For a small business spending under $5,000 a month on ads, our pick is Bytown Done for you at 9.2/10: from $799 a month, flat, no contract, accounts in your name. Bytown publishes this ranking; the weights are printed. AGPixels and groas follow at 8.2.
- Cheapest published fee: AGPixels in Ottawa at CA$350 a month; Third Marble at $499 plus $399 onboarding.
- Simplest terms: groas at $1,499 a month flat, no setup fee, month to month.
- One team for ads, SEO and social: WebFX, LYFE Marketing or Hook Agency.
- Before you sign: get in writing who owns the account, the full price, extra fees, meeting cadence and the plan.
- Prices: checked October 26, 2026, on each agency's own website.
Published by Bytown. Bytown is our pick. Here is the scoring so you can disagree.
I'm Tomas Kolafa, Bytown's founder. I co-founded an ad agency in 2016, so I've sent the invoices this page is about.
The point of view is narrow on purpose: the best option for a small business spending under $5,000 a month on ads. At that budget the fee comes out of the same money as the clicks, so price and account ownership weigh most.
Most "best agency" lists rank their publisher: Web Tonic's list of 21 Google Ads agencies, updated October 9, 2026, puts Web Tonic first. This page ranks Bytown, so every price comes from the agency's own page, and an agency with no published price isn't on it.
Best Google Ads agencies for a small business at a glance
Prices were checked on October 26, 2026. 3 agencies publish in Canadian dollars; the rest show no CAD price. More US and Canadian rate cards are in my agency cost guide.
| # | Agency | Score | Best for | Entry price (checked Oct 26, 2026) | Price in CAD | Human on the account? | What it can change without asking you |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bytown Done for you | 9.2 | Experts running it for a flat fee | From $799/mo; no setup fee, no contract | USD only, no CAD published | Yes: Bytown's marketers, Slack or Teams access | Nothing launches until you approve it; the budget stays in your control |
| 2 | AGPixels (Ottawa) | 8.2 | A small Google-only account | CA$350/mo for up to about $1,000 in ad spend | Yes: published in CAD | Yes: 1 person, "no agency hand-offs" | Not published; the fee is agreed in writing first |
| 3 | groas | 8.2 | One flat fee for Google, Bing and ChatGPT Ads | $1,499/mo flat; no setup fee, month to month | USD only, no CAD published | Yes: a dedicated strategist; software does the hands-on work | Anything inside guardrails you agree: budgets, targets, sign-offs |
| 4 | Choice OMG (Edmonton) | 7.6 | Approving keywords and ad copy before launch | CA$1,200/mo under CA$5,000 in ad spend; 3 months to start | Yes: published in CAD | Yes: a 3-person Google Ads team | Not published after launch |
| 5 | Falia (Montreal) | 7.4 | The same team from day 1, in Quebec | 90-day sprint from CA$5,700, then from CA$1,195/mo | Yes: published in CAD | Yes: "The same people, from the first day to the last" | Day-to-day execution; the budget tier is agreed each month |
| 6 | Third Marble (Richmond, VA) | 7.0 | The lowest US flat fee with an account manager | From $499/mo plus $399 onboarding; month to month | USD only, no CAD published | Yes: a dedicated account manager | Bids, keywords, negatives and ad tests |
| 7 | LYFE Marketing | 6.2 | Ads next to social media management | Plans from $500/mo; $300 setup; 3-month first term | USD only, no CAD published | Yes: a single account manager | Bidding and day-to-day optimization |
| 8 | WebFX | 6.0 | A business heading past $5,000 a month in spend | $750/mo (Lite); first month $1,200 | USD only, no CAD published | Yes: a dedicated account manager and PPC team | Bids and keywords, including rule-based bidding |
| 9 | Hook Agency (Minneapolis) | 4.8 | Home-service contractors wanting one team | Google Ads + LSA from $2,000/mo; yearly commitment | USD only, no CAD published | Yes: an account manager and strategy team | Not published |
How to read the scores
Each agency gets 0–5 on 4 things: published price and model (×3), keeping your account and assets (×3), a hands-on doer (×2) and big-spend experience (×2). The 50 points, divided by 5, give the score out of 10.
Here's the deal:
Under $5,000 a month in ads, price and ownership decide whether the ads can pay off. The fee comes out of the same budget, and the account history is what you'd lose by leaving.
The other 2 are what I'd ask any advertiser: are you hands-on, and how much ad spend have you managed? I've audited more than 100 accounts, and industry experience mattered less than either.
