Basis Technologies makes digital media operations easier.
They focus on simplifying and automating marketing tasks to save you time and boost your profits.
You’ll find their headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.
The company started back in 2001, founded by Shawn Riegsecker, who still leads it today.
Basis Technologies has over 800 employees supporting customers across the Americas and Europe.
Their last funding round was $30 million, which happened about ten years ago.
Basis has raised around $54.75 million in total.
In this Basis Technologies review, I’m going to highlight why they stand out.
They rebranded from Centro and now compete with big names like Google and Amazon in the demand-side platform space.
Also, they’ve been recognized for workplace culture; Crain’s Chicago Business named them the No. 4 best place to work in advertising for 2024.
You’ll appreciate their ongoing investment in platform improvements and employee satisfaction.
These moves make them a respected choice for marketing teams needing reliable digital advertising software.
| Basis Technologies – Quick Overview | |
|---|---|
| What It Does | Provides a unified platform that automates and simplifies digital media operations, including campaign planning, execution, reporting, and financial reconciliation across multiple channels. |
| Best For | • Mid-size to large agencies • Enterprise marketing teams • Advanced in-house digital strategists • Organizations managing multi-channel advertising (programmatic, direct, search, social) |
| Key Products | Basis Platform (core unified media automation) • Programmatic Advertising Automation • Integrated Search and Social Management • Reporting and Analytics Suite |
| Pricing | Custom pricing based on media spend, typically 10-15% tech fee • Minimum monthly spend commitments $5,000–$10,000+ • Personalized demos available • No free trial |
| Standout Features | • Unified campaign management across channels • Automation of campaign trafficking, pacing, and financial reconciliation • Advanced analytics with real-time reporting • Cross-channel transparency in media spend and results • Flexible audience targeting and optimization using machine learning |
| Integrations | Data management platforms, ad exchanges, popular CRMs, analytics services, and open API for custom workflows |
| Get Started | Start Free Trial → |
Basis Technologies Solutions
Basis Technologies offers a suite of automation software for digital media buying.
It helps enterprise marketers, agencies, and advertising pros streamline their processes.
1. Basis Platform
This is their flagship product.
It brings everything together by centralizing planning, operations, campaign execution, reporting, and financial reconciliation. The platform covers programmatic, publisher-direct, search, and social channels.
Its main goal is to simplify and automate daily tasks for digital media teams.
Here’s what it includes:
- Campaign planning and creation tools
- Real-time performance tracking and reporting
- Workflow automation and approval processes
- Financial reconciliation with clear billing
- Advanced targeting and audience segmentation
- Access to premium inventory via both programmatic and direct buying
You’ll find this platform useful if you’re running complex multi-channel campaigns and want to control everything from a single hub.
It’s designed for marketing agencies, in-house media teams, digital strategists, and advertisers.
2. Programmatic Advertising Automation
This tool helps automate bidding, targeting, and budget allocation.
It uses advanced algorithms to make decisions, so you don’t have to manage these manually.
This can save you time and improve the efficiency of your programmatic campaigns.
3. Integrated Search and Social Management
This solution lets you plan, launch, and monitor search and social campaigns alongside display and video ads.
You can manage all these campaigns from one interface without toggling between multiple tools.
It makes it easier to keep everything organized and consistent.
4. Reporting and Analytics Suite
The platform offers customizable dashboards to fit your needs.
You get robust analytics and transparent performance metrics. This helps you see what’s working and optimize campaigns for better results.
Having all your data clearly laid out simplifies decision-making.
5. API Integrations
Basis connects with many third-party tools.
This includes data management platforms, ad exchanges, popular CRMs, and analytics services.
Having these integrations means you can unify different software stacks.
You won’t need to jump between tools to manage display, search, social, and direct buys.
It keeps your workflow smoother and data flows more efficient.
Basis Technologies Features
1. Unified Campaign Management
You can manage programmatic, search, social, and direct advertising all from one dashboard. This helps your team avoid silos and cuts down on manual work.
If you run multi-channel campaigns, this feature gives you the oversight and control you need across everything.
2. Automation of Mundane Tasks
Basis takes care of repetitive campaign tasks like trafficking, pacing, and optimization. It also handles budget allocation and financial reconciliation for you.
This means your team can spend more time on creative and strategic work instead of getting stuck with manual operations.
3. Advanced Analytics and Real-Time Reporting
The platform comes with customizable analytics dashboards. You get real-time insights into how your campaigns are performing.
You can easily export reports, spot trends, and find opportunities to make your campaigns better quickly.
4. Cross-Channel Transparency
Basis brings all your digital buys together. Whether they are programmatic, publisher-direct, search, or social, you see everything in one workflow and reporting engine.
This gives you full clarity on media spend and results across all channels.
5. Flexible Audience Targeting and Optimization
Using machine learning, Basis fine-tunes bidding strategies and audience targeting based on what your goals are. This makes your campaigns more efficient and saves costs.
It also offers advanced segmentation tools so you can reach the exact audiences that matter most to your brand.
6. Secure, Cloud-Based Access
The platform has SOC 2 certification and solid security protocols in place. Your campaign data stays protected at all times.
Since it’s cloud-based, your team can access the system securely from anywhere, with support for multiple users and admin controls.
7. API Access and Integrations
Basis offers an open API. You can connect it with your existing martech stack, linking analytics, CRM, and marketing automation tools.
This ensures smooth data flow and allows you to build custom workflow automations that fit your needs.
8. Mobile Apps
Although Basis is mainly web-based, it does provide limited mobile features.
