Overview

AdRoll is a cross-channel advertising platform for teams coordinating programmatic and social campaigns. It suits advertisers who want campaign automation, bidding and reporting across several networks; its audience-targeting exclusions and self-service-only Social Ads support make it a less natural fit for teams that need those capabilities.

Campaigns can reach the open web and Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest, using display, native, video and social formats. The breadth is useful for a mixed-channel program, but AdRoll does not offer competitor targeting or website-level audiences. The product is available on web and through an API, and AdRoll is a division of San Francisco-based NextRoll, Inc.

For category browsing, see Social Media Advertising Software or Account-Based Marketing Software.

Key features

Cross-channel coordination: Automation Builder coordinates campaigns across channels, and automated rules are supported. This is useful for teams managing activity across placements rather than treating each channel as a separate workflow.
Bid and creative optimization: BidIQ uses AI for real-time bid optimization, while creative testing lets teams compare campaign assets. Those capabilities support ongoing optimization, though they do not remove the audience-selection limits.
Integrations: The integration roster spans commerce tools including Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix and BigCommerce; marketing and analytics services such as Klaviyo, AppsFlyer and Google Analytics; and platforms including Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest. That range can help connect advertising to existing commerce and marketing systems.
Reporting: AdRoll offers real-time campaign metrics, campaign reporting, exportable reports and reporting APIs. Advanced reporting depth and exports are useful for teams that need to share or connect campaign results.
Audience privacy: AdRoll says it connects digital identities across browsers and devices without collecting explicit personal information such as names, phone numbers, addresses or dates of birth. NextRoll says it completed an initial SOC 2 Type 2 audit in August 2020 and continues annual certification; reports are available to customers and prospects under NDA on request.
Access and support: Web-app MFA is available through SMS or an authenticator app, but SSO is not currently supported. Support includes written and video resources and live agent help by email and phone. Social Ads is self-service only, without onboarding, account management or optimization-team support.

Pricing

AdRoll has a free entry point, but it is not a free all-purpose advertising tier: Account-Based Retargeting is 0.00 USD per free, with no fee to get started and payment only for media. It includes retargeting campaigns, free creative support and AI Assistant insights, making it a low-friction way to begin retargeting while leaving media spend payable.

The Advanced Package has custom pricing, an annual commitment, free ad credits and guaranteed services alongside the full AdRoll platform. It is the more structured option for teams prepared to commit annually. Account-Based Advertising has custom pricing and combines bring-your-own-data with multichannel digital advertising. Account-Based Marketing + Advertising has custom pricing for end-to-end ABM and advertising strategies; Account-Based Marketing has custom pricing and includes buyer insights, customizable journey stages, workflow orchestration and advertising playbooks.

Self-Service Ads uses pay-as-you-go advertising with dynamic CPM pricing that varies with demand and no minimum spend; cross-channel attribution and social ads are available as add-ons. Managed Services Ads is also pay-as-you-go, but managed services require qualifying ad spend. These options suit teams seeking flexible media buying, but variable CPMs and, for managed service, the spend qualification matter when budgeting. Social Ads remains self-service-only even where other support is available.

Platforms

AdRoll is available on web and via API. Its campaigns span the open web and five named social networks: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest. The product supports cross-network campaigns, automated rules, creative testing and report export.

Who it's for

AdRoll is best suited to advertisers who need to coordinate programmatic and social campaigns, use automated bidding and rules, and report across channels from one platform. Its integrations may suit teams working with ecommerce, CRM, analytics and ad platforms.

Pros and cons

Pro: Campaign coordination, AI bid optimization and creative testing bring several optimization tasks into a cross-channel workflow.
Pro: Real-time metrics, exportable reports and reporting APIs support both in-platform review and downstream reporting.
Pro: The free retargeting plan has no platform fee to start, though media still costs money.
Con: Competitor targeting and website-level audiences are unavailable, limiting audience strategies that rely on either.
Con: Social Ads has no onboarding, account management or optimization-team support.
Con: No SSO may complicate adoption for organizations that require centralized authentication.
Con: Advertising costs can vary with demand under dynamic CPM pricing, while managed services also require qualifying spend.

Alternatives

Attensify is worth considering for social publishing and analytics: its free Starter plan includes one website, three social channels, 50 AI-generated posts a month, basic analytics and community support.
GetChannel may fit teams looking for a free social-channel workspace, with one workspace, up to three connected channels, seven-day data history and one team member on its free plan.
AdEspresso is an option for Facebook and Instagram campaigns, with a $1,000 monthly spend limit on its $49.00 USD per month Starter plan.
Brandwatch Listen is an alternative for social listening.
Metadata is an alternative for teams considering a custom-scoped advertising proposal.
Swydo is an alternative for reporting, with a $69.00 USD per month plan that includes 10 data sources.
Whatagraph is another reporting option, with a Max plan at 699.00 EUR per month billed annually, including 50 source credits, unlimited users and unlimited reports.
HiConversion is an alternative for teams comparing advertising platforms.

Verdict

Choose AdRoll if your team needs to coordinate cross-channel advertising, automate campaign operations and optimize bids while connecting to a broad set of marketing tools. Its main advantage is that combined workflow; look elsewhere if your targeting depends on competitor or website-level audiences, or if Social Ads requires managed support.

	AdRoll	Zalster
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	Free	$49/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Web	Web
Free plan	No	No
Cross-network campaigns	Yes	Yes
Automated rules	Yes	Yes
Creative testing	Yes	Yes
Report export	Yes	Yes
Supported networks	4	1
Reporting depth	advanced	—

AdRoll vs Zalster

AdRoll

Zalster