Top 15 Programmatic Advertising Platforms in 2026 (Compared on Pricing, Minimums and Inventory)

Published by Improvado, a marketing data platform. We do not sell media or rank ourselves. We read every vendor pricing page on Oct 23, 2026; each platform section links to the page we used.

Key takeaways

• Fifteen platforms in three groups: seven demand-side platforms (DSPs) you buy through, four supply-side platforms and exchanges that publishers sell through, and four walled gardens that run the same auction inside one company.
• Four of the fifteen publish a starting price or minimum: StackAdapt (no minimum to start, "around $5k a month" typical), Meta ("at least $5"), LinkedIn ($100 unspent budget per campaign) and Microsoft Advertising ("no minimum fee"). Google Ads and Google Ad Manager publish the model and no number. The other nine quote on request.
• Walled gardens and StackAdapt open with a credit card. DV360, The Trade Desk, Amazon DSP, Adobe, Basis and Simpli.fi start with a sales call.
• Connected TV (CTV) separates the DSPs: The Trade Desk, DV360 (YouTube on TV plus exchanges), Amazon DSP (Prime Video, Fire TV) and StackAdapt all buy it; the walled gardens reach TV through YouTube and Prime Video.
• Among 181 paying Improvado customers, 52% keep a programmatic platform live and half of those run two or more at once (connector counts, Oct 28, 2026).
• Every platform reports in its own schema. Each section ends with a data note on how it exports performance data and a link to the Improvado connector where one exists.

All 15 platforms at a glance

Pricing cells quote the vendor page linked in each platform section. "Custom quote, not published" means the vendor posts no fee, percentage or minimum anywhere we could read on Oct 23, 2026.

What programmatic advertising is and how it works

Programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of ad impressions. Software on the buyer's side bids for each impression, software on the seller's side offers it, and an exchange runs the auction in the time it takes a page or a video player to load.

The buyer's software is a demand-side platform, or DSP. You load creative, pick audiences, set bids and budgets, and the DSP decides which impressions to bid on. The seller's software is a supply-side platform, or SSP. A publisher connects its site, app or streaming channel to one or more SSPs, which pass each impression to exchanges where DSPs compete.

A real-time auction is the most common path, open to any DSP on the exchange. Three other paths use the same pipes with fewer bidders: private marketplaces (PMPs) invite a short list of buyers at a floor price, preferred deals give one buyer a first look at a fixed price, and programmatic guaranteed books a fixed volume at a fixed price.

Walled gardens change one thing: the buyer, the exchange and the publisher are the same company. Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn and Microsoft sell their own inventory through their own auction, so you get the automation without open-market access. The pages that rank for "programmatic advertising platforms" (Vibe, GumGum, getadlib) count them as programmatic platforms, and the spend data supports the label: Dentsu's December 2025 forecast puts digital at 68.7% of global ad spend in 2026, with programmatic buying "more than four fifths" of that digital total. In the United States, the IAB counted nearly $300 billion of internet ad revenue in 2025, up 13.9% on the year.

Connected TV runs on the same mechanics. A streaming app passes each ad break to an SSP such as Magnite or Index Exchange, and DSPs bid. Prime Video and YouTube keep most of their TV inventory inside Amazon's and Google's own buying tools, so the DSP you pick decides which screens you can reach.

"When we go to ask for a report, it seems to take a week and a half to get it. So we don't have an easy to use dashboard with our programmatic spend and the CTV information. It's kind of a black hole."

Director of Digital Marketing at a resort operator, on a call with Improvado, Apr 2026

How we evaluated

We scored each platform on five things a buyer checks before signing: which inventory and channels it buys or sells, including CTV; whether it publishes a price or a minimum; how you get in (credit card, contract or agency); how it targets, including identity after third-party cookies; and how it exports performance data, because the reporting file is what you live with after launch.

