Mediavine vs Raptive: RPM, Requirements and Payouts

At a glance

Which wins in each niche

Each row runs 50,000 monthly sessions at two pages per session with the default display, in-article and sticky mix.

Mediavine leads in 0 of 10 niches and Raptive in 10. The widest gap is in Food & Recipes, where Raptive earns about 6% more. The closest race is General, where the two sit 6% apart.

How region changes the result

The same general site at 50,000 monthly sessions with three different audience splits.

Raptive stays ahead across all three audience splits, by 6% to 6%.

Entry requirements

Mediavine asks for roughly $5,000 USD a year in ad revenue and Raptive for roughly 25,000 pageviews a month.

Mediavine / Raptive

About Mediavine

Mediavine is a premium managed network for content sites, known particularly among food, lifestyle and travel bloggers. Its main programme asks for at least $5,000 in annual ad revenue, with Journey by Mediavine taking smaller sites from 1,000 Tier 1 sessions in 30 days, and in return our model gives it a reference Tier 1 RPM of about $17.00 with all five web formats.

Strengths

• Its reference RPM is more than double AdSense's in our tables, at about $17.00 against $7.00 in Tier 1.
• Publishers get dashboard controls over ad density, mobile placements and video rather than a fixed layout.
• Outstream video and a video player are part of the offer, which can add a sizeable layer on top of display.
• A low payout minimum of around $25 means modest monthly balances still get paid.

Watch-outs

• Payment arrives roughly 65 days after month end, the longest delay among the networks we list.
• The main programme asks for annual ad revenue rather than a traffic count, which rules out most new sites. Smaller sites start with Journey, its entry programme.
• It typically expects to be your main display ad partner, so running other display networks alongside it is usually not allowed.

Best for: An established food, lifestyle or travel blog with steady Tier 1 traffic that has reached the revenue bar or joined through Journey.

About Raptive

Raptive, formerly AdThrive, is a premium managed network for creator-led sites, with an entry bar of 25,000 monthly pageviews, cut from 100,000 in October 2025. Our model gives it the highest reference RPM of the six web networks, about $18.00 per 1,000 Tier 1 pageviews, with all five formats available.

Strengths

• Its reference Tier 1 RPM of about $18.00 is the top figure in our web tables.
• Accepted publishers usually get account management support rather than a self-serve dashboard alone.
• Video, sticky and interstitial formats are part of the setup, so each page can earn in several layers.
• Payment arrives roughly 45 days after month end, sooner than Mediavine's typical cycle.

Watch-outs

• Beyond the 25,000 pageview bar it looks for mostly US, UK, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand traffic and long-form original content, which keeps it out of reach for many young sites. See its announcement.
• It is built around Tier 1 audiences, and our Tier 3 estimate of about $2.10 shows how little a mostly overseas readership adds.
• Like other premium managed networks it typically expects display exclusivity, so check what you would need to remove.

Best for: An established creator site with long-form original content and most of its readers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.

Payout terms

Verdict

For sites that qualify for both, Raptive is ahead in most niches on our numbers, with the biggest edge in Food & Recipes, Health & Wellness. Mediavine makes more sense where it is the only option your traffic allows or in General.

All figures come from our benchmark tables: Android eCPMs by tier, category or niche multipliers, modelled fill and the iOS multiplier. They are estimates for planning, not quotes.