TL;DR: Amazon PPC software automates bids and keyword harvesting for a subscription, from $149 a month at Teikametrics or $695 at Perpetua, plus a share of spend above $10K. An agency such as SellerPlex runs strategy, structure and daily bids for you. Software fits when someone in house owns the account. A managed team fits when nobody has the hours or the results have stalled.
Table of Contents
- Amazon PPC software vs agency, side by side
- What Amazon PPC software does well
- What software cannot do for you
- What a managed PPC team adds
- What each option costs at your spend level
- When software is the better pick
- How to trial a tool before you commit
- What to ask an agency before you sign
- Frequently Asked Questions
Search for Amazon PPC software and you get two kinds of pages: tool vendors and agencies, each making the case for its own model. Software and people do different jobs, and plenty of larger accounts use both.
This page compares three well known tools, Teikametrics, Perpetua and Pacvue, with a managed PPC team. Prices come from each vendor’s own page. Our numbers come from the accounts we manage at SellerPlex.
Amazon PPC software vs agency, side by side
What Amazon PPC software does well
A bid tool never skips a week because Q4 got busy. It adjusts bids on a schedule, moves converting search terms into exact match, and flags spend that goes nowhere. On a wide catalog that arithmetic runs to thousands of changes a week, and software does mechanical work well.
Teikametrics
The Teikametrics pricing page lists three paths. Essentials covers up to $10K a month in ad spend for $149 a month billed annually or $179 monthly, with a free trial. Advanced, for spend over $10K, is custom pricing plus 3% of ad spend over $10K, with an option to add managed services. Enterprise, above $100K a month in ad spend, includes Teikametrics Managed Services. Every tier also lists refunds recovery.
Perpetua
The Perpetua pricing page starts at $695 a month for up to $10K in monthly ad spend, with AI bid optimization, automated keyword harvesting and chat support. The Growth tier adds a percentage of ad spend, hourly reporting, onboarding and check-ins at 3 and 6 weeks. Premium, for more than $500K a month in ad spend, is custom and comes with a dedicated account team.
Pacvue
Pacvue is built for large brands and agencies that run ads across many retailers. Its site sells through a demo request and we found no public pricing page. Expect a sales process and a platform your own team operates.
What software cannot do for you
Software optimizes toward the target you give it. Set one ACoS goal across products with different margins and it will faithfully scale your least profitable SKU. It will not decide which product deserves a launch budget, or what to do when a competitor cuts price.
Click prices make this harder every quarter. In our Amazon PPC benchmarks for the first half of 2026, the median CPC across 34 to 37 US accounts we manage rose from $0.99 in January to $1.36 in June, a 37% increase. The median account ran a 38% ACoS and a 15% TACoS, and ads drove 41% of total sales. A tool will pay those higher bids for you. Deciding where they are still worth paying is a judgment call.
What a managed PPC team adds
Our Amazon PPC management team has managed $4M+ in ad spend. AdLabs ranked SellerPlex the highest ROAS agency of 2025 across every agency on its platform.
The work is specific. We rebuild campaign structure around each product’s economics, tune bids and placements every day, review search terms every week, and send a weekly report on spend, sales, ACoS and what changed. You keep full access to your ad account and can see every change we make.
The first month follows a fixed plan:
- Week 1: a campaign-by-campaign audit and a rebuild plan per product.
- Week 2: campaigns rebuilt clean, with negative keywords in place.
- Weeks 3 and 4: daily bid, placement and budget work, then the first weekly report.
Because we run supply chain, content and account health for Amazon brands too, ad decisions take stock levels and listing quality into account. Pushing spend on a product about to stock out is a common and expensive mistake.
Get a Second Opinion on Your Ad Account
Book a free PPC audit of your campaign structure, wasted spend and bids, with a plan for the first 30 days.
What each option costs at your spend level
Take a brand spending $30K a month on ads. On Teikametrics Advanced, the variable part is 3% of the $20K above the first $10K, which is $600 a month on top of the custom base price. On Perpetua Growth, you pay $695 plus a share of spend the pricing page does not list. Either way, someone on your team still sets targets, reviews search terms and decides where the budget goes.
An agency costs more than the tool alone. The fair comparison is the tool plus the hours of the person who runs it. If that person is you, count the evenings. If it is a hire, count the salary.
Our guide to the best Amazon PPC setups walks through all four options by spend level, including running ads yourself and hiring a freelancer. If you want people rather than a tool, our Amazon PPC agency page answers what to ask before you hire one.
When software is the better pick
Software wins in several common cases:
- You have a PPC person in house with the time to own strategy, and you want to give them better tools.
- Your ad spend is under $10K a month. At $149 a month, Teikametrics Essentials costs a fraction of any agency retainer.
- You sell a very wide catalog where rule-based bidding across thousands of targets is the main job.
- You want full control of every decision and prefer dashboards over reports.
Pick a managed team when nobody owns the account day to day, when results have flattened despite a tool, or when ads need to work with inventory and listings. Many brands run both: a platform for the mechanics and people for the strategy.
How to trial a tool before you commit
Most tools let you start small. Teikametrics offers a free trial on Essentials. Before you connect your account, write down your current TACoS, ACoS and weekly hours spent on ads. Run the trial for a full month, then compare the same three numbers. A tool that saves hours but lets TACoS drift is only half a win.
What to ask an agency before you sign
Start with who touches your account each day and how senior they are. A good agency will show you a sample report and results with real numbers from accounts like yours, and it will tell you how the fee is set on the first call. Then check that you keep full admin access to your ad console, so the campaigns stay yours if you leave.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Amazon PPC software?
It depends on your spend and team. Teikametrics starts at $149 a month for up to $10K in ad spend, Perpetua at $695 a month, and Pacvue suits large brands and sells through a demo. Pick the tool your in-house owner will actually use every week, and judge it on TACoS after 90 days.
Is Amazon PPC software cheaper than an agency?
The subscription is cheaper. Teikametrics Essentials costs $149 a month billed yearly ($179 month to month), while a full-service agency such as SellerPlex starts at $2,500 a month plus 5% of sales above your baseline. The tool still needs a person to set targets and review search terms, so add the cost of those hours before you compare the two.
Can an agency use Amazon PPC software?
Yes, and many do. Teikametrics offers managed services on its higher tiers, and Pacvue sells to agencies as well as brands. SellerPlex was ranked the highest ROAS agency of 2025 by AdLabs, based on performance data from agencies on its platform. The tool handles the arithmetic and the team decides the strategy.
When should I switch from PPC software to an agency?
Switch when nobody has time to review the tool’s work, when TACoS keeps rising while sales stay flat, or when ads, stock and listings pull in different directions. A free audit of your account will show whether the gap is in the tool settings or in the strategy behind them.
Do I keep my Amazon ad account if I hire an agency?
You should, and with SellerPlex you do. It is your account, your data and your ad spend. We work inside your advertising console with the access you grant, and you can see every change we make. If you ever leave, the campaigns and their history stay with you.
Ready to Grow Your Amazon Business?
Book a free strategy session with our Amazon and e-commerce specialists. No obligations, just actionable insights.
Day-to-day Seller Central operations handled for you: catalog health, cases, compliance and buyer messages.
Want more of this in your Google results? Add SellerPlex as a preferred source.