Side-by-side comparison · Marketing & Ads
Pencil vs Stripo vs vidIQ
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Brand and performance marketing teams that need lots of on-brand ad variations across many platforms.
Pick it if: Email marketers, agencies and designers who make lots of branded emails for one or more email platforms.
Pick it if: Business owners, marketers and creators using YouTube to bring in customers or build an audience.
Overview
| Attribute | Pencil | Stripo | vidIQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Makes on-brand image and video ads and launches them to ad platforms. | Builds responsive email templates by drag and drop, then exports them to your email tool. | Finds YouTube video ideas and keywords, and shows how to grow a channel. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $14/mo | $20/mo | $19/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Pencil | Stripo | vidIQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.7 | 4.2Winner | 4.1 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Pencil | Stripo | vidIQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | No | – |
| Browser extension | – | – | Yes |
| API access | – | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | – |
| Understands images | Yes | – | – |
| Makes images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | Yes | No | No |
| Writes code | No | Yes | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | – | – |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | No | – |
| Works in many languages | – | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 9/ 17 | 9/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Pencil | Stripo | vidIQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | CoreOur pick $14/mo, or $11/mo billed yearly A small team trying AI ads. | Free Free Trying it out. | Free Free Trying it out on a new channel. |
Growth $55/mo, or $44/mo billed yearly Teams making ads every week or for several brands. | Basic $20/mo, or $200/yr A small business sending a few campaigns a month. | BoostOur pick $19/mo, or $199/yr Channels posting every week. | |
Pro Custom Large brands and agencies. | MediumOur pick $45/mo, or $450/yr In-house teams and small agencies. | MAX $49/mo, or $468/yr Busy channels that also want Shorts clipped. | |
Pro $125/mo, or $1,250/yr Agencies with many clients. | Enterprise Custom Brands and agencies with many channels. | ||
Prime Custom Large teams. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Core is cheap enough to test with real campaigns. Move to Growth when 50 generations a month runs out, which happens fast if you resize into many formats. Pro is for enterprise teams and is sold through a demo. | Basic covers a business sending a few campaigns a month. Medium is the better fit for teams and small agencies, where 50 exports and two seats run out quickly. Extra members cost $10 each a month. | Boost is the sweet spot for a business channel posting weekly. Stay on Free until you are publishing regularly, and only take MAX if you would otherwise pay for a separate clipping tool. |
Key features
| Attribute | Pencil | Stripo | vidIQ |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Pencil | Stripo | vidIQ |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Pencil, Stripo or vidIQ?
Stripo scores highest overall in our ratings (Pencil 3.7/5, Stripo 4.2/5 and vidIQ 4.1/5). Pencil is best for making many ad variations from one brief and resizing ads for every platform. Stripo is best for designing responsive emails without code and agencies working across many email platforms. vidIQ is best for deciding what video to make next and YouTube keyword research.
Which is cheaper, Pencil, Stripo or vidIQ?
Pencil: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $14/mo. Stripo: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. vidIQ: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $19/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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