We read every vendor's own pricing or product page on Oct 23, 2026 and linked the page we used. Where a vendor publishes no number, we wrote that and left the gap open. Our paid-media team runs Improvado's own campaigns in Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn and Microsoft Advertising, so the walled-garden sections come from accounts we operate. Improvado connects to 1,400+ data sources for its customers, including the reporting APIs of every platform on this page, so we see what each one exports.

MediaMath, which earlier versions of this page listed, is out: it is no longer sold as an independent DSP. Xandr and Adform are out to keep the list to the DSPs we see most often in customer accounts; neither publishes pricing.

What Improvado's connector data shows

Improvado reads the reporting APIs of the platforms on this page for its customers, so we can see which platforms advertisers keep connected. On Oct 28, 2026 we counted the live data source connections of 181 paying customer accounts (1,544 workspaces under them), leaving out staff, test and sandbox accounts. The counts are aggregated; any group under 10 accounts is left out.

• 94 of the 181 accounts (52%) keep at least one programmatic platform live, counting DSP and SSP connectors. 49 of those 94 run two or more at once.
• The most connected pure DSPs are Amazon DSP (47 accounts), DV360 (41), StackAdapt (35), The Trade Desk (23) and Simpli.fi (12). The walled gardens sit in almost every stack: Meta Ads 147, Google Ads 144, Microsoft Advertising 82, LinkedIn Ads 66.
• The most common DSP pair is Amazon DSP with DV360 (25 accounts), then DV360 with The Trade Desk (13).
• Agencies run DSPs far more often than brands: 57 of 77 agency accounts (74%) against 30 of 73 brand accounts (41%), on the 150 accounts with a recorded account type.
• Accounts with a programmatic platform keep a median of 18 live data sources; the rest keep 9. 92% of them also run Meta Ads and 90% Google Ads.

What this means for a shortlist: the question is rarely "which one platform" and more often "which two, and how do I read them together". A programmatic report almost always sits next to social and search data from the same advertiser, which is why the measurement section below matters as much as the platform reviews.

Method: counts of live data source connections per paying customer account in Improvado's internal analytics, snapshot Oct 28, 2026. No spend or performance figures are included; a benchmark of CPM, CTR and viewability by platform is in preparation on the same base.

7 demand-side platforms (DSPs)

1. Google Display & Video 360 (DV360)

DV360 is Google's enterprise DSP inside Google Marketing Platform. It buys YouTube inventory that no other DSP can bid on, plus display, video, audio and CTV from "dozens of third-party exchanges", and it shares audiences and conversion tags with Campaign Manager 360 and Analytics 360. Our DV360 guide covers setup and bidding in detail.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. The DV360 product page (read Oct 23, 2026) offers "Talk to Sales" and a sign-in, and no fee schedule.

Pros

• YouTube, including Google Preferred and YouTube Reserve, bought alongside open exchanges in one insertion order.
• Floodlight conversions, audiences and frequency caps shared with Campaign Manager 360 and Analytics 360.
• YouTube on TV and exchange CTV in the same campaign.

Cons

• Access comes through Google sales or a Google Marketing Platform partner, and the partner's margin is yours to pay.
• Reporting leans on Google's attribution and cross-device graph, which other platforms do not share.

Data note: DV360 exports through the Bid Manager API and scheduled offline reports; the Improvado DV360 connector pulls both into one model with your other channels. Among Improvado's paying customers, 41 accounts keep a live DV360 connection (Oct 28, 2026), 25 of them next to Amazon DSP.

2. The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk is an independent DSP: it owns no media and no publisher. It lists audio, CTV, digital out-of-home, display, mobile, native and video as channels, plus retail media, and it backs Unified ID 2.0 and EUID as its answer to the end of third-party cookies. The current interface is called Kokai.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. The platform page and the homepage (read Oct 23, 2026) route to a contact form: "Reach out to us to find the right solution to start using our platform."

Pros

• CTV depth: partnerships "with major ad-supported streaming services across the globe", including live sports.
• No owned inventory to favour, so bidding and reporting treat every publisher the same way.
• UID2 and EUID give you an identity path outside Google's and Meta's graphs.

