Making the work
Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover ad networks. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
An ad manager built for small local publishers
Ad server you download and run yourself
Broadstreet | Revive Adserver | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $299 | 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 | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on (they differ) | Web | Web, Linux |
| Covers | Ad Networks | 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.
An ad manager built for small local publishers
Broadstreet sells to the publisher who has a few local advertisers and no ad operations person. The formats are the point: it leans on units that a small site can actually sell, and the reporting is built to be forwarded to the advertiser at the end of the month. Pricing is a flat subscription rather than a share of what the ads make, so a good month is entirely yours. A site with no direct advertisers is buying a tool with nothing to put in it.
Our note
The comparison worth making is against the cut a network would take, not against the other software. If your ads bring in a few hundred a month, a flat fee eats most of it; past a couple of thousand, keeping the whole sale is the entire argument and the subscription stops mattering.
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.
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.
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
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| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
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| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
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| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
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Our note
Budget for the maintenance rather than the licence. The software is free and the ongoing work is not, so this pays off for a site running ads continuously and rarely for one selling a sponsorship a quarter. If the server side is the objection, AdButler and Broadstreet do the same job as a subscription.