Google Ad Manager is the default pick for most publishers, with a Small Business edition at $0 per month up to 90 million display impressions per month in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Epom states that each plan has an identical set of features, and the only difference is the number of impressions available, which makes Light at $250 per month easy to compare with Growth at $1,000 per month. Billing is not one model: Google and Epom count impressions served, while AdButler, AdGlare and Adserver.online count ad requests.
An ad server decides which campaign runs, applies targeting and frequency limits, and records impressions and clicks. The right choice depends on volume, sales model, and setup work. Epom states that each plan has an identical set of features, and the only difference between plans is the number of impressions available.
On this page
Best ad server software: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google Ad Manager | Publishers who want a free start with direct sales | $0 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 2 | Epom Ad Server | Publishers who want the same features on every plan | $250 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 3 | AdButler | Publishers who want published request based pricing | $179 per month | Free trial | Visit |
| 4 | Kevel | Retailers and marketplaces building a custom ad platform | quote only | Free trial | Visit |
| 5 | AdGlare | Publishers who want flat monthly pricing with no overage billing | $99 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 6 | Broadstreet Ads | Local and niche publishers selling direct ads | $299 per month | Free trial | Visit |
| 7 | AdSpeed | Small publishers with simple direct sold needs | $9.95 per month | Free trial (7 days) | Visit |
| 8 | Revive Adserver | Technical teams who want a free self hosted ad server | $0 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 9 | Adserver.online | Small publishers who want usage based pricing | $29 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
The 9 best best ad server software tools, in detail
Google Ad Manager
Best for: Publishers who want a free start with direct sales
Google Ad Manager, formerly DoubleClick for Publishers, is the most widely used publisher ad server in this list. The Small Business edition covers orders, line items, targeting, key values and reporting, so a publisher can run direct sold campaigns without a monthly fee while volume stays under the limit. The limit is 90 million display impressions per month in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and 800,000 video impressions per month.
- Once volume passes the free limit, Google requires a move to Ad Manager 360, which is priced by contract rather than as a published rate.
- Choose Google Ad Manager if you sell direct ads and want AdSense backfill.
Pros
- Free Small Business edition up to 90 million display impressions per month in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Cons
- Ad Manager 360 has no published price and needs a contract
- Small Business caps video at 800,000 impressions per month
Epom Ad Server
Best for: Publishers who want the same features on every plan
Epom Ad Server charges a flat monthly tier based on impressions served, starting with Light at $250 per month, Growth at $1,000 per month, and Pro at $2,500 per month, with Enterprise by discussion. Annual billing lowers those rates to $212, $850 and $2,125. The standard free trial lasts 14 days, with a limit of 30 million monthly impressions.
- The plans cover display, video, native, HTML5 and rich media.
- The clearest detail on the Epom pricing page is that each plan has an identical set of features, and the only difference between plans is the number o
- A move from Light to Growth is therefore a volume decision, not a feature decision.
- White-label, premium support and advanced analytics add $250, $250 and $500 per month.
Pros
- Light at $250 per month, Growth at $1,000 per month and Pro at $2,500 per month, with the same core features on every plan
Cons
- White-label costs $250 per month extra
- premium support costs $250 per month extra and advanced analytics costs $500 per month extra
AdButler
Best for: Publishers who want published request based pricing
AdButler is an independent ad server for web, apps, video, connected TV, digital out of home and email newsletters. Pricing starts with Essentials at $179 per month for 1 million ad requests, Standard at $682 per month for 10 million ad requests, and Advanced at $2,988 per month for 50 million ad requests, with Enterprise by contact. Essentials includes display, mobile and in-app serving, while Standard adds video and more advertisers, users and zones.
- The limits that force an upgrade are easy to see on the pricing page.
- Essentials allows 10 advertisers, 1 user and 10 zones, while Standard allows 50 advertisers, 5 users and 100 zones, and Advanced allows 100 advertiser
- API access, targeting and log level data are add-ons on the lower plans.
Pros
- Essentials starts at $179 per month for 1M ad requests
- Standard starts at $682 per month for 10M ad requests
Cons
- Essentials allows only 10 advertisers, 1 user and 10 zones
- API access and targeting are add-ons on Essentials
Kevel
Best for: Retailers and marketplaces building a custom ad platform
Kevel, formerly Adzerk, is not a ready made dashboard in the same sense as the other tools here. It provides APIs that let engineers build their own ad server for promoted listings, native ads, internal promotions, email ads and podcast ads. The cost is the main open question.