Cons

• No self-serve sign-up; most brands come in through an agency seat.
• You negotiate minimums and fees, so there is no rate card to compare against.
• No YouTube, since Google keeps that inventory inside DV360 and Google Ads.

Data note: The Trade Desk reports through its REST reporting API and a log-level Raw Event Data Stream; the Improvado Trade Desk connector pulls the reporting API into the same schema as your other DSPs. 23 of Improvado's paying customer accounts keep a live The Trade Desk connection (Oct 28, 2026), 13 of them next to DV360.

3. Amazon DSP (now inside Amazon Ads Agent)

Amazon DSP buys display, video, audio and streaming TV on Prime Video, Twitch, Thursday Night Football, Amazon.com, Fire TV and third-party publishers. On Oct 23, 2026 the Amazon DSP page reads "Amazon DSP has evolved into Amazon Ads Agent", with the programmatic controls living in a feature called DVA+ (Display, Video and Audio) under advanced settings.

Pricing and minimum spend: no figure published. Amazon states that "your current pricing structure is carried forward" and that "self-service and managed-service options" continue within DVA+. Sponsored ads, the separate cost-per-click product, carry "no minimum spend"; the DSP side quotes on request.

Pros

• Shopping and streaming signals from Amazon's own properties, open to brands that sell on Amazon and to those that do not.
• Prime Video and Fire TV inventory that no other DSP can bid on.
• Self-service is open, so a brand team can run it without an agency.

Cons

• Amazon renamed the product and folded it into Amazon Ads Agent in 2026, so training material and agency processes lag the interface.
• Measurement stays inside Amazon's attribution; matching it to off-Amazon sales takes Amazon Marketing Cloud or your own warehouse.

Data note: Amazon DSP reports through the Amazon Ads API and downloadable reports; the Improvado Amazon DSP connector lands them next to your Sponsored Ads and retail data. Amazon DSP is the most connected pure DSP among Improvado's paying customers: 47 accounts keep it live (Oct 28, 2026).

4. StackAdapt

StackAdapt is a DSP aimed at mid-market advertisers and agencies. The homepage lists display, CTV, video, native, audio, in-game, digital out-of-home, email, direct mail and ChatGPT Ads. It is the one DSP on this page you can start with a credit card and no sales call.

Pricing and minimum spend: some figures published. The plans and packages page (read Oct 23, 2026) shows five tiers, Basic through Enterprise, and states "No minimum spend required to get started" and "Most teams hit their stride around $5k a month". The page shows no dollar fee per tier and says "there are no hidden tech fees".

Pros

• No minimum and a self-serve Basic plan paid by credit card.
• Native, CTV and audio in one campaign, with managed service when you want it; "you're never locked into one level of support".

Cons

• Tier fees stay private, so the final cost still arrives in a quote.
• Custom analytics dashboards and prioritised support sit in the Enterprise tier.
• No YouTube or Prime Video; CTV comes from open exchanges and direct publisher deals.

Data note: StackAdapt exposes performance through a GraphQL API and scheduled reports; the Improvado StackAdapt connector pulls campaign, creative and conversion tables. 35 of Improvado's paying customer accounts keep a live StackAdapt connection (Oct 28, 2026).

5. Adobe Advertising DSP

Adobe Advertising DSP is the buying tool inside Adobe Experience Cloud. The Adobe documentation lists display, CTV (programmatic and guaranteed deals), video, native and audio, and the product's selling point is the plumbing to Adobe Analytics for Advertising, Real-Time CDP, Customer Journey Analytics and GenStudio.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. Adobe's documentation (read Oct 23, 2026) describes advertiser-level fees and CPM pricing for third-party audience segments, with no platform fee or minimum stated.

Pros

• Audiences built in Real-Time CDP activate in the DSP with the same IDs, and Adobe Analytics reads campaign and placement data back.
• CTV guaranteed deals and programmatic CTV in one tool.

