Category: Automation/Workflow
TikTok's automated buying, free and now the default.
Smart+ is TikTok's automated campaign type, handling targeting, bidding, creative selection and placement automatically from your objective and assets rather than requiring manual configuration. During 2026 manual and automated buying merged into a single flow, making Smart+ the default rather than an opt-in mode, and manual overrides were added back per module after complaints about the lack of control. Newer announcements extend it to search, creative selection and commerce. There is no licence or platform fee: your only cost is ad spend, and TikTok bills UK accounts directly in pounds, which makes it the only tool in this part of the directory with native UK billing. There is no MCP server; everything described as one wraps the business API.
Free, built in and increasingly unavoidable, since it is now the default buying flow rather than something you opt into. The automation genuinely performs well on TikTok specifically, where creative matters more than targeting precision and the algorithm has more signal than any manual setup can use. Manual overrides returning per module after the initial backlash was the right correction. Native pound billing is a real advantage. Two things worth knowing. There is a live regulatory overhang in Europe: the Commission issued preliminary findings of breach under its digital services rules in July 2026, with a second investigation open, and Ireland's regulator previously issued a very large fine over transfers to China, so expect regulator-driven product changes and client questions about brand safety. And the European data enclave is partial, still including American data centres with a key facility delayed to 2027, while the UK sits outside that enclave's legal perimeter post-Brexit in any case.
Best for: Anyone already advertising on TikTok, since it is now the default buying flow rather than a choice.
Pricing: Free, ad spend only, billed in pounds (Free)
Rating: 4/5