Bid management can be demanding and time-consuming. What’s worse is getting it wrong leads to wasted ad spend and missed opportunities for improving your return on investment.

Bid management tools help you optimise bids, make the most of your budget, and get the best possible ROI. That’s why lots of brands have already started using them to simplify and automate the PPC bidding process. According to this State of PPC report: 

• 87% of marketers are using machine learning for PPC bidding.
• 86% of built-in automated bid strategy features are already being used.
• More marketers use AI for bidding than any other advertising task.

Changing your bid strategy can lead to a 143% jump in conversions and boost conversion values by 14%. So optimising your bids is a great way to improve ROI.

But many PPC marketers don’t have time to manually optimise bids for individual keywords. And while Google’s automated bid strategies can help, you need to keep a close eye on them so they don’t run away with your marketing budget.

PPC bid management tools are designed to prioritise your goals over ad network profits. So lots of businesses are choosing to invest. But with so many options on the market, how can you be sure you’re choosing the right one?

To help you decide, let’s explore all the top bid management tools, including their main features, top benefits, and unique selling points.

Bid management tools comparison table

Compare these bid management tools at a glance in this handy comparison table.

Top 9 bid management tools for PPC

Here are the top ten PPC bid management tools on the market. Read about the bid management features and benefits of each platform below.

1. Shape

What does it do? Shape is a PPC budget management software suite. It’s focused purely on bid management, so if you want to optimise your ad spend without paying for lots of other campaign management features, Shape could be the right choice. Four key budget management features help you optimise bids across your PPC campaigns:

• AutoPilot — Stop ads running when you’ve met your preset campaign budget limit.
• Cruise Control — Adjust daily budgets and pace advertising costs towards your target PPC budget using AI.
• Budget Pacer — Spread your budget evenly without manually stopping and starting your ad campaigns. Use RollOver to reallocate unspent or overspent budget in the next cycle.
• Budget Booster — Use impression share data to capitalise on opportunities without amending ads, keywords, or targeting.

Who is it for?

Shape can be used by individual PPC professionals, agencies, or in-house marketing teams.

How much does it cost?

Free for one client. To add unlimited clients, prices start at $299 per month.

2. Marin Software

What does it do? Marin Software brings all your PPC campaign data into a single platform: MarinOne. So you can see and manage PPC data from Google, Amazon, Facebook, and all your other paid media channels in one place. 

MarinOne’s Budget Optimizer monitors your campaign spend 24/7 and automatically adjusts your budget allocation to keep you on track. Set up a target plan, and Marin will track campaign success to check it lines up with your projected view. If your campaign pacing starts to fall behind or zip ahead, you’ll be notified. You can also trial “what if'' scenarios, allowing you to see the potential impact of budget adjustments in advance.

Who is it for?

Marin Software will work best for businesses that use paid media across several channels. If most of your PPC efforts are focused on just one or two channels, you probably won’t make use of all the features MarinOne has to offer.

How much does it cost?

Marin Software has a custom pricing system. But you can try it for free for 30 days. 

3. Optmyzr

What does it do? Optmyzr uses automation layering to protect your PPC budgets. It acts as a failsafe to stop your automated bid strategies running away with your ad spend. It alerts you if it spots anomalies or problems, so you can make the necessary changes to keep your ad spend on track.

Optmyzr also feeds data into Google Ads and other ad platforms. That means your automated bid strategies have the most accurate data to make AI-powered decisions for your business. Optmyzr claims it can save PPC teams up to 56% in campaign management time.

Who is it for?

Optmyzr is useful for all PPC marketers, from freelancers to agencies to in-house teams. It has a range of pricing plans to reflect all levels of ad spend.

How much does it cost?

Annual subscription prices start at €228 per month for marketers spending up to €10K on ads each month. The higher your ad spend, the more you’ll pay.

4. Adalysis

What does it do? Adalysis is an all-in-one PPC management platform. It has a few super handy bid management features, as well as dozens of other PPC enhancements.

Adalysis offers bid suggestions for both manual and automated bid strategies. You’ll get daily recommendations based on location, device, ad schedule and audiences. It also includes a built-in bid tracker so you can track the impact of any changes you make. 

See your monthly spend pacing and use this to optimise budget allocations. Budget alerts and recommendations also help you control your spend and explore opportunities to enhance your ROI.

Who is it for?

Adalysis is designed for agencies, in-house marketing teams, and small businesses.

How much does it cost?

Get a 14-day free trial. For advertisers with a monthly ad spend of up to $50k, pricing starts at $84 per month for an annual subscription.