Cons

• The value depends on owning Adobe Analytics or Real-Time CDP; without them you pay enterprise prices for a mid-field DSP.
• Third-party segments add CPM fees on top of media, and access is sales-led with an annual contract.

Data note: Adobe delivers custom reports to Amazon S3, FTP locations or email on a schedule; the Improvado Adobe Advertising connector reads those exports into your warehouse.

6. Basis (Basis Technologies, formerly Centro)

Basis bundles a DSP with the agency workflow around it: media planning, buying, billing and reporting for programmatic, direct, search and social in one login. The Basis site lists display, CTV, video, audio, native and digital out-of-home as programmatic channels, with search, social and site-direct buys pulled in through API integrations.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. The Basis site (read Oct 23, 2026) carries no pricing page, fee percentage or minimum.

Pros

• One system for the plan, the insertion order, the DSP campaign and the invoice, which is what agency operations teams buy it for.
• Direct and programmatic buys reported side by side, with managed service and self-serve on the same platform.

Cons

• A single brand with one DSP pays for workflow it may not use.
• No published pricing, and YouTube and Prime Video are out of reach.

Data note: Basis exposes delivery and spend through the Basis Platform API and report exports; the Improvado Basis DSP connector pulls them into the same model as your other DSPs.

7. Simpli.fi

Simpli.fi is a DSP built for local and multi-location advertising. Geo-fencing, addressable (household-level) targeting and keyword targeting are its core, and the Simpli.fi site bundles CTV, paid search, paid social, native, audio and digital out-of-home under "Unified Media". Simpli.Hub lets a franchise or a chain run one template across every storefront.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. The Simpli.fi site (read Oct 23, 2026) states no price, fee or minimum.

Pros

• Geo-fencing and addressable targeting at the level of a store's trade area.
• Multi-location templates for agencies managing hundreds of local accounts, with CTV, search and social in the same workflow.

Cons

• A national brand with no local footprint gets less from the targeting that sets it apart.
• Access and pricing go through sales, with agencies as the main channel.

Data note: Simpli.fi offers a reporting API and scheduled report exports; the Improvado Simpli.fi connector reads them alongside your other local media. 12 of Improvado's paying customer accounts keep a live Simpli.fi connection (Oct 28, 2026).

4 supply-side platforms and ad exchanges

You do not buy a seat on these as an advertiser. You meet them inside your DSP as the exchanges and deal IDs your bids flow through, and they decide which inventory your DSP sees and what a PMP deal costs to set up.

"One of the things that we have to account for is the variance between the reporting from the DSP and the SSP. If it's over 20 percent variance, then we have to dig into it."

Strategy lead at a programmatic media agency, on a call with Improvado, Sep 2025

8. Google Ad Manager and Ad Exchange (AdX)

Google Ad Manager is the ad server most large publishers run, and Ad Exchange is the marketplace inside it where DV360 and Google Ads demand meets publisher inventory. Google's help centre describes two tiers: Ad Manager, which "requires you to sign up for a paid account when you reach a specific impression threshold", and Ad Manager 360, a paid tier with direct Google support, Data Transfer reporting and header bidding trafficking.

Pricing and minimum spend: some figures published. The free tier runs until an impression threshold Google does not state in the help article; the paid tiers carry no published fee, and some Ad Manager 360 features "may involve additional fees" (read Oct 23, 2026).

Pros: the inventory of most large publishers in one exchange. Cons: Google sits on both sides of the auction, and the fee numbers stay private. Data note: Ad Manager reports through its Reporting API, and Ad Manager 360 adds log-level Data Transfer files; the Improvado Google Ad Manager connector reads the reporting API for publishers and agencies with Ad Manager access.

9. Magnite

Magnite calls itself "the largest independent sell-side advertising company" and sells streaming, online video, display and audio inventory for media owners. Its site lists DV+ for display and online video, SpringServe as the streaming ad server, ClearLine for buyers who want a direct route to inventory, and Showcase and Orchestration for packaging inventory to buyer agents.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. The Magnite site (read Oct 23, 2026) carries no fee schedule or revenue share.

