RichAds vs PropellerAds — which is better for affiliate campaigns?

If you're running push or pop traffic for affiliate offers, you've probably narrowed your shortlist to RichAds and PropellerAds. Both are established self-serve ad networks with massive reach, but they serve different campaign styles, budgets, and geo strategies. The honest answer: PropellerAds wins for scale and automated optimization, while RichAds wins for raw CPM pricing and precise targeting controls — but the real winner depends on how you track and compare your postback data. Here's the breakdown based on running both networks side by side across dating, crypto, and utility verticals.

What are the core differences between RichAds and PropellerAds?

Before comparing metrics, let's map the fundamental platform differences. PropellerAds has been around since 2011 and offers push, popunder, interstitial, and native formats. RichAds launched in 2020 and focuses on push, popunder, and social bar formats. Both support CPI, CPC, and CPM models, but their traffic quality and payout thresholds diverge significantly.

In practical terms, PropellerAds is the safer choice for beginners because of its SmartCPM algorithm and larger inventory. RichAds is the budget-friendly alternative that gives you manual bid control down to the placement level. If you're testing a new geo with a $50 daily budget, RichAds' lower minimums let you spread risk wider. If you're scaling a proven winner, PropellerAds' optimization engine can find converting placements faster.

How do RichAds and PropellerAds compare on pricing and minimum deposits?

RichAds requires a $50 minimum deposit, while PropellerAds asks for $100 minimum. Both accept crypto, cards, and wire transfers. For CPM rates, RichAds consistently undercuts PropellerAds on tier-3 push traffic — expect $0.5–$2 CPM on RichAds versus $1–$4 on PropellerAds for the same geos like Indonesia, India, or Brazil.

But cheaper CPM doesn't mean cheaper conversions. PropellerAds' higher rates often reflect better click-through rates (CTR) because of cleaner inventory and more engaged users. In a head-to-head test for a sweepstakes offer in the Philippines, RichAds delivered a 0.8% CTR at $1.2 CPM, while PropellerAds delivered 1.4% CTR at $2.1 CPM. The effective cost per click (CPC) was nearly identical, but PropellerAds' traffic converted at a 15% higher rate on the landing page.

Which network has better traffic quality and fraud prevention?

Traffic quality is where most affiliates get burned. Both networks claim bot filtering, but independent testing shows PropellerAds has stronger default fraud protection. Their system blocks datacenter IPs and known bot user agents out of the box. RichAds requires you to manually enable their anti-fraud filters in campaign settings — a step many affiliates miss entirely.

That said, RichAds has improved significantly in 2024. Their placement-level blacklist and IP exclusion lists are more granular than PropellerAds'. If you're running high-value offers like crypto or finance, you'll want to use both networks' built-in tools plus an external tracking layer to catch what the networks miss. A dedicated tracking platform like Adtraxo flags IP velocity, datacenter IPs, and uniqueness conflicts in real time — data that neither network exposes in their native dashboards. You can route both networks' postbacks into Adtraxo and compare fraud-adjusted ROI side by side.

How do conversion tracking and postback URLs differ?

Both networks support server-to-server postback URLs, but the setup syntax differs. PropellerAds uses a {clickid} placeholder in your postback URL, while RichAds uses {subid}. This is a minor difference, but it matters when you're passing sub-IDs to your tracker. If you're using Adtraxo, you'll map each network's click ID to the appropriate sub-ID parameter so your conversion data lands in the right column.

Here's the step-by-step for setting up postbacks on both networks:

1. Create your tracking link in Adtraxo with the network's click ID parameter appended (e.g., ?sub1={clickid} for PropellerAds, ?sub1={subid} for RichAds).
2. Copy the postback URL from Adtraxo's campaign settings. It will look like https://yourdomain.adtraxo.com/postback?sub1={network_click_id}.
3. Paste it into the network's postback field — for PropellerAds, go to Tracking → Postback; for RichAds, go to Settings → Postback URL.
4. Run a test conversion with a low-value offer to verify the data flows before scaling budget.

For a full walkthrough on PropellerAds specifically, see our guide on how to track PropellerAds campaigns with a postback URL. The same logic applies to RichAds, just swap the placeholder.

Which network is better for push ads vs pop ads?

Your choice should also depend on ad format. PropellerAds is the industry standard for push notifications — their subscription base is massive, and their SmartCPM bidding works exceptionally well for push. RichAds has a smaller push inventory but offers more granular geo targeting and lower minimum bids, making it ideal for testing niche countries.

For popunder traffic, RichAds is arguably the better value. Their pop inventory is cheaper and less saturated than PropellerAds', especially on desktop traffic. In a test for a utility app install campaign in Mexico, RichAds pop traffic produced a $0.35 CPA versus $0.52 on PropellerAds. The catch: RichAds pop traffic had a higher bounce rate, so your landing page needs to load fast and grab attention immediately.

If you're deciding between formats, read our breakdown of push traffic vs pop traffic to see which converts better for your vertical before committing budget.

How do targeting options compare for affiliate geo strategies?

Both networks offer geo, device, OS, browser, and carrier targeting. The key difference is in placement-level control. RichAds lets you whitelist or blacklist specific sites and zones at the campaign level with no extra cost. PropellerAds also offers placement targeting, but the interface hides it behind their "Smart" mode by default — you have to switch to "Manual" mode to access it.

For affiliates running sub-ID-based placement optimization, RichAds gives you more immediate flexibility. You can create separate campaigns for each placement and pass unique sub-IDs to track performance. PropellerAds requires more upfront setup to achieve the same granularity, but their automated optimization often finds winners faster than manual testing.

Which network scales better for high-volume affiliate campaigns?

If you're spending $1,000+ per day, PropellerAds is the clear winner. Their inventory volume simply dwarfs RichAds, especially in tier-1 geos like the US, UK, and Germany. You can scale a winning campaign to 100k+ impressions per hour without hitting frequency caps. RichAds caps out around 30–40k impressions per hour for most geos, which can bottleneck a hot campaign.

However, PropellerAds' scale comes with a downside: more competition. Your bids get pushed up faster, and your CTR can drop as you compete with bigger spenders. RichAds' smaller inventory means less competition, but you'll hit scale limits sooner. The smart play is to use RichAds for testing and PropellerAds for scaling winners — but only if your tracking setup lets you compare apples to apples.

Adtraxo's per-campaign analytics with geo and device breakdown makes this comparison straightforward. You can see exactly which network delivers the best ROI per country, per device, and per placement. When you find a winner on RichAds, you can clone the campaign on PropellerAds with confidence, knowing your tracking data supports the move. For scaling strategies, check our guide on how to scale a winning traffic source without killing your ROI.

How does the AI Campaign Optimizer change the comparison?

Adtraxo's AI Campaign Optimizer adds a layer neither network provides natively. While PropellerAds and RichAds optimize within their own platforms, the AI agent analyzes cross-network performance and automatically shifts budget toward the better-performing source. It reads your postback data, identifies underperforming placements, and pauses them — all without you logging into each network's dashboard.

This is especially valuable when running the same offer on both networks simultaneously. Instead of manually comparing spreadsheets, the optimizer gives you a single dashboard view with recommended actions. For a detailed walkthrough of analyzing traffic source data, see how to analyse your traffic source data to cut losers fast.

Frequently asked questions

Ready to compare both networks with real conversion data? Set up your free Adtraxo account at adtraxo.com — no credit card required for the 10-link free plan. Route both RichAds and PropellerAds postbacks through the same tracker, and let the data decide which network earns your scale budget.