What’s the difference between Facebook Business Manager and Ads Manager?

Meta Ads Manager

• Meta calls it the starting point for running ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network.
• You choose the objective, audience, placements and ad format, then set budgets.
• You view and edit all campaigns, ad sets and ads, and see results and reports in one place.

Business portfolio (formerly Business Manager)

• A business portfolio manages business assets, such as a Facebook Page, an Instagram account and ad accounts, plus the people who access them.
• You can give a partner, such as an agency, access to specific assets without handing over ownership.
• Business verification sits here and unlocks some advertising, billing and spending features.

In practice

For an app or game, set up the business portfolio first, under your company. Keep ownership of the ad account, Page and app there, and give your agency partner access to the assets it needs. Then build and run campaigns in Ads Manager. If an agency leaves, you keep the account, its history and your audiences.

See how we run Meta for apps on our Facebook ads agency page.