Self-serve or managed CTV: what platforms offer and how to choose

In a self-serve platform your team creates campaigns, sets budgets and targeting, uploads creative and reads reports. In a managed service the platform's team does that work for you, based on a brief, and reports back. Between the two sit hybrid options: self-serve access with optional help, strategy services, or on-demand campaign management for specific tasks.

Some examples from the pages we read: StackAdapt's Basic and Grow plans are self-serve, while its Scale, Accelerate and Enterprise plans are listed as self-serve or managed. Amazon describes self-service and managed-service options, with managed campaigns through an account executive typically requiring a minimum of $50,000 in the US. Tatari says brands launch with optional strategy and services and that agencies can license its self-serve platform. Vibe lists Campaign Management (On Demand) next to self-serve buying. MNTN's footer shows a self-serve platform.

Source: StackAdapt plans and packages

Source: Amazon Ads: Amazon DSP

Source: Amazon Ads: About us (FAQ)

Source: Tatari homepage

Source: Vibe pricing page

Source: MNTN homepage

• Your team already runs paid media in self-serve tools and has time each week for CTV.
• You want to change budgets, audiences and creative quickly yourself.
• You want direct access to reports and raw data.
• You are piloting and want to keep costs to media plus platform fees.

• Your team has little time for day-to-day optimization.
• You are new to TV and want planning help.
• You run large, complex plans across many services or alongside linear TV.
• Your procurement prefers a single accountable vendor team.

Managed service can save time and bring expertise, but usually adds a fee or minimum and puts a layer between you and the data. Self-serve keeps control and cost visible, but the results depend on your team's attention. Hybrid models try to get both: you run the platform and call in help for setup, testing or reporting. Whichever you choose, keep ownership of the measurement design. The team that runs the campaign should not be the only one judging whether it worked.

Estimate honestly how many hours a week your team can give CTV, and whether anyone has run TV or programmatic video before. Then check each shortlisted platform's options and terms. The finder's second question asks exactly this and adjusts the platform types and checks accordingly.

If you choose managed service, put the working rules in writing: who builds and approves campaigns, how often you receive reports and in what format, how quickly the team responds, whether you get direct access to the platform's dashboard and raw data, and how the measurement design is agreed. Ask how the managed team is paid, because fees tied to spend can create different incentives from fixed fees. And agree what happens at the end of the term: whether audiences, creative versions and learnings stay with you.

If you choose self-serve, plan the time honestly. A new CTV campaign needs attention in its first weeks for tracking checks, pacing and early creative reads, then less once it settles. Name one person who owns it, give them a weekly slot, and decide in advance when they should call the platform's support or an optional managed service for help. Self-serve works well when someone is clearly responsible for it.

A last point on switching. Many teams start managed to learn the channel, then move to self-serve once they understand what works; others start self-serve and add managed help when budgets grow. Ask each platform whether you can change models later without a new contract, and whether your campaign history, audiences and reports carry over. Flexibility here lowers the risk of choosing the wrong model at the start, and it keeps the decision tied to how your team actually works rather than to the first contract you signed.

Whichever model you pick, the finder and the fact sheet show what each platform states about both, with sources, so you can check the options before the first sales call.