Pros: large streaming supply through SpringServe and DV+, and ClearLine lets an agency book streaming without a DSP fee. Cons: publisher-first, so buyers get curated packages and deal IDs with no buying interface of their own, and you negotiate terms. Data note: Magnite reports delivery and revenue in its UI and API; Improvado's Magnite connector is a Build with AI integration for publishers and buyers who hold Magnite reporting access.

10. PubMatic

PubMatic is an SSP whose OpenWrap product runs header bidding for publishers, while Activate gives buyers a supply-path route to the same inventory and Connect handles audience data. It sells display, video, CTV and mobile inventory and competes with Magnite and Index Exchange for the same publishers.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. PubMatic's site refused our automated read on Oct 23, 2026, so confirm current terms with PubMatic sales; nothing on the public pages we could reach states a fee.

Pros: OpenWrap is open-source header bidding, which publishers can audit; Activate gives buyers one hop to supply. Cons: no public pricing, and buyers still need a DSP or an Activate agreement to transact. Data note: PubMatic exposes reporting through its UI and API; Improvado's PubMatic connector is a Build with AI integration for accounts with reporting access.

11. Index Exchange

Index Exchange runs an ad exchange that "enables media owners to grow revenue and marketers to reach consumers on any screen". Its site lists Index Cloud, a compute layer where buyers run their own decisioning next to the exchange, Index Marketplaces for curated deals, an addressability portfolio for post-cookie identity, and streaming TV supply.

Pricing and minimum spend: custom quote, not published. The Index Exchange site (read Oct 23, 2026) carries no fee or revenue-share figure.

Pros: premium publisher and streaming TV supply, and Index Cloud lets agencies and DSPs bring their own models to the auction. Cons: advertisers reach it through a DSP or a curated marketplace, and you negotiate terms. Data note: Index Exchange reports in its UI and API; Improvado's Index Exchange connector is a Build with AI integration for accounts with reporting access.

4 walled gardens with programmatic buying

These four run an automated auction on inventory they own. They skip the exchange and the SSP, open with a credit card, and publish more about pricing than any DSP. Our team buys on all four for Improvado, so the notes below come from accounts we run.

12. Google Ads (Display and Demand Gen)

Google Ads buys the Google Display Network with Display campaigns and YouTube, Discover and Gmail with Demand Gen campaigns, next to Search and Performance Max. For display and video reach without a DSP contract it is the entry point; our DV360 vs. Google Ads comparison shows what you give up.

Pricing and minimum spend: auction, no minimum published. Google's bid and budget help (read Oct 23, 2026) says you set "the average amount you're willing to spend per day" and that in a billing period "you're never charged more than 30.4 multiplied by your average daily budget amount". The Google Ads site lists Demand Gen and Display among its campaign types. Google Ads is live in 144 of Improvado's 181 paying customer accounts (Oct 28, 2026), and in 90% of the accounts that also run a programmatic platform.

Pros: YouTube and Gmail placements with a daily budget you set yourself, plus GA4 audiences and conversions. Cons: open-exchange inventory and deal IDs are out of reach, and Display Network placements need exclusion lists to stay on quality sites. Data note: Google Ads reports through the Google Ads API with campaign, ad group, ad and asset tables; the Improvado Google Ads connector pulls them daily.

13. Meta Ads

Meta Ads Manager buys Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and the Audience Network through one auction, and most B2C teams start here.

Pricing and minimum spend: auction, low published starting point. Meta's pricing page (read Oct 23, 2026) suggests you "start with at least $5 for your budget and to choose a duration over six days", offers daily and lifetime budgets, and notes that Meta "may spend up to 75% over your daily promotional budget" on a given day while averaging out over the week. Meta Ads is live in 147 of Improvado's 181 paying customer accounts (Oct 28, 2026), the widest reach of any platform on this page.

