Unity Ads vs ironSource / LevelPlay: eCPM, Fill and Payouts Compared

At a glance

eCPM by format and tier

Android baseline eCPMs in US dollars per 1,000 impressions, before category and platform multipliers.

Banner shows the widest Tier 1 gap: ironSource / LevelPlay at $0.85 against Unity Ads at $0.80. Native is only modelled for ironSource / LevelPlay.

Which wins for each kind of app

Each row runs 10,000 daily users with that category’s typical format mix and a balanced region split.

Unity Ads leads in 1 of 9 categories and ironSource / LevelPlay in 8. The widest gap is in Social / Lifestyle, where ironSource / LevelPlay earns about 120% more. The closest race is Puzzle Game, where the two sit 1% apart.

How region changes the result

The same casual game at 10,000 daily users with three different audience splits.

ironSource / LevelPlay stays ahead across all three audience splits, by 0% to 2%.

Unity Ads / ironSource / LevelPlay

About Unity Ads

Unity Ads is a video-first network tied closely to the Unity engine, and in our tables it covers rewarded, interstitial and banner but not native or app open. Its Tier 1 Android estimates of about $13.00 for rewarded and $9.00 for interstitials sit among the stronger figures, helped by game studios buying installs from other games.

Strengths

• Rewarded and interstitial video are its core formats, and its central estimates for both are above AdMob's in our tables.
• If your game is built in Unity, the Ads package plugs into the editor and most of the work is configuration.
• Its advertisers are largely other game studios, so the creative usually suits a player audience.

Watch-outs

• There is no native or app open format, so those placements need a second network.
• Blended fill of about 84% trails AdMob and AppLovin MAX in our model, which leaves some requests empty without a backup source.
• Payment typically arrives 30 or more days after month end, so build that delay into your cash flow.

Best for: A Unity-built game whose earnings rest on rewarded videos offered at reward moments such as extra lives or doubled coins.

About ironSource / LevelPlay

ironSource LevelPlay is Unity's mediation platform, pairing the ironSource network with access to other bidders and waterfall sources. Our estimates put it at about $12.50 for Tier 1 rewarded and $8.50 for interstitials on Android, with fill of around 86%.

Strengths

• Hypercasual and casual studios use it widely, so its tooling is shaped around high-volume rewarded and interstitial play.
• Mediation can mix bidding and waterfall instances, which helps when some networks you rely on do not bid.
• Native is supported alongside the video formats, estimated at about $3.00 in Tier 1.
• Since the merger with Unity it is the route Unity offers for mediating Unity Ads with other networks.

Watch-outs

• Our tables show no app open format, so that placement needs another source.
• Net payment terms differ between contracts, so read your own agreement rather than assuming a standard date.
• Product names and dashboards have changed during the Unity integration, so older tutorials may not match what you see.

Best for: A casual or hypercasual studio running several titles that wants mediation and a strong in-house network in one place.

Payout terms

Verdict

On our numbers ironSource / LevelPlay is the stronger single choice for most categories, and particularly for Social / Lifestyle, Finance App. Unity Ads holds its own in Mid-core / Strategy. Many studios run both inside a mediation stack, which our model does not combine.

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.