AdMob vs AppLovin MAX vs Unity LevelPlay: Choosing a Mediation Platform

If your game or app earns from ads, the mediation platform sits between your app and all the networks competing to fill each ad slot. Three names account for most of the market: AppLovin MAX, Unity LevelPlay (formerly ironSource) and Google AdMob. The choice affects revenue, and because switching means changing an SDK and retesting your ads, you will not want to make it often.

There is no universal winner. Results differ by game, genre and country, and honest comparisons rarely agree. What follows is how the three differ, what data exists and how to run your own test.

What a mediation platform does

Without mediation, your app shows ads from a single network. With it, several networks compete for each impression and the best offer wins. The platform also handles reporting across networks, ad quality tools and testing. Most demand now competes in a real-time auction, sometimes with older waterfall tiers alongside. In-app bidding vs waterfall covers those mechanics.

One distinction often causes confusion. A mediation platform is not the same as an ad network, though the companies behind these platforms run both. AppLovin runs MAX for mediation and its own network as demand. Unity runs LevelPlay for mediation and Unity Ads as demand. Google runs AdMob, which includes mediation, with Google demand. So you can use one company's mediation and still receive demand from its rivals, within limits.

What the market looks like

One useful public snapshot is a PocketGamer.biz analysis published in June 2025, based on AppMagic data for March 2025 across 368 games from the top grossing and top download charts. It found MAX in 128 of 175 top-downloaded games with ads (73%) and 33 of 60 ad-monetised top-grossing games (55%). AdMob's share of the top-downloaded list was more than twice LevelPlay's, and together the three held over 90% of the market. That is a dated sample of top chart games, not a measure of all apps, and it shows popularity rather than which platform earns the most.

AppLovin MAX

Strengths

• Widely used among ad-driven games, so its demand, tooling and integration paths are well tested in that market.
• A very strong connection to AppLovin's own demand, which matters a lot to casual and hyper-casual titles.
• Common ground for ad-heavy game studios, so hiring people and finding help is easier.

Trade-offs

• Lock-in concerns. The same analysis reported that AppLovin limited its ROAS campaigns to apps using MAX, which pushes ad-heavy developers towards it if they also buy users there. Check the current terms directly.
• The analysis also criticised some gaps in reporting, including missing fill rate and latency metrics, and features withdrawn with little notice.

Unity LevelPlay

Strengths

• Deep integration with the Unity engine and editor, which is handy if your game is built in Unity.
• Strong gaming demand, and ad quality tools that the same analysis judged stronger than MAX's.
• It is a natural pairing with Unity's own user acquisition tools.

Trade-offs

• The analysis reported that AppLovin's network was not available as a bidder on LevelPlay. For games that rely heavily on AppLovin demand, that deserves testing before anything else.
• It had fallen behind MAX in share among top chart games at that point, though some individual titles earn more on it.

Google AdMob

Strengths

• The simplest starting point for many developers, with a familiar console and direct access to Google's advertiser demand.
• A natural fit if your stack is already built on Firebase and Google's other tools.
• Useful for non-game apps as well as games. Its ad formats and policy guidance are well documented.

Trade-offs

• It has historically lagged the others on metrics and interface for heavy mediation users, although the same analysis noted recent improvements.
• It was reported to underperform on AppLovin demand, leading some developers to complex hybrid setups. For large game portfolios, this tends to be the main reason to move on.

How to choose

• A small app or a first game with modest traffic: AdMob is usually a sensible place to begin, since setup is simple and it offers enough demand to learn from. Move when you can show that another platform would earn more.
• An ad-monetised game with meaningful scale: test MAX and LevelPlay against each other on your own traffic, and pay particular attention to how much AppLovin demand contributes to your revenue.
• A game built in Unity where the team wants one vendor: LevelPlay is an easy path to test first, but judge it on revenue rather than convenience.
• A hybrid game with substantial in-app purchase revenue: ad revenue is a smaller share, so the platform may matter less than placement and frequency. See hybrid monetization.
• If you also buy users: find out how the platform's own UA products relate to its mediation before deciding, and read the current terms.

How to test a switch

Comparing one platform's numbers this month against the other's last month tells you very little, because seasonal CPMs, updates and user mix all move. Run a proper split:

1. Pick a primary metric. Ad revenue per daily active user, or better, total revenue per user across a cohort. Never eCPM alone: a higher eCPM with worse fill can earn less, and an ad setup that hurts retention can win today and lose over the month.
2. Integrate the new SDK behind a flag, and check that it does not raise crash rates or startup time.
3. Split new users randomly between the two setups, keeping everything else the same: ad formats, placements, frequency and network line-up where possible.
4. Run across at least one full week, ideally two or more, so that weekday patterns even out. Bigger samples reduce the noise, especially for small games.
5. Read the results by country and by platform. It is quite normal for one to win on iOS or in tier 1 and the other elsewhere.
6. If you move, move in stages. Keep the old setup available so you can roll back fast.

Before a migration, check your bidding setup too. The same analysis described bidding-only rules being tightened during 2025, so the waterfall you rely on today may not be allowed tomorrow.

What matters more than the platform

Studios sometimes spend months on a mediation switch when bigger gains are sitting in the game itself. Placement and frequency decide how many ads get shown, and how much they hurt retention. Rewarded ads are usually welcome, while interstitials need care: see rewarded video best practices and interstitial ads. And since ARPDAU is impressions per user multiplied by what each impression pays, better placement can do as much as a better auction.

Then look at the other side of the equation. If your own ads bring players who stay and watch more ads, everything improves together. Strong playable ads bring players who have already tried the core loop. Playable Ads Maker exports to the networks behind all three platforms, among others, so you can test the same creative wherever you buy.

Common mistakes

• Choosing a platform based on a vendor's comparison blog, including the ones that rank their own product first.
• Judging by eCPM alone.
• Comparing different time periods rather than running a simultaneous split.
• Changing placements and mediation in the same test, which makes the results impossible to read.
• Ignoring SDK weight and stability until after launch.