How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- Start where the audience already is: Google Ads remarketing (auction-based, ad credits for new advertisers) and Meta retargeting (auction-based) cover most SMB remarketing without minimum contracts.
- Real minimums from the vendors' own pages: LinkedIn Ads starts at a $10/day minimum budget, TikTok recommends a $30/day ad group budget in North America and EMEA, and Amazon's managed DSP typically requires a $50,000 minimum spend.
- Dedicated retargeting platforms (AdRoll, Criteo) earn their place when you want one dashboard across the open web instead of managing each walled garden separately.
- Every platform here runs on auctions with advertiser-set budgets; the real cost is your spend, not a subscription, so "starting price" means minimums and recommendations, not list prices.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Google Ads | Retargeting across Search, YouTube, Display and apps from one account | See website (auction-based; you set daily budgets) | No (new advertisers can claim ad credits after meeting a minimum spend) |
 Meta Ads | Retargeting site visitors and engagers on Facebook and Instagram | See website (auction-based; you set budgets) | No |
 TikTok Ads | Retargeting younger audiences with full-screen, sound-on video | $30/day recommended ad group budget in North America and EMEA ($20 in APAC), per TikTok's own page | No |
 Pinterest Ads | Retargeting planners and shoppers during consideration | See website (auction-based; free business account signup) | No |
 Snapchat Ads | Retargeting Gen Z and millennials with vertical video | See website (auction-based; self-serve via Ads Manager) | No |
 AdRoll | SMBs that want multichannel retargeting from one dashboard | See website | See website |
 Criteo | Ecommerce brands doing dynamic product retargeting at scale | See website (enterprise, quote-based) | No |
 Amazon DSP | Retargeting Amazon shoppers on and off Amazon | See website (self-serve sponsored ads are CPC with no up-front fees; managed DSP typically requires a $50,000 minimum spend, per Amazon) | No |
 LinkedIn Ads | B2B retargeting by job title, company and seniority | $10/day minimum budget (auction-based bidding), per LinkedIn's own page | No |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The second visit is the one that converts
Almost nobody buys on the first visit. Industry estimates of cart abandonment sit near 70 percent, and the number is worse for considered purchases. Remarketing (called retargeting on some platforms) is the ad buy that follows those visitors: the shoe you viewed appears in your feed, the demo you skipped shows up as a YouTube pre-roll, the pricing page you read gets a reminder on LinkedIn. It works because the audience already raised its hand.
The nine platforms below split into two groups. The walled gardens (Google, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Amazon) retarget inside their own properties with their own data. The independents (AdRoll, Criteo) retarget across the open web and multiple channels from one dashboard. Most SMBs start with one walled garden where their customers already spend time, then add an independent when managing five ad managers gets old.
#1
Google Ads
Best for: Retargeting across Search, YouTube, Display and apps from one account
Visit ads.google.com
Starting priceSee website (auction-based; you set daily budgets)
Free planNo (new advertisers can claim ad credits after meeting a minimum spend)
Google Ads is the default first remarketing platform because of reach. A visitor who leaves your site can be followed across millions of Display Network sites, YouTube pre-rolls, Gmail placements and even Search results (remarketing lists for search ads let you bid differently for past visitors). Audiences build from Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager data, so setup is mostly connecting data sources you probably already have.
The honest catch is complexity. Choosing between Display, Performance Max, Demand Gen and video remarketing is a real decision, and Display placements can waste budget on low-quality inventory without exclusions. Pricing is pure auction: you set the budget, the market sets the click price. Start narrow (site visitors from the last 30 days), prove the return, then expand.
What we like- Remarketing lists reach past visitors across the Google Display Network, YouTube and Search
- Performance Max and Display campaigns automate audience expansion
- New-advertiser ad credits lower the cost of the first test
Watch out for- The interface and campaign-type choices overwhelm first-time advertisers
- Display remarketing quality varies widely by placement
- Costs are auction-driven, so competitive verticals pay more per click
#2
Meta Ads
Best for: Retargeting site visitors and engagers on Facebook and Instagram
Visit facebook.com
Starting priceSee website (auction-based; you set budgets)
Free planNo
Meta retargeting is the workhorse of DTC and lead-gen remarketing. The pixel tracks site behavior, the catalog powers dynamic product ads that show each visitor exactly what they viewed, and engagement audiences (video viewers, Instagram profile visitors, lead form openers) give you retargeting pools beyond the website. AI-driven Advantage+ campaigns automate placement and budget across Facebook and Instagram.