The best method I found, Fit Small Business's, weights pricing at 20% and doesn't rank itself. Mine puts 30% on price and 30% on ownership, and it ranks Bytown, so every score is in How we scored.
Which kind of help fits you?
It depends on who runs the account, how much time you want with a person, and whether you need more than ads. Answer 3 questions and the match lights up.
The 9 agencies, ranked
Each card shows the score, the October 26, 2026 price, 2 pros, 2 cons and what the agency can change without asking you. I haven't worked with the other 8, so their cards carry only what their own pages say.
Bytown Done for you
Best for owners spending $1,000 to $5,000 a month who want experts running it for a flat fee.
- Flat monthly fee, never a % of your ad spend; cancel any time.
- Move to self-serve at $199 a month later and keep the account and everything in it.
- The exact fee comes on a call, and it bills in US dollars only.
- Not the cheapest entry: AGPixels, Third Marble, LYFE and WebFX all start lower.
What it can change without asking you: nothing launches before you approve it ("You approve it before a dollar moves"), and you stay in control of the budget.
Bytown's AI does the grunt work; the marketers make the judgement calls. Most Done for you clients run at least $1,000 to $2,000 a month in media.
AGPixels
Best for an Ottawa business with a Google-only budget up to about $3,000 a month.
- The lowest published fee on this list, flat and in Canadian dollars.
- If you move to another provider, "you take all of it with you."
- Google Ads only, and no contract term is published.
- The page names 1 Google Ads client and no spend figure.
What it can change without asking you: not published. Your ad budget "is paid straight to Google, never routed through us."
groas
Best for one flat fee covering Google, Bing and ChatGPT Ads, with a strategist.
- The cleanest terms here: an exact price, no setup fee, cancel anytime.
- Its site counter showed $14,952,557 of paid ad spend it runs every month.
- $1,499 a month before ad spend, and Meta Ads is a second $1,499 service.
- Its own technology works the account; the strategist sets the guardrails.
What it can change without asking you: anything inside the guardrails you agree up front: "budgets, targets and what needs your sign-off."
Choice OMG
Best for a service business that wants to approve keywords and ad copy before launch.
- You approve the keyword list and the ad copy before launch.
- Every account's budget is checked every 30 minutes.
- A 3-month start before you can leave.
- At the minimum, CA$1,200 on a CA$1,500 ad budget is 44% of the total.
What it can change without asking you: not published after launch. Keywords and ad copy need your OK first.
Falia
Best for a Quebec business that wants the same team from day 1 and can start with a sprint.
- Your tag manager, analytics and conversions are set up in your own accounts, "and they stay there."
- Fee tiers come back down the next month if your budget does.
- Every engagement opens with a 90-day sprint from CA$5,700.
- It takes 1 client per industry in each market, so ask whether your slot is free.
What it can change without asking you: the day-to-day work: "You approve the business direction, we handle the execution." The budget tier is agreed before each month.
Third Marble
Best for the lowest US flat fee with a dedicated account manager.
- Cancel "with just one business day's notice."
- Over $11 million in Google Ads management and over 1,600 accounts, by its own count.
- The page never says the account is yours to keep.
- $399 onboarding, and it doesn't cover graphic design or video for Display and YouTube.
What it can change without asking you: bids, keywords, match types, negatives and ad tests. To pause or change the budget, you email or call your account manager.
Plot twist:
Big published numbers didn't buy a top spot. LYFE's $50 million in managed spend and WebFX's 1,450+ clients rank 7th and 8th, because their pages say little about who keeps the account, and that's 30% of the score.
LYFE Marketing
Best for owners who want ads next to social media management.
- Says it has managed over $50 million in ad spend.
- "Your own PPC specialist" monitors the keywords and placements.
- An initial 3-month term, then 30 days' notice to cancel.
- 2 prices on 1 page: plan cards from $500, an FAQ saying fees start at $650 and rise with spend.
What it can change without asking you: its specialists "handle your creatives, bidding, and the day-to-day optimization." Budget terms aren't published.
WebFX
Best for a business heading past $5,000 a month that wants a big team and its own tech.
- Admin and owner access stay with you, in writing on the pricing page.
- 750+ PPC specialists behind the account and 1,450+ paid search clients.
- Past $5,000 in spend the fee becomes 15% of spend, whichever is higher.
- Lite leaves out Bing, and the first month costs $1,200.
What it can change without asking you: bids and keywords, including rule-based bidding it sets up. Budget terms aren't published.
