EthicalAds vs Raptive Comparison 2026
EthicalAds shows one contextual ad per page with no tracking, publishes its 70 percent revenue share, and needs an application plus roughly 50,000 monthly pageviews from a developer audience. Raptive sells ad space on behalf of sites with real traffic, generally blogs and recipe sites with US readers, and asks for 25,000 monthly pageviews to apply, though it does not publish the cut it keeps. Both are invite-only. The difference is which audience each one is actually built to sell to advertisers.
Ads without tracking, for developer sites
Ad management for sites past 25,000 pageviews
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
EthicalAds | Raptive | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export |
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
The published revenue share is the reason to read this one. Every other network in this category treats its split as confidential, so a stated 70 percent is a number you can hold them to.
Only on this side
- Covers monetization & payments
Raptive
Ad management for sites past 25,000 pageviews
Raptive, which was AdThrive until 2024, sells ads on behalf of sites that have enough traffic to be worth a salesperson. Rates per thousand views run well above what a self-serve network pays, and the company handles layout, video units and direct deals. The catch is the door: a site under the pageview floor cannot apply.
Why people weigh these two
- Raptive instead of EthicalAds
- Raptive manages the whole ad setup once a site passes 25,000 pageviews, which is the managed route for a site that has outgrown a self-serve network.
- EthicalAds instead of Raptive
- EthicalAds skips tracking entirely and serves developer-focused sites, open to any traffic level rather than the 25,000-pageview floor Raptive requires.
Which one should you pick
Pick EthicalAds if your site is developer-facing content, documentation or a technical newsletter past roughly 50,000 monthly pageviews, and a published rate and minimal ad load matter more than the highest possible payout.
Pick Raptive if you run a blog or recipe-style site with US traffic past 25,000 monthly pageviews, where display advertising is the main income. Ask for the revenue split in writing before switching, since it is the one number the site will not volunteer on its own, unlike EthicalAds' published 70 percent.
Common questions
- Which has the lower traffic floor?
- Raptive, at 25,000 monthly pageviews against EthicalAds' roughly 50,000. Neither accepts a site under its stated bar, and both require an application rather than a simple signup.
- Which one publishes its revenue share?
- EthicalAds does, stating it keeps 30 percent and pays out 70. Raptive does not publish the cut it keeps, so ask for the number in writing during the application rather than assuming it matches any other network's rate.
- Is Raptive built for a developer-facing site like a docs page?
- No. It sells ads on behalf of blogs and recipe sites with US traffic and enough volume for a salesperson to justify the account. EthicalAds is the one built specifically for developer-facing content, documentation and technical newsletters.
- Does either pay more than a self-serve network like AdSense?
- Both are pitched that way. Raptive's whole case is a higher rate per thousand views than a self-serve network, backed by managed layout and direct advertiser deals. EthicalAds' case is a published 70 percent share rather than a confidential one, on a smaller, more targeted advertiser pool.
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