Unity Ads Alternatives for Game Developers in 2026

What are the best Unity Ads alternatives?

The main Unity Ads alternatives are two other mediation platforms, Google AdMob and AppLovin MAX, plus bidding networks such as Mintegral, Liftoff Monetize, DT Exchange and Meta Audience Network that you add inside whichever platform you pick. Most games do not drop Unity Ads at all: it is a network that can bid inside AdMob, MAX and LevelPlay, so it simply becomes one demand source among several. If ads alone do not pay enough, add models that earn from different players: in-app purchases through Unity IAP and an offerwall that rewards players with your game’s currency.

This is the Unity counterpart of our AdMob alternatives guide. It starts with Unity’s own ad stack in October 2026, because names have changed and old integrations are being phased out.

Unity’s ad stack in 2026: Unity Ads, LevelPlay and ironSource Ads

Three names cause most of the confusion. Here is what each one is today:

• Unity Ads is Unity’s ad network. The Unity Ads product page lists rewarded video, interstitials and banners, and describes bidding in leading mediation platforms.
• Unity LevelPlay is Unity’s mediation platform, the former ironSource mediation. The LevelPlay page lists rewarded, interstitial, banner and native ads through a unified auction, plus reporting and A/B testing.
• ironSource Ads was a separate ad network. Unity’s ironSource Ads sunset notice says its direct demand business stopped serving on April 30, 2026. LevelPlay mediation and ironSource Exchange programmatic demand continue, and Unity recommends keeping the iAds SDK so that programmatic demand keeps flowing.

The Advertisement Legacy package is on its way out

If your game still calls Unity Ads through the old Advertisement Legacy package, Unity’s migration guide from Unity Ads to LevelPlay says that from April 1, 2026, apps using that direct integration “might see reduced ad performance”. Unity still fills those apps, but recommends integrating Unity Ads as a bidder through the Ads Mediation package for LevelPlay. The guide also warns that installing LevelPlay into a project that still uses the legacy package might stop the project from working correctly, so remove the old APIs first.

The LevelPlay Unity package guide names the package com.unity.services.levelplay and says that from version 8.8.1 the Unity Ads adapter is installed by default. Other platforms are moving the same way: Google’s AdMob guide for Unity Ads mediation says waterfall support for Unity Ads ended on January 31, 2026, which leaves bidding.

The practical point: if you have to touch your ad integration this year anyway, you can choose LevelPlay, AdMob or MAX as the platform, and Unity Ads demand can come along in any of them. What is ad mediation? covers how bidding and waterfalls work.

Why Unity developers look for alternatives

Developers rarely leave because Unity Ads stopped working. The usual reasons are concrete:

• A forced migration. Moving off the legacy package is real work, so many teams compare platforms before they commit to one.
• Payment terms. Unity’s support article on when Unity Ads payments are processed says payments run monthly on a net 60 cadence with a $100 minimum. AppLovin and Google publish different terms, listed in the table below.
• One source of demand. A game that only runs Unity Ads has no backup when fill drops in a country. See what fill rate means.
• Platforms that mobile ad SDKs do not cover. LevelPlay, AdMob and MAX are built for Android and iOS. A Unity game on Steam or in a WebGL build needs a different plan, covered further down.

Unity Ads alternatives compared

Every option below has a Unity integration, either its own plugin or an adapter inside a mediation platform. Payment terms appear only where the company publishes them.

Sources are linked in the sections below. Payment terms and formats were checked on October 22, 2026, and differ by country, platform and account.

Mediation platforms you can use instead of LevelPlay

Google AdMob: AdMob vs Unity Ads

“AdMob vs Unity Ads” compares two different things. Unity Ads is a network; AdMob is both a network with Google demand and a mediation platform that can call Unity Ads as one of its bidders. Google’s Google Mobile Ads Unity plugin quick start lists banner, interstitial, native, rewarded, rewarded interstitial and app open formats, installs through OpenUPM or a .unitypackage, and asks for Unity 2019.4 or higher (2022.2 or higher recommended), a minimum Android API level of 24 and iOS 13 with Xcode 16. Its Unity mediation section has adapter guides for more than 20 ad sources, among them AppLovin, DT Exchange, ironSource, Liftoff Monetize, Meta Audience Network, Mintegral, Pangle, Moloco and Unity Ads.

AdMob’s payment thresholds page lists $100 for accounts paid in US dollars. Good fit: games that already use Firebase or want Google demand without a separate adapter. Watch out for: AdMob reviews new apps before they serve ads fully, which our AdMob alternatives guide covers.

