AdMob vs Unity Ads vs AppLovin vs ConsoleMint: an honest comparison
Updated 23 July 2026 · ConsoleMint Team
Four ways to make money from Android advertising, and they are not substitutes for one another. Google AdMob, Unity Ads and AppLovin are ad networks: they monetize an app you built, published and maintain. ConsoleMint does the building, publishing and maintaining as well, and shares the ad revenue with the partner whose Google Play account distributes the apps. This page sets out the trade-offs plainly, including the cases where the answer is clearly not us.
What is the short answer?
If you have already built an app and have your own users, integrate AdMob, Unity Ads or AppLovin directly and keep the publisher share — ConsoleMint is not competing for that work. If you hold a Google Play developer account but do not want to build, publish and maintain a product, ConsoleMint is the one of the four that does that half for you.
What is each one, in a sentence?
| Platform | What it is |
|---|---|
| Google AdMob | Google’s mobile ad network and mediation platform. You add the Google Mobile Ads SDK to an app you own, define ad units, and AdMob fills them from Google’s demand plus any other networks you mediate. |
| Unity Ads | Unity’s ad network, strongest in mobile gaming and in rewarded video, with the LevelPlay mediation platform that came in through the ironSource merger. You integrate its SDK into your own game or app. |
| AppLovin | An ad network plus the MAX in-app bidding and mediation platform, alongside AppDiscovery for buying installs. Also aimed at developers who already have a live app, typically at some scale. |
| ConsoleMint | An app monetization company that builds the Android app, publishes it, maintains it, runs its ad stack, and shares the ad revenue with the publishing partner whose Play account distributes it. |
Who builds, publishes and maintains the app?
This is the only distinction that really separates the four, and everything else follows from it. All three networks assume the app already exists and that you will keep it alive: releases, target-SDK upgrades, crash fixes, data-safety declarations and any Play policy correspondence remain yours. ConsoleMint takes that entire workload.
| AdMob | Unity Ads | AppLovin | ConsoleMint | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplies ad demand & mediation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Builds the app | No — you do | No — you do | No — you do | Yes |
| Publishes it to Google Play | No — you do | No — you do | No — you do | Yes |
| Updates & maintains it | No — you do | No — you do | No — you do | Yes, for the app’s life |
| Handles Play policy compliance | No — you do | No — you do | No — you do | Yes |
| Needs you to write code / add an SDK | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Needs you to already have users | Yes | Yes | Yes, usually at scale | No |
How does each one pay you?
The three networks all pay a revenue share on the demand they fill: you earn a portion of advertiser spend, settled monthly once you clear a minimum payment threshold (AdMob’s is US$100) and once your payments profile is verified. ConsoleMint pays the publishing partner a fixed monthly amount during ramp-up, then converts to a share of the ad revenue.
| Payment model | First payout depends on | |
|---|---|---|
| AdMob | Revenue share on filled impressions, paid monthly | Your app earning past the payment threshold |
| Unity Ads | Revenue share, paid monthly on net terms | Your app earning past the payment threshold |
| AppLovin | Revenue share via MAX / its exchange, paid monthly | Your app earning past the payment threshold |
| ConsoleMint | Fixed monthly payout during ramp-up, then revenue share | The first app going live, not on its earnings |
What do you actually earn in months one to three?
With any of the three networks, a share of whatever your app earned — which for a newly launched app with no install base is close to nothing, because revenue is impressions multiplied by eCPM and a new app has almost no impressions. Many first-time publishers do not clear the payment threshold at all in that window. With ConsoleMint the partner is paid a fixed amount through exactly that period.
This is not a criticism of the networks. It is simply what a pure revenue share means: the person holding the app carries the ramp. If you built the app, that is a fair deal and you keep all of the upside. If you are only supplying distribution, waiting several months for a first statement is a poor deal — which is why our structure front-loads a fixed amount instead. The full schedule is on how ad revenue share works.
Do you need to write code or integrate an SDK?
