Pipeline planPacing Console vs Shape: you approve every change, or the tool drives the budget
By Hojabr Sattari. Updated .
Shape, part of NinjaCat since 2022, is an agency-oriented PPC budget management platform that can drive budgets for you: CruiseControl adjusts daily budgets about every hour and AutoPilot pauses campaigns at their spend goal, across Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Pacing Console keeps a person in control: it paces Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and LinkedIn Ads by the hour, forecasts month-end spend and conversions, and on Pro applies only the changes you accept. Pacing Console publishes its prices (free; Pro $49 per workspace a month); Shape’s help center describes spend-based tiers without listing prices.
At a glance
| Criterion | Pacing Console | Shape |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Built and run by PlanConversion | Part of NinjaCat since August 2022; shape.io/pricing now redirects to NinjaCat’s PPC budget management page |
| Pricing | Published: Free for up to 3 users; Pro $49 per workspace per month with 10 users, then $5 per extra user; Enterprise $20 per user per month, billed annually, from 25 users | Not listed in its help center: one client free, then Premium plans tiered by monthly spend tracked, with unlimited clients, ad accounts and users; Pro under $250,000 managed; Enterprise above that through the Shape team |
| Platforms | Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn Ads | Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn; Pinterest and TikTok one-way (reporting only) |
| Automatic budget changes | No: recommendations you accept are applied by your own script (Pro) | CruiseControl adjusts campaign daily budgets; the pacing algorithm runs about every hour |
| Automatic pausing | No | AutoPilot pauses campaigns at the spend goal, with pause-only, pause and enable, and daily modes |
| Budget structures | Monthly budgets, month-by-month plans, flight dates, weekday schedules | Monthly and recurring, one-time, lifetime and shared budgets grouping campaigns across platforms |
| Forecast | Month-end spend, conversions and cost per conversion | Budget Pacer projections with daily budget recommendations |
| Alerts | Daily email with the budget to set, and stale-data warnings | In-platform and email: budget spent thresholds, AutoPilot status changes, data source disconnection; no custom metric alerts |
| CRM pipeline by campaign | HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive or any CRM (Pro) | Not listed in the help articles we checked |
| Access to your ad accounts | None: scripts run inside your accounts; LinkedIn read-only | Ad platforms connected as data sources so Shape can make changes |
Where Pacing Console wins
- Published prices and a free plan for any number of campaigns
- A person approves every budget change, and each one is logged with who asked and why
- No outside access to your ad accounts: scripts run inside them
- Forecast conversions and cost per conversion, not only spend
- CRM lifecycle stages and cost per stage by campaign
- A free read-only report link for clients and finance
Where Shape wins
- Hands-off automation: CruiseControl changes daily budgets and AutoPilot pauses and re-enables campaigns
- Social platforms beyond LinkedIn: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, plus Pinterest and TikTok reporting
- Lifetime, one-time and shared budgets that group campaigns from several platforms
- Budget spent alerts at thresholds from 90% down to 1%
- Part of NinjaCat’s wider marketing performance platform, for agencies that want reporting and budgets together
How to switch from Shape
- Before switching, turn off CruiseControl and AutoPilot for the campaigns you move, so two tools never adjust the same budget.
- Create a free Pacing Console workspace; every workspace starts with a 30-day Pro trial.
- Paste the pre-filled scripts into Google Ads and Microsoft Ads and schedule them hourly; connect LinkedIn.
- Recreate each budget as a monthly budget or month-by-month plan, with flight dates for one-time budgets.
- Turn on the daily email, invite the team and send clients the read-only report link.
How we checked
Every fact about Shape on this page comes from Shape’s own public pricing, product and help pages, checked on November 2, 2026, and listed under Sources. Prices are in USD as published that day and change over time, so confirm them with Shape before you buy. Where a feature is described as not listed, we did not find it on those pages; it may exist elsewhere.
Which one fits your team
Choose Pacing Console when
- You want a person to approve every budget change, with an audit trail
- You run Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and LinkedIn Ads and want them paced by the hour
- You want a published price, or free pacing
- You report spend next to pipeline by campaign
Choose Shape when
- You want the tool to change daily budgets and pause campaigns without approval
- You manage Facebook, Instagram or Twitter budgets
- You are an agency already using NinjaCat for reporting
Frequently asked questions
Is Shape still available?
Shape’s help center is online, and NinjaCat announced it acquired Shape.io in August 2022. When we checked in November 2026, shape.io/pricing redirected to NinjaCat’s PPC budget management page.
How much does Shape cost?
Its help center describes one free client, then Premium plans tiered by monthly spend tracked in Shape (Pro under $250,000, Enterprise above), without listing prices.
Does Pacing Console change budgets automatically like CruiseControl?
No. Pacing Console recommends; on Pro, a change you accept is applied by your own script on its next run and logged. Nothing changes without a person accepting it.
Does Pacing Console pause campaigns?
No. It shows overpacing and the daily budget that fixes it, in the board and the daily email.
Sources
Competitor pages checked on .
- NinjaCat: acquisition of Shape.io (www.ninjacat.io/blog/new-acquisition-helps-shape-the-future-of-ninjacat)
- Shape help: purchasing Shape (help.shape.io/en/articles/10159423-purchasing-shape)
- Shape help: pricing FAQ (help.shape.io/en/articles/10159426-pricing-frequently-asked-questions)
- Shape help: data sources (help.shape.io/en/articles/10159327-what-is-a-data-source)
- Shape help: CruiseControl (help.shape.io/en/articles/10159374-cruisecontrol-frequently-asked-questions)
- Shape help: AutoPilot (help.shape.io/hc/en-us/articles/10967944293517-What-is-AutoPilot-Enabling-AutoPilot)
- Shape help: alerts (help.shape.io/en/articles/10159409-what-are-alerts)