You can monitor campaigns and check reports on the go, which helps teams stay updated no matter where they are.
The thing that really makes Basis Technologies features stand out is how it pulls planning, buying, optimization, and finance into one place. You don’t have to juggle isolated tools or spreadsheets anymore.
Basis Technologies Pricing Plans
Basis Technologies pricing isn’t straightforward because they don’t list exact numbers on their site. Instead, they tailor costs based on your media spend and the features or services you need.
You usually pay a percentage fee of your media spend, somewhere between 10 and 15 percent. This can shift depending on how much you spend, how long your contract is, and what platform features you need.
They offer a few main tiers, from standard platform access to advanced enterprise solutions, plus managed services if you want their team to handle your campaigns.
| Plan | Price & Features |
|---|---|
| Standard Platform Access | Custom pricing based on media spend • Campaign planning, execution, and reporting • Minimum monthly media spend commitments ($5,000–$10,000/month) • Technology fee typically 10-15% of media spend |
| Advanced/Enterprise Solutions | Custom pricing – contact sales • Premium support • Advanced analytics • Dedicated account management • Deeper integration capabilities |
| Managed Services | Additional fees on top of tech fee • Basis team runs campaigns for you • Rates and minimums vary • Requires custom negotiation |
Basis doesn’t provide a free trial or a free-forever plan, but you can request a personalized demo. Sometimes, larger clients might get pilot programs depending on negotiations.
If you prefer transparent, self-serve pricing, Basis might not be the easiest choice. You’ll have to contact sales to get a quote tailored to your needs.
If you want to learn more about Basis Technologies pricing →, you can check out their website and see if a custom setup makes sense for your team.
Basis Technologies Alternatives
Here’s a quick look at the top competitors to Basis and how they stack up.
Each one brings something different to the table, depending on what you need.
Let’s break it down so you can see where Basis shines.
Competitor Breakdown
The Trade Desk
Known for advanced targeting and open APIs. They have a great data marketplace.Google Display & Video 360 (DV360)
A large-scale programmatic platform that integrates tightly with the Google stack.MediaMath
Focuses on strong algorithmic optimization but has a less unified workflow.Adobe Advertising Cloud
An enterprise ad suite that integrates well with other Adobe products.Amobee
A telecom-backed omni-channel platform that blends TV and digital well.
Basis Technologies alternatives often come up in conversations about workflow and automation.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison to make it clearer.
| Competitor | Their Strengths | Basis Technologies Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| The Trade Desk | Known for advanced targeting and open APIs | Broader workflow automation that covers planning, buying, and reconciliation |
| Google Display & Video 360 (DV360) | Integrates tightly with Google stack | Offers unified finance, operations, and buying workflows beyond just Google |
| MediaMath | Strong in algorithmic optimization | More unified workflow and easier user interface |
| Adobe Advertising Cloud | Integrates with Adobe suite | Easier onboarding with a mid-market fit |
| Amobee | Telecom-backed, TV/digital blend focus | More open integrations supporting varied platforms |
When you compare Basis to these competitors, you notice it works best for organizations that want a single platform handling everything from planning to buying and reconciliation.
While some competitors excel in specific areas like algorithmic targeting or enterprise suites, Basis gives you a more connected experience overall.
Also, its pricing usually sits in the upper-middle range, which reflects the value of streamlined workflow automation and transparency across different buying models.
If you’re after a tool that keeps your buying models transparent and your workflow simple, Basis could be a solid choice over many alternatives.
Who Should Use Basis Technologies
1. Mid-size to Large Agencies, Enterprise Marketing Teams, and Advanced In-house Digital Strategists
If you work in a mid-size or large agency, or part of an enterprise marketing team, Basis Technologies can really help simplify your processes.
It’s also a solid choice if you’re an in-house digital strategist dealing with complex campaigns.
2. Industries Like Retail, Finance, Healthcare, and Media
You’ll find Basis especially useful if you’re in retail, finance, healthcare, or media.
It’s built to handle industries that run complex campaigns or have high volumes of digital ads.
This means your specific industry’s demands won’t slow you down when managing multiple digital channels.
3. Organizations Managing Multi-channel Advertising
If your team handles programmatic, direct, search, and social all at once, Basis can centralize everything.
You’ll get centralized reporting, workflow automation, and strong reconciliation features that reduce the chaos of juggling separate tools.
This makes managing multi-channel campaigns less stressful and more transparent.
4. Teams Tired of Multiple Disconnected Ad Tools
When you’re juggling multiple disconnected ad platforms, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
Basis suits teams trying to scale their ad spend while automating operations for improved efficiency and better visibility.
If you want fewer moving parts and more control over your ad operations, this platform fits well.
5. When to Think Twice
If you run a smaller business with less ad spend, Basis’s minimum commitments and custom pricing might feel like too much.
Also, if you focus only on Google or a single ad network, Google’s DV360 might suit you better because of its tighter integration and cost-effectiveness.
Bottom Line
Basis Technologies offers an all-in-one solution for digital media operations.
It gives you strong automation, unified campaign management, and clear cross-channel transparency.
Its platform is cloud-based, secure, and built to help agencies and enterprise marketers scale efficiently.
You get robust analytics and workflow tools that keep your media buying on point and streamlined.
One thing to know is pricing isn’t public, and there’s no free trial available yet.
This might feel costly or complex if your team handles simpler digital media tasks.
If you want unified media buying, automation, and clear reporting across channels, Basis Technologies is worth considering.
I hope this Basis Technologies review has helped you see if it fits your needs.