- Kevel does not publish a price on its site, so the starting price here is quote only, shaped by the modules licensed, the support tier and monthly API
- Third party listings cite $5,000 per month for a basic Kevel Audience plan, but that figure is not from Kevel, so it is not used here.
Pros
- API first platform for promoted listings, native ads and internal promotions
Cons
- No published price, so budgeting needs a sales quote
- building on APIs needs developer time and a longer setup
AdGlare
Best for: Publishers who want flat monthly pricing with no overage billing
AdGlare is a flat rate ad server with Professional at $99 per month for 1 million ad requests and Enterprise at $129 per month for 1 million ad requests, plus a Custom plan for up to 10 billion monthly ad requests. Both named plans include display ads, geographic and device targeting, dayparting, keyword targeting, conversion tracking and a pacing algorithm. The trial lasts 14 days and needs no credit card.
- The difference between the two named plans is features, not volume, since both start at 1 million ad requests per month.
- Enterprise adds CTV video ads, native ads in JSON, rich media, product catalog ads, REST management APIs, full reporting API, single sign-on, up to 10
- Data retention is 1 year on Professional and 3 years on Enterprise.
Pros
- Professional at $99 per month for 1M ad requests
- Enterprise at $129 per month for 1M ad requests, with no overage billing
Cons
- CTV video, native JSON and rich media need Enterprise at $129 per month
- white-label domain needs Enterprise
Broadstreet Ads
Best for: Local and niche publishers selling direct ads
Broadstreet Ads is an ad manager built for local and business to business publishers, including magazines, newspapers and local news sites. Its Business plan starts at $299 per month, with a higher tier at $499 per month and a VIP tier above that. The focus is direct sales, with tools for creating, managing and tracking campaigns, plus a library of more than 100 dynamic ad templates.
- The value here is fit, not low price.
- A local publisher can use Broadstreet to sell and retain advertisers, while a large programmatic publisher will find more depth in Google Ad Manager o
- The $299 entry price is high for a site with only a few direct advertisers, so compare the monthly fee with expected direct sales revenue before signi
Pros
- Business plan at $299 per month, built for local and niche publishers with direct sales tools and more than 100 dynamic ad templates
Cons
- Entry price of $299 per month is high for a very small site
- next tier is $499 per month, so costs rise fast with more features
AdSpeed
Best for: Small publishers with simple direct sold needs
AdSpeed is an independent ad server and ad manager for publishers, advertisers and agencies. Its listed plans start with Basic at $9.95 per month, Professional at $69 per month and Enterprise at $349 per month. The platform covers display, text ads, rich media, video with VAST, and native formats, with targeting and real time reporting.
- The low entry price is the main draw, and the main limit is scale.
- Higher volumes are priced by impression tier or quote, so a publisher who grows past the entry plan needs to ask for the next tier price.
- The tool is best for simple direct sold needs, not for a large programmatic setup.
Pros
- Entry price of $9.95 per month
- Professional at $69 per month and Enterprise at $349 per month
Cons
- Higher volumes are priced by impression tier or quote, so costs are less clear at scale
- entry plan is basic and lacks the depth of larger platforms
Revive Adserver
Best for: Technical teams who want a free self hosted ad server
Revive Adserver is a free, open source ad server for publishers to run on their own servers. The download costs $0 to license, and the project states that there is no maximum number of advertisers. It covers advertisers, campaigns, banners, websites, zones, users, delivery rules, frequency capping and reporting.
- The hosted edition is a separate option run by the project operator.
- It charges $0.01 CPM, which is 1 cent for every 1,000 ad requests, and plans start at $10 per month for up to 1,000,000 ad requests.
- That gives a low cost path for a team that wants Revive without running a server.
- With the free download you pay for hosting, handle updates and security, and rely on community help.
