According to the latest Sensor Tower report, in 2025 consumers spent 5.3 trillion hours in iOS and Google Play apps, which is equivalent to approximately 3.6 hours per day per smartphone user. These impressive figures once again highlight the importance of in-app advertising, but how do you choose a platform that will fully meet your expectations?

Below, we compare several well-known players in the market — Unity Ads, Moloco, Mintegral, Liftoff, Kayzen, and AppLovin. We will take a closer look at each platform, evaluate its capabilities, and summarize the results in a comparison table at the end. Having all the necessary information at hand will make it much easier to choose the right source for your needs.

Unity Ads

One of the largest in-app platforms with extensive advertising capabilities. According to Unity, the platform reaches more than 2.5 billion devices every month, and ads are viewed by over 164 million users daily.

The main advantage of Unity Ads is its specialization in mobile gaming. Unlike universal ad networks, the platform was originally built for the gaming industry, which is why its ad formats are naturally integrated into gameplay and have minimal impact on the user experience.

The platform supports multiple advertising formats. Playable ads and video remain among the most effective formats for driving traffic through this platform. Advertisers can work with different buying strategies, analyze performance by app categories, optimize for in-app events, and scale campaigns across both Android and iOS.

Leave your request for a Unity Ads agency account via the RentAcc Telegram bot and start working directly with in-app advertising.

Moloco

Moloco is an advertising platform focused on mobile app promotion and has been widely used by media buyers for iGaming traffic until the company introduced stricter restrictions. Creative moderation requirements have become more demanding, and the platform’s operating model has changed. There are rumors that these updates are related to Moloco preparing for an IPO.

According to the company, advertisers gain access to two billion daily active users across 3 million mobile applications. Independent apps collectively reach an audience comparable to TikTok and Instagram combined.

The platform supports common ad formats with automatic optimization. Its algorithms select bids, audiences, and the best time to show ads based on the chosen campaign goals. Advertisers can optimize for installs, in-app events, or return on ad spend (ROAS).

Mintegral

Mintegral is a global in-app platform for mobile traffic acquisition and app promotion. Advertisers get access to more than 100,000 apps through direct integrations with publishers. The platform processes over 400 billion ad requests and 1.2 billion ad impressions daily, making it one of the largest traffic sources.

According to the AppsFlyer Performance Index, Mintegral regularly ranks among the leading mobile ad networks in terms of traffic volume and acquisition efficiency. The platform is actively developing AI-based solutions for campaign optimization. The implementation of Smart Bidding, which analyzes user behavior and adjusts bids in real time, has increased advertising spend by more than 50%.

Liftoff

After merging with Vungle, the company has been developing a unified ecosystem for advertising, retargeting, creative optimization, and app monetization. The core of its technology is the proprietary Cortex platform, which helps identify users with a high probability of completing a target action.

According to Liftoff, the new architecture uses 21 times more data and trains 4 times faster than previous models. Liftoff’s SDK is integrated into more than 140,000 mobile applications, while the platform’s total reach accounts for approximately 1.4 billion daily active users worldwide.

Kayzen

Kayzen is an independent in-app mobile traffic acquisition platform powered by its own DSP. Advertisers can place ads across hundreds of thousands of apps and publisher websites in more than 180 countries thanks to extensive access to advertising inventory.

Kayzen focuses on programmatic buying, auction transparency, and flexible inventory management through its kAI Core technology. Unlike closed advertising ecosystems, the platform provides more manual and semi-automated tools, allowing advertisers to build flexible traffic acquisition strategies based on specific KPIs.

You can evaluate how convenient this approach is by getting a Kayzen agency account through RentAcc. Contact our managers to learn more.

AppLovin

The company is building its own advertising ecosystem that combines traffic acquisition, analytics, and app monetization tools within a single platform. The advertising network is connected to more than 200,000 mobile applications. AppLovin’s algorithms automatically select the most relevant ads for each user, helping improve engagement and campaign performance.

One of AppLovin’s key features remains its proprietary MAX mediation platform. If you are also an app developer, you can reinvest revenue generated through MAX into user acquisition campaigns with AppLovin Ads.

