Comparison · enterprise advertising and creative automation platform
Free alternative to Smartly
Smartly is the enterprise standard for paid social automation. Xeli brings agentic creative to smaller brands, free under 10 SKUs. An honest comparison.
Xeli has a genuinely free tier. The Launch plan is free forever for stores with fewer than 10 SKUs — not a trial, not metered credits that expire. Early-stage founders can also apply to the Xeli Launch Program for free Pro access, creative reviews and founder office hours. Smartly has no equivalent permanent free plan.
Smartly is the category's enterprise incumbent: creative automation, media buying, and intelligence across Meta, TikTok, Google, Pinterest, Snap and more, with the service layer large advertisers expect. When budgets run into eight figures, that combination is hard to argue with.
It is also sold and implemented accordingly. Contracts are annual and spend-linked, onboarding is a project, and nothing about the model is designed for a store with nine products.
Xeli is the small-and-fast counterpart: agentic creative production, catalog-first, with a Launch plan that is free forever under 10 SKUs.
Updated August 2026
Smartly vs Xeli AI: the seven things that matter
| Topic | Smartly | Xeli AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Enterprise, quote-based, typically tied to managed ad spend with annual commitment. | Launch plan is free forever for stores under 10 SKUs — no card, no trial clock, no AI credits burning down in the background. Paid tiers start when your catalog does, and AI credits can be topped up separately instead of being bundled into a seat you don't need. |
| Features | Creative automation, campaign automation across major platforms, DCO, brand governance, analytics, managed services. | One pipeline: catalog ingest, Brand DNA extraction, agentic briefing, image and video generation, automated QA on contrast, safe zones and disclaimers, pre-spend creative scoring, then channel-ready export to Meta, TikTok, Google, Pinterest, Snap and LinkedIn. |
| AI Editing | AI-assisted creative production and adaptation inside a governed system. | Model-agnostic editing: background removal and replacement, object-aware relight, generative expand for every aspect ratio, packshot cleanup and copy rewriting to each placement's character limits. Every edit is re-validated against your brand rules before it can be exported. |
| Template Engine | Very strong templating and dynamic creative optimisation with feed binding. | Templates are generated from your Brand DNA rather than picked from a gallery, then bound to feed attributes so one layout renders correctly for every SKU. Layouts self-adjust for long titles, portrait products and missing fields instead of breaking. |
| Video Support | Comprehensive, including dynamic video and platform-native formats. | Product stills become motion: pans, reveals, UGC-style hook cuts, captioned 9:16 and 1:1 variants, and feed-bound video DPAs. Frontier video models are routed per shot, and every cut is checked against safe zones before export. |
| Bulk Generation | Industrial: thousands of variants across markets, languages and placements. | Whole-catalog runs are the default unit of work. One brief fans out to hundreds of SKUs and every placement size in a single pass, with per-SKU angles derived from the feed rather than one template stamped onto everything. |
| Creative Automation | Deep, including DCO and automated campaign orchestration at enterprise scale. | Named agents (Strategist, Copywriter, Art Director, Motion, QA, Media Buyer) run the loop: brief, generate, score, ship, read live ROAS and hook rate, then recut what's fatiguing. The system keeps working after launch, not just before it. |
| Free tier | No permanent free plan | Launch plan — free forever under 10 SKUs |
Pricing: how Smartly and Xeli differ
Smartly. Enterprise, quote-based, typically tied to managed ad spend with annual commitment.
Xeli AI. Launch plan is free forever for stores under 10 SKUs — no card, no trial clock, no AI credits burning down in the background. Paid tiers start when your catalog does, and AI credits can be topped up separately instead of being bundled into a seat you don't need.
Features: how Smartly and Xeli differ
Smartly. Creative automation, campaign automation across major platforms, DCO, brand governance, analytics, managed services.
Xeli AI. One pipeline: catalog ingest, Brand DNA extraction, agentic briefing, image and video generation, automated QA on contrast, safe zones and disclaimers, pre-spend creative scoring, then channel-ready export to Meta, TikTok, Google, Pinterest, Snap and LinkedIn.
AI Editing: how Smartly and Xeli differ
Smartly. AI-assisted creative production and adaptation inside a governed system.
Xeli AI. Model-agnostic editing: background removal and replacement, object-aware relight, generative expand for every aspect ratio, packshot cleanup and copy rewriting to each placement's character limits. Every edit is re-validated against your brand rules before it can be exported.
Template Engine: how Smartly and Xeli differ
Smartly. Very strong templating and dynamic creative optimisation with feed binding.
Xeli AI. Templates are generated from your Brand DNA rather than picked from a gallery, then bound to feed attributes so one layout renders correctly for every SKU. Layouts self-adjust for long titles, portrait products and missing fields instead of breaking.
Video Support: how Smartly and Xeli differ
Smartly. Comprehensive, including dynamic video and platform-native formats.
Xeli AI. Product stills become motion: pans, reveals, UGC-style hook cuts, captioned 9:16 and 1:1 variants, and feed-bound video DPAs. Frontier video models are routed per shot, and every cut is checked against safe zones before export.
Bulk Generation: how Smartly and Xeli differ
Smartly. Industrial: thousands of variants across markets, languages and placements.
Xeli AI. Whole-catalog runs are the default unit of work. One brief fans out to hundreds of SKUs and every placement size in a single pass, with per-SKU angles derived from the feed rather than one template stamped onto everything.
Creative Automation: how Smartly and Xeli differ
Smartly. Deep, including DCO and automated campaign orchestration at enterprise scale.
Xeli AI. Named agents (Strategist, Copywriter, Art Director, Motion, QA, Media Buyer) run the loop: brief, generate, score, ship, read live ROAS and hook rate, then recut what's fatiguing. The system keeps working after launch, not just before it.
What Smartly does well
- Breadth no smaller tool matches — creative plus media plus intelligence in one platform.
- Mature dynamic creative optimisation.
- Service and support depth for global teams.
Where Xeli AI pulls ahead
- You are a growth-stage ecommerce brand or agency and enterprise pricing is not realistic.
- You want autonomous creative production rather than a platform you must staff.
- You want to start free and grow into paid tiers.
Stay with Smartly if
- •You are an enterprise advertiser with a dedicated paid social team and large managed spend.
- •You need governance, localisation and platform breadth in one contract.
- •Managed service matters as much as software.
Terms used on this page
Definitions live in the Xeli glossary — free, no signup.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Smartly alternative for small brands?
Xeli's Launch plan is free forever for stores under 10 SKUs. It is aimed at exactly the brands enterprise platforms cannot serve economically.
Does Xeli do dynamic creative optimisation?
Xeli generates and scores per-SKU creative and feeds live results back into the next run. Smartly's DCO is broader and more mature at enterprise scale — that is a fair reading of both.
What does the free Xeli Launch plan include?
Free forever for stores under 10 SKUs: catalog sync, Brand DNA, manual creative editing, basic templates, exports and community support. AI generation credits are purchased separately, so nothing expires and there is no trial clock.
Is Xeli a good Smartly alternative for early-stage brands?
That is the specific case it was built for. Most tools in this category, Smartly included, are priced for brands already spending seriously. Xeli's Launch plan and the Xeli Launch Program exist so a founder with fewer than 10 products can run a real creative engine from day one.
Competitor capabilities and pricing models change often. Everything here reflects publicly available positioning at the time of writing and is our honest reading of it, not a vendor statement. Verify current details with each vendor before you buy.
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How Xeli works
Compare the whole category
Zoom out from Smartly and compare the approaches themselves — design tools, single-shot AI ad generators, agencies and full creative automation.