by I watched a client burn $800 testing popunders on the wrong platform last month. He’d chosen based on CPM alone — ignored approval speed, creative rules, and geo targeting depth. His CPA offer converted beautifully on RichAds two weeks later using the exact same landing page. Same traffic type, different source, completely different outcome.
That’s the reality of buying traffic for CPA campaigns. The platform matters as much as the offer itself. If you’re choosing between RichAds and Adsterra, you’re probably running affiliate offers, testing arbitrage angles, or scaling campaigns beyond what your organic traffic can handle. Both platforms serve popunders, push notifications, and native ads. Both claim high volume and fast approval. But they behave very differently once real money hits the table.
This traffic buyer comparison for CPA campaigns breaks down what actually matters when you’re spending your own budget. Not features listed on a sales page — real campaign performance, approval friction, and whether the traffic converts or just clicks.
What Makes a Traffic Source Work for CPA Campaigns
CPA offers live or die based on conversion rate and traffic cost. A platform might deliver cheap clicks, but if those clicks don’t complete actions — app installs, email submits, trial signups — your ROI stays negative. The best traffic source for CPA isn’t always the one with the lowest CPM. It’s the one where your offer’s payout exceeds your blended CPA after testing, scaling, and dealing with rejections.
Three things determine whether a traffic platform works for performance marketers. First, traffic quality — does the user base actually engage with offers, or are you buying bot-heavy remnant inventory? Second, targeting depth — can you drill down to the device type, ISP, city, or time of day that converts for your vertical? Third, creative flexibility — will the platform approve your lander, or will you spend days in compliance hell resubmitting angles?
I’ve tested both platforms across dating, sweepstakes, mobile apps, and finance verticals. RichAds tends to approve faster and offer cleaner segmentation. Adsterra has higher raw volume but requires more aggressive filtering to isolate profitable slices. Neither is perfect. Both can work if you know what you’re optimizing for.
RichAds: Fast Approval, Granular Targeting, Lower Volume
RichAds built its reputation among affiliate marketers who need speed. Campaigns typically get approved within a few hours, sometimes faster if your account history is clean. The platform focuses on push notifications, popunders, and in-page push — formats that fit performance marketing workflows without heavy creative production.
Targeting options go deeper than most mid-tier networks. You can segment by operating system version, browser language, connection type, and frequency caps per user. That level of control matters when you’re testing CPA offers that convert only on specific Android versions or require WiFi users to avoid mobile data friction. I’ve scaled campaigns to profitability on RichAds purely by excluding mobile carrier traffic and focusing on broadband ISPs — a filter Adsterra doesn’t expose as cleanly.
Minimum deposit sits at $100, and the self-serve dashboard updates bid recommendations in real time. CPM rates for Tier 1 push traffic typically range from $0.80 to $2.50 depending on geo and competition. Popunders run cheaper — $0.30 to $1.20 CPM for US traffic in my tests. Volume is the trade-off. RichAds won’t flood you with inventory the way larger networks can. If you need 50,000 impressions daily in a narrow segment, you might hit supply limits.
Support responds fast, which matters when a campaign pauses mid-flight or a creative gets flagged. I’ve had compliance issues resolved within an hour during US business hours. The platform doesn’t accept every vertical — no adult, no pharma, no crypto in certain geos — but CPA offers in mainstream niches (finance, e-commerce, dating, sweeps, mobile apps) clear approval without friction.
Adsterra: High Volume, Broader Verticals, More Testing Required
Adsterra handles volume that RichAds can’t match. If your CPA campaign needs scale — 500,000 impressions daily or more — this platform delivers. It supports popunders, push, native, display banners, and social bar ads across a publisher base that includes edge niches RichAds won’t touch. Adult traffic, gambling, crypto, APK downloads — Adsterra approves it.
