AdButler vs Revive Adserver Comparison 2026
Revive Adserver is free, open source software you install yourself. Its own hosted edition costs from $10 a month if a server is not something you want to maintain. AdButler is a paid hosted service from $179 a month, with a sandbox account and add-ons like targeting and programmatic built to be bought rather than configured by hand. Both only serve ads you have already sold, and the real choice is your own time against a monthly bill.
Run your own ad server and keep the whole sale
Ad server you download and run yourself
At a glance
- Only Revive Adserver has a free tier.
Side by side
AdButler | Revive Adserver | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $179 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes |
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.
Revive Adserver
Ad server you download and run yourself
Revive Adserver is software you install on your own hosting, so it does the counting rather than the selling. Campaigns, zones, targeting and delivery reports all live on a server you control, which means nothing sits between you and the advertiser and nothing takes a share of what you invoice. Setting it up is a PHP application and a database, and that is a real afternoon of work. Publishers who have already sold the slot are who this is for.
Why people weigh these two
- Revive Adserver instead of AdButler
- Revive Adserver is the free route to the same job if you are willing to download and run the server yourself.
- AdButler instead of Revive Adserver
- AdButler charges a subscription for the same self-hosted-style ad serving Revive Adserver gives away free, trading a monthly bill for a lighter setup.
Which one should you pick
Revive Adserver is the right choice for a publisher comfortable maintaining a PHP application and a database, or willing to pay as little as $10 a month for the hosted edition instead. The software itself costs nothing, and nothing sits between you and the advertiser's invoice. Budget for your own time, though. Backups and upgrades become your job the moment you self-host.
AdButler is worth its $179 a month once that maintenance is exactly what you want to avoid. Campaign booking, delivery counting and a sandbox account all come without touching a server, though targeting, API access and the full format set are each an added cost above the entry tier. Choose AdButler over Revive when the ongoing work of running your own server outweighs the price gap between them.
Common questions
- Is Revive Adserver really free?
- The software is, as a download you install and run yourself. Its own hosted edition costs as low as $10 a month for anybody who would rather not manage a server. AdButler has no free option, starting at $179 a month instead.
- What does self-hosting Revive Adserver actually require?
- A PHP application and a database, which takes a real afternoon of work to set up, plus your own time for backups and upgrades afterward. AdButler skips all of that as a hosted service from $179 a month.
- Which one is cheaper for a small publisher with a couple of advertisers?
- Revive Adserver, especially self-hosted for free or through its $10 a month hosted edition. AdButler's $179 a month entry tier is built for a bigger operation, with ten advertisers and a million ad requests included.
- If I do not want to run my own server, are there paid options for either?
- Yes, both offer one. Revive Adserver's own hosted edition starts as low as $10 a month for the same open source software run for you. AdButler is hosted from the start, at $179 a month, with a sandbox account included to test a campaign before it serves live.
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.