Pros: the lowest starting budget on this page and the widest creative formats (Reels, Stories, carousels). Cons: CTV is out, open-web inventory stops at the Audience Network, and Meta's attribution counts conversions other platforms also claim. Data note: Meta reports through the Marketing API Insights endpoints with breakdowns by age, gender, placement and region; the Improvado Facebook Ads connector handles the attribution windows and breakdowns for you.

14. LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn Campaign Manager sells sponsored content, message ads, document ads and conversation ads to 1.3 billion members, targeted by job title, company, industry, seniority and skills. For B2B teams its targeting data matches the buying committee.

Pricing and minimum spend: auction with objective-based pricing. LinkedIn's pricing page (read Oct 23, 2026) states that "you're only charged when that event occurs" for the objective you pick, and its help centre adds that "each campaign needs to have an unspent budget of $100 USD, or equivalent currency, to launch a new ad set". LinkedIn Ads is live in 66 of Improvado's 181 paying customer accounts (Oct 28, 2026).

Pros: first-party professional data no DSP can match, and company-list targeting for account-based plans. Cons: the highest cost per click among the four gardens in our own accounts, and no inventory beyond LinkedIn and its Audience Network. Data note: LinkedIn reports through the Marketing API analytics endpoints, with demographic breakdowns that do not join to click-level data; the Improvado LinkedIn Ads connector pulls campaign, creative and demographic tables.

15. Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising sells search ads on Bing and partner engines plus native placements on MSN, Outlook, Edge and partner sites through the Microsoft Audience Network.

Pricing and minimum spend: pay per click, no minimum. The Microsoft Advertising site (read Oct 23, 2026) states "Only pay for clicks", "No minimum fee" and "Budget by the day". Microsoft Advertising is live in 82 of Improvado's 181 paying customer accounts (Oct 28, 2026).

Pros: import from Google Ads in minutes, LinkedIn profile targeting on search and audience campaigns, and lower competition on most queries in our accounts. Cons: smaller reach than Google, and the Audience Network's native inventory stops at Microsoft properties and partners. Data note: Microsoft reports through its Reporting API; the Improvado Microsoft Advertising connector pulls campaign, keyword and audience reports with the same field names as your Google Ads data.

Which platform for which budget

The tiers below use the numbers the vendors publish and nothing else. Where a vendor publishes none, the row says so, and the sales process is the price signal.

Two rules of thumb from our own buying. Start in the walled gardens and StackAdapt until the creative and the audience are proven, because the exit cost is zero. Add a DSP when you need inventory the gardens cannot sell you, and pick it by that inventory first, fee second.

Measuring across platforms

Every platform on this page reports its own spend and its own conversions, and the conversions overlap. Meta, Google and LinkedIn each claim the sale a customer made after seeing all three. Field names differ: one platform's "campaign" is another's "insertion order", and CTV completion rates arrive under different labels.

"To get a viewable CPM, I need that spend from The Trade Desk and I need those viewable impressions from DoubleVerify."

Media operations analyst at a marketing agency, on a call with Improvado, Dec 2025

The fix is the same for a two-platform team and a ten-platform agency. Pull each platform's reporting API into one warehouse on a schedule, map the fields to one naming convention, and decide once how you de-duplicate conversions, whether through a tag manager, a CRM or a modelled attribution rule. Then the budget table above becomes a report you run every Monday.

Improvado does the first two steps for you. Connectors for every platform in this article, and 1,400+ data sources in total, pull the reporting APIs into a governed warehouse model, so DV360, The Trade Desk, Amazon DSP and the four walled gardens land in one table with one set of field names, and the data stays in your warehouse.

One more thing we have learned from this work: no two advertisers share a situation. The platform mix differs, the attribution rule differs, the warehouse differs, and the vendors rename products and fields every quarter (Amazon DSP became Amazon Ads Agent while we were writing this page). A comparison like the one above holds for a season. Keeping it true for your own accounts takes every source connected and a knowledge graph of your metrics that is kept current as the platforms change. That is the work Improvado does for enterprise-grade clients. If you run media at a company of that size, a discovery call is worth the hour: Get your demo.