For most publishers in 2026, the real choice is Adsterra vs Monetag, because PropellerAds no longer runs a separate publisher platform.
We found this out the simple way. While updating this comparison in October 2026, we opened the PropellerAds publisher page to check its payout terms, and it sent us straight to Monetag. Monetag’s own footer says it is operated by Propeller Ads Ltd in Limassol, Cyprus. So if you have been reading old articles that compare “PropellerAds vs Monetag” as two different publisher networks, they are out of date. PropellerAds today is mainly the advertiser side: the company that buys your traffic through Monetag.
That changes how you should think about this comparison. You are not choosing between three networks. You are choosing between two very different philosophies:
- Adsterra gives you many formats and lets you decide where each one goes. It rewards publishers who like to test and control things.
- Monetag pushes automation. Its MultiTag picks the format for you, and it is built for traffic that doesn’t live on a normal website, like Telegram Mini Apps, APKs and social media.
In this guide we compare both on the things that actually affect your income: formats, approval rules, earnings, payouts, support and safety. We also share our honest view on where each one fits, a 14-day test plan you can copy, and the mistakes that get publishers banned.
So which one should you pick? Here is the short answer:
- Pick Monetag if you want low payout thresholds ($5 via PayPal), Telegram Mini App monetization, or one AI-driven tag (MultiTag) that picks the best format for you.
- Pick Adsterra if you want more display-style formats (Native Banners, standard Banners, Social Bar), you run adult or grey-niche traffic, or you want a dedicated manager from day one.
- Best result: many publishers run both and compare eCPM on the same traffic for 2 weeks. Below, we compare them on formats, approval, earnings, payments, support and safety.
Disclosure: This comparison is based on the official publisher pages of each network, checked in October 2026, plus publisher reviews. Payout thresholds and formats can change, so always confirm inside your dashboard.
What Most Adsterra vs PropellerAds Comparisons Get Wrong
Most pages ranking for this topic don’t help a publisher decide, and it’s worth knowing why before you trust any of them, including ours.
1. They are software-directory pages, not reviews. Many top results for “Adsterra vs PropellerAds” are auto-generated comparison pages from software directories. They show a star rating and a blank feature grid. There’s no hands-on testing, and it’s rarely clear whether the ratings come from advertisers or publishers.
2. They mix up advertiser and publisher views. A network can be great for media buyers and average for site owners, or the other way round. Reviews written for affiliates talk about bidding, targeting and deposits. As a publisher, you care about eCPM, fill rate, payout threshold and whether your account survives. This article is written only from the publisher side.
3. They still treat PropellerAds as a separate publisher network. As explained above, that hasn’t been true for a while. If an article lists different payout terms for PropellerAds and Monetag publishers, it’s describing the past.
4. They quote one magic CPM number. You’ll see claims like “Adsterra pays $3 CPM.” CPM depends on country, device, format, niche, season and traffic quality. A number without those details is useless. We’d rather give you a way to measure your own (see the 14-day test plan below).
Our view: Treat any “X pays more than Y” claim as a hypothesis. The only CPM that matters is the one your own traffic gets.
Adsterra vs PropellerAds vs Monetag at a Glance
Monetag wins on payout flexibility and Telegram support, while Adsterra wins on display formats and niche acceptance.
| Feature | Adsterra | Monetag (formerly PropellerAds publishers) | PropellerAds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Role in 2026 | Publisher + advertiser network | Publisher monetization platform | Advertiser platform (publishers redirected to Monetag) |
| Company | Adsterra, since 2013 | Propeller Ads Ltd, Limassol, Cyprus | Propeller Ads Ltd, Limassol, Cyprus |
| Publishers (claimed) | 35,000+ | 1,000,000+ | Same as Monetag |
| Minimum traffic | None | None | — |
| Approval time | About 10 minutes | Under 24 hours | — |
| Main formats | Popunder, Social Bar, Native Banner, Banner, Direct Link | Popunder, Push, In-Page Push, Vignette Banner, SmartLink, MultiTag | — |
| Lowest payout | $5 (Paxum) | $5 (PayPal, Skrill, WebMoney) | — |
| Payout schedule | Twice a month, NET-15 | Automatic, every 2 weeks (first payout 2 weeks after start) | — |
| Telegram Mini Apps | No dedicated solution (Direct Link covers social traffic) | Yes, dedicated solution | — |
| Adult sites | Accepted | Not accepted | — |
| Free hosted blogs (Blogspot, WordPress.com) | Check Adsterra’s terms | Not accepted | — |
Figures from the official Adsterra publishers page and Monetag homepage and FAQ, checked October 2026.
