Northbeam and Polar Analytics show up on the same shortlist, but they start from different places. Northbeam is an attribution company that added media mix modeling. Polar is a data platform, with a warehouse and a semantic layer, that includes attribution as one of its products. If you know which of those you are buying, the choice usually makes itself.
How each one assigns credit
Northbeam defaults to its Clicks-Only model, which its docs say divides credit equally across touchpoints while excluding bottom-funnel ones like direct, branded search, email and SMS. It also offers Clicks + Modeled Views, a machine learning model that credits impressions, and Clicks + Deterministic Views, which uses platform-verified views. Two accounting modes, Cash Snapshot and Accrual Performance, change which day revenue lands on. The flexibility is real, and so is the learning curve. I covered how those settings change the numbers in is Northbeam’s attribution accurate.
Polar runs its own first-party pixel with a Lifetime ID for cross-device stitching and offers ten attribution models. Its featured model, which it calls Full Impact, is built on Shapley values and distributes credit by each channel’s marginal contribution. Polar also sells incrementality testing with a dedicated data scientist, which is the stronger answer to whether a channel causes sales at all.
What else you get
This is where they diverge most. Polar’s pricing page says every plan includes a dedicated Snowflake database, a semantic layer of pre-built metrics, unlimited users and unlimited history. On top sit business intelligence dashboards, Klaviyo audience syncing, conversion APIs for Meta and Google, and a headless MCP for AI assistants. You can blend finance, subscription and support data into one P&L.
Northbeam stays closer to media. Beyond attribution it offers media mix modeling and creative analytics, aimed at teams making daily buying decisions across large ad budgets. It is not trying to be your finance reporting tool.
Platform support
Both are strongest on Shopify. Northbeam has a native Shopify app and documents a Server API for WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento and custom stores, which your developers build alongside its pixel. Polar’s connectors page names Shopify as its one-click commerce source, and other platforms go through its AI Data Engineer, which builds custom connectors. Neither treats a non-Shopify store as a standard setup, so get specifics on either demo.
Pricing visibility
Northbeam lists Starter at $1,500 a month and describes it as month-to-month, usage-based pricing for Shopify brands. Brands on other platforms, or wanting flat rates, are pointed to Professional or Enterprise on annual terms. Polar’s pricing is not listed on the website. You select your annual GMV on its pricing page and book a demo for the number. If finance needs a figure before anyone takes a sales call, Northbeam at least gives you a floor.
Who each one fits
Northbeam fits a paid-media-heavy brand with a dedicated buyer or analyst who will live in the attribution views every day, especially one spending on video and social where view-based credit matters. Polar fits a brand that wants one governed dataset across the business, has data in several systems, and has someone to build reports. A brand with both needs and a big budget sometimes runs both, using Polar as the warehouse and Northbeam for media decisions, though that is two contracts.
If neither describes you, the honest answer may be a smaller tool. ThoughtMetric is an e-commerce attribution tool for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and custom stores, with direct integrations for each. (Disclosure: ThoughtMetric sponsors this site.) It includes multi-touch attribution, server-side tracking and post-purchase surveys on every plan, with pricing based on monthly pageviews from $99 a month. It has no warehouse, no media mix model and no view-through modeling, so it replaces the attribution piece of either one and nothing more. The three-way view is in ThoughtMetric vs Triple Whale vs Northbeam and Polar Analytics vs ThoughtMetric vs Triple Whale.
Picking one
- Big paid media budget and a buyer who wants view-based credit? Northbeam.
- Want a warehouse and one set of metrics across finance and marketing? Polar.
- Need a price before a sales call? Northbeam publishes a Starter figure. Polar does not.
- Want to test whether channels cause sales? Polar’s incrementality product.
- Only need attribution, on any of the major store platforms? ThoughtMetric (our sponsor).
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