Wilow vs the Alternatives

Magic Brief has been discontinued. Canva acquired the company and is folding it into its own platform, with the final shutdown scheduled for July 31, 2026. If you used Magic Brief for Meta ad creative analytics, you need a replacement before then. This page covers the five best alternatives, including which one is purpose-built for exactly what Magic Brief did.

Written by Kole Ogundipe, founder of Wilow. Last updated July 20, 2026.

What happened to Magic Brief?

Magic Brief was a creative analytics tool for Meta advertisers — it tracked ad performance, flagged winning creatives, and helped performance marketers understand what was working. In early 2026, Canva acquired Magic Brief and announced it would be integrated into Canva's design platform, with the standalone product shutting down on July 31, 2026.

For existing Magic Brief users, this means you lose access to your creative analytics data at the end of July. For anyone searching for "magic brief alternative," the timing is tight — you need a replacement before the shutdown, not after.

The 5 best Magic Brief alternatives

1. Wilow — the closest direct replacement

Wilow is creative analytics built specifically for Meta advertisers. It tags every ad in your account the way Meta's algorithm reads it — by persona, offer, format, emotion, and creative type — and ranks them on a Creative Leaderboard so you can see what's actually winning. The AI Creative Tagging feature is the closest equivalent to Magic Brief's creative labelling. Free plan is genuinely free (no credit card), and Pro is $50/mo flat. If you're moving from Magic Brief, Wilow is the most direct replacement.

2. Motion — broader creative analytics

Motion covers more platforms than Magic Brief did (Meta, TikTok, YouTube) and offers strong reporting for agencies and larger teams. It's more expensive — plans typically start at several hundred dollars per month — but the multi-platform coverage and reporting depth make it the right pick for larger accounts. If your team needs TikTok analytics alongside Meta, Motion is the play.

3. Foreplay — swipe file + brief workflows

Foreplay is a creative workflow tool built around a swipe file: save ads you like, build briefs from them, and brief creators. It's less about performance analytics and more about the creative production pipeline. If you used Magic Brief primarily for creative inspiration and briefing, Foreplay is closer to that workflow than Wilow or Motion.

4. Madgicx — AI media buying + analytics

Madgicx is an all-in-one Meta automation platform with creative tagging, audience management, and AI-driven media buying. It's built for agencies spending $200k+/month — users at lower spend levels consistently report the price is hard to justify. If you're at agency scale and want the AI to manage campaigns, not just report on them, Madgicx is the option.

5. Atria — creative analytics for agencies

Atria positions similarly to Motion: creative analytics across Meta and TikTok with a focus on agency workflows. It's newer than the other options here, with less community history, but the feature set is competitive. Worth a trial if you're evaluating multiple replacements side by side.

How Magic Brief alternatives compare on pricing

What to do before July 31

Magic Brief shuts down July 31, 2026. Here is the sequence that costs you nothing and puts you on solid ground before then:

1. Export your Magic Brief data now. Log into Magic Brief and download any reports, creative labels, or performance history you want to keep. Once the platform shuts down, that data is gone.
2. Start a free trial of your top two picks this week. Wilow's free plan and Foreplay's trial are both zero-cost. Connect your Meta ad account and spend 30 minutes in each one. You will know which feels right.
3. Move before the deadline. Creative analytics is not a tool you want to be without for a week. New campaigns launch, winning ads stop winning, and you lose the signal. Pick your replacement and connect it before July 31.

The bottom line

Magic Brief built a strong product in a space that matters — creative analytics for Meta advertisers. Canva's acquisition is good for Canva, but it leaves a real gap for the performance marketers who relied on the standalone tool. The five alternatives above all fill different parts of that gap. Wilow is the closest direct replacement: same focus (Meta creative analytics), a free plan that costs nothing to start, and AI labelling that reads your ads the way Meta's algorithm does. If you are looking for a Magic Brief alternative, start there.