Best Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) tools in 2026

Q: What is Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC)?

Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a secure, privacy-safe clean room from Amazon. It lets advertisers run analytics across their advertising and conversion signals — Sponsored Ads, Amazon DSP, and related data — at the pseudonymized event level. AMC powers cross-channel attribution, new-to-brand analysis, path-to-conversion, reach and frequency, and audience building that standard Amazon Ads reports can't produce. Results are aggregated and subject to a minimum-user privacy floor.

Q: Do I need Amazon DSP to use AMC?

For most AMC reports, yes — a DSP entity is required because the richest analyses join DSP impression data with conversions. There is one notable exception: the Sponsored Ads ad-type overlap report works for Sponsored-Ads-only accounts without DSP, quantifying how layering Sponsored Products, Brands, and Display lifts purchase rate versus running a single ad type. If you only run Sponsored Ads, that overlap report is the main AMC analysis available to you today.

Q: Do I need to know SQL to use AMC?

Not necessarily anymore. The native AMC console traditionally required SQL, but Amazon added a generative-AI SQL generator (launched in early 2025) that turns plain-English requests into AMC SQL, plus template and instructional queries. Third-party tools remove SQL in different ways: Marketplace Ad Pros lets you ask AMC questions in natural language inside Claude or ChatGPT through its MCP server, while Pacvue, Skai, and Intentwise offer pre-built AMC dashboards and audience builders.

Q: How much does AMC cost?

AMC itself has no base license fee — standard queries in the native console are free, and you pay only for optional paid signal subscriptions billed by Amazon. Most of the cost is in the tooling and expertise on top: enterprise platforms like Pacvue and Skai use custom pricing; Intentwise Explore is reported to start around $1,000/month and Adbrew's AMC add-on around $499/month; managed services charge retainers. Marketplace Ad Pros includes AMC on every plan during open beta, with paid plans from $10/week to $999/month.

Q: What does AMC show that standard Amazon Ads reports can't?

Standard Amazon Ads reports are siloed by ad product and aggregated by campaign. AMC works at the pseudonymized event level across products, so it can answer questions standard reports can't: true cross-channel attribution combining Sponsored Ads and DSP, what share of conversions are new-to-brand by audience, the full multi-touch path to conversion, deduplicated reach and frequency, and audience overlap. It can also build custom audiences from behaviors (viewed-but-didn't-buy, repeat purchasers) for DSP targeting.

Marketplace Ad Pros publishes this guide and is one of the tools listed. Tools are compared on features, pricing, and public documentation (not paid placement), and we note where competitors are stronger.

Last updated: June 19, 2026

TL;DR

Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a free, privacy-safe clean room from Amazon for cross-channel measurement, audience building, and path-to-conversion analysis. The question is how you get value out of it. The native AMC console is the cheapest path and now ships a generative-AI SQL generator, but it still lives in Amazon's interface and most reports need a DSP entity (new to DSP? see self-serve vs managed Amazon DSP). Marketplace Ad Pros is the best fit if you want to query your own AMC instance in plain English inside Claude or ChatGPT, alongside your other Amazon data, without SQL or a data team (read-only reporting today; audience activation is on the roadmap). Pacvue and Skai embed native AMC inside full enterprise retail-media platforms. Intentwise and Perpetua wrap AMC in dashboards and audience-driven optimization. And managed services will run it all for you.

Ranked: the best AMC tools in 2026

Marketplace Ad Pros — Best for querying AMC with AI, no SQL and no data team. MAP connects your own AMC instance and exposes it through an MCP server, so you ask AMC questions in plain English inside Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, or n8n, then cross-reference the answers with your Sponsored Ads, DSP, and Seller Central data in the same conversation. v1 is read-only reporting against a pre-built AMC report catalog (audience creation and activation are on the roadmap). AMC is in open beta and available on every plan; paid plans run $10/week to $999/month. Amazon Ads Verified Partner. See the MAP AMC integration.
Amazon Marketing Cloud (native console) — The free first-party clean room. Run SQL directly, or start from Amazon's template and instructional queries. A built-in generative-AI SQL generator (launched in early 2025) turns plain-English requests into AMC SQL, lowering the barrier for non-analysts. Standard queries are free; optional paid signal subscriptions are billed by Amazon. The trade-off is that everything happens inside Amazon's console, and you stitch AMC results to your other reporting yourself.
Pacvue — Best for enterprise and agency scale. Pacvue offers native AMC inside a full retail-media platform, including AMC audience creation and activation to Amazon DSP. It fits large advertisers and agencies that already want one platform for bidding, budgeting, and reporting across marketplaces. Custom pricing.
Skai — Best for omnichannel measurement and incrementality. Skai (formerly Kenshoo) brings native AMC into a cross-channel measurement stack, pairing AMC attribution with paid search, social, and other channels. Strong choice for brands that need incrementality and unified cross-channel reporting. Custom/enterprise pricing.
Intentwise (Explore) — Best for pre-built AMC dashboards. Intentwise Explore packages AMC into ready-made dashboards and reports, audience building, and path-to-conversion views, so teams get insights without writing SQL. Explore starts around $1,000/month, by third-party reports.
Perpetua (by Flywheel) — Best for folding AMC signals into automation. Perpetua uses AMC audience signals to inform automated PPC and DSP optimization, so the clean-room insight feeds bidding and budgeting rather than sitting in a dashboard. Spend-based pricing.
Managed services (SalesDuo / Tinuiti / Incrementum Digital) — Best for AMC done for you. If you'd rather not run AMC at all, these agencies build the queries, interpret the output, and translate it into media decisions. Best when you lack in-house analytics capacity. Custom/retainer pricing.

