Compare: Outbrain vs Smartly.io

A side-by-side analysis to help you find the right tool.

Outbrain

Not disclosed(Free)

N/A — pay only for ad spend

Custom Quote($1,000+/mo)

No — enterprise sales process

Pricing Model

OutbrainNot disclosed

Smartly.ioCustom Quote

Budget Tier

OutbrainFree

Smartly.io$1,000+/mo

Free Trial

OutbrainN/A — pay only for ad spend

Smartly.ioNo — enterprise sales process

Company Size Fit

OutbrainSmall Team (2–20), Mid-Market (20–200), Enterprise (200+)

Smartly.ioEnterprise (200+)

Business Type Fit

OutbrainB2B, B2C

Smartly.ioB2C, D2C / E-commerce

Best For

OutbrainBrands wanting native content-discovery ad placements as an alternative/complement to Taboola

Smartly.ioLarge brands running high-volume creative testing on paid social

Pros

Outbrain

Accesses a remarkably high-quality publisher network featuring tier-one media outlets.
Delivers exceptional performance for long-form content amplification and brand awareness.
Provides sophisticated audience targeting capabilities driven by deep contextual signals.

Smartly.io

Industry leading creative automation capabilities that instantly generate numerous ad variations
Unified cross platform campaign management spanning Meta TikTok and Snapchat
Exceptional performance for large organizations spending over five hundred thousand dollars annually on paid social

Cons

Outbrain

Inherits general native advertising challenges such as varying user intent compared to search.
Operates a smaller overall network scale relative to its primary market competitors.
Subject to market consolidation events that continually shift the competitive landscape.

Smartly.io