500+ sites running Freestar, plus its requirements, pay, and traffic stats
Freestar is a managed ad service for large, brand-safe sites. It wants a big share of readers in the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia. It typically takes sites with 1,000,000 pageviews a month. We list 514 sites that use Freestar, and 512 are confirmed live from their own ads.txt files or ad code.
Sites using Freestar
| site | niche | traffic | domain age | platform | ads managed by | checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| apnews.com | Not listed | top 10k | 35 yrs · 1991 | Not listed | Freestar | Oct 15 |
| reuters.com | Not listed | top 10k | 33 yrs · 1993 | Not listed | Not listed | Oct 19 |
| jcpenney.comJCPenney Corp, Inc | Not listed | top 10k | 33 yrs · 1993 | Not listed | Freestar | Oct 15 |
| fortune.comFortune Media USA Corporation | Business | top 10k | 32 yrs · 1994 | WordPress | Freestar | Oct 20 |
| oilprice.com | Business | top 10k | 30 yrs · 1995 | Not listed | Not listed | Oct 15 |
| aljazeera.com | News | top 10k | 30 yrs · 1996 | WordPress | Freestar | Oct 16 |
| aljazeera.net | News | top 10k | 30 yrs · 1996 | WordPress | Freestar | Oct 16 |
| khaleejtimes.com | News | top 10k | 30 yrs · 1996 | Not listed | Freestar | Oct 20 |
| famousbirthdays.com | Entertainment | top 10k | 28 yrs · 1998 | Not listed | Freestar | Oct 20 |
| fanatics.comFanatics Inc | Not listed | top 10k | 28 yrs · 1998 | Not listed | Freestar | Oct 15 |
What does Freestar require and pay?
- typical trafficmonthly pageviews; Freestar takes all sizes but says it typically needs this
- 1,000,000
- from top marketsof traffic from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia
- 50%
Joining
- Traffic
- Typically at least 1,000,000 pageviewsMonthly; the contact page says Freestar accepts all sizes, so this is typical rather than an absolute cutoff.
- Visitor location
- At least 50% from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia
- Content
- Original, human-focused, mostly long-form, and brand-safe
- Google standing
- Good standing with all major ad providers
- Must connect
- Provide GA4 access, traffic and revenue history, and demand-partner status
- Approval time
- About 3 to 6 weeks from kickoff to launchThis is onboarding-to-launch timing, not review time alone.
- Traffic source
- At least 50% from organic audiences
Freestar's traffic rule is what it usually asks for, not a strict cutoff, so ask its team if you're close. At least 50% of your traffic must come from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, or Australia.
Your content must be original and made for people, and you need good standing with major ad providers. Explicit sexual content, piracy, violence, hate speech, and illegal drugs aren't allowed.
During review, Freestar may ask for GA4 access and your past traffic and revenue.
Pay
How does Freestar pay?
Not public. Freestar doesn't publish its share, payment timing, minimum, methods, or currency.
Rules
What rules does Freestar set?
Not public. Freestar doesn't publish exclusivity, ad placement controls, contract length, or notice.
Service
What does Freestar do for you?
You get a dedicated account manager, a technical team, and publisher consultants. Freestar says onboarding commonly takes three to six weeks.
Sources: Publisher quality requirements, Publisher contact and onboarding · checked Oct 21, 2026
Is Freestar a fit for a growing site?
Only once it's large. Freestar usually works with high-traffic sites, and it checks where your readers are. A site with most readers outside the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia won't meet the rule, even if it's big.
What should you have ready before you apply?
- GA4 access to share during review.
- Your past traffic and revenue numbers.
- Original content made for people, and brand safe.
- Good standing with major ad providers.
How long does it take to start with Freestar?
Plan for several weeks. Freestar says onboarding commonly takes three to six weeks, with an account manager and a technical team guiding the setup.
What should you ask before you sign?
Your share, pay day, payment minimum, and whether Freestar must be your only ad partner. None of these are public. Ask how much notice you need to leave, too.
What fits if you're not at Freestar's size yet?
Raptive has a much lower pageview bar with a similar location rule. Playwire asks for less traffic and looks for a good footprint in English-speaking countries, not a set share. Mediavine looks at yearly ad revenue instead of pageviews.
How can you check if a site uses Freestar?
Look for Freestar in the site's ads.txt file, or paste the domain into our ad network checker.
Freestar stats
From our checks of 514 sites
How many sites use Freestar?
- 514
- sites listed
- 512
- confirmed live
- 12th
- of 44 networks
What kind of sites use Freestar?
Top niches
Share of 292 sorted sites.
Traffic
Sites grouped by their place in Chrome's list of the most visited sites.
| group | value |
|---|---|
| top 10k | 46 |
| top 100k | 161 |
| top 1M | 203 |
| not ranked | 64 |
Which sites joined or left Freestar?
Joined and left
Sites that started or stopped running Freestar, per day or per week.
- joined0
- left4
- net−4
| period | joined | left |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Oct 13 | 0 | 2 |
| Oct 20 | 0 | 1 |
How are Freestar sites built?
Domain age
When each site's domain was first registered. A domain can be older than the site on it.
19 yrsmedian, registered 2007
| registered | sites |
|---|---|
| 1991 | 1 |
| 1992 | 1 |
| 1993 | 3 |
| 1994 | 4 |
| 1995 | 30 |
| 1996 | 17 |
| 1997 | 21 |
| 1998 | 20 |
| 1999 | 30 |
| 2000 | 18 |
| 2001 | 7 |
| 2002 | 11 |
| 2003 | 7 |
| 2004 | 15 |
| 2005 | 13 |
| 2006 | 23 |
| 2007 | 22 |
| 2008 | 21 |
| 2009 | 18 |
| 2010 | 18 |
| 2011 | 16 |
| 2012 | 17 |
| 2013 | 17 |
| 2014 | 23 |
| 2015 | 11 |
| 2016 | 13 |
| 2017 | 13 |
| 2018 | 16 |
| 2019 | 18 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2023 | 6 |
| 2024 | 3 |
| 2026 | 2 |
Platforms
What the sites are built with, from clues in their page code.
- WordPress24%
- Next.js7%
- Drupal<1%
- Astro<1%
- Other1%
- Unknown67%
| part | share |
|---|---|
| WordPress | 24% |
| Next.js | 7% |
| Drupal | <1% |
| Astro | <1% |
| Other | 1% |
| Unknown | 67% |
Domain endings
The share of sites on each domain ending, such as .com or .co.uk.
.com79%.net4%.org4%.io2%.co.uk<1%other10%
What else is in their ads.txt?
Ad manager
Which company each site names as its main ad manager in its ads.txt file.
88%name Freestar
- Freestar88%
- another network<1%
- not listed12%
Also runs
Other networks from our list that these sites run at the same time.