Honest Comparison

Why Media Buyers
Choose PureGuard

Most bot detection tools report fraud after you already paid. PureGuard is the only engine that blocks bots before your budget is spent, with 13 detection layers, automated zone intelligence, and a self-hosted option that keeps your data on your server.

What Sets PureGuard Apart

Three capabilities no competitor can match.

Pre-Budget Filtering

PureGuard blocks bots BEFORE your ad budget is consumed. Every competitor in this space analyzes traffic after you have already paid for the click. They give you a report. We give you your money back.

Saves budget in real-time

Zone Intelligence Engine

14 automated quality rules analyze every traffic zone across your campaigns. The UQC v4 engine auto-blocks toxic zones, identifies elite sources, and runs continuous probation scoring. No competitor offers automated zone-level intelligence.

14 automated rules

Self-Hosted Option

Deploy PureGuard on your own server. Your traffic data, IP logs, and zone analytics never leave your infrastructure. Every single competitor is SaaS-only with no self-hosted deployment. Full control, zero vendor lock-in.

Your data stays yours

Full Feature Comparison

PureGuard vs 9 leading bot detection platforms, feature by feature.

Scroll horizontally to see all competitors
Feature
PureGuard 		Kaminari
Click		 Fraud
Score		 Ad
Score		 Fraud
logix		 Opticks 24
Metrics		 Spider
AF		 mFilter
It		 Kochava
Pre-bid filtering Block before budget spent API only Mobile
Real-time decisions Sub-15ms latency <15ms ~100ms ~200ms ~150ms ~200ms ~300ms ~100ms ~250ms ~200ms
Detection layers Independent analysis modules 13 6 5 4 3 7 3 5 6 8
Zone intelligence Automated zone quality rules 14 rules
RTB / OpenRTB 2.5 Native programmatic support Native Partial SSP only Partial
Self-hosted option Deploy on your own server
CPA campaign focus Built for performance marketers Partial Enterprise PPC only PPC focus App focus
Minimum spend Entry cost to start Free tier $500+/mo $300+/mo $250+/mo $1K+/mo $2K+/mo $500+/mo $300+/mo $500+/mo $1K+/mo
Chrome UA Reduction aware W3C privacy spec compliant Partial Partial Partial
Multi-source support Traffic network integrations 10+ 5+ 8+ API 3 6+ 4 Google/Meta 5+ MMP
API access Programmatic integration Full Limited Enterprise Limited Limited
Pricing Monthly cost Free
$79 / $299 		$500
to $10K+ 		$300
to $2K+ 		$250
per usage 		$1K+
enterprise 		$2K+
enterprise 		$500
to $2K 		$300
to $5K 		$500
to $3K 		$1K+
per app

Competitor Deep Dives

An honest look at each platform. Expand any card for the full analysis.

KC
Kaminari Click
Enterprise click fraud prevention
Strengths
Decent detection accuracy for affiliate traffic
Well-known in CPA marketing circles
Dedicated account managers for large spenders
Weaknesses
SaaS only -- no self-hosted deployment option
No zone intelligence or automated quality rules
Enterprise pricing starts at $10K+/month
Post-click analysis only -- budget already spent
PureGuard advantage: 10-100x cheaper with pre-bid filtering, zone intelligence, and self-hosted option. Kaminari charges enterprise prices for what PureGuard delivers at $79/mo.
FS
FraudScore
Affiliate marketing fraud detection
Strengths
Good affiliate network focus
Integration with several CPA networks
Mid-range pricing compared to enterprise tools
Weaknesses
Weaker detection depth -- fewer analysis layers
No zone analysis or automated blocking
Reporting only -- does not block traffic in real-time
Not Chrome UA Reduction aware
PureGuard advantage: Real-time blocking vs after-the-fact reporting. PureGuard's 13 layers catch what FraudScore's 5 miss, especially around modern Chrome privacy features.
AS
AdScore
Traffic scoring API platform
Strengths
Clean API-first design
Usage-based pricing model
Some traffic sources use it natively (RichAds)
Weaknesses
Scoring API only -- no dashboards or management UI
No zone management or intelligence
Requires you to build your own decision logic
Can over-filter legitimate traffic (used by RichAds)
PureGuard advantage: Complete solution vs raw API. PureGuard includes dashboards, zone intelligence, blocklist export, live monitoring, and RTB pre-bid -- all out of the box.
FL
Fraudlogix
IP blocklist and reporting platform
Strengths
Large IP reputation database
Good for SSP/exchange-level filtering
Established in the ad-tech ecosystem
Weaknesses
IP blocklist focused -- misses sophisticated bots
Reporting only -- no real-time blocking decisions
Enterprise pricing with annual contracts
Not designed for media buyer workflows
PureGuard advantage: PureGuard includes IP blocklists (FireHOL + CrowdSec) plus 11 additional detection layers. Fraudlogix reports; PureGuard blocks.
OP
Opticks
Enterprise ad fraud prevention
Strengths
Strong enterprise detection capabilities
Good for brand advertisers at scale
Multiple detection vectors (7 layers)
Weaknesses
Enterprise only -- $2K+ minimum monthly
No CPA/affiliate campaign focus
No pop/push traffic specialization
Annual contract required
PureGuard advantage: Built specifically for media buyers running pop, push, and native traffic. Opticks targets enterprise brands -- wrong tool for performance marketing.
24
24Metrics
Click validation service
Strengths
Simple click validation concept
Some affiliate network integrations
Weaknesses
Click validation only -- limited scope
Small player with limited resources
Only 3 detection layers
No RTB, no zone intelligence, no self-hosted
PureGuard advantage: Full-spectrum traffic security vs basic click validation. PureGuard offers 4x the detection layers and features 24Metrics does not have on their roadmap.
SA
Spider AF
PPC and brand ad fraud protection
Strengths
Strong Google/Meta Ads integration
Growing team, expanding features
Decent detection for PPC campaigns
Weaknesses
PPC/brand focused -- not built for pop/push traffic
Expanding to affiliate but still early
No zone intelligence or RTB support
Limited pop traffic source integrations
PureGuard advantage: Spider AF protects Google Ads budgets. PureGuard protects pop/push/native media buying budgets. Different tools for different traffic types.
mF
mFilterIt
India-focused ad fraud detection
Strengths
Strong in Indian market and SEA expansion
Good mobile app fraud detection
Growing feature set and team
Weaknesses
Indian market focus -- limited global coverage
Still growing in SEA and Western markets
No zone intelligence or automated blocking
Not Chrome UA Reduction aware
PureGuard advantage: Global-first design with SEA specialization. PureGuard handles 26-country multilingual detection that mFilterIt does not offer outside India.
KO
Kochava
Mobile measurement and fraud prevention
Strengths
Industry-leading mobile measurement platform (MMP)
Strong mobile app install fraud detection
Large dataset from mobile ecosystem
Weaknesses
Mobile app focused -- not designed for web traffic
Not built for pop/push/redirect traffic flows
Expensive per-app pricing model ($1K+)
No zone-level quality analysis
PureGuard advantage: Kochava excels at mobile app install fraud. PureGuard excels at web-based pop/push/native traffic filtering. Completely different domains.

Ready to See
the Difference?

Start with 100,000 free bot checks. No credit card required. See why media buyers switch to PureGuard and never look back.

Start Free -- 100K Checks View Pricing