Overview of Each Network
Adsterra
Adsterra has run since 2013 and serves both advertisers and publishers. It claims 35,000+ publishers, 15,000+ direct advertisers and a 100% fill rate. Approval on its publisher platform takes about 10 minutes, with no minimum traffic.
Its best-known product is the Social Bar, an in-house format that mixes in-page push, notifications and widgets in one unit. Adsterra also sells Popunder, Native Banners, standard Banners and a Direct Link for publishers without a website.
Read our full Adsterra review.
Our take on Adsterra: Adsterra feels like a network built by people who expect you to experiment. You get a menu of formats and decide what goes where. That’s a strength if you know your audience, and a trap if you don’t. Many beginners paste the popunder code on every page and wonder why their bounce rate jumps. In our view, the smarter setup is to use Social Bar or Native Banners on content pages and save popunders for pages where visitors won’t come back anyway, like download or redirect pages. The Social Bar is the most interesting thing here, because it’s a format you can’t get from Monetag at all.
PropellerAds (now Monetag for publishers)
PropellerAds was one of the oldest pop and push networks for publishers. Today, when you open its publisher page, you are sent to Monetag. Monetag’s footer confirms it is operated by Propeller Ads Ltd. In short: if you want to monetize with PropellerAds in 2026, you sign up at Monetag. PropellerAds itself now focuses on advertisers who buy traffic.
Old PropellerAds accounts and payment methods carried over to Monetag.
Read our older Propeller Ads review for history.
Monetag
Monetag claims over 1 million publishers and a 100% fill rate across 195+ GEOs. It monetizes websites, social traffic, APK apps and Telegram Mini Apps. Its key tool is MultiTag, one AI-driven tag that tests several formats and serves the best one per visitor.
Sign-up and approval take under 24 hours, and there is no minimum traffic.
Read our full Monetag review.
Our take on Monetag: Monetag is the more “hands-off” option, and that’s both its selling point and its weakness. MultiTag means you add one code and let the system decide. For a beginner, that saves weeks of testing. For an experienced publisher, it can feel like a black box: you don’t always know why a visitor saw a push prompt instead of a banner. Where Monetag really stands out is non-website traffic. If you run a Telegram Mini App, a bot or an APK, it’s one of the few big networks with a ready-made solution for it. The strict rules (no Blogspot, no adult, self-hosted domain only) also tell you something: Monetag would rather reject a site than risk advertiser complaints.
Ad Formats Compared
Both networks are built around popunder ads, but Adsterra has more display options and Monetag has more push-style and automated options.
| Ad format | Adsterra | Monetag | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popunder | Yes | Yes | Highest CPM on most traffic; download, streaming and tool sites |
| Social Bar | Yes (exclusive) | No | Blogs and mobile traffic that want high CTR without a popup |
| Native Banner | Yes | Vignette Banner (native-style) | Content sites, in-article placement |
| Standard Banners | Yes | No | Sidebar and header slots, works next to AdSense |
| Push Notifications | No (Social Bar covers in-page push) | Yes | Earning from returning users, even after they leave |
| In-Page Push | Inside Social Bar | Yes | iOS and macOS users, where browser push is blocked |
| Direct Link / SmartLink | Direct Link | SmartLink | Social media, YouTube, Telegram, APK and 404 traffic |
| Auto format picker | No | MultiTag (AI) | Beginners who don’t want to test formats by hand |
| Telegram Mini App SDK | No | Yes | Telegram bots and Mini App owners |
Tip: Popunder pays the most on both networks, but it can hurt returning visitors and SEO-driven blogs. For a content blog, test Social Bar (Adsterra) or Vignette Banner and In-Page Push (Monetag) first.