5. Acquisio

What does it do? Acquisio has built a dedicated bid management tool: Acquisio Turing. Acquisio Turing’s advanced AI-powered algorithms remove the need for historical data when planning and optimising bids and budgets. But it will also take campaign data into account, scheduling ads based on season, day, time, location, channel, and device to give you the best possible return.

Acquisio allows you to manage campaigns from multiple channels all in one place. It also claims to reduce clients’ cost-per-conversion by 18% and lower cost-per-click by 10%.

Who is it for?

Acquisio is designed for PPC agencies, as well as PPC and SEM professionals working on behalf of small businesses.

How much does it cost?

Custom pricing based on service level, ad spend, and account volume.

6. TapClicks (formerly AdStage)

What does it do? TapClicks, formerly known as AdStage, consists of seven unique PPC management tools. TapAnalytics gives you valuable cross-channel insights and actionable opportunities within your data, so you can improve ROI across all your PPC campaigns.

Like other bid management tools, TapAnalytics allows you to set goals, pacing, and budgets. But unlike some, it doesn’t use AI for bid management — so you’ll need to adjust your strategies and bids manually if you veer off-track.

That said, there are plenty of other useful PPC management tools within the TapClicks suite. So if you’re looking for a system with all the bells and whistles, this could be the right choice.

Who is it for?

TapClicks offers solutions for many different clients, including agencies, media companies, eCommerce brands, and direct marketers.

How much does it cost?

TapClicks offers a 14-day free trial and custom pricing.

7. Skai (formerly Kenshoo)

What does it do? Skai is an omnichannel PPC management software that helps you scale up your PPC efforts across all kinds of digital media marketing. You’re not restricted to paid search and social — you can also manage retail media and app marketing with Skai. Simple dashboards give you high-level insights into your costs and revenue, so it’s easy to see your ROI at a glance.

Skai’s Budget Navigator tool helps you manage bids and budgets automatically. This bid management software uses machine learning to automatically adjust spend, so you can achieve your goals across both online and offline channels.

Who is it for?

PPC agencies and companies that use multiple PPC channels.

How much does it cost?

Custom pricing based on yearly licensing fee and percentage of ad spend.

8. Clickable

What does it do? Clickable aims to help marketers cut through the noise by prioritising revenue generation metrics. Unlike other platforms, which can bog you down in data, Clickable helps you focus on those metrics that really matter.

Clickable doesn’t have automated bid management features. But by concentrating on ROI-related data, you can scan and see how your PPC campaigns are performing, and make any bid adjustments to improve performance.

Who is it for?

This platform is most useful for small businesses that want a high-level overview of their PPC spend and revenue.

How much does it cost?

Custom pricing.

9. WordStream Marketing Services

What does it do? WordStream Marketing Services (formerly known as WordStream Advisor) is an all-in-one PPC platform designed to help you manage multiple accounts across various ad channels. It claims to reduce time spent managing all your Google Ads and social campaigns to 20 minutes a week, improve conversions by 63%, and reduce costs by 9%.

Key features include a free digital marketing assessment, and a 20-minute dashboard to help you identify opportunities and issues. You’ll also get automated alerts, a keyword research tool and conversion tracking.

Who is it for?

WordStream Marketing Services are designed for agencies and those managing multiple accounts. 

How much does it cost?

Custom pricing, with a free trial available.

Bonus: Lunio

What does it do? Lunio is a performance marketing efficiency tool that helps you get the most from your ad spend. While it won’t manage bids on your behalf, it can reduce your ad spend by 25%, and improve your paid media ROI.

Lunio works by removing fake users and bots from your PPC traffic. That means your paid traffic is made up of real users who have a genuine chance of converting.

The process is 100% automated. Lunio’s robust analytics, reporting and data visualisation dashboards show you how much you’ve saved by blocking invalid traffic from your campaigns. Our customers see higher conversion rates, increased ROI, and a significant reduction in wasted ad spend.

Who is it for?

Lunio is designed to help all PPC marketers, agencies, and brands protect their campaigns from fake users and minimise wasted ad spend.

How much does it cost?

Pricing starts at £5,000 per year. Your bespoke quote is based on your annual ad spend. Book a demo to see Lunio in action - no obligation to purchase.

Improve spend efficiency through bid management

Using an effective bid management tool can:

• Improve your return on investment
• Reduce time spent manually adjusting your bids
• Offer valuable cross-channel insights
• Give you greater control over your ad spend.

But it’s important to choose the right tool. Investing in an expensive all-singing all-dancing tool when you just need to optimise your bids may be expensive in the long run. But scrimping on the tool you really need could end up costing you more if your solution isn’t scalable.

Lots of bid management tools offer free trials and personalised demos. The best way to find out which will work for you is to take advantage of these, and try out the platforms you’ve shortlisted before you take the plunge.