Google Ad Manager Alternatives 2026: 19 Ad Servers Compared

Nineteen ad servers and stacks can replace or run beside Google Ad Manager in 2026: CTV servers such as FreeWheel, SpringServe and Publica; display and API servers such as Kevel, Equativ, Adform, Broadstreet and Microsoft Monetize; priced SaaS tiers from $99 to $2,988 a month; and open-source options, Prebid Server and Revive Adserver, that you host yourself.

Each row below gives owner, headquarters, format coverage, header bidding integration, what the September 2026 remedies mean for AdX access, pricing model, self-hosting, log-level data and sourced customers. "n/d" means not disclosed by the vendor or any source we could find.

• Formats. D = open-web display, V = online video, CTV = connected TV and streaming, App = in-app. Based on vendor pages unless stated.
• Header bidding. Whether the server runs or integrates a Prebid auction, or offers its own unified auction.
• AdX access after remedies. For display servers: "eligible" means the server can receive real-time AdX bids under the court order once Google ships the integration and the vendor builds the receiving side; no vendor had announced a build as of 17 October 2026. For video and CTV servers: "not covered," because the remedies exclude video (PPC Land, 17 September 2026). Today, every rival server reaches AdX only through a Google Ad Manager account; the mechanics are in how to switch ad servers without losing AdX demand.
• Pricing. Public prices are quoted with the page and access date. "Quote" means the vendor publishes no price.
• Self-hosting. Whether you can run the software on your own servers or cloud account.
• Log-level data. Whether event-level logs are available and on what terms.
• Notable publishers. Only names with a public source. Vendor logo walls are reported as "company site" and treated as company claims.

Long tail (names only, from Kevel's list, not evaluated here): AdGlare (above), Adhese, AdPlugg, AdSpeed, AdSpirit, AdvertServe, Avid, iBillboard, InClick, Lite, UpRival, Zedo; self-hosted OIO, dJax, InOut; email Passendo, PowerInbox; WordPress plug-ins AdInserter, Advanced Ads, AdRotate (Kevel, updated 30 April 2026).

Why Yieldmo and the SSPs are not rows. Yieldmo, Index Exchange, OpenX, PubMatic, Magnite DV+ and TripleLift appear in Google's list of Open Bidding yield partners; they are exchanges that bid into an ad server, not ad servers (Google Help, Open Bidding, accessed 17 October 2026). They matter to this page as the demand you keep when you change servers, which is the subject of how to switch ad servers without losing AdX demand.

Display-first servers (Kevel, Equativ, Adform, Microsoft Monetize, Broadstreet, Epom, AdButler, AdGlare, Adtelligent). These are the direct beneficiaries. Google must enable AdX to submit real-time bids to non-Google publisher ad servers for all indirect demand, with technical support, and may not vary AdX revenue share, latency, response rate or information by ad server (Memorandum Opinion, Dkt. 1858, p. 74; PPC Land, 6 October 2026). The vendor still has to build the receiving side, and none of the nine had announced one by 17 October 2026. Ask each vendor in your RFP for a dated roadmap and a latency budget for the AdX call.

Video and CTV servers (FreeWheel, SpringServe, Publica, Aniview, Project Limelight). Nothing changes by court order. The liability finding covers open-web display, and the data and integration remedies exclude video and in-app (PPC Land, 17 September 2026). These servers compete on their own merits: podding, SSAI, rights management and direct access to streaming demand. Magnite's figure that SpringServe reaches 99% of US streaming supply on a dollar-weighted basis comes from Jounce Media's March 2025 report (PPC Land, 5 November 2025). Digiday lists CTV publishers among the groups the remedies leave out (Digiday, 18 September 2026).

Open source (Prebid Server, Revive). Prebid is the named counterparty in the order. Google must build an API so Prebid can get real-time AdX bids for all indirect open-web display inventory and a server-to-server connection from DFP to Prebid Server, "functionally equivalent" and on "materially identical terms" to the way DFP solicits AdX today (Memorandum Opinion, Dkt. 1858, p. 62). A publisher who hosts Prebid Server gets that adapter on the day it ships. Revive is a decisioning server from an earlier era; it has no Prebid bridge and would need custom work to use the AdX feed. The hosting choices are in the Prebid Server self-hosting guide.

