Plainly

Overview

Plainly is a cloud-based video automation platform purpose-built for teams that need to produce large volumes of personalized, localized, and data-driven video content. The system is built around Adobe After Effects templates: users create a template in After Effects, upload it to Plainly, connect a structured data source, and let the platform automatically render and distribute the resulting video variations. This approach removes repetitive manual editing and rendering work, enabling creative teams to maintain brand consistency while scaling production from dozens to thousands of videos without increasing headcount. It is especially valuable for marketing, social media, product videos, and any workflow that requires structured, repeatable video content.

At its core, Plainly automates every stage of video production. Automated video versioning allows users to generate unlimited variants from one template by swapping text, images, and data fields. Video localization adapts text, assets, and audio in batch, making it easy to release localized versions for different languages and cultural audiences. Personalized video generation turns customer data into one-to-one video experiences, while dynamic video ads can produce thousands of creative variations for TV and social media. The platform also supports sports and news workflows, generating match lineups, game recaps, and editorial videos from structured feeds such as RSS and article metadata. Digital signage and broadcast content are also supported, enabling dynamic lower thirds, real-time display updates, and automated on-screen graphics that stay current with underlying data.

From a technical standpoint, Plainly is built on a cloud-based After Effects rendering infrastructure. An optional After Effects plugin enables direct template uploads, and a comprehensive REST API allows developers to integrate video rendering and editing into their own applications or build custom automation pipelines. The platform supports bulk and scheduled rendering, with parallel processing to accelerate high-volume jobs. Data can be ingested from CSV files, spreadsheets, CRMs, APIs, and RSS feeds, giving teams flexibility in how they drive video content. Rendering can be triggered automatically or on a schedule, and the API supports a wide range of operations from video rendering to data-driven editing workflows. Enterprises also benefit from ISO 27001 certification and GDPR compliance, making Plainly suitable for sensitive production environments.

Plainly is used by in-house creative teams, agencies, software companies, and media organizations to solve real-world problems. Common applications include A/B testing ad creative, localizing product videos for global markets, generating personalized onboarding or sales videos, automating sports and news coverage, and delivering dynamic digital signage and broadcast graphics. By removing manual tasks and shortening render cycles, Plainly helps teams reduce production costs, accelerate time-to-market, and improve campaign performance through rapid iteration. Its low-code approach means non-developers can set up and run automation, while developers can extend the system through the API. Whether you produce a handful of videos a week or thousands a day, Plainly provides a scalable, enterprise-ready solution for automated video creation.

Core capabilities

Automated Video Versioning

Create unlimited video variations from a single After Effects template by automating manual tasks like swapping text, images, and data.

Video Localization

Adapt text, assets, and audio in batch to localize videos for multiple languages and cultural contexts.

Personalized Video Generation

Produce one-to-one videos using customer data from spreadsheets, CRMs, or APIs to boost engagement.

Dynamic Video Ads

Automatically swap ad elements and generate thousands of variations for TV, social media, and programmatic campaigns.

Cloud Rendering & Scheduling

Render videos in parallel in the cloud, with bulk and scheduled rendering to handle high-volume workloads.

Video Editing API

Integrate Plainly into your own application or build custom video automation workflows via a powerful REST API.

After Effects Compatibility

Built on After Effects infrastructure; upload templates directly or via the official plugin.

Data Connectivity

Ingest structured data from CSV, RSS feeds, article metadata, CRMs, and APIs to drive video content.

Sports & News Automation

Automate match lineups, game updates, recaps, and news videos from structured data feeds.

Digital Signage & Broadcast

Generate dynamic lower thirds and up-to-date display content for digital signage and broadcast environments.

Use cases

Automated video versioning for A/B testing and multi-channel campaigns

Localizing product videos for international markets

Generating personalized onboarding or sales videos from CRM data

Creating dynamic video ads for TV and social media at scale

Automating sports recaps, lineups, and news video production

Delivering real-time digital signage and broadcast graphics