Pros
- Open source download costs $0 to license
- no cap on advertisers
- hosted edition starts at $10 per month for up to 1,000,000 ad requests
Cons
- Self hosting needs a server, install, security and updates
- free download has community support only, with no hosted support included
Adserver.online
Best for: Small publishers who want usage based pricing
Adserver.online is a cloud ad server with usage based pricing and no long term contract. Starter starts at $29 per month and includes 1 million requests, banners, third party tags, direct links and basic white-label. Core starts at $89 per month for 3 million requests and adds programmatic ads, VAST support and API access.
- Premium starts at $199 per month for 10 million requests.
- The billing unit matters here.
- Adserver.online counts ad requests, not impressions served, so each request counts, even if no ad fills.
- There are no hard usage caps, and overage is billed automatically.
Pros
- Starter at $29 per month for 1M requests
- Core at $89 per month for 3M requests
- Premium at $199 per month for 10M requests
Cons
- Starter lacks programmatic ads, VAST support and API access, which need Core at $89 per month
- billing counts ad requests, not impressions served
How we chose
We chose tools that serve ads for publishers, advertisers, agencies or ad networks, with a published plan, a free tier, a free trial, or a quoted enterprise plan. We did not test any tool hands-on. Prices and plan limits come from official vendor pricing pages opened on 2026-11-12, with secondary listings used only to corroborate Broadstreet at $299 per month and AdSpeed at $9.95 per month. Where a vendor hid the price, we wrote quote only.
Pick by volume and budget
| Monthly volume | Best fit | Why the numbers point there |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 million requests | AdSpeed at $9.95 per month, or Adserver.online Starter at $29 per month | Lowest published monthly starts in this list |
| 1 million to 10 million requests | AdGlare Professional at $99 per month, or AdButler Essentials at $179 per month | Flat pricing at AdGlare, and a 10M step at $682 per month at AdButler Standard |
| 8.5 million impressions | Epom Light at $250 per month | Epom Light covers 8.5 million impressions, with the same features as Growth at $1,000 per month |
| Up to 90 million display impressions | Google Ad Manager Small Business at $0 per month | Free tier covers 90 million display impressions per month in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand |
| Custom build, no fixed volume | Kevel, quote only | API first design fits a custom platform, but the price needs a sales quote |
Frequently asked questions
How much does ad server software cost?
Costs in this list run from $0 per month for Google Ad Manager Small Business and Revive Adserver open source, to $9.95 at AdSpeed, $29 at Adserver.online, $99 at AdGlare, $179 at AdButler, $250 at Epom, and $299 at Broadstreet, with Kevel by quote only. Some tools charge by impressions served and others by ad requests.
Which ad server is best for a small publisher?
Google Ad Manager is best for most small publishers because the Small Business edition costs $0 per month up to 90 million display impressions per month in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. AdSpeed at $9.95 per month and Adserver.online at $29 per month are the best low cost hosted options for a simpler setup.
Which ad server is best for direct sales?
Epom and AdButler are the strongest direct sales picks in this list. Epom starts at $250 per month with the same features on every plan, while AdButler starts at $179 per month for 1 million ad requests and adds more advertisers, users and zones at $682 per month for 10 million requests.
Which ad server is best for building a custom platform?
Kevel is best for building a custom platform because it provides APIs for promoted listings, native ads and internal promotions, and lets teams build on their own first party data. It has no published price, so it only fits teams with developer time and a budget for a quoted contract.
Do any ad servers have a free plan?
Yes. Google Ad Manager Small Business costs $0 per month up to its published impression limits, and Revive Adserver has a $0 open source download. Epom, AdGlare and Adserver.online offer a 14 day free trial, and AdSpeed offers a 7 day free trial.
What is the difference between impressions and ad requests?
An ad request is counted each time a page or app asks the server for an ad, while an impression is counted when an ad is shown. Google and Epom count impressions served, while AdButler, AdGlare and Adserver.online count ad requests.
Sources
- https://admanager.google.com/home/
- https://epom.com/
- https://epom.com/ad-server/pricing
- https://www.adbutler.com/
- https://adbutler.com/pricing/
- https://www.kevel.com/
- https://www.adglare.com/
- https://www.adglare.com/pricing
- https://www.broadstreetads.com/
- https://www.adspeed.com/
- https://www.revive-adserver.com/
- https://adserver.online/
- https://adserver.online/solutions
Prices and features were read on each company’s own website in November 2026. They change often, so confirm the current offer on the official site before you sign up or buy.