Popunders, SEO and Your Visitors: Our Honest View
Popunders are where both networks make most of their money, and both sell them as the top-paying format. What their sales pages don’t spend much time on is the cost to your site.
Here’s how we think about it:
- Popunders don’t sit on your page, but users still link them to you. A visitor who closes a tab and finds a casino or VPN ad behind it remembers your site, not the network. If your blog depends on readers coming back or bookmarking you, that hurts over time.
- Mobile is where it gets risky. Google has said for years that intrusive interstitials on mobile can hurt how a page ranks. Full-screen formats that cover content on mobile fall into that zone. A popunder in a new tab is different from an on-page interstitial, but vignette and full-screen ads need care on mobile.
- Popunders and AdSense don’t always mix well. Monetag says its formats are compatible with AdSense, but AdSense has its own rules about what can appear next to its ads. If AdSense is your main income, test on a few pages first and read its policies before going site-wide.
Our rule of thumb:
- Search-traffic blog that wants to grow: no popunder on article pages. Use Social Bar, Native Banner or In-Page Push instead.
- Utility, download, streaming, anime or tool site: popunder is fine and usually the top earner. If your dashboard or your account manager can set a frequency limit, start with about 1 per user per 24 hours.
- Social or paid traffic sent to a landing page: SmartLink or Direct Link, no on-page ads needed.
Our view: If a format makes you lose 20% of your returning readers, a 30% higher CPM is a bad trade. Watch your returning-visitor rate in Google Analytics for two weeks after adding any interruptive format.
Approval and Requirements
Adsterra is the easier network to join; Monetag is fast too but has stricter content rules.
Adsterra
- No minimum traffic or pageviews.
- Approval in about 10 minutes.
- Free to join; you can monetize social traffic without a website using Direct Link.
Monetag
- No minimum traffic, pageviews or niche limits.
- Sign-up, approval and first ad code in under 24 hours.
- Your site needs real organic traffic and original content.
- Not accepted: adult or illegal content, bot or incentivized traffic, and free-hosted sites such as Blogspot, WordPress.com, Wix and Weebly. You need your own domain.
Verdict: If you run a new Blogspot blog or an adult site, Monetag will reject you, so Adsterra is the one to try (check its publisher terms first). If you have your own domain and clean traffic, both will approve you quickly.
CPM and Earnings: Which Pays More?
Neither network wins on every site: earnings depend on GEO, device, format and niche far more than on the network. Both pay on an eCPM basis, which counts views, clicks and conversions together.
What each network says about its rates:
- Monetag says Tier-1 GEOs (US, UK, Germany) pay the highest rates. It claims MultiTag can raise yield by up to 53%.
- Adsterra says its publishers earn $87M+ per year in total. It notes that quality traffic from India, South Africa, Indonesia and Latin America can beat Tier-1, and that social traffic pays well.
What publishers report:
- An AffLift forum test compared Monetag SmartLink and Adsterra SmartLink on the same paid traffic. The test was done at Monetag’s invitation, so treat one test like this as a hint, not proof.
- Some Trustpilot reviewers complain about Monetag cutting impressions or revenue on low-quality traffic. Others praise its on-time payments.
- Adsterra users on Techjockey praise its fill rate and account managers, but note bot filtering could improve.
How to find out which pays you more: put both on similar pages for 14 days, using the same format (for example popunder vs popunder). Compare eCPM by country in each dashboard, then keep the winner or split traffic by GEO.
Our View for Publishers With Indian and Tier-3 Traffic
Many publishers run sites where most visitors come from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia or Africa. For this kind of traffic, the usual advice to “get Tier-1 visitors” isn’t very practical.
Here’s what we’d focus on instead:
- Volume beats rate. Tier-3 CPMs are lower everywhere, so the network with the higher fill and steadier delivery often earns more in total than the one with a higher headline CPM.
- Adsterra openly courts this traffic. Its publisher page says quality views from India, South Africa, Indonesia and Latin America can beat Tier-1 publishers. Take that as marketing, but it does suggest real demand for these GEOs.
