Ad Builder Just Got a Whole Lot Better

If you have ever felt like your ad production tool was working against you, you should read this article.

Ad Builder, Ad Layer's professional ad creative design tool, has been rebuilt from the ground up. Not tweaked, not just updated either. Rebuilt. Every module, every interaction, every small frustration we knew about has been looked at and improved.

The result is a faster, cleaner, and more intuitive creative workspace. Everything about the builder finally feels like it belongs in 2026.

Why We Did This

Ad Builder has always been the starting point to building your ads in Ad Layer. It is where brands and agencies design templates for display ads, social creatives, video ads, and DOOH content. Once the template is built, then it is time to make unlimited ad versions from it.

Real efficient tools need to grow with the people using them. The older version of Ad Builder had its limits: some workflows took too many clicks, some of the panels sometimes got in the way, and the canvas that did not always behave the way a designer would expect today.

So we started over.

What Changed, and Why It Matters

The most immediate thing you will notice is how the workspace feels. It is calmer and all the things are where you expect them to be. The canvas behaves like the design tools you already know (think Figma, Framer, After Effects etc..)  Snapping, panning, zooming are all working the way they should.

For designers, this means less time fighting the tool and more time actually designing. Get your templates finished faster.

Of course, the improvements go further. Assets can now be managed directly inside Ad Builder, which means no more tab-switching mid-production. The format list is searchable and filterable, which matters a lot when you are working across ten markets and thirty sizes. The timeline is easier to navigate. The Inspector is cleaner. Scripts have a proper editor.

All of this adds up to fewer interruptions in the creative process. And fewer interruptions means faster production.

The Bigger Picture

Ad Builder does not work in isolation. It sits at the start of the Ad Layer workflow: design your template for all channels in Ad Builder, scale with Campaigns, review in Review Hub, publish via API to Meta, TikTok, YouTube, DV360, CM360, DOOH networks, and more.

When Ad Builder gets faster and easier to use, everything downstream flows faster too. Ads get to review sooner. Campaigns go live earlier. Teams spend less time in production and more time in market.

That is the point. Not features for the sake of features. A better tool that makes the whole process run smoother. We are listening to our clients needs, and constantly improving our solution.

Built to Keep Going

This release is not a finish line. It is a new foundation. 

The rebuilt Ad Builder gives us the architecture to keep improving, to make everything faster, with fewer constraints. More improvements and features are already in the works (as always).

If you are already an Ad Layer user, the new Ad Builder is live now. Log in and take it for a spin. If you are not yet using Ad Layer, now would a pretty good time to reach out to us and have a look.

Ad Layer is a Creative Management Platform built in Stockholm by a team of ad tech professionals. We have been doing this since 1997. Book a free demo and see what the new Ad Builder can do for your team.