Machine learning algorithms analyze campaign performance and automatically adjust bids, targeting, and creative delivery.

Comparison Table of the Most Popular In-App Platforms

All of the platforms mentioned above compete for the title of the most popular mobile traffic source. They operate within the same ecosystem but differ in inventory type, ad formats, auction mechanics, and optimization capabilities. To make things easier, we’ve compiled the key information in a single comparison table.

Ad Formats Advantages Disadvantages
Unity Ads Video, Playable Ads.
  • large volume of gaming traffic; 
  • strong gaming inventory; 
  • high scalability.
 More limited inventory options for non-gaming apps.
Moloco Video, Interstitial, Banner, Native.
  • AI-powered bid and targeting optimization;
  • real-time KPI optimization;
  • well-suited for scaling.
 iGaming campaigns are currently not supported.
Mintegral Video, Playable Ads, Interstitial, Banner, Native.
  • strong gaming inventory;
  • access to a wide range of GEOs;
  • support for interactive ad formats.
 Traffic quality heavily depends on campaign setup.
Liftoff Video, Interstitial, Banner, Native.
  • optimization for post-install events;
  • global in-app traffic reach;
  • advanced campaign analytics.
 Higher entry barrier for beginners.
Kayzen Video, Interstitial, Banner, Native.
  • full control over media buying (DSP);
  • transparent RTB auction;
  • flexible audience segmentation.
 Requires strong programmatic buying expertise.
AppLovin Playable Ads, Native, Video.
  • proprietary MAX mediation system;
  • powerful optimization algorithms;
  • advanced analytics.
 High competition.

Choosing an advertising network should not be based solely on traffic volume or platform popularity. Before launching campaigns, consider the following factors:

  • Targeting capabilities. The more targeting options available, the more precisely you can manage ad delivery and reach your target audience. Advertisers may be able to target by GEO, user interests, app categories, operating systems, and certain behavioral signals.
  • Advertising network reputation. Study independent reviews, industry rankings, advertiser feedback, and real-life case studies to understand whether the platform fits your goals and whether its advertised benefits match reality.
  • Quality of support. The ability to quickly contact customer support makes resolving technical issues much easier, especially when working with larger budgets.

The last point is arguably the most important, especially if you’re launching campaigns on a new traffic source and are not yet familiar with the specifics of in-app advertising. The lack of Russian-speaking support teams across most platforms can be a challenge, but RentAcc managers can help you prepare creatives for moderation and guide you through the launch process. You’ll also find plenty of useful materials on our website, and you can request technical documentation and tracker integration guides for your chosen ad network directly from our team.

For a more comprehensive overview, we compared 3 out of the 6 platforms using a third-party review aggregation service that calculates an average score on a 10-point scale based on publicly available feedback. Unfortunately, there was insufficient data for Mintegral, Liftoff, and Kayzen, but you can still see how users rate Unity Ads, Moloco, and AppLovin.

The main evaluation criteria included:

  • meeting business requirements;
  • ease of use and setup;
  • ease of administration;
  • quality of customer support;
  • business growth assistance;
  • overall positive experience.

Unity Ads received the highest scores across nearly all categories. By getting an agency account through RentAcc, you’ll be able to personally evaluate how simple and convenient the platform’s dashboard is to work with.

You can also review the percentage distribution of companies that most frequently use these in-app platforms to determine whether they are suitable for advertising within your vertical.

Conclusion

Given the recent restrictions imposed on certain verticals in Moloco, it is becoming increasingly important to diversify traffic sources and redistribute budgets across alternative platforms to minimize downtime. Unity Ads remains one of the leading in-app traffic sources, offering stable impression volumes and strong scaling opportunities. Mintegral and Kayzen can serve as excellent complementary traffic sources.

With proper campaign setup and a good understanding of each platform’s requirements, you can achieve strong performance regardless of the traffic source. Ultimately, consistent results come from well-optimized creatives, bidding strategies, and campaign optimization.

The RentAcc team helps advertisers launch campaigns through agency accounts and provides support at every key stage of the process. Switch to a modern platform with a convenient CRM system and work with in-app traffic without unnecessary complications.

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