- Monetag’s low payout matters more here. If your site earns $3–$10 a day, a $5 PayPal threshold means you see your money in the first cycle. A $25 or $100 threshold can take weeks.
- Mobile is the whole game. Most Tier-3 traffic is on mobile, so test In-Page Push and Social Bar, which are built to work on phones, including iPhones where browser push is limited.
Our view: For a small Indian blog starting out, Monetag is the lower-risk first step because of the $5 PayPal payout. Once you’re earning steadily, test Adsterra’s Social Bar on the same pages and keep whichever earns more per 1,000 visitors.
A 14-Day Test Plan You Can Copy
The fairest way to compare Adsterra and Monetag is to give both the same kind of traffic, with the same format, for the same time. Here’s the plan we recommend:
- Day 0 – Pick two similar groups of pages. Choose pages with similar traffic, the same country mix and the same device split. For example, two categories on the same blog. Don’t compare your homepage to a random article.
- Day 0 – Use the same format on both. Popunder vs popunder, or Adsterra Native Banner vs Monetag Vignette Banner. Comparing a popunder on one side to a banner on the other tells you nothing.
- Days 1–3 – Ignore the numbers. Both networks need a few days to learn your traffic. Early eCPM is often unstable, so don’t panic or switch.
- Days 4–14 – Record daily. Note impressions, revenue and eCPM for each network, split by your top 3–5 countries. A simple Google Sheet is enough.
- Day 14 – Compare by country, not overall. One network may win in India and lose in the US. If so, you can route traffic by GEO instead of picking a single winner.
- Day 14 – Check the hidden cost. Compare bounce rate, pages per session and returning visitors in Google Analytics for both page groups. A higher eCPM that drives readers away is not a win.
- Day 15 – Decide, then retest every 3 months. Rates change with the season, especially in Q4 (October–December), when advertiser budgets peak.
Template for your log:
| Date | Network | Format | Top country | Impressions | Revenue ($) | eCPM ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 4 | Adsterra | Popunder | India | |||
| Day 4 | Monetag | Popunder | India |
Add your result: Once you’ve run this test on your own site, replace this box with your real numbers and a dashboard screenshot. That one table will do more for this page’s ranking and trust than any amount of extra text.
Payment Methods, Minimum Payout and Schedule
Monetag is better for small earners because PayPal starts at $5; Adsterra’s $5 entry needs Paxum or WebMoney.
| Payment method | Adsterra minimum | Monetag minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Paxum | $5 | — |
| WebMoney | $5 | $5 |
| PayPal | $25 (some older reviews list $100) | $5 |
| Skrill | — | $5 |
| Payoneer | — | $20 or $30, by country |
| Crypto (USDT, Bitcoin) | $100 | $100 |
| Wire transfer | $1,000 | $500 |
| Local bank / online banking | Via Hyperwallet in 40+ countries | $500 |
Schedule:
- Adsterra pays automatically twice a month on NET-15 terms, on the 1st–2nd and 16th–17th (GMT), once you reach your method’s threshold.
- Monetag pays automatically every two weeks. Your first payout opens 2 weeks after you start sending traffic. Its homepage says “weekly payouts,” but its own FAQ says biweekly, so expect biweekly.
For Indian publishers: Monetag’s $5 PayPal and $20–30 Payoneer options are easier to reach. With Adsterra, PayPal or Paxum is usually simplest; wire at $1,000 only suits large balances.
Thresholds for Monetag are from its official FAQ. Adsterra officially confirms the $5 Paxum minimum on its publishers page; other amounts come from reviews checked in 2026 (TheWearify, AdPushup), so confirm them in your dashboard.