The catch is measurement and volatility. Auction prices swing with competition, and post-iOS tracking gaps mean the Conversions API is now required for trustworthy reporting rather than optional. Businesses should also keep backup admin access and follow policy closely, since ad account restrictions are common. Buy this when your customers live on Instagram and Facebook, which for most consumer SMBs is true.
What we like- The Meta Pixel and Conversions API build precise website-visitor and purchaser audiences
- Dynamic ads automatically show the exact products each visitor viewed
- Advantage+ automation simplifies campaign setup for smaller teams
Watch out for- Auction costs rise in competitive seasons and verticals
- IOS privacy changes reduced tracking precision, so measurement needs the Conversions API to stay accurate
- Account restrictions can pause campaigns with little warning
#3
TikTok Ads
Best for: Retargeting younger audiences with full-screen, sound-on video
Visit ads.tiktok.com
Starting price$30/day recommended ad group budget in North America and EMEA ($20 in APAC), per TikTok's own page
Free planNo
TikTok remarketing suits brands whose buyers scroll more than they search. The pixel and Events API feed custom audiences (cart abandoners, product viewers, past purchasers), and lookalikes find new customers resembling them. For ecommerce, catalog and Shop ads turn product feeds into shoppable video placements with AI-assisted creative.
The honest catch is the creative bar and the budget floor. TikTok's own page recommends a $30 daily ad group budget in North America and EMEA, so meaningful tests cost more than a $5/day Meta experiment, and ads that look like ads get skipped. Businesses need a stream of native-style video to feed it. Buy this when the audience is under 40 and the product is visual.
What we like- Custom and lookalike audiences built from site visitors, app users and customer lists
- Full-screen video formats with strong engagement from younger demographics
- Smart+ and catalog ads automate creative and targeting for ecommerce
Watch out for- Creative demands are high: polished static ads underperform next to native-feeling video
- The recommended $30/day ad group budget makes small tests pricier than on some platforms
- Measurement and attribution trail Google and Meta in maturity
Starting priceSee website (auction-based; free business account signup)
Free planNo
Pinterest remarketing catches people the other platforms miss: users planning purchases weeks out. The tag builds audiences from site visitors and engagers, and actalike audiences expand from your best customers. Because users come to discover products, retargeted Pins feel less intrusive than feed ads elsewhere, and creative can be simpler product imagery rather than produced video.
The catch is pool size. A small site may take weeks to build a usable retargeting audience, and the platform skews toward home, fashion, food, beauty and DIY. Pricing is auction-based with no published minimums, and the business account itself is free. Buy this when your product is visual and the purchase involves planning.
What we like- Audiences are in planning and shopping mode, which suits retargeting mid-funnel
- The Pinterest Tag builds visitor, engagement and customer-list audiences
- Ads blend into the feed, keeping creative costs low
Watch out for- Smaller audience than Meta or Google, so remarketing pools take longer to fill
- Auction pricing with no published minimums
- Weaker for B2B and non-visual products
Starting priceSee website (auction-based; self-serve via Ads Manager)
Free planNo
Snapchat remarketing is the underused option for young audiences. The Snap Pixel and Conversions API capture reliable conversion signals for campaign optimization, and the same 9:16 vertical video made for TikTok usually ports over with minimal edits. Snap's own data positions a large share of its audience as unreachable on competing platforms daily.
The honest catch is demographic fit. If the buyer is over 40, the audience is not there in meaningful numbers, and no targeting trick fixes that. Pricing is auction-based and self-serve through Ads Manager. Buy this when the customer is young, the creative is vertical video, and Meta/TikTok auctions are getting expensive.
What we like- Highly engaged young audience with 30-plus daily app opens per user (per Snap)
- Snap Pixel and Conversions API feed reliable conversion data for optimization
- Full-screen vertical formats that are easy to repurpose from TikTok creative
Watch out for- Audience skews young, so it is a poor fit for older demographics
- Auction pricing with no published minimums
- Smaller advertiser ecosystem means fewer third-party tools and templates
#6
AdRoll
Best for: SMBs that want multichannel retargeting from one dashboard
Visit adroll.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planSee website
AdRoll is the independent alternative to managing five ad managers. Instead of separate remarketing in Google, Meta and elsewhere, one platform retargets your visitors across display, native, video, social, connected TV and even digital out-of-home, with machine-learning bidding optimizing across channels. The ABM product (formerly RollWorks) extends the same idea to B2B account targeting.