Hook Agency
Best for home-service contractors at $3M to $15M in revenue who want one team.
- Reports on booked jobs: "We listen to the calls, read every form."
- One team for Google, Local Services, Meta, SEO and websites.
- $2,000 a month is the highest monthly fee for ads alone on this list.
- A yearly commitment, and no account ownership terms on the page.
What it can change without asking you: not published. Ask before you sign.
Where Bytown loses
Bytown loses on 5 counts. If one of these matters most to you, pick the winner named here.
- The lowest fee: AGPixels. CA$350 a month; Third Marble, LYFE and WebFX also start below $799.
- An exact price with no call: groas. $1,499, printed. Bytown's "from $799" is set on a call.
- A team in the room: WebFX, LYFE and Hook. A $3,500 to $6,000 retainer typically buys a media buyer, copywriter, strategist, social media marketer and email marketer. Bytown runs ads; it won't write your newsletter.
- A local office: AGPixels, Choice OMG, Falia and Hook. Ottawa, Edmonton, a downtown Montreal office and Minneapolis. Bytown starts with a 30-minute video call.
- The person you talk to does the work: AGPixels and Falia. Both score 5 on doer; Bytown scores 4.
So, what's the catch?
Bytown's AI does the grunt work, and that's how the fee starts at $799. If you want a human making every click, pick AGPixels or Falia.
Why small businesses leave agencies
The reasons clients leave agencies are always the same. It's too expensive for the value, the agency is busy running other clients, or nobody checks because the account runs on autopilot.
Here's the uncomfortable part:
All 3 are incentive problems, not talent problems: a retainer rewards activity, not outcomes. I ran an agency, so that's a critique of the model, not of the people.
Too expensive for the value. Under $5,000 a month in ads, the retainer eats the return before the ads get a chance. Bytown Pro is $199 a month: about a tenth of Hook's $2,000 starting fee, which is my "almost 10 times cheaper". Third Marble's $499 is 2.5 times it.
The real switches from agency to AI tool show what happened to cost per lead.
Busy with other clients. Small businesses don't buy tasks; they buy a person responsible for making it happen. Done for you puts the team on Slack or Teams: "No ticket queue, no waiting on a monthly meeting."
Autopilot. Autopilot is how ad budgets die. On Done for you, campaigns are "built, launched and watched daily by an advertising expert," with a monthly review of what your money did.
If you want a person to run it and figure it all out, that's Done for you. Once it's set up and working, move to self-serve at $199 a month and keep everything; the AI tools ranking covers that side.
The 5 things I check in an agency contract
I check 5 things in an agency contract, and I want all 5 in writing.
- Who owns the campaigns and materials. The account, campaigns, creative and tracking should sit in your name, with the agency as a user. 6 of the 9 pages here say you own it or keep admin access.
- The price. The whole number: flat or a % of spend, and what happens to it when your budget moves.
- Hidden fees. Setup fees, a pricier first month, a paid sprint, per-platform add-ons. On this list: $300 setup at LYFE, $399 at Third Marble, a $1,200 first month at WebFX, a CA$5,700 sprint at Falia.
- How often you meet. A report isn't a meeting. Third Marble includes 1 strategy call a month, WebFX up to 2 consultations, Done for you a monthly review plus Slack or Teams.
- The roadmap. A clear plan for what gets done, in what order. The most damaging agency habit is frantic decisions: launch Monday, no lead Tuesday, change everything Wednesday. "It's not a strategy, it's being reactive to a fear."
Make no mistake:
The first item is the one you can't fix later. If the agency holds the account, leaving means starting over without your history or conversion data. My freelancer hiring guide has the contract wording that keeps it yours.
How we scored
Each component is scored 0–5 from the agency's own page on October 26, 2026, then multiplied by its weight.
| Component | Weight | How it's scored | Max points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published price + model | ×3 | 1 point each: a price on its own site; flat, never a % of spend; no setup or onboarding fee; no minimum term; an entry fee under 1,000 a month in its own currency | 15 |
| Keep your account and assets | ×3 | 5 = yours, and it stays with you when you leave; 4 = you own it or keep admin access; 3 = they work in "your" account; 2 = they'll "return" your information; 1 = not stated | 15 |
| Hands-on doer | ×2 | 5 = the person you talk to does the work; 4 = a dedicated specialist or small team does it; 3 = a manager or strategist fronts a bigger team or software; 2 = software, with chat support only; 1 = not stated | 10 |
| Big-spend experience | ×2 | 5 = over $100 million in ad spend published; 4 = $10 million to $100 million; 3 = under $10 million, or an account or client count; 2 = experience claimed, no spend or count; 1 = nothing published | 10 |
Ties break on price, then account, then doer. That's why AGPixels ranks above groas at 41 each.