That flexibility comes with noise. Traffic quality varies more than on RichAds. You’ll need to blacklist placements, exclude low-performing zones, and set up conversion tracking that isolates bot clicks from real users. I’ve seen campaigns on Adsterra start with 0.8% CTR and 0.02% conversion rate, then jump to 1.5% CTR and 0.15% conversion after three days of aggressive optimization. The profitable traffic exists — you just have to filter harder to find it.
Minimum deposit is $100, same as RichAds. CPM rates for Tier 1 popunders typically run $0.40 to $1.50, slightly cheaper than RichAds in my side-by-side tests. Push traffic costs about the same — $1.00 to $2.80 CPM depending on geography and competition. Where Adsterra wins is inventory depth. If you’re buying Tier 2 or Tier 3 traffic — India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico — Adsterra’s volume and pricing beat most competitors.
Approval speed is slower. Expect 12 to 24 hours for new campaigns, sometimes longer if your creative or landing page triggers a manual review. Support is responsive but less hand-holdy than RichAds. The CPA network review process assumes you know what you’re doing — if your offer violates terms, they’ll reject it without detailed feedback.
Traffic Quality: Where Conversions Actually Happen
I tested the same sweepstakes offer on both platforms using identical creatives, bid strategy, and daily budget. RichAds delivered 18,000 clicks over five days at an average CPM of $1.10. Conversion rate landed at 0.21%, which put my effective CPA at $5.24. The offer paid $6.50 per lead, so I cleared a small profit after testing.
Adsterra sent 31,000 clicks in the same period at $0.85 CPM. Conversion rate started at 0.09%, then climbed to 0.18% after I blacklisted the bottom 40% of zones by performance. Final effective CPA was $4.72, slightly better than RichAds. But I spent eight hours optimizing placements to get there. RichAds worked profitably from day two with minimal tweaking.
If you’re testing a new CPA offer and want quick validation, RichAds gives you cleaner data faster. If you’re scaling a proven offer and can handle optimization overhead, Adsterra’s volume and cost efficiency pull ahead. Neither platform magically converts bad offers. But RichAds wastes less budget during the learning phase.
Geo Targeting and Tier 2/3 Performance
RichAds performs better in Tier 1 markets — US, Canada, UK, Australia, Western Europe. Targeting granularity and traffic quality stay consistent across these geos. Tier 2 traffic (Eastern Europe, Latin America, parts of Asia) works but costs almost as much as Tier 1 while converting at lower rates. I rarely buy Tier 3 traffic on RichAds because the volume isn’t there.
Adsterra dominates Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. If your CPA offer targets India, Brazil, Indonesia, or the Philippines, Adsterra delivers both volume and reasonable CPMs. I’ve run mobile app install campaigns in India at $0.20 CPM on popunders, converting at 0.30% to hit a $0.67 effective CPA. That margin doesn’t exist on RichAds for the same geo.
The best traffic source for CPA depends on where your offer converts. Premium payouts in Tier 1 geos favor RichAds. High-volume, lower-payout offers in Tier 2/3 geos favor Adsterra. I run both simultaneously when testing new verticals — start on RichAds for clean baseline data, then move volume to Adsterra once I know what works.
Creative Approval and Compliance Friction
RichAds has tighter creative policies. Your landing page needs to load fast, display clearly on mobile, and avoid aggressive redirects. Popunders and push ads require pre-approval if they promote anything finance-related or require user data. I’ve had dating landers rejected for showing too much skin, even though the angle was mainstream. Resubmit with adjustments, and approval usually clears within hours.
Adsterra allows more aggressive creatives. The same dating lander that RichAds flagged passed on Adsterra without edits. If you’re running edge-niche CPA offers — crypto wallets, VPN trials, gambling — Adsterra’s compliance team is more experienced with those verticals. That said, they still enforce rules. Misleading claims, fake countdown timers, or auto-download tactics will get your campaign paused.