Dashboard, Support and Ad Safety
Both offer real-time stats, personal managers and malware checks; Adsterra’s support gets more consistent praise.
| Area | Adsterra | Monetag |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Stats by site, placement, GEO; API access | Real-time stats by GEO, format, device and date; API and XML |
| Support | 24/7 chat and expert managers (“Partner Care” program) | Live chat, email; personal manager available |
| Ad safety | In-house 3-level security system against malware and fraud ads | 24/7 automatic monitoring with anti-fraud and malware tools |
| Anti-AdBlock | Yes | Yes, built into Vignette Banner |
| Extra earnings | Referral program | Referral program and Priority Program |
On Trustpilot, Monetag shows a mixed record: many publishers praise its timely payments, while others report sudden bans or revenue cuts for traffic-quality reasons. Adsterra reviews on Techjockey are mostly positive about support and fill rate. On both networks, low-quality or bot traffic is the main reason accounts get banned.
How to Get Started on Each Network
Both sign-ups take minutes; most of your time should go into choosing where the ads go.
Adsterra setup
- Sign up as a Publisher at adsterra.com and confirm your email.
- Add your website (or choose Direct Link if you only have social traffic).
- Pick a format. For a content blog, start with Social Bar or Native Banner, not popunder.
- Copy the code into your site. On WordPress, a header/footer plugin or your theme’s ad slots work fine.
- Add your payment details early, so payouts aren’t delayed on the 1st or 16th of the month.
- Message your account manager after a week and ask which formats are performing for your GEOs. This is free advice most publishers never ask for.
Monetag setup
- Sign up at monetag.com, confirm your email and add your site or app. Make sure it’s on your own domain.
- Wait for approval (usually under 24 hours).
- Choose MultiTag if you want Monetag to pick formats for you, or single formats (In-Page Push, Vignette Banner, Popunder) if you want control.
- Add the code site-wide or only on the pages you’re testing.
- Set your payment method. PayPal, Skrill and WebMoney start at $5.
- Remember your first payout only opens 2 weeks after you start sending traffic, so don’t worry if nothing arrives in week one.
Mistakes That Get Publishers Banned (on Both Networks)
Almost every “they banned me and kept my money” story in publisher reviews follows the same pattern: the network saw traffic it didn’t trust. Monetag states plainly that bot, incentivized and artificial traffic leads to suspension, and Adsterra also says it values quality traffic and filters fraud.
Avoid these:
- Clicking your own ads or asking friends to. Networks can spot repeated clicks from the same people and devices.
- Buying cheap traffic from traffic exchanges, “10,000 visitors for $5” sellers or bot services. This is the number one reason accounts get closed.
- Incentivized traffic. Telling users “click the ad to unlock the download” or paying them to view ads is a common reason for bans.
- Hiding ads or stacking codes so impressions load without users seeing them.
- Testing with VPNs on your own site to see ads from other countries. Do this rarely, if at all.
- Sudden traffic spikes from one source you can’t explain. If you get a viral spike, tell your manager before payout day.
Our view: Before you blame the network for a ban, ask where your traffic really comes from. If you can’t explain a traffic source in one sentence, don’t put ad code in front of it.
Pros and Cons
Adsterra
Pros
- Approval in about 10 minutes, no traffic minimum
- Exclusive Social Bar format with high CTR
- Native and standard banners for content sites
- Accepts a wider range of niches
- 24/7 Partner Care support with expert managers
- $5 minimum via Paxum
Cons
- PayPal and crypto thresholds are higher than Monetag’s
- Wire transfer needs $1,000
- No dedicated Telegram Mini App solution
- Popunder and redirect-style ads can annoy visitors if overused
Monetag (PropellerAds)
Pros
- $5 minimum via PayPal, Skrill or WebMoney
- MultiTag picks the best format automatically
- Dedicated Telegram Mini App and APK monetization
- Push notifications earn from users who have left your site
- Very large network (1M+ publishers claimed), 195+ GEOs
Cons
- Rejects adult sites and free-hosted blogs
- First payout only after 2 weeks of traffic
- No standard display banners
- Mixed Trustpilot reviews about bans and revenue cuts
Which One Should You Choose?
