Playable ad tools compared

Last updated 16 October 2026 · facts checked against each company’s own pages

At a glance

Ways to get a playable ad
Dimension	Examples	How it works	Best when
AI playable makers	Playbaker, PlayablesAI, PlayableMaker (vibe-coding), Layer	Describe the game or give a brief; AI builds the playable and assets; you iterate. Public plans.	You need new concepts often and have no playable developer
AI, sales-led	CRAFTSMAN+, Sett	AI agents with a vendor team behind them. Demo first, no public prices.	You want a platform and a team, at enterprise scale
Template builders	Playable Factory Ready, Playturbo, PlayableMaker templates, Playworks templates	Pick a format, swap in your art or video.	Simple formats: tap to reveal, spin, quiz, video-to-playable
From your game	Unity Playworks plugin, or HTML5 by hand	A developer builds the playable from the game project.	You have the project and developer time
Studios	Playable Factory, Mindworks, CRAFTSMAN+, Segwise (managed)	Send a brief; a team designs and builds it.	You want someone else to own concept and production
Ad networks	AppLovin	Interactive formats made inside the network’s own tools.	Most of your spend is on that network

AI playable makers: ExamplesPlaybaker, PlayablesAI, PlayableMaker (vibe-coding), Layer; How it worksDescribe the game or give a brief; AI builds the playable and assets; you iterate. Public plans.; Best whenYou need new concepts often and have no playable developer
AI, sales-led: ExamplesCRAFTSMAN+, Sett; How it worksAI agents with a vendor team behind them. Demo first, no public prices.; Best whenYou want a platform and a team, at enterprise scale
Template builders: ExamplesPlayable Factory Ready, Playturbo, PlayableMaker templates, Playworks templates; How it worksPick a format, swap in your art or video.; Best whenSimple formats: tap to reveal, spin, quiz, video-to-playable
From your game: ExamplesUnity Playworks plugin, or HTML5 by hand; How it worksA developer builds the playable from the game project.; Best whenYou have the project and developer time
Studios: ExamplesPlayable Factory, Mindworks, CRAFTSMAN+, Segwise (managed); How it worksSend a brief; a team designs and builds it.; Best whenYou want someone else to own concept and production
Ad networks: ExamplesAppLovin; How it worksInteractive formats made inside the network’s own tools.; Best whenMost of your spend is on that network

AI playable makers

The newest group, and the one Playbaker is in. All four below are self-serve with public pricing:

PlayablesAI (Helsinki) calls itself “a self-service tool that lets marketers and developers create unlimited playable ads on their own”. Credit plans from a one-time €25 for 200 credits to €2,990 a month.
PlayableMaker added AI vibe-coding to its template and video tools: “Just write your prompt in chat interface”. Plans from €59 to €599 a month, with 1 to 40 vibe-code iterations.
Layer, an AI creative platform for game studios, “Generate[s] playable HTML games and ads from your brief and project assets”; its agent “builds and QAs the first version”. Pricing is usage-based, from $10 a month for 300 Creative Units, and playables use units.
Playbaker builds from a store link with four agents and playtests every build before you see it. Free to build and play; Pro from $35 a month; paid plans opening soon.

Two more use AI but sell through a demo: CRAFTSMAN+ (“Agent builds the playable in real time”, “30+ export partners”, “200+ playable ad templates”) and Sett (“Agents that create your UA creatives”, video and playables). Playable Factory has AI-generated playables on an early-access waitlist.

Template builders

You pick a ready-made format and put your assets in it. Fast and predictable, but the playable is the template’s mechanic, not your game’s.

Playable Factory Ready: “self-serve playable ad builder with ready-made templates”, “more than 40 formats”, and a new playable “in as little as 5–20 minutes”, by their account. Demo first.
Playturbo: “a self-service, element-based platform that lets you create video and playable ads”, 300+ templates. Consultation first.
PlayableMaker: 250+ templates and a video-to-playable editor, alongside its AI feature.
Unity Playworks interactive templates: Tap to Engage, Tap to Reveal, Choose to Result and others, made from your game’s videos and images “with no code required”.