The catch is the middleman question. You pay for convenience and cross-channel optimization, but the inventory comes from the same exchanges and networks you could buy directly. Pricing is not published on the homepage. Buy this when the team is too small to run five platforms well, and cross-channel frequency management matters more than squeezing each auction.
What we like- One dashboard runs retargeting across display, native, video, mobile, social, connected TV and digital out-of-home
- 17-plus years of machine-learning optimization behind bidding
- Self-serve signup with no enterprise sales process
Watch out for- Pricing is not published on the vendor homepage
- As a middleman it adds a layer between you and the inventory
- Smaller advertisers may get less hands-on support than on a walled garden
#7
Criteo
Best for: Ecommerce brands doing dynamic product retargeting at scale
Visit criteo.com
Starting priceSee website (enterprise, quote-based)
Free planNo
Criteo built its name on dynamic retargeting: the abandoned cart follows the shopper around the web as personalized product ads. Under the hood is commerce data at unusual scale, which powers product recommendations, predictive bidding and creative personalization. The platform now spans performance media, retail media and audience products for the full funnel.
The honest catch is fit. This is enterprise-shaped software with quote-based pricing, and its advantages compound with catalog size and traffic volume. A 50-SKU store with modest traffic will not see what a large retailer sees. Buy this when dynamic product retargeting is a core revenue channel and the catalog justifies the investment.
What we like- Dynamic retargeting shows each shopper the exact products they viewed, powered by large-scale commerce data
- Performance and retail media products cover the full funnel
- Closed-loop measurement ties ads to sales
Watch out for- Enterprise-oriented with quote-based pricing
- Overkill for small catalogs or low traffic
- The platform's strength is ecommerce, with less to offer lead-gen or B2B
Starting priceSee website (self-serve sponsored ads are CPC with no up-front fees; managed DSP typically requires a $50,000 minimum spend, per Amazon)
Free planNo
Amazon DSP retargets with an unfair data advantage: actual shopping behavior. Advertisers can reach people who viewed their products, competitors' products or relevant categories, on Amazon properties and across the web. For brands selling on Amazon, sponsored ads (self-serve, CPC, no up-front fees) are the entry point, and the DSP is the scale play.
The catch is the price of admission for the real thing. Amazon's own page says managed-service campaigns typically require a $50,000 minimum spend, which prices out most SMBs from full DSP retargeting. Non-Amazon sellers can still advertise, but the data advantage shrinks. Buy the sponsored ads if you sell on Amazon; buy the DSP when the budget clears the minimum and Amazon is a core channel.
What we like- Retargeting powered by Amazon shopping signals, the richest purchase-intent data in ecommerce
- Reaches shoppers on Amazon, Twitch, Fire TV and third-party sites
- Self-serve sponsored ads let small sellers start with any budget
Watch out for- The managed DSP's typical $50,000 minimum spend puts full programmatic retargeting out of SMB reach
- Works best for brands selling on Amazon
- Less useful for lead-gen or services
Starting price$10/day minimum budget (auction-based bidding), per LinkedIn's own page
Free planNo
LinkedIn is the only remarketing platform where the audience is defined by job title. Website retargeting reaches past visitors, matched audiences upload company or contact lists, and lead-gen forms capture prospects without leaving the feed. For B2B, the ability to retarget "VPs of operations at manufacturing companies" has no substitute.
The honest catch is cost. LinkedIn clicks are the most expensive in the category, the $10/day minimum from LinkedIn's own page is a floor rather than a workable budget, and small sites build retargeting pools slowly. Buy this when the deal size justifies the click cost: enterprise and mid-market B2B, not low-ticket consumer.
What we like- Website retargeting plus matched audiences from company and contact lists
- Targeting by job title, industry, seniority and skills that no other platform matches
- The Insight Tag powers conversion tracking and audience building
Watch out for- Click costs run higher than any other platform on this list
- The $10/day minimum is just the floor, and meaningful B2B tests need far more
- Audience sizes are smaller, so retargeting pools fill slowly
Map the platform to where the customer is in the journey. Top-of-funnel remarketing (site visitors who bounced in seconds) belongs on cheap, broad reach: Google Display, Meta, TikTok. Mid-funnel (product viewers, pricing page visitors) deserves the product-specific creative: Meta dynamic ads, Criteo, Amazon DSP, Pinterest. Bottom-funnel (cart abandoners, trial signups who stalled) gets the highest bids and the most direct creative, wherever those people are.