Managed Prebid hosts. The 21 providers on Prebid.org's list sell the same software as a service, usually for a revenue share that none publishes (Prebid.org managed services, accessed 17 October 2026). After the remedies they will carry the AdX adapter too, so the question becomes who sees your bid data. The economics of that layer are covered in 12 ad tech cost optimization strategies.

This is a reading of the table, not a recommendation for any vendor.

1. Open-web display publisher, under about 1 million pageviews a month, direct-sold heavy. Broadstreet, AdButler or AdGlare give a public price and a short contract; none offers a programmatic auction, so Open Bidding or a Prebid wrapper stays in place for remnant. Google's own product page uses 1 million monthly pageviews as its qualification question (admanager.google.com, accessed 17 October 2026).
2. Open-web display publisher or group above that size, programmatic heavy. Microsoft Monetize with Prebid Server Premium, Equativ or Adform, with the AdX receiving integration as the gating RFP question, plus a self-hosted or managed Prebid Server so the AdX adapter lands on your side regardless of which server wins. The migration sequence is in how to switch ad servers without losing AdX demand.
3. Streaming or broadcaster. FreeWheel, SpringServe or Publica, chosen on rights management, SSAI and demand, because the remedies do not reach video; keep Google Ad Manager as a demand source if Google's video demand matters to you.
4. Retail media or commerce property. Kevel's customer list is retailers and marketplaces rather than news publishers (kevel.com, accessed 17 October 2026); the on-site decisioning problem is different from open-web monetization and is covered under retail media.
5. Publisher who wants to own the stack. Prebid Server plus your own decisioning and log store, on your own servers or cloud account. This is the only path where the court-ordered bid data, your own request logs and the auction run in one place you control; what that did to one publisher's fill rate is in case: publisher fill rate +20%, and running deals on an owned exchange is in the private ad exchange setup guide.

Whichever path you choose, the hub for this direction, publisher independence, collects the tracker, the playbook and the tools, and every new demand path means new ads.txt and sellers.json lines; check them with the ads.txt and sellers.json validator.

Is there a free alternative to Google Ad Manager? Two kinds. Open-source software is free to download: Prebid Server (Apache-2.0, Go v4.10.0 on 13 October 2026) is a header bidding server rather than a full ad server, and Revive Adserver (GPL-2.0, v6.0.8 on 25 June 2026) is a classic display server (GitHub; revive-adserver.com). Both cost hosting and staff. Google Ad Manager itself is free for more than 90% of its publisher customers, which is part of why it holds the share it does (PPC Land, 17 September 2026).

Which ad server is best for CTV? There is no neutral benchmark. The three vendors with named streaming customers are FreeWheel (Universal Ads partners include Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Roku and Warner Bros. Discovery), SpringServe (Disney Advertising, LG Ad Solutions, Paramount, Roku, Samsung, Warner Bros. Discovery) and Publica (Samsung TV Plus, renewed 30 September 2025) (PPC Land, 5 November 2025; Mediaweek, 24 April 2025). Note that all three are owned by companies that also sell demand (Comcast, Magnite, IAS), which Digiday's sources flag as a conflict to manage in contracts.

Can a third-party ad server access AdX demand? Today only through a Google Ad Manager account. After the final judgment takes effect, Google must submit real-time AdX bids to non-Google ad servers for all indirect open-web display demand within 6 months (plaintiffs' draft) or 12 months (Google's draft) (PPC Land, 6 October 2026). Video and in-app are excluded, and the vendor must build the receiving integration. The timeline is tracked in Google ad tech remedies explained for publishers.

What does an ad server cost? Public SaaS prices in this catalog run from $99 a month for 1 million requests (AdGlare) and $179 a month for 1 million requests (AdButler) to $2,988 a month for 50 million requests (AdButler Advanced) and $2,500 a month for 150 million display impressions (Epom Pro) (AdGlare; AdButler; Epom; all accessed 17 October 2026). Enterprise servers (FreeWheel, SpringServe, Publica, Kevel, Equativ, Adform, Microsoft Monetize) quote privately. Self-hosting costs are worked through in the Prebid Server self-hosting guide.

Can I run two ad servers at the same time? Yes, and the court assumes you will: publishers may export DFP configuration and historical data within three months of the Effective Date to evaluate a rival, and Google must build tools that let a publisher choose AdX through Prebid or through DFP for a given slice of inventory (PPC Land, 6 October 2026; PPC Land, 17 September 2026). The parallel-run and holdout design is in how to switch ad servers without losing AdX demand.