Building from your game

If your game is in Unity, Unity Playworks (formerly Luna) builds the playable from the project itself, so it uses the real game’s code and assets. Its free plan exports to Unity Ads only; Unity’s docs list the plan with every network at “$15K monthly”. Without Unity, the equivalent is an HTML5 developer building the slice by hand; how to make a playable ad lists the steps.

Studios and managed services

Playable Factory: “We design and code custom playable ads”, with “our senior team for concepting, production, and rapid iteration”.
Mindworks, on Playturbo’s site, offers “One-stop creative services”.
CRAFTSMAN+ sums itself up as “The all-in-one platform and creative studio for interactive advertising”.
Segwise runs playable generation as “a managed service, not another tool for your team to run”: its agents build each playable, “then our team polishes it”.

None of these publish prices for custom playables; expect a quote per project.

Ad networks’ own teams

Networks make interactive formats for advertisers who spend with them. AppLovin’s ad-experience page says its AI-generated interactives “automatically appear in your account free of charge”, and that AppLovin Creative Studio lets you “build custom interactives with our built-in tools”. The catch is scope: they run on that network.

Self-serve, in-house or studio

Self-serve tool, in-house developer and studio compared
Dimension	Self-serve tool	In-house developer	Studio
Who builds it	You, with AI or templates	Your developer	The studio’s team
Starts from	A store link, brief, video or template	Your game project	A brief and your assets
First version	Minutes to hours (vendors’ own figures)	Developer time per concept	Not published; quoted per project
Changes	You make them, as often as you like	Another task in the backlog	A revision round
Cost	Monthly plan	Developer salary	Per project
Networks	Packaged by the tool	You package each one	Packaged by the studio

Who builds it: Self-serve toolYou, with AI or templates; In-house developerYour developer; StudioThe studio’s team
Starts from: Self-serve toolA store link, brief, video or template; In-house developerYour game project; StudioA brief and your assets
First version: Self-serve toolMinutes to hours (vendors’ own figures); In-house developerDeveloper time per concept; StudioNot published; quoted per project
Changes: Self-serve toolYou make them, as often as you like; In-house developerAnother task in the backlog; StudioA revision round
Cost: Self-serve toolMonthly plan; In-house developerDeveloper salary; StudioPer project
Networks: Self-serve toolPackaged by the tool; In-house developerYou package each one; StudioPackaged by the studio

Vendors’ own figures: PlayablesAI gives ~10 minutes for a simple playable, CRAFTSMAN+ “15 min from brief to build”, Playable Factory Ready 5–20 minutes; Playbaker’s recorded showcase builds took 14–97 minutes.

How to choose

Your game is in Unity and a developer has time: build from the project with Unity Playworks.
You want simple interactive formats from existing art or video: a template builder.
You want new game-like concepts every week without a developer: an AI playable maker. Try two on the same game; they differ more than their pages suggest.
You want someone else to own the creative: a studio, or a managed service.
Nearly all your spend is on one network: ask that network what it makes for you first.

Where Playbaker fits

Playbaker is an AI playable maker that starts from your store page. Four agents plan, draw, build and playtest the playable, you change it by asking, and you export one file per network for 10 targets. You can play all 34 builds in the showcase before signing up.

What it doesn’t do: no template library or drag-and-drop editor, no ad performance analytics, no exports for networks outside those 10, and it doesn’t use your game’s code, so the playable is a rebuild of your mechanic.

Head to head: Playbaker vs Unity Playworks · Playbaker vs PlayableMaker · Playbaker vs PlayablesAI.

Questions

What is the best playable ad maker?

It depends on what you start from. With a Unity project and a developer, Unity Playworks builds from the real game. For simple formats like tap-to-reveal or quizzes, a template builder is fastest. For new game-like concepts without a developer, an AI playable maker. For a team to own the creative, a studio.

Are there free playable ad tools?

A few have free entry points: Unity Playworks’ free plan exports to Unity Ads only, PlayableMaker has a 30-day trial with 2 exports, and Playbaker’s Free plan builds and plays playables without exporting them.

Can AI make a playable ad?

Yes. Several self-serve tools now build a playable from a prompt or a brief, including Playbaker, PlayablesAI, PlayableMaker’s vibe-coding feature and Layer. They differ in what you start from, how you edit and which networks they package for.

Not listed: tools we couldn’t verify from their own site. Tell us about one we missed.

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