For AdMob, Unity Ads and AppLovin: yes, always. You add the SDK, define ad units, configure mediation or in-app bidding, test fill, ship a release, then maintain that integration through Google Play’s annual target-API requirements and each SDK’s own breaking changes. For ConsoleMint: no. The ad integration is part of an app we wrote and continue to own.
When is AdMob the better choice?
When you have your own app and your own users. AdMob has the broadest advertiser demand of any mobile network, integrates in an afternoon, mediates other networks alongside Google’s demand, and takes nothing from you but a revenue share. If that describes you, use AdMob — you keep the product, the users and the full publisher share, and there is no reason to involve a third party.
When is Unity Ads or AppLovin the better choice?
Unity Ads when your app is a game, particularly one built in Unity, and especially where rewarded video fits the design — that is the format and the audience it is strongest in. AppLovin when you already have meaningful scale and want MAX’s in-app bidding to squeeze more from each impression, or when you are also buying user acquisition and want monetization and UA in one stack.
Both, like AdMob, assume you own and maintain the app. Neither will build one for you, publish it, or answer a Play policy notice on your behalf.
When is ConsoleMint the right choice — and when is it not?
Right when you hold a Google Play developer account in good standing and have no intention of building, publishing and maintaining a product: your account provides distribution, ConsoleMint provides everything else, and you are paid from the first month rather than the first meaningful install. Wrong when you already have an app and users — in that case a network gives you more, and we would tell you so.
| Your situation | The honest answer |
|---|---|
| You built an app and it has users | AdMob, or AppLovin MAX at scale. Keep the publisher share; do not involve us. |
| You built a mobile game, especially in Unity | Unity Ads / LevelPlay, with rewarded video as the core format. |
| You want maximum yield on an app already earning | Mediation or in-app bidding across several networks — AppLovin MAX, AdMob mediation, Unity LevelPlay. |
| You have a Play developer account but no app and no wish to build one | ConsoleMint. None of the three networks address this case at all. |
| You want ad revenue without writing code or handling policy | ConsoleMint, since the other three require both. |
What does ConsoleMint ask for in return?
Scoped Developer-role access to your Google Play Console through its built-in Users and permissions system — never owner access, never a password — revocable by you at any time with 30 days notice. You keep ownership of the account permanently, and we publish a maximum of 10 apps to it. Details are on the publishing partner program page and in is it safe.
Can you use more than one of these at once?
Within your own app, yes — mediation exists precisely so AdMob, Unity Ads and AppLovin can compete for the same impression. ConsoleMint is different in kind: it applies to apps we build and publish, not to an app you already own, so it does not sit in a mediation stack next to the others. The two can coexist for the same person, on different apps.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best app monetization platforms in 2026?
For a developer who owns an app, Google AdMob has the broadest demand and the easiest integration, Unity Ads leads for games and rewarded video, and AppLovin MAX is strongest for in-app bidding at scale. ConsoleMint is the option for someone with Play distribution but no app, because it builds and publishes the app as well as monetizing it.
What are the best AdMob alternatives?
Unity Ads and AppLovin MAX are the direct alternatives, and most publishers at scale mediate several networks rather than picking one. ConsoleMint is not an alternative in that sense — it does not replace an SDK in your app, it supplies the app itself along with the monetization.
Does ConsoleMint compete with AdMob?
Only partly. Both are in the app monetization category, but AdMob monetizes apps you built and maintain yourself, while ConsoleMint also builds, publishes and maintains the apps it monetizes. If you already have an app and users, AdMob is the better answer and we say so.
I already have an app with users — should I use ConsoleMint?
Probably not. If you own a live app you should integrate an ad network directly and keep the full publisher share; ConsoleMint is built for people supplying Google Play distribution rather than a product. If you also hold a spare developer account in good standing, that account is a separate conversation.
Can I use AdMob and ConsoleMint at the same time?
Yes, on different apps. AdMob would monetize the app you built and maintain, while ConsoleMint apps are built, published and maintained by us on a partner account. They are not stacked against each other on the same impression, so there is no conflict between them.