usage rights, and API and MCP access that draws from the same credits as the studio. MakeUGC says each generation costs credits based on its model, duration and resolution.
Arcads
Arcads describes itself as an AI ad platform for video ads, UGC-style ads with AI actors, product videos, B-roll, static ads, voiceovers, music, captions and translations on one credit balance. Its help center lists talking-actor models (Arcads 1.0, Audio-Driven and OmniHuman 1.5), a long list of video and image models, translation with lip sync into 176 language and accent options, Workflows for batches such as one script across 10 actors in 2 languages, and an AI agent called Mark.
| Plan | Credits a month | At the limit | Unused credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 8,000 | Generation stops, upgrade offer | Reset |
| Creator | 16,000 | Generation stops, upgrade offer | Reset |
| Pro | 48,000 | Extra usage billed next invoice | Roll over |
| Scale | 96,000 | Extra usage billed next invoice | Roll over |
| Business | 192,000 | Extra usage billed next invoice | Roll over |
Arcads’ help center says current prices are on the pricing page in the app and that yearly billing is 20% off, so we do not print plan prices here. It also says Arcads tests new pricing from time to time, and that the Generate button shows the real cost on your account. Standard rates its pricing article lists: an Arcads 1.0 talking-actor video costs 800 credits for a video up to 2 minutes long. Per-minute billing applies only to the other talking-actor models, Audio-Driven and OmniHuman 1.5, at 800 credits per started minute. An 8-second Veo 3.1 clip costs 800 credits. Paid plans include 100 free images per rolling 24 hours.
Agent Media
Agent Media (agent-media.ai) is a chat-first tool: you give it a product link, a photo or one line, choose a look such as a UGC ad, product in hand, app demo or beauty review, and it returns a vertical MP4. You can also connect it once to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex and ask for ads from there. It does not post ads for you.
- Creator, $39 a month: 3,900 credits, Seedance 2.5 clips up to 15 seconds, 1 Autopilot schedule.
- Pro, $69 a month: 6,900 credits, clips up to 30 seconds, 3 schedules.
- Extreme, $129 a month: 12,900 credits, clips up to 30 seconds, 10 schedules.
Every plan includes every live model, HD export without a watermark, commercial use and API access. Quarterly billing is 25% off and yearly 40% off, paid up front. Extra credits start at $5 for 500 and never expire. Agent Media publishes per-second video rates, for example 60 credits a second for Seedance 2.0 at 720p, so a ten-second 720p clip uses 600 credits; its own example says a ten-second talking ad with captions uses 295. Its FAQ names Seedance 2.0 and 2.5 for video, GPT Image and Nano Banana Pro for images and ElevenLabs for voice.
How the credit systems differ
The three credit numbers are not comparable with each other: a MakeUGC credit, an Arcads credit and an Agent Media credit each buy different amounts. Compare them by what one ad costs on each tool’s own rate card. Agent Media publishes per-second rates, Arcads publishes per-model and per-minute rates in its help center, and MakeUGC says credits depend on model, duration and resolution without printing a per-ad table on its pricing page.
Rollover also changes the real cost. On MakeUGC, Agent Media plans and Arcads Starter or Creator, credits you do not use in a month are lost. If your ad output is uneven, Arcads Pro and above or Agent Media’s separately bought credits are the only options here that carry over. For the same question on avatar and presenter tools, see HeyGen alternatives and Captions AI pricing.
Which one fits which job
- Cheapest way to look around: MakeUGC’s $1 trial or Agent Media’s $0 three-day trial; Arcads’ 72-hour trial gives 1,000 credits.
- Large actor library and talking-head ads in many languages: MakeUGC or Arcads, both of which list 1,000+ actors (Arcads on its home page) and custom or cloned avatars.
- Ads made from inside an AI assistant or by script: all three list MCP; Agent Media and MakeUGC include API access on every plan.
- Mostly short Seedance clips: Agent Media publishes the clearest per-second rate card. For Seedance’s own prices, see Seedance pricing.
What this comparison is and is not
This is a reading of each vendor’s public pages on October 23, 2026, not a hands-on test. We did not make ads with these tools for this page, so it does not judge realism, lip sync or ad performance. Plans and credit rates change often, and Arcads says it tests pricing per account, so confirm the numbers at checkout. For other categories, start from AI video pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI UGC ad generator?
It is a tool that makes ads in the style of user-generated content, such as a creator talking to camera or holding a product, without filming a real person. MakeUGC, Arcads and Agent Media all use AI actors or AI video models for this and bill in monthly credits.
Which AI UGC ad generator is cheapest to start?
On October 23, 2026 MakeUGC’s pricing page offered any plan for a $1 trial, with Starter at $29 a month billed yearly. Agent Media offered a 3-day $0 trial (card required) and then $39 a month. Arcads’ help center listed a 72-hour trial with 1,000 credits and said current prices are shown on the pricing page inside the app, so we do not quote an Arcads price.
Do these tools have an API or MCP?
Yes, all three say so. MakeUGC includes API and MCP access on every plan. Arcads lists an Arcads MCP for Claude and ChatGPT. Agent Media lists Studio, MCP, CLI and API on every plan and says it works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Codex.
Do unused credits roll over?
MakeUGC says credits refresh monthly and do not roll over. Arcads says Starter and Creator credits reset each cycle, while Pro, Scale and Business roll unused credits over. Agent Media says plan credits reset each billing cycle, but credits bought separately never expire.
Did Scrutator test these tools?
No. This page compares what each vendor publishes on its own pricing page and help center. We did not generate ads with MakeUGC, Arcads or Agent Media for it, so it says nothing about output quality.
Sources
Vendor facts on this page come from these public pages, checked October 23, 2026. Prices and plan limits change; confirm them at checkout.