Match the network to your traffic type, not to the brand name.
| Your traffic | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New blog on your own domain | Monetag | $5 PayPal payout, MultiTag does the testing for you |
| Blog on Blogspot or WordPress.com | Adsterra | Monetag requires a self-hosted domain (confirm Adsterra’s terms) |
| Adult or 18+ site | Adsterra | Monetag does not accept adult content |
| Content site that needs banner slots | Adsterra | Native and standard banners; Monetag has none |
| Telegram Mini App or bot | Monetag | Dedicated Telegram SDK |
| Social media, YouTube, link traffic | Both (test SmartLink vs Direct Link) | Both offer a link-based format |
| Movie, download, anime, tool sites | Both (test popunder) | Both list these as top-earning niches |
| Mostly Tier-3 traffic (India, Asia, Africa) | Test both | Adsterra claims strong Tier-3 rates; results vary by site |
Can you use both together? Yes, but don’t run two popunders on the same page. A common setup is Adsterra Social Bar or banners plus Monetag push, or splitting pages between the two. Monetag officially says it works alongside Google AdSense; check AdSense’s own policies before adding popunders.
FAQs
Is PropellerAds the same as Monetag? For publishers, yes. Monetag is operated by Propeller Ads Ltd, and the PropellerAds publisher page now redirects to Monetag. PropellerAds still exists as an advertiser platform.
Which pays more, Adsterra or Monetag? It depends on your GEO, format and niche. Run both on similar pages for 14 days with the same format and compare eCPM by country.
What is the minimum payout of Adsterra and Monetag? Adsterra starts at $5 via Paxum. Monetag starts at $5 via PayPal, Skrill or WebMoney.
Can I use Adsterra and Monetag on the same website? Yes, but avoid running two popunders on one page. Mix formats instead, such as Adsterra Social Bar with Monetag push.
Does Monetag accept Blogspot sites? No. Monetag does not support free-hosted platforms like Blogspot, WordPress.com, Wix or Weebly; you need your own domain.
Which is better for Telegram? Monetag, because it has a dedicated Telegram Mini App and bot solution.
Are Adsterra and Monetag safe for my site? Both scan ads for malware and fraud. The main risk is user experience: too many popunders can lower returning visitors.
Is Adsterra legit, and does it pay Indian publishers? Adsterra has operated since 2013 and pays publishers automatically twice a month. Indian publishers commonly use Paxum or PayPal; check which methods your account shows, since availability can vary by country.
Why is my Monetag or Adsterra revenue so low? The usual reasons are mostly Tier-3 traffic, desktop-only formats on mobile visitors, too few impressions, or a format that doesn’t suit your audience. Try a mobile-friendly format like In-Page Push or Social Bar, and compare by country before deciding the network is the problem.
Should I put popunder ads on my blog? On a blog that depends on Google search and returning readers, we’d avoid popunders on article pages. On download, streaming or tool pages, they’re usually the best earner.
Can I switch from PropellerAds to Monetag with my old account? Monetag told publishers that it works the same as before, with the same payment options and payout frequency. Log in through Monetag and check your balance and payment settings there.
Final Verdict
In 2026, “PropellerAds vs Monetag” is no longer a real choice for publishers: Monetag is PropellerAds’ publisher platform. The real decision is Adsterra vs Monetag, and neither one is simply “better.” They’re built for different publishers.
If we were starting from zero today, here’s what we’d do:
- A new blog on our own domain, mostly Indian traffic: start with Monetag, using In-Page Push or Vignette Banner, not popunder. The $5 PayPal payout means we’d see real money quickly and learn what our traffic is worth. After a month, we’d test Adsterra’s Social Bar on half the pages.
- A download, streaming, anime or tool site: run the 14-day popunder test between both and keep the winner per country. On this kind of site, the difference between networks is usually bigger than on a blog, so testing pays off.
- A Telegram Mini App or bot: Monetag, no contest. Adsterra doesn’t offer a dedicated solution here.
- A Blogspot blog or an adult site: Adsterra, because Monetag won’t approve it (confirm Adsterra’s publisher terms first).
- A serious content site already earning from AdSense or Ezoic: we’d be careful with both. Add one low-interruption format (Social Bar or In-Page Push) on a few pages, watch returning visitors, and only scale if the extra revenue is worth it.
The most common mistake is treating this as a one-time choice. Ad networks change their demand every season. Pick one based on your traffic type, test the other, and recheck every quarter. That habit will earn you more than any single network ever will.
Last updated: October 2026
