AdButler vs EthicalAds Comparison 2026
Both cover ad networks. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Run your own ad server and keep the whole sale
Ads without tracking, for developer sites
At a glance
- Only EthicalAds has a free tier.
Side by side
AdButler | EthicalAds | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $179 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | 30% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Ad Networks |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
AdButler
Run your own ad server and keep the whole sale
AdButler is the software behind a direct ad sale rather than a network that finds the advertiser for you. You upload the creative, set the targeting and the flight dates, and the server counts what was delivered so both sides are looking at the same numbers. That matters to a publisher who has already sold the slot and does not want a third party taking a cut of it. The trade is obvious: nobody is filling your inventory, so the sales job stays yours.
Our note
Buy this when the sales conversation is already happening and the only question is how to serve and count what you sold. If you are still hoping somebody fills the space for you, an ad network costs nothing up front and this costs $179 a month before a single advertiser exists.
EthicalAds
Ads without tracking, for developer sites
EthicalAds targets on page content rather than on the reader, so a site running it needs no cookie banner and shows one ad instead of six. That is a smaller advertiser pool and a lower ceiling than a general network, and the trade is deliberate. Getting in is the hard part: the network is invite-only and aimed at sites a developer audience reads.
Our note
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.