Is Sovran or Plainly better for video ad production?

For ad-specific production with AI hooks, modular rendering, and Meta publishing, Sovran is better. For programmatic, data-driven video generation using After Effects templates, Plainly is better. The choice depends on whether you need a visual ad production tool or an API-driven rendering engine.

Do I need After Effects to use Plainly?

Yes. Plainly renders videos from After Effects templates, so you need AE templates as inputs. Sovran doesn't require After Effects — it provides its own visual editor and modular rendering system, making it accessible to teams without motion graphics expertise.

Can Plainly publish directly to ad platforms?

No. Plainly renders videos to cloud storage destinations like S3 or Google Cloud Storage. You then need to manually upload them to ad platforms. Sovran offers native one-click Meta Ads publishing directly from the render queue.

Which tool is better for personalized video at scale?

For data-driven personalization (e.g., unique product videos for thousands of SKUs), Plainly's API-first approach with After Effects templates is stronger. For ad creative variation (swapping hooks, CTAs, and bodies), Sovran's modular rendering is more efficient.

How does pricing compare?

Plainly offers usage-based pricing starting around $49/month for a limited number of renders. Sovran starts at $99/month with bulk rendering included. Plainly's cost can scale with render volume, while Sovran's pricing is designed for teams producing many ad variations per project.

Sovran vs Plainly

Compare Sovran and Plainly for automated video ad creation. See how modular bulk rendering compares to API-driven After Effects template automation.

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Quick Verdict

The bottom line

Choose Sovran if...

Performance marketing teams who need a visual, self-serve platform for producing video ad variations at scale with AI content generation, modular rendering, and direct Meta publishing. Teams without After Effects expertise.

Choose Plainly if...

Teams with After Effects expertise (or agency partners) who need API-driven, programmatic video generation at scale — especially for data-driven personalization like e-commerce product videos or personalized marketing content.

About Plainly

What is Plainly?

Plainly is a video automation platform that enables programmatic video generation using After Effects templates. It provides an API-first approach to video production, letting developers and marketing teams automate video creation at scale by feeding data into pre-designed templates. Plainly is popular with teams that have After Effects expertise and need to generate personalized or data-driven video content programmatically.

Learn more at plainly.video

Feature Comparison

How they stack up

Feature	Sovran	Plainly
Modular video rendering
After Effects template rendering
API-first video automation
No-code / visual interface		Basic
AI hook & script generation
One-click Meta Ads publishing
Video editor with timeline
Brand context / asset library		Limited
AI voiceover generation
Data-driven video personalization
Bulk video production
Multi-ratio rendering

Plainly's Strengths

Where Plainly shines

API-first automation

Plainly's REST API enables true programmatic video generation — integrate video creation into your existing tech stack, trigger renders from any system, and build custom automated workflows. This developer-friendly approach is powerful for teams with engineering resources.

After Effects template power

Plainly leverages the full power of After Effects for visual quality. If your team already has polished AE templates, Plainly turns them into automated rendering pipelines with data-driven personalization — preserving the production quality of professional motion graphics.

Data-driven video personalization

Plainly excels at generating personalized videos from data sources — spreadsheets, APIs, or databases feed into template variables to create thousands of unique, data-driven videos. This is ideal for e-commerce product videos, personalized outreach, or dynamic content at massive scale.

Sovran's Strengths

Where Sovran wins

No After Effects required

Sovran provides a complete visual interface for video ad production — no After Effects expertise or design agency needed. Plainly requires pre-built After Effects templates as inputs, meaning you need AE skills (or an agency) before you can start automating.

AI-powered content generation

Generate ad hooks, scripts, and voiceovers using AI directly within Sovran. Plainly automates the rendering pipeline but doesn't generate creative content — you provide the data and templates, it renders the output.

One-click Meta Ads publishing

Push rendered video variations directly to Meta Ads Manager from Sovran. Plainly renders videos to cloud storage (S3, Google Cloud) but doesn't offer native ad platform integration for publishing.

Built-in video editing

Sovran includes a timeline-based video editor for creative work within the platform. Plainly is a rendering engine — creative editing happens in After Effects, and Plainly handles the automated rendering from those templates.

Switching

Thinking about making the switch?

Moving from Plainly to Sovran is straightforward. Sovran works with your existing video assets. Upload your footage, brand elements, and creative components, and you can start building modular video ad projects immediately.

There's no need to recreate everything from scratch. Your existing video files, images, logos, and brand assets import directly into Sovran's context vault, where you can tag and organize them for fast retrieval across projects.

Import your assets

Upload your existing video footage, logos, brand elements, and creative assets to Sovran's context vault.

Set up your brand context

Configure your brand guidelines, color palette, fonts, and voice settings so every ad stays on-brand.

Build your first project

Create a modular video ad project, assign components, and render your first batch of variations.

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