Adsy vs Collaborator: Guest Post Marketplaces Compared
Adsy vs Collaborator compared on publisher pricing, platform fees, inventory, filters, approval windows, disputes and placement guarantees.
Adsy and Collaborator are both self-serve guest post marketplaces. Publishers list their sites and set their prices, you top up a balance, choose sites with filters, and either supply an article or pay the publisher to write one. Payment is held until the work is checked.
They differ in fees, inventory, how long you get to review, and especially in guarantees. Collaborator, founded in 2017 according to its site, charges a published commission on deposits and offers a defined replacement guarantee. Adsy doesn't publish a commission or a link lifetime, and its own pages disagree on refunds.
Everything below comes from each platform's own site, checked October 2026. Neither marketplace was used or tested for this comparison.
Pick Adsy if you want the larger stated inventory, a low $25 minimum top-up, publisher-written content at the listed price, and a longer review window before an order auto-completes.
Pick Collaborator if you want a published fee structure, a free 3-month placement guarantee (with a paid 1-year option), detailed site analytics and team accounts for an agency.
Adsy vs Collaborator at a glance
| Adsy | Collaborator | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Self-serve guest post marketplace | Self-serve marketplace for websites and Telegram channels |
| Inventory claimed | 150K+ sites (around 64,200 shown in search) | About 45,000 websites plus 3,000+ Telegram channels |
| Who sets prices | Publishers | Publishers (Collaborator can reject off-market prices) |
| Headline price | Guest posts "from $14" | Example listings around $40 to $91 |
| Platform fee | Not published; no commission on top-ups | 10% commission on deposits |
| Minimum top-up | $25 | Not published |
| Content | Publisher writes at listed price, or you supply it | Your own, or publisher writing where offered |
| Review window | 7 calendar days, then auto-approval | 72 hours, then auto-acceptance |
| Placement guarantee | No defined period published | 3 months free; 1 year for 10% of the placement fee |
| Agency features | Not published | Team accounts with access levels |
How do the fees compare?
On both platforms the publisher's price is the main cost, and listings vary widely, so the headline numbers say more about the cheapest sites than the typical order.
Adsy advertises guest posts "from $14" and says it charges no commission on top-ups. One credit equals one US dollar and the minimum prepayment is $25. If you choose "Content creation and placement", the publisher writes the article and the listed price is final, though Adsy's FAQ notes that longer content costs extra. Adsy doesn't publish whether it adds a margin to publisher prices.
Collaborator is more explicit. It charges a 10% commission when advertisers deposit funds (and 15% when publishers withdraw). Prices on its homepage examples run from about $40 to $91 per article, and Telegram posts are cheaper. Publisher writing is optional and priced per listing.
For what a placement should cost at different authority levels, see the link building cost guide.
How are sites vetted?
Neither platform owns the sites, so vetting is the main thing you're paying the platform for. Collaborator publishes its moderation criteria: traffic, indexation and ranking in high positions on Google. It says 8,500+ sites have connected Google Analytics and 7,000+ are verified through Search Console, and its article rules require at least 2,000 characters, 75% uniqueness and no more than three external links.
Adsy describes a quality assurance system for publishers and checks the final content, but doesn't publish the criteria a site must meet to be listed. It does say it monitors whether links remain in place.
On both, treat the dashboard metrics as a starting point and check each site yourself. Our guide to buying backlinks safely has a checklist.
How much control do you get?
Full control, on both. Adsy offers 20+ filters using Ahrefs, Moz, Similarweb, Semrush and GA4 data, plus language, country and category. Collaborator offers 70+ parameters from 40+ data sources, with official Ahrefs and Serpstat integrations and six months of traffic source data on each site. Both let you write your own guest post or pay the publisher to write it.
How long does an order take?
Turnaround is set by each publisher, and both platforms show it per listing. Adsy says publishers can take up to three working days to accept an offer, and some listings show two to four days to complete. Collaborator says most deals finish within 48 hours, quoting 75% on its homepage and 70% on its advertiser page.
The more important difference is the protection built into the order flow.
If you miss the review window, the order is treated as accepted. Adsy gives you seven calendar days, Collaborator 72 hours, so Collaborator buyers need to check orders promptly. Adsy lets you request up to three rounds of improvements before opening a dispute for its administration to arbitrate. Collaborator's administration also settles disputes, and its decision is final.
What guarantees do you get?
Collaborator publishes a clear one. If a placement is deleted within three months, it arranges a similar placement elsewhere or refunds your balance at its own expense. For 10% of the placement fee you can extend cover to a year, which also covers the page being de-indexed or the anchor or landing page being changed.
Adsy is harder to pin down. One landing page advertises a "100% Money Back Guarantee", while its FAQ says all purchases are final and non-refundable, and its terms say credits are non-refundable once services start and that it can't control how long publishers keep content up. No defined link lifetime or replacement period is published, so assume none until Adsy confirms otherwise in writing.
Reporting and agency features
Neither publishes a white label report. Adsy tracks order progress from acceptance to completion and monitors link presence. Collaborator shows site analytics, including traffic trends, and offers a Team Account with separate logins, access levels and client management, which suits agencies sharing one balance.
Which should you choose?
Choose Adsy if inventory size matters most, you want to start small with a $25 top-up, or you like publisher-written content included at the listed price. Go in knowing that refunds and link lifetime aren't clearly guaranteed.
Choose Collaborator if you want to know the fees and the guarantee up front, value detailed site analytics, or run an agency team. The 10% deposit commission buys a defined three-month guarantee and a paid one-year option.
The Adsy review and Collaborator review go deeper, and our guide to link building marketplaces compares marketplaces with managed services.
The short version
- Both are self-serve guest post marketplaces where publishers set prices and you pick the sites
- Adsy claims the larger inventory and has a $25 minimum; Collaborator charges a published 10% deposit commission
- Collaborator publishes its moderation criteria and offers a 3-month guarantee (1 year for an extra 10%)
- Adsy's refund wording conflicts across its own pages, and no link lifetime is published
- Adsy gives you seven days to review an order; Collaborator gives you 72 hours