Outbrain Alternatives in 2026: What Changed After the Teads Rebrand
Outbrain now operates under the Teads brand after acquiring Teads in 2025. The name changed, but the practical question for advertisers did not: which platform fits the budget, format, and testing model you need? Below, we compare seven Outbrain alternatives across entry costs, traffic formats, and campaign fit.
What Is Outbrain’s New Name?
Outbrain’s new name is Teads. Outbrain completed its acquisition of Teads on February 3, 2025, and the combined company began operating under the Teads brand. In June 2025, Outbrain Inc. completed its corporate name change to Teads Holding Co.
Why Advertisers Look for Outbrain Alternatives
Outbrain built its name around native recommendations on publisher websites. That platform lists a $20 minimum daily campaign budget. Actual test requirements depend on the GEO, targeting, format, and campaign setup.
That can work well for content-led campaigns, but it is not automatically the right setup for every test.
The comparison starts to matter when:
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- Your test budget is lower
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- You need traffic outside premium native publisher placements
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- Moderation speed matters to your launch
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- You want formats such as push, in-page push, popunder, or Telegram ads
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- You want to test several traffic types from one account
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- You need a different bidding or optimization model
For a wider market view, see our full ad network comparison for advertisers. If you are comparing acquisition channels beyond native networks, our Google Ads alternatives guide covers a different part of the mix.
Top Alternatives to Outbrain
The seven options below are not seven versions of the same product. Some stay close to native; others trade native-style discovery for broader performance formats or programmatic reach. The table is the quickest way to compare the practical differences.
| Platform | Pricing Model | Minimum Deposit / Entry Budget | Strong Verticals / Campaign Fit | Ad Formats Supported |
| Outbrain / Teads | CPC | Starting from $20/day | Content-led acquisition, native performance, open-web brand campaigns | Standard Native, Carousel, App Install, Clip, and Vertical Video; broader Teads inventory also includes display, video, and CTV. |
| Taboola | CPC and CPM | No fixed minimum deposit; automatic billing commonly uses a $100 billing increment | Performance, e-commerce, content-led funnels, open-web acquisition | Native, display, video, vertical video, and other Realize performance inventory. |
| PropellerAds | CPM, CPC, SmartCPM, SmartCPC and CPA Goal depending on format. | Self-service deposits start from $100 depending on payment method. | Affiliate marketing, user acquisition and performance campaigns | Push, Popunder, Telegram Ads, Paid Social Traffic, Interactive Ads |
| Sharethrough / Equativ | Programmatic and deal-based pricing | No minimum deposit; $4-$6 CPM advised | Omnichannel, CTV, video, native and display campaigns | CTV, video, native, display and retail media |
| Nativo | CPM/vCPM and other campaign-level pricing depending on setup | It’s recommended to set budget with Platform Operations Manager | Content-led brand and performance campaigns | Native Article, Native Display, Native Video, Stories, standard display |
| MGID | Mainly prepaid CPC; CPM is available for selected formats. | $100 minimum deposit; campaign budget limits start from $50. | Native performance, content funnels, push and video campaigns | Native, Push, Rich Media, Video, Programmatic Display |
| Adsterra | CPM, CPC and CPA-based options vary by format | $100 for cards, PayPal and Paxum; $200 for supported digital wallets; $1,000 for wire transfer. | Affiliate and performance campaigns across many GEOs | Popunder, Social Bar, In-Page Push, Interstitial, Native, Display |
| RichAds | Push/In-Page Push from $0.003 CPC; popunder from $0.50 CPM in some Tier 3 GEOs. | $150 minimum deposit. | Push, popunder and Telegram-focused performance campaigns | Pre-roll Video, Popunder, Push, Direct Click, Telegram, Native, In-Page, and Display. |
Data check: September, 2026.
Taboola
Taboola remains one of Outbrain’s closest competitors because both platforms are built around native advertising and publisher-recommended inventory.
Its focus has expanded, though. Taboola launched Realize in 2025 as a performance platform that goes beyond traditional bottom-of-article native placements. Advertisers can now work with native, display, video, vertical video, and other Realize performance inventory.
Taboola may fit you if your funnel depends on advertorials, product stories, native landing pages, or other content that needs time to explain an offer.
If you want to compare the native side of the market in more detail, see our Taboola alternatives guide.
PropellerAds
Disclosure: PropellerAds is our platform.
PropellerAds is not a like-for-like native network. It is a multisource advertising platform where media buyers can work with Push, Popunder, Telegram Ads, Paid Social Traffic, and Interactive Ads from one account. Depending on the format, bidding options include CPM, CPC, SmartCPM, SmartCPC, and CPA Goal.
Self-service deposits start from $100 depending on the payment method. NIKO AI is built into the Self-Serve Platform and can create, edit, and manage campaigns across the major formats from chat.
If you want to test beyond native feeds, the practical difference is that you can switch traffic types without rebuilding your buying stack. You can compare push and in-page push formats, move into popunder or Telegram inventory, or test Paid Social Traffic from the same account.
That multisource advertising platform approach is useful when you manage several offers or traffic types; it is less relevant if all you want is classic native recommendation inventory.
Equativ and Sharethrough merged in June 2024. Sharethrough was fully integrated into Equativ in June 2025, and the companies began operating under the Equativ brand.
The platform works across CTV, video, native, display, retail media, and other programmatic inventory. This makes it relevant to agencies and brands that want an omnichannel programmatic setup rather than a simple self-service native traffic source.
There is no single public minimum deposit or CPM level that applies to every Equativ campaign: buying conditions depend on inventory, DSP access, deals, and the campaign setup.
Nativo
Nativo is one of the closer matches to Outbrain on this list.
Its current formats include Native Article, Native Display, Native Video, Stories, and standard display. Native Article keeps branded content inside the publisher environment, while Native Display sends the visitor to an external page.
One useful difference for smaller tests is that Nativo states there is no minimum spend for self-service campaigns.
Nativo can therefore make sense if you like Outbrain’s editorial style but want to test different native executions, including articles, videos, and mobile-first Stories.
MGID
MGID is another direct native advertising option, and it also offers formats beyond standard recommendation widgets.
The platform currently supports Native, Push, Rich Media, Video, and Programmatic Display. Its main advertiser pricing model is prepaid CPC, while CPM is available for selected formats.
MGID lists a $100 minimum deposit and recommends at least $650 when advertisers want enough data for testing and access to its CPA Tune optimization feature. Campaign-level budget limits start from $50.
MGID is worth considering if you still want native traffic but prefer a platform that also gives you push, video, and rich-media options.
You can compare it with other networks in our MGID alternatives guide.
Adsterra
Adsterra takes the comparison further away from classic native and toward performance inventory.
It works across 248 GEOs and provides formats including Popunder, Social Bar, In-Page Push, Interstitials, Native Banners, and display inventory. Adsterra also describes a three-level traffic security system for fraud and malware filtering.
The opening deposit depends on the payment method:
- Credit cards, PayPal, and Paxum currently start at $100
- Selected digital wallets start at $200,
- Wire transfers start at $1,000.
Adsterra also sets a $25 minimum total or daily campaign budget for CPM and CPC campaigns.
This option may fit you if you are moving away from a native-only setup and want to test popunder or push-style placements across a large GEO list.
It is less similar to Outbrain in how users discover ads, so don’t expect the same creative or landing-page setup to carry over without changes.
RichAds
RichAds is another performance-first option, especially for buyers already working with push or popunder.
Its current platform includes Pre-roll Video, Popunder, Push, Direct Click, Telegram, Native, In-Page, and Display formats. The minimum account deposit is $150. RichAds publicly lists Push traffic from $0.003 CPC and Popunder from $0.50 CPM, although live bids depend on the GEO and campaign conditions.
RichAds can be useful when you already know that push or pop traffic fits your funnel and you want another source to test against your current network.
See our RichAds alternatives guide for a deeper comparison of push and pop traffic.
Outbrain vs Taboola: What’s the Difference — and Did They Merge?
Outbrain and Taboola did not merge. Instead, Outbrain acquired Teads in February 2025, and the combined business now operates under the Teads name.
Taboola remains a separate company. Its major recent expansion is Realize — the performance advertising platform it launched in 2025. Taboola also has a long-term commercial partnership with Yahoo, but Yahoo and Taboola are separate companies as well.
Action Steps to Replace Outbrain With PropellerAds
If you’ve already made up your mind, here’s your how-to short guide:
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- Define your goal: lead generation? App installs? Brand awareness?
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- Choose the ad format: Push, Popunder, Telegram Ads, Paid Social Traffic, or Interactive Ads.
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- Set your budget, targeting (Geo, device, OS, interest) – you’re in control.
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- Prepare the assets required by the chosen format. Push and other creative-led formats need campaign creatives; for Paid Social Traffic, the advertiser provides the landing-page URL rather than uploading a standard creative set.
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- Track results via our dashboard – monitor CPC, CTR, conversions; optimize.
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- Scale winners: increase bid, expand Geo, new creatives.
The setup will not map one-to-one from Outbrain. What needs adapting depends on the chosen PropellerAds format: some formats require format-specific creatives, while Paid Social Traffic is built around the landing-page URL. Do not assume the old native campaign structure carries over unchanged.
FAQ
No. Creating an advertising account may not involve a platform subscription fee, but running campaigns requires an advertising budget. Outbrain lists a $20 minimum daily campaign budget.
Other platforms use different entry models: for example, PropellerAds self-service deposits start from $100 depending on the payment method, while Nativo states no minimum spend for self-service campaigns. These figures are not directly comparable: deposits and daily campaign budgets are different metrics.
PropellerAds is our platform, so this is not an independent recommendation. It can be a relevant Outbrain alternative when you want to test beyond a traditional native feed with Push, Popunder, Telegram Ads, Paid Social Traffic, or Interactive Ads. Depending on the format, bidding options include CPM, CPC, SmartCPM, SmartCPC, and CPA Goal.
There is no exact one-to-one replacement for native feeds because each format reaches the user differently. Push and in-page push formats work with short-message traffic; Popunder sends users to a landing page without relying on a recommendation widget; Telegram Ads reach users inside Telegram Mini Apps. Paid Social Traffic and Interactive Ads give you two more ways to move beyond native recommendations.
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