Then match the platform to the business model. Ecommerce lives on Meta dynamic ads, Google Shopping remarketing, Criteo and Amazon. Lead-gen lives on Meta lead forms, Google Search remarketing and LinkedIn. B2B lives on LinkedIn matched audiences and Google. Local services live on Google and Meta. Starting with the one platform where your buyers already spend time beats spreading a small budget across five.
Budget follows the same logic. Set the test budget from the platform's own minimums: LinkedIn needs real money from day one, TikTok's $30/day recommendation sets the floor, and Meta and Google can start small. Run one platform well for a month before adding a second; remarketing rewards focus because audience data compounds.
Cookie deprecation and the new rules of remarketing
Third-party cookies are fading, and remarketing is adapting rather than dying. The practical effects: browser-based audience building is less reliable than it was, so every platform now pushes server-side tracking (Meta's Conversions API, TikTok Events API, Snap's Conversions API, Google's enhanced conversions). Setting these up is no longer optional for accurate measurement.
First-party data is the replacement currency. Customer lists uploaded as matched or custom audiences (email lists, purchaser lists) now outperform pixel-only audiences on most platforms, and they are immune to cookie changes. Consent management matters too: in regions with strict privacy rules, the audience pool is only as big as the opted-in traffic.
The independent platforms feel this most. AdRoll and Criteo built their businesses on cross-site tracking, and both have shifted toward first-party data partnerships, retail media networks and AI-driven contextual targeting. For buyers, the takeaway is simple: prioritize platforms where you bring your own data (lists, purchasers, CRM segments) over platforms that promise to find audiences for you.
How we chose
We started with the categories buyers search: remarketing platforms, retargeting platforms and retargeting ads. For each candidate we opened the vendor's own site, checked the vendor's pricing or FAQ pages for minimums and budget facts, read public reviews on G2 and Capterra and practitioner discussion on Reddit, and compared audience options, targeting depth and SMB fit. Where a price could not be verified on the vendor's own page we wrote "See website" rather than guessing. We never claim hands-on testing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between remarketing and retargeting?
Nothing meaningful anymore. Google calls it remarketing; Meta, TikTok and most others call it retargeting. Both mean showing ads to people who already interacted with your business: site visitors, app users, video viewers or customer lists. Use whichever term the platform you are buying uses.
How much does remarketing cost?
Every platform here sells on auction, so you set the budget and the market sets the price. Real numbers from the vendors' own pages: LinkedIn starts at a $10/day minimum budget, TikTok recommends $30/day per ad group in North America and EMEA, and Amazon's managed DSP typically requires a $50,000 minimum spend. Meta and Google can start with small daily budgets; your industry's competition decides the click price.
Do I need a pixel or tag to run remarketing?
Yes for website-based audiences. Each platform provides one: the Meta Pixel, Google tag, TikTok Pixel, Pinterest Tag, Snap Pixel and LinkedIn Insight Tag. Install it before you need it, because audiences only build from the day the tag starts collecting. For the most accurate data, add each platform's server-side option (Conversions API or equivalent) alongside the browser tag.
How big does my audience need to be?
It varies by platform, but small audiences struggle: most platforms need hundreds to thousands of cookied visitors before an audience becomes usable, and very small pools serve inconsistently or not at all. If your site traffic is light, start with broader options (all site visitors, longer lookback windows, engagement audiences) and let the pool build before narrowing.
What is the difference between walled gardens and independent platforms?
Walled gardens (Google, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Amazon) retarget inside their own properties using their own data. Independents (AdRoll, Criteo) retarget across the open web and multiple channels from one dashboard. Walled gardens usually win on cost and data depth per channel; independents win on convenience and cross-channel frequency control.
Is remarketing affected by cookie deprecation?
Yes, but it is adapting. Browser-based tracking is less reliable, so platforms push server-side tracking (Conversions APIs) and first-party data (uploaded customer lists). Audiences built from your own customer data now outperform pixel-only audiences and are immune to cookie changes. Set up server-side tracking and collect consented first-party data as the foundation.
Sources we checked (11)
- https://ads.google.com
- https://www.facebook.com/business
- https://ads.tiktok.com
- https://business.pinterest.com
- https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/
- https://adroll.com/
- https://criteo.com/
- https://advertising.amazon.com
- https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions
- https://www.g2.com/categories/retargeting
- https://www.capterra.com/retargeting-software/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.