AdRoll
Outbrain
| Feature | AdRoll | Outbrain |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $36/mo | Contact sales |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4 / 5 | 3.9 / 5 |
| Best For | ecommerce, dtc-brands, small-businesses, shopify-stores | content-marketers, enterprise-brands, publishers, agencies |
| Founded | 2007 | 2006 |
| Retargeting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Display Ads | ✓ | ✗ |
| Social Ads | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Marketing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Bidding | ✓ | ✗ |
| Audience Segmentation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Native Ads | ✗ | ✓ |
| Smartfeed | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audience Targeting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Conversion Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| A B Testing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Brand Safety | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ AdRoll Pros
- Great retargeting
- Cross-channel campaigns
- AI optimization
- Easy Shopify integration
✗ AdRoll Cons
- Minimum spend required
- Learning curve
- Reporting could improve
✓ Outbrain Pros
- Premium publisher network
- Good content amplification
- Strong audience targeting
- Better brand safety than competitors
✗ Outbrain Cons
- Higher minimum spend
- Lower volume than Taboola
- Requires quality content to perform
The Verdict
AdRoll is built for ecommerce and dtc brands, with a focus on retargeting and display-ads. Outbrain targets content marketers and enterprise brands and leads with native-ads and smartfeed.
Outbrain uses custom enterprise pricing, while AdRoll starts at $36/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.