1. United States v. Google LLC, No. 1:23-cv-00108 (E.D. Va.), Memorandum Opinion, Dkt. 1858 (2 September 2026, unsealed 16 September 2026). https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/google-judge-memo.pdf
2. PPC Land, "Google faces six-year worldwide ad tech decree instead of AdX sale" (17 September 2026). https://ppc.land/google-faces-six-year-worldwide-ad-tech-decree-instead-of-adx-sale/
3. PPC Land, "DOJ seeks 6 months, Google 12, to open its ad exchange to rivals" (6 October 2026). https://ppc.land/doj-seeks-6-months-google-12-to-open-its-ad-exchange-to-rivals/
4. PPC Land, "Seven video ad servers compete for dominance in 2025 CTV marketplace" (5 November 2025). https://ppc.land/seven-video-ad-servers-compete-for-dominance-in-2025-ctv-marketplace/
5. PPC Land, "Microsoft's Xandr DSP closure opens doors for independent players" (22 June 2025). https://ppc.land/microsofts-xandr-dsp-closure-opens-doors-for-independent-players/
6. MediaPost, "Microsoft To Shutter DSP, Formerly Xandr" (14 May 2025). https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/405873/microsoft-to-shutter-dsp-formerly-xandr-replace.html
7. Digiday, "Who wins and loses from the remedies to Google's ad tech monopoly" (18 September 2026). https://digiday.com/media-buying/who-wins-and-loses-from-the-remedies-to-googles-ad-tech-monopoly/
8. Kevel, "Google Ad Manager alternatives" (updated 30 April 2026; vendor content). https://www.kevel.com/blog/gam-alternatives
9. Kevel, company site and About page (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.kevel.com/ and https://www.kevel.com/about
10. Mediaweek, "Magnite unveils next-gen SpringServe platform with backing from streaming giants" (24 April 2025). https://mediaweek.com.au/news/magnite-unveils-next-gen-springserve-platform-with-backing-from-streaming-giants
11. Magnite, Office Locations (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.magnite.com/locations/
12. FreeWheel, About and Locations pages (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.freewheel.com/about and https://www.freewheel.com/locations
13. FreeWheel, News (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.freewheel.com/news
14. Publica by IAS, product site (accessed 17 October 2026). https://getpublica.com/
15. Integral Ad Science, Contact Us (accessed 17 October 2026). https://integralads.com/contact-us/
16. Broadstreet, home and pricing pages (accessed 17 October 2026). https://broadstreetads.com/ and https://broadstreetads.com/pricing/
17. Equativ, home and About pages (accessed 17 October 2026). https://equativ.com/ and https://equativ.com/about-us/
18. Adform, home page (accessed 17 October 2026). https://site.adform.com/
19. Microsoft Learn, "Prebid Server Premium" (21 October 2025). https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/xandr/monetize/prebid-server-premium
20. Prebid.org, Prebid Server overview (accessed 17 October 2026). https://docs.prebid.org/prebid-server/overview/prebid-server-overview.html
21. Prebid.org, Prebid Server bidder list (accessed 17 October 2026). https://docs.prebid.org/dev-docs/pbs-bidders.html
22. Prebid.org, Managed Services (accessed 17 October 2026). https://prebid.org/managed-services/
23. GitHub, prebid/prebid-server releases and prebid/prebid-server-java releases (accessed 17 October 2026). https://github.com/prebid/prebid-server/releases and https://github.com/prebid/prebid-server-java/releases
24. Revive Adserver, home page and GitHub repository (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.revive-adserver.com/ and https://github.com/revive-adserver/revive-adserver
25. Aniview, home page (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.aniview.com/
26. Adtelligent, home page (accessed 17 October 2026). https://adtelligent.com/
27. Epom, Ad Server pricing (accessed 17 October 2026). https://epom.com/ad-server/pricing
28. AdButler, pricing (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.adbutler.com/pricing
29. AdGlare, pricing (accessed 17 October 2026). https://www.adglare.com/pricing
30. Google Ad Manager, product site (accessed 17 October 2026). https://admanager.google.com/home/
31. Google Ad Manager Help, "Open Bidding" (accessed 17 October 2026). https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/7128453
32. Google Ad Manager Help, "Data Transfer reports" (accessed 17 October 2026). https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/1733124

• 18 October 2026: aligned the title and heading and applied recorded source-URL corrections where needed. Factual research cutoff remains 17 October 2026.

• 17 October 2026: first version, 19 rows plus a 20-name long tail.