Man of Action, a group of comic book creators (Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle), had been developing the concept of Ben 10 for roughly three years before Cartoon Network picked up the series.

In the early 2000s, Cartoon Network Studios asked Man of Action to create an action animated show, and they pitched twenty different ideas in twenty minutes, each pitch lasting only a minute; the eighth pitch, about a boy with ten transformations, was the one chosen.

Before settling on the title Ben 10, the project went through several working titles including Force 10, Ben to the Tenth, and Ben10, and the hero's device was originally called the 'Megawhat', which would have transformed him into alternate versions of himself across the multiverse rather than into aliens.

Concept artist Steven E. Gordon worked on an early version of the show in which Ben Tennyson was originally designed as a red-headed boy, and the Omnitrix looked more like an ordinary watch; early alien names included 'StrongGuy', 'Inferno', 'RazorJaws', 'Dragonfly', 'Plantguy', and 'Digger'.

Cannonbolt was originally intended to be part of Ben's first set of ten aliens but was replaced by Ghostfreak, whose true nature as a villain hidden inside the Omnitrix was planned from early in development, with hints seeded into season one dialogue.

During test animations, Four Arms was the first alien transformation to be animated and turned out to be the most popular design among the Man of Action creators.

Many unused character designs originally created for Upchuck were later recycled for the aliens Spitter and Articguana, as well as for the villain Sploot, in the episode 'Ben 10,000'.

The show's theme song was written by Andy Sturmer and performed by Mz. Moxy, while the animated title sequence was produced by Renegade Animation, the studio behind Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, a series also overseen by Ben 10 executive producer Sam Register.

Starting with the third season, the opening credits were altered to remove Ghostfreak and replace him with Cannonbolt as the ninth alien, reflecting his removal from Ben's active roster.

Ben 10 received positive reception and was nominated for two Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.