7 Best AdRoll Alternatives for Retargeting & Ad Campaigns

Why look beyond AdRoll

AdRoll is a recognized platform for e-commerce and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) focusing on retargeting and cross-channel campaign management. Its core offerings include retargeting ads, brand awareness campaigns, and email marketing, supported by audience segmentation tools. AdRoll provides a free tier with limited features and paid plans starting at $50/month for its Starter tier, which includes additional functionalities and ad spend limits. The platform is designed with a user-friendly interface for campaign management, and it supports compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

However, businesses may seek alternatives for several reasons. Some may require more advanced programmatic advertising capabilities or deeper integration options that are not prominently featured in AdRoll's public developer documentation. Others might find the cost structure for higher ad spend tiers less competitive compared to platforms specializing in enterprise-level advertising. Specific industries or campaign types might also benefit from alternatives that offer more specialized audience targeting, creative optimization tools, or reporting metrics tailored to their unique requirements. Additionally, businesses focused purely on account-based marketing (ABM) might find more dedicated solutions than AdRoll's broader approach.

Top alternatives ranked

1. 1. Criteo — Global commerce media platform for performance marketing

   Criteo specializes in commerce media, offering solutions for performance marketing and retail monetization. The platform focuses on delivering personalized ads at scale, leveraging its extensive shopper data to drive sales and customer acquisition. Criteo's core strength lies in its ability to connect advertisers with a vast network of publishers and retailers, enabling highly specific audience targeting and retargeting across various channels. It provides tools for both demand-side and supply-side platforms, assisting brands and retailers in optimizing their advertising spend and maximizing return on investment. Criteo is particularly suited for large e-commerce businesses and brands seeking to enhance their digital advertising through data-driven personalization. While AdRoll is strong in SMB e-commerce retargeting, Criteo typically serves larger enterprises with a focus on commerce-specific advertising ecosystems. More information about Criteo's offerings can be found on their official website.

   • Best for: Large e-commerce businesses, retail media, advanced personalization, global ad campaigns.

2. 2. RTB House — Deep learning-powered retargeting and branding

   RTB House is a global company that provides retargeting and branding solutions powered by deep learning algorithms. Their technology is designed to deliver highly personalized ads to maximize conversion rates and brand engagement. RTB House differentiates itself through its proprietary deep learning engine, which analyzes user behavior in real-time to predict purchasing intent and optimize ad delivery. This allows for more sophisticated audience segmentation and dynamic creative optimization compared to traditional retargeting methods. The platform supports various ad formats across display, video, and mobile channels. Businesses looking for cutting-edge AI-driven personalization in their retargeting efforts, especially those with significant ad spend and a need for granular optimization, often consider RTB House. AdRoll offers retargeting, but RTB House emphasizes deep learning for enhanced performance. Details on RTB House's solutions are available on their company website.

   • Best for: E-commerce, brands requiring advanced AI-driven personalization, real-time bidding optimization, high-volume retargeting campaigns.

3. 3. RollWorks — Account-based platform for B2B growth

   RollWorks, also owned by NextRoll, Inc. like AdRoll, focuses specifically on account-based marketing (ABM) for B2B companies. While AdRoll targets e-commerce and broader digital advertising, RollWorks is built to help B2B organizations identify, engage, and measure target accounts throughout the buyer journey. Its platform integrates account-level data, intent signals, and CRM information to deliver highly targeted ad campaigns, website personalization, and sales insights. RollWorks provides tools for account identification, engagement scoring, and multi-channel orchestration including display ads, social ads, and email. This makes it a strong alternative for B2B companies that need to align their marketing and sales efforts around specific high-value accounts. For businesses operating in a B2B context where account-level targeting is paramount, RollWorks offers a more specialized toolset than AdRoll's consumer-focused retargeting. Further information can be found on the RollWorks site.

   • Best for: B2B companies, account-based marketing (ABM), sales and marketing alignment, target account identification and engagement.

4. 4. Google Analytics 4 — Event-based analytics for cross-platform user insights

   Google Analytics 4 (GA4) represents a significant shift in web analytics, moving from a session-based model to an event-based data model. This allows for more flexible and comprehensive tracking of user interactions across websites and mobile apps. While not an advertising platform itself, GA4 is crucial for informing advertising strategies, including those on platforms like AdRoll. It excels at cross-platform user behavior tracking, predictive analytics, and seamless integration with other Google products, particularly Google Ads. GA4 provides deep insights into the customer journey, enabling marketers to understand audience segments, optimize campaign performance, and identify conversion paths. For businesses using AdRoll or any other ad platform, leveraging GA4's data is essential for effective audience segmentation, campaign measurement, and attribution. Its focus on event-based data provides a more holistic view of user engagement, which can directly inform retargeting strategies. The official GA4 documentation provides comprehensive details on its capabilities: Google Analytics 4 Help.

   • Best for: Cross-platform user behavior tracking, event-based data modeling, predictive analytics, integration with Google Ads, enhancing audience segmentation.

5. 5. Google Keyword Planner — Keyword research and forecast for Google Ads

   Google Keyword Planner is a free tool primarily designed for users of Google Ads, offering comprehensive capabilities for keyword research, search volume estimation, and ad campaign forecasting. While AdRoll focuses on retargeting and display ads, Keyword Planner is fundamental for informing search ad strategies and understanding audience intent through keywords. It allows users to discover new keyword ideas, analyze their historical performance, and get traffic forecasts for potential ad campaigns. This tool is invaluable for identifying high-intent keywords that can be used not only in search campaigns but also to refine audience targeting for display and retargeting efforts on platforms like AdRoll. By understanding what users are searching for, businesses can create more relevant ad copy and landing pages, improving the effectiveness of their overall advertising spend. Access to the Keyword Planner is typically provided through Google Ads accounts.