| Agency | Price ×3 | Account ×3 | Doer ×2 | Spend ×2 | /50 | /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bytown Done for you | 5: flat, no setup, no term, $799 | 5: in your name, stays yours | 4: marketers run it on Bytown | 4: my $85M+ career spend | 46 | 9.2 |
| AGPixels | 4: no term published | 5: "you take all of it with you" | 5: same person, no hand-offs | 2: 1 client named | 41 | 8.2 |
| groas | 4: $1,499 entry | 5: accounts stay yours | 3: strategist plus software | 4: $14.95M a month | 41 | 8.2 |
| Choice OMG | 3: 3-month start, CA$1,200 | 5: account and history stay | 4: 3-person team | 3: 27 accounts | 38 | 7.6 |
| Falia | 2: sprint, from CA$1,195 | 5: "belongs to you" | 5: same people throughout | 3: $1M+ a year | 37 | 7.4 |
| Third Marble | 4: $399 onboarding | 3: "your" account | 3: manager fronts experts | 4: $11M+ | 35 | 7.0 |
| LYFE Marketing | 3: setup, 3-month term | 2: "return any information" | 4: own PPC specialist | 4: $50M+ | 31 | 6.2 |
| WebFX | 2: % of spend, first-month premium | 4: admin/owner access | 3: manager plus big team | 3: 1,450+ clients | 30 | 6.0 |
| Hook Agency | 3: from $2,000, yearly term | 1: not stated | 3: manager plus team | 3: 200+ contractors | 24 | 4.8 |
Think about it:
2 of my calls decide the top spot, so here's what happens if you disagree. Swap the "under 1,000 a month" check for "exact price printed" and groas edges Bytown, 44 to 43.
Score Bytown 2 on spend, because the $85M+ is my 14+ years of career budgets and not the Done for you team's, and Bytown still leads at 42. Move the weights however you like and redo the math.
FAQ
What is the best Google Ads agency for a small business?
By our printed weights, Bytown Done for you at 9.2/10: from $799 a month, flat, no contract, with the ad accounts in your name. Bytown publishes this ranking, so check the weights. AGPixels and groas follow at 8.2.
How much does a Google Ads agency cost a small business?
On the agencies' own pages, checked October 26, 2026, monthly entry fees run from CA$350 at AGPixels to $2,000 at Hook Agency, before ad spend. Setup fees reach $399 at Third Marble. Bytown Done for you starts at $799 a month with no setup fee.
Do Google Ads agencies charge a percentage of ad spend?
Some do once your budget grows: WebFX's Pro tier is "$975 or 15% of spend, whichever is higher". The other 8 here publish fixed dollar fees, some stepping up by budget tier, and Bytown Done for you is never a percentage of your ad spend.
Should I own my Google Ads account if I hire an agency?
Yes, always. The account, campaigns and conversion history should be in your name, with the agency added as a user, so you keep everything if you leave. On Bytown Done for you, campaigns are built in ad accounts held in your name.
Is a Google Ads agency worth it under $5,000 a month?
It can be, if the fee leaves enough of your budget for the ads. Under $5,000 a month, a flat fee under $1,000 and an account in your name matter more than a big team. Bytown Done for you fits that budget from $799, and Advisors adds a coach to self-serve for $199.
Sources
- Bytown prices and terms, checked October 26, 2026: bytown.co/pricing and bytown.co/done-for-you
- Agency pricing pages, each opened October 26, 2026: AGPixels, groas, Choice OMG Google Ads, Falia Google Ads and Falia pricing, Third Marble, LYFE Marketing, WebFX, Hook Agency (re-checked October 27, 2026: its FAQ now states a yearly commitment)
- Opened October 26, 2026: Web Tonic's list (updated October 9, 2026) and Fit Small Business's method (published July 27, 2026)
- Alex Langton on YouTube, "What Actually Happens When You Try To Leave Your Google Ads Agency", May 9, 2026: youtube.com
Experts run your ads. You approve.
Bytown Done for you puts our marketers on your Google, Meta, LinkedIn and Microsoft ads from $799 a month. Flat fee with no % of your ad spend, no contract, and the ad accounts stay in your name.
See Done for you Rather run it yourself? See plans from $139.