TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    AppLovin Exchange (ALX)

    Score6.9 out of 10
    N/AAppLovin is a mobile advertising optimization platform from the company of the same name headquartered in California.N/A

    ironSource

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AironSource (or Supersonic before ironSource and Supersonic merged under the ironSource brand) is a mobile app monetization and mobile advertising application. ironSource (the company) is headquartered in Tel Aviv.N/A
    Pricing
    AppLovin Exchange (ALX)ironSource
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
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    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    AppLovin Exchange (ALX)ironSource
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    AppLovin Exchange (ALX)ironSource
    Considered Both Products
    AppLovin
    No answer on this topic
    ironSource
    Chose ironSource
    We were wanting to expand our channels, and IS stood out from the others because of their presence in other verticals that suited our target audience. We would not propose utilizing IS to replace any of your existing DSPs, but rather to supplement the DSPs you are already using.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
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    Best Alternatives
    AppLovin Exchange (ALX)ironSource
    Small Businesses
    Google AdMob
    Score7 out of 10
    Google AdMob
    Score7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    AppLovin Exchange (ALX)ironSource
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.5
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.8
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    AppLovin Exchange (ALX)ironSource
    Likelihood to Recommend
    AppLovin
    AppLovin is particularly well suited for gaming campaigns where it is really hard to reach users and you need formats like the rewarded video to keep users engaged with your ad. I would not recommend it for branding campaigns as their formats are more performance-focused and the inventory is expensive so unless you are trying to reach the desired CPA, it would not be worth it to pay that much for ad placement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ironSource
    Very good to scale Android apps in US or MX. I wouldn't use it for scaling iOS Apps in Latin America as they have a very small inventory. The platform is super easy to use and start launching ads. We use it as a complement to Appsflyer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    AppLovin
    • ROI
    • Growth
    • Monetization
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ironSource
    • Dedicated account manager to keep things running smoothly and provide feedback weekly
    • Great reach of publishers
    • Large verity of ad formats
    Read full review
    Cons
    AppLovin
    • Their support is very slow.
    • Inventory prices can be a bit high.
    • They need better anti-fraud controls.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ironSource
    • Not enough anti-fraud controls
    • Not enough inventory on small countries
    • CPMs are quite expensive
    Read full review
    Usability
    AppLovin
    AppLovin has been a great partner for us. We have used them through our DSP and gotten great results with them. Their focus is on monetizing publishers' inventory and they could put more resources into their standalone service as an SSP to make sure DSPs can consider them strategic partners for the long term.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ironSource
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    AppLovin
    AppLovin's support team is their weakest point. They are not very responsive and they tend to provide solutions that do not fix the problem. It seems like they will only be proactive if you are a very big client and by doing that they are preventing the rest of the client base from increasing spend on their platform and growing their accounts
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ironSource
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    AppLovin
    Of all of the competitors above, AppLovin is the one that is more focused on gaming and that has a better pool of users in terms of conversion rate. While PubMatic and Magnate offer better solutions for CTV, AppLovin is better than InMobi and MoPub regarding in-app formats and inventory.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ironSource
    ironSource has more reach in the USA than other players that are focused on smaller geos. I would also say that Google is a big competitor with its DV360 and we use them as well, but ironSource is more focused on branding and Google provides more options for campaigns that have multiple objectives.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    AppLovin
    • It has had a positive impact on my business objectives
    • It has helped me grow exponentially
    • It has provided a way for me to expand my business
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ironSource
    • It help us scale some apps.
    • Sometimes it doesn't deliver at the set targets.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots