Google Ads software for small business at a glance
| Option | Your time each week | Platforms | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| RunAds | Minutes: approve cards | Google; Meta since Nov 2026 | Packs from $25, ~5% of spend |
| Google Smart campaigns | Low, with less control | Google (Search, Maps, YouTube, Display) | Free beyond spend |
| Adzooma | An hour or more: act on reports | Google, Microsoft, Facebook | Free; Silver $69/mo |
| Opteo | An hour or more: push improvements | Google Ads | $129/mo |
| Ryze AI | Low: approve changes | Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn | $89/mo |
| LocaliQ | Calls and reports with a team | Google, Microsoft, Yelp and more | Not published |
Should I start with price or with time?
Start with time. Most small business accounts do not fail because of the software; they fail because nobody checks search terms, conversions and budgets every week. A cheap tool you never open costs more than it saves.
So the first question is who will do the work. If the answer is "nobody", pick something that does it: an agent or a service. If it is "me, an hour a week", a recommender or a free report is enough. If it is "me, ten minutes a month", Smart campaigns are built for that, with the trade-off that Google makes more of the decisions.[3]
The picks
RunAds
Packs from $25Best for: owners with no time and no PPC person
An AI agent that reads your site, builds Search, Performance Max, Local Service Ads and other campaigns, and launches them after you approve. It watches the account afterward and sends budget and bid changes as cards. Ad Grades and an Account Audit are included.[2] Meta Ads opened to every RunAds account in November 2026: connect a Meta ad account and Mission Control plans and launches Meta campaigns, with Meta spend metered on the same credits.
Pricing: credit packs from $25, used at 5 credits per $1 of Google ad spend: 4 above $10,000 a month, 3.5 above $100,000, 3 above $1,000,000.[1]
Trade-off: a fee on top of spend, and no free plan.
Google Smart campaigns
Free beyond spendBest for: very small local businesses that want the fewest settings
Write an ad, choose keyword themes, set a budget. Google shows the ad across Search, Maps, YouTube, partner sites and Display, and tests alternate versions.[3] Performance Max is the next step up, reaching all Google inventory from one campaign.[4]
Trade-off: less control over where ads show and what they say.
Adzooma
Free to $179/moBest for: owners who want a free check-up
Monthly reports, opportunity analysis and 3 alerts on the free plan; weekly or daily on Silver ($69) and Gold ($179).[5]
Trade-off: you make every change.
Opteo
From $129/moBest for: a business with an in-house marketer who knows Google Ads
Lists improvements you push live; Basic covers 10 accounts and $25,000 of monthly spend.[6]
Trade-off: a fixed fee that is large on small budgets.
What does each cost on a small budget?
| Monthly ad spend | RunAds | Adzooma Free | Ryze AI | Opteo Basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | About $25 | $0 | $89 | $129 |
| $1,500 | About $75 | $0 | $89 | $129 |
| $3,000 | About $150 | $0 | $89 | $129 |
For a sense of what a budget buys, LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks put the average Google Ads cost per lead at $66.69 and cost per click at $5.42 across industries.[9] See how much Google Ads costs for your industry.
RunAds signup is free. Unlimited is $499 every 4 weeks, covering up to $10,000 a month of managed spend. See pricing.
Method
We read each vendor's own pages on the dates shown in Sources and list only what they state. RunAds is listed first because it is our product; the other picks are not ranked against each other.