Also worth considering

Adbrew — Amazon PPC automation that offers AMC as a paid add-on, from around $499/month by third-party reports. A reasonable option if AMC is secondary to day-to-day PPC management.

Comparison table

Capability	Marketplace Ad Pros	Native AMC Console	Pacvue	Skai	Intentwise	Perpetua
Query AMC in natural language (no SQL)	Yes	Yes (gen-AI SQL generator)	Via dashboards	Via dashboards	Via dashboards	N/A
Query inside Claude/ChatGPT (MCP)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Pre-built AMC report catalog	Yes	Yes (templates)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited
Cross-reference AMC + Sponsored Ads + DSP + Seller Central	Yes	No	Partial	Partial	Partial	Partial
Audience creation/activation to DSP	Roadmap	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Requires SQL knowledge	No	Optional	No	No	No	No
Requires DSP entity (most reports)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Starting price	$10/week	Free (paid signals billed by Amazon)	Custom	Custom	~$1,000/mo (reported)	Spend-based

How to pick

Want to query AMC inside Claude or ChatGPT, with no SQL and no data team? Marketplace Ad Pros connects your own AMC instance through an MCP server so you ask in plain English and cross-reference AMC with your Sponsored Ads, DSP, and Seller Central data in one conversation. Note that MAP v1 is read-only reporting; audience activation is on the roadmap.

Want the cheapest path and don't mind Amazon's console? The native AMC console is free for standard queries and now includes a generative-AI SQL generator, so you can describe what you want and get AMC SQL back. You'll still work inside Amazon's interface and join AMC to your other reporting yourself.

Running enterprise spend across marketplaces? Pacvue and Skai embed native AMC inside full platforms with AMC audiences and DSP activation, and are stronger than MAP today on audience creation and end-to-end media execution.

Want dashboards or automation rather than a query interface? Intentwise gives you pre-built AMC dashboards and audience building, and Perpetua folds AMC signals into automated PPC and DSP optimization.

Don't want to run AMC at all? Managed services like SalesDuo, Tinuiti, or Incrementum Digital will build and interpret it for you.

A few honest notes that apply across the board. Marketplace Ad Pros is not the first or only way to turn natural language into AMC SQL; Amazon's own console shipped a generative-AI SQL generator in early 2025. MAP's specific wedge is AMC inside your AI client (MCP), cross-referenced with all your other Amazon data, with no SQL and no data team, and v1 is read-only reporting, with audience activation on the roadmap. And whichever tool you choose, most AMC reports require a DSP entity; Sponsored-Ads-only accounts are generally limited to the ad-type overlap report.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC)?

AMC is a secure, privacy-safe clean room from Amazon. It lets advertisers analyze their advertising and conversion signals — Sponsored Ads, Amazon DSP, and related data — at the pseudonymized event level. That's what makes cross-channel attribution, new-to-brand analysis, path-to-conversion, reach and frequency, and custom audience building possible. Results are aggregated and subject to a minimum-user privacy floor.

Do I need Amazon DSP to use AMC?

For most reports, yes. The richest AMC analyses join DSP impression data with conversions, so a DSP entity is required. The exception is the Sponsored Ads ad-type overlap report, which works for Sponsored-Ads-only accounts and quantifies how layering Sponsored Products, Brands, and Display lifts purchase rate versus a single ad type. If you don't run DSP, that's largely the AMC analysis available to you today.

Do I need to know SQL to use AMC?

Not necessarily anymore. The native console traditionally required SQL, but Amazon's generative-AI SQL generator (launched early 2025) turns plain-English requests into AMC SQL, alongside template and instructional queries. Third-party tools remove SQL in different ways: Marketplace Ad Pros lets you ask AMC questions in natural language inside Claude or ChatGPT through MCP, while Pacvue, Skai, and Intentwise provide pre-built dashboards and audience builders.

How much does AMC cost?

AMC has no base license fee — standard queries in the native console are free, and you pay only for optional paid signal subscriptions billed by Amazon. The real cost is the tooling and expertise on top. Pacvue and Skai use custom pricing; Intentwise Explore is reported to start around $1,000/month and Adbrew's AMC add-on around $499/month (both reported); managed services charge retainers. Marketplace Ad Pros includes AMC on every plan during open beta, with paid plans from $10/week to $999/month.

Can I query AMC with ChatGPT or Claude?

Yes, through Marketplace Ad Pros. MAP connects your own AMC instance to its MCP server, so you ask AMC questions in plain English inside Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, or n8n — and cross-reference the answers with your Sponsored Ads, DSP, and Seller Central data in the same conversation. v1 is read-only reporting against a pre-built AMC report catalog; custom-query execution and audience activation are on the roadmap.

What does AMC show that standard Amazon Ads reports can't?

Standard reports are siloed by ad product and aggregated by campaign. AMC works at the pseudonymized event level across products, so it can answer questions standard reports can't: true cross-channel attribution combining Sponsored Ads and DSP, the share of conversions that are new-to-brand by audience, the full multi-touch path to conversion, deduplicated reach and frequency, and audience overlap. It can also build custom audiences from behaviors — viewed-but-didn't-buy, repeat purchasers, high-value shoppers — for DSP targeting.