   • Best for: Keyword research, search volume estimation, ad campaign forecasting, understanding keyword competition, informing search and display ad strategies.

6. 6. Semrush — All-in-one platform for digital marketing insights

   Semrush is a comprehensive digital marketing platform that offers tools for SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and PPC. While AdRoll focuses specifically on retargeting and advertising, Semrush provides a broader suite of tools that can inform and enhance an entire digital marketing strategy, including advertising efforts. Its capabilities include keyword research, competitor analysis, technical SEO audits, content gap analysis, and backlink profile analysis. For advertising, Semrush's competitive research tools can help identify competitor ad strategies, top-performing keywords, and display ad creatives. This intelligence can be used to refine audience targeting, improve ad copy, and discover new opportunities for campaigns run on platforms like AdRoll. Semrush's strength lies in its ability to provide a holistic view of the market and competitor landscape, which is crucial for maximizing the effectiveness of any advertising campaign. More details are available on the Semrush Knowledge Base.

   • Best for: Holistic digital marketing strategy, competitor ad analysis, keyword research for ad targeting, content marketing insights, comprehensive SEO audits.

7. 7. Ahrefs — SEO toolkit for site explorers and content strategists

   Ahrefs is a popular SEO toolkit primarily known for its extensive database of backlinks, keywords, and content. While its core focus is on search engine optimization, the insights derived from Ahrefs can significantly benefit advertising strategies, including those on AdRoll. For instance, Ahrefs' keyword research tools can uncover high-performing keywords that indicate specific user intent, which can then be used to refine audience segments for retargeting campaigns or to create more relevant ad copy. Its competitor analysis features allow marketers to understand what ad creatives and landing pages competitors are using, providing inspiration and strategic direction for their own campaigns. Additionally, analyzing top-performing content can inform content creation for landing pages that support advertising efforts. Although not an ad platform, Ahrefs provides critical data intelligence that can directly improve the targeting and effectiveness of ad campaigns. The Ahrefs Help Center offers guidance on using its features.

   • Best for: Competitor ad analysis, keyword research for ad relevance, backlink analysis, content gap analysis to inform landing pages, technical SEO insights.

Side-by-side

How to pick

Selecting the appropriate AdRoll alternative involves evaluating your specific marketing objectives, target audience, technical capabilities, and budget. The decision-making process can be structured around several key considerations:

1. Define your primary goal:

• If your goal is advanced, large-scale e-commerce personalization and performance, especially for retail: Consider Criteo. Its focus on commerce media and extensive shopper data makes it suitable for optimizing ad spend and driving sales in complex retail environments.
• If you require cutting-edge AI-driven retargeting with deep learning for maximum conversion rates: Evaluate RTB House. Their proprietary technology is designed for highly granular personalization and real-time bidding optimization.
• If your business is B2B and you need an account-based marketing (ABM) platform to target specific companies: RollWorks is the specialized choice. It aligns marketing and sales efforts around high-value accounts.
• If you need comprehensive, event-based analytics to understand cross-platform user behavior and inform all marketing efforts: Google Analytics 4 is essential. While not an ad platform, its data is critical for audience segmentation and campaign optimization for any ad platform.
• If your focus is on informing Google Ads campaigns with robust keyword research and forecasting: Google Keyword Planner is a fundamental tool for understanding search intent and competition.
• If you require a broad suite of tools for SEO, content, PPC, and competitive analysis to inform your overall digital strategy: Semrush offers a comprehensive platform that can provide insights across various marketing disciplines.
• If your priority is in-depth competitive intelligence, backlink analysis, and keyword research for SEO that can also inform ad targeting: Ahrefs provides valuable data for understanding market dynamics and competitor strategies.

2. Consider your budget and scale:

• For smaller budgets or businesses just starting with retargeting: AdRoll's free tier and lower-cost paid plans may be sufficient. However, for free tools to inform strategy, Google Analytics 4 and Google Keyword Planner are invaluable.
• For larger enterprises with significant ad spend: Criteo and RTB House typically cater to higher volumes and offer advanced performance-based models that scale with investment.
• For B2B companies: RollWorks pricing will align with the value of target accounts rather than broad ad impressions.

3. Assess technical requirements and integrations:

• Developer experience: If programmatic access and deep API integrations are crucial, platforms like Criteo, RTB House, and Google Analytics 4 offer more robust developer documentation and APIs. AdRoll is more UI-driven.
• Existing tech stack: Consider how well the alternative integrates with your current CRM, e-commerce platform, and other marketing tools. Google products integrate seamlessly with each other.

4. Evaluate reporting and analytics:

• Ensure the alternative provides the specific metrics and reporting capabilities you need to measure campaign effectiveness and demonstrate ROI. GA4 offers a highly customizable reporting interface for detailed user behavior analysis.

5. Industry and business model:

• E-commerce: Criteo and RTB House are strong for commerce-specific performance.
• B2B: RollWorks is purpose-built for ABM strategies.
• Content-driven businesses: Semrush and Ahrefs provide foundational insights for content and SEO that can complement advertising.