AppLovin MAX

MAX is AppLovin’s mediation platform. The MAX Unity integration guide installs the plugin through Unity Package Manager or a .unitypackage, requires Unity 2019.4 or later, and uses an Integration Manager inside the editor to add and update network adapters. One detail matters for cash flow: AppLovin’s MAX payments page says AppLovin pays only for its own demand, monthly around the 15th of the following month once you reach $100, while the other networks you link to MAX pay you directly. Good fit: studios with several titles that want one auction and are ready to tune it.

DT FairBid

FairBid is Digital Turbine’s mediation platform. Its Unity integration page lists plugin version 3.68.0, Unity 2022.3 or 6000.3 or later, and installation through Package Manager from an npm registry. The same plugin also carries Digital Turbine’s own offerwall, DT Offer Wall. Good fit: teams that want mediation and an offerwall from one SDK.

Staying on LevelPlay

Staying is a valid choice. LevelPlay’s Unity docs list 26 mediated networks, including AppLovin, Google AdMob, Google bidding, DT Exchange, Liftoff Monetize, Meta Audience Network, Mintegral, Moloco, Pangle and Unity Ads. If the platform suits you, the gain usually comes from adding the right bidders rather than switching.

Bidding networks to add in any platform

These networks sit inside your chosen mediation platform and bid on each impression. Pick two to four based on where your players are, then test.

• Mintegral. Its monetization page shows connections to MAX, AdMob, ironSource (LevelPlay), DT FairBid, InMobi, Appodeal, Pangle and others. In Unity you add it through your platform’s adapter.
• Liftoff Monetize. Unity’s LevelPlay guide for Liftoff Monetize calls it “Liftoff Monetize (formerly Vungle)”, and the SDK you install still uses the Vungle name.
• DT Exchange. Google’s adapter page notes that Fyber Marketplace is now DT Exchange. In AdMob it currently runs as a waterfall source, with bidding in closed beta, according to that page.
• Meta Audience Network. Meta’s Audience Network bidding overview says it now only uses bidding to fill ads in iOS and Android apps, through a third-party mediation platform. You cannot run it on its own in a waterfall.

Compare networks on revenue per daily user, not on eCPM alone. eCPM and EPC explained shows why, and the eCPM calculator helps you check a network’s numbers.

Alternatives that are not ad networks

Every network above competes for the same ad impression. In-app purchases and an offerwall earn from different moments and often from different players, which is why hybrid monetization has become the default for games.

In-app purchases with Unity IAP

Unity IAP is Unity’s purchasing package. Its supported stores page lists the Apple App Store (iOS, macOS, tvOS), Google Play (Android), direct-to-consumer checkout through Stripe or Coda, a webshop and custom stores. The same table notes two details worth planning for: Apple requires a manual Restore Purchases button, and the direct-to-consumer and webshop options do not support subscriptions or WebGL builds. Purchases fit games with premium items, ad removal, starter packs or a season pass. Check each store’s current fees and payment rules before you set prices.

An offerwall that pays in your currency

An offerwall is a screen the player chooses to open. It lists offers such as reaching a level in another game or finishing a survey, and the player earns your currency for each completed offer. You earn per completed action, and the reward reaches your server through a signed postback rather than the game client. It reaches players who will never buy gems but will put in effort to earn them.

Unity has its own offerwall: the Unity Offerwall quickstart imports a .unitypackage whose SDK still uses the Tapjoy name. Other providers ship Unity plugins or a web wall you open from a link. Our guides cover choosing an offerwall SDK for Unity, Tapjoy alternatives, and the step-by-step Unity offerwall integration. Whichever you choose, credit currency only on your server; building a Unity virtual currency system shows how.

Which combination fits your game

These are starting points to test, not guarantees. Results depend on your genre, your players’ countries and your placements.

To set how much currency a completed offer or a rewarded video gives, start from your store prices. Setting your virtual currency exchange rate and the virtual currency calculator help you keep both routes in balance.

How to switch without losing revenue

1. Measure first. Record a few weeks of revenue per daily user, fill rate and revenue by country, so you can compare honestly afterward. ARPU and ARPDAU explains the metric.
2. Remove the old package cleanly. If you used Advertisement Legacy, remove its APIs before you install a mediation package, as Unity’s migration guide advises.
3. Bring Unity Ads with you. Set Unity Ads up as a bidder in the new platform so you keep its demand.
4. Roll out gradually. Release the new SDK to part of your players first if your store and platform allow staged rollouts, and compare the two groups.
5. Update privacy disclosures. Each new SDK can change what your game collects, so review your App Privacy details and Google Play Data safety form.
6. Add opt-in formats last. Once ads are stable, add purchases or an offerwall.

Frequently asked questions