Frequency capping works better on RichAds. You can limit how often the same user sees your ad within a 24-hour window, which reduces banner blindness and keeps conversion rates stable. Adsterra offers frequency caps too, but enforcement feels looser — I’ve seen the same user hit with my popunder three times in an hour despite setting a daily cap. That kind of overexposure kills performance on retargeting-sensitive offers.
Bidding Strategy and Budget Control
Both platforms use CPM bidding for most formats. RichAds shows recommended bids inside the campaign builder based on recent auctions in your chosen geo and format. Start at the suggested bid, run 500 to 1,000 impressions, then adjust based on CTR and conversion data. I usually bid 10% above the floor to ensure decent placement, then optimize downward once I identify winning zones.
Adsterra’s bid recommendations are less reliable. The platform suggests a range, but actual clearing prices fluctuate more than RichAds. I’ve had campaigns underspend at the recommended bid, then overspend when I raised it 20%. Test in $50 increments until you find the sweet spot where your budget depletes evenly across the day without burning too fast.
Daily budget pacing is smoother on RichAds. If you set a $100 daily cap, the platform spreads impressions across 24 hours. Adsterra sometimes front-loads spend in the first few hours, especially on high-competition geos. Set a lower hourly cap or schedule campaigns to run only during peak conversion windows if budget control matters.
Which Platform Wins for Your CPA Campaign
Choose RichAds if you’re testing a new offer, need fast approval, want cleaner traffic with less manual optimization, or you’re targeting Tier 1 geos where margin per conversion justifies slightly higher CPMs. It’s the better starting point for affiliate marketers who value time over raw volume.
Choose Adsterra if you’re scaling a proven offer, need high daily impression volume, run edge-niche verticals that mainstream platforms reject, or you’re buying Tier 2/3 traffic where cost efficiency matters more than per-click quality. Expect to spend more time optimizing, but the ROI ceiling is higher once you dial in your zones.
I run both. RichAds for testing and Tier 1 campaigns. Adsterra for scaling and international geos. That’s the real answer — this traffic buyer comparison for CPA campaigns isn’t about picking a winner. It’s about knowing which tool fits the job you’re running today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which platform approves CPA campaigns faster?
RichAds typically approves campaigns within 2 to 6 hours. Adsterra takes 12 to 24 hours on average, sometimes longer for edge-niche offers. If speed matters — testing a time-sensitive offer or replacing a paused campaign — RichAds wins.
Can I run the same CPA offer on both platforms simultaneously?
Yes, and you should if budget allows. Use RichAds to establish baseline conversion data with cleaner traffic, then scale on Adsterra once you know your optimal bid, geo, and creative angle. Just make sure your offer’s terms allow multiple traffic sources.
Which platform has better support for CPA media buyers?
RichAds provides faster, more hands-on support during campaign setup and troubleshooting. Adsterra’s support is competent but assumes you’re experienced — expect fewer proactive suggestions and more reactive responses to specific tickets.
Do either platforms work for adult or crypto CPA offers?
Adsterra accepts both adult and crypto verticals in most geos. RichAds blocks adult entirely and restricts crypto offers depending on the region and compliance rules. If your CPA offer sits in an edge niche, Adsterra is often your only option between these two.
Start Testing Your Next CPA Campaign
Both RichAds and Adsterra belong in a serious traffic buyer’s toolkit. Neither replaces the other — they solve different problems. If you’re stuck choosing one, start with RichAds for the first $200 to $300 of testing. Clean data and fast approval let you validate your offer without wasting time on optimization. Once you’re profitable, move volume to Adsterra and scale into geos where RichAds can’t deliver enough inventory.
AdNetworksReview.com tests both platforms regularly across CPA verticals. We’ve documented approval processes, tracked CPM trends, and compared traffic quality using real campaign data — not affiliate links disguised as reviews. If you want deeper breakdowns on specific ad formats or geo targeting strategies, check our individual platform reviews and monetization guides.
Test smart. Track everything. Scale what works.
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