Switching attribution tools always costs something. The pixel history you built in Northbeam does not move to the next tool, the numbers will not match on day one, and someone on the team will ask why ROAS changed overnight. None of that is a reason to stay. It is a reason to plan the move instead of cancelling on a Friday and installing something new on Monday. These are the things I would check first.
Your contract and notice period
Northbeam’s FAQ describes Starter as month-to-month, usage-based pricing for Shopify brands, while Professional and Enterprise run on annual terms billed annually or semi-annually. Find your agreement and check the end date, the notice period and whether it auto-renews. If you are on an annual tier, the best time to start a replacement is 60 to 90 days before renewal, so you can run both and still give notice.
What you want to keep
Export the reports you actually use before access ends. For most brands that means monthly spend, attributed revenue and new-customer CAC by channel for the past year or two, in both Cash Snapshot and whichever model you relied on. Write down which model, window and accounting mode those exports used. A year from now, nobody will remember that last spring’s ROAS figures were Clicks + Modeled Views on accrual, and comparing them to a click-only number from a new tool will mislead you.
Why the numbers will change
Expect channel credit to shift, and know why before leadership asks. Northbeam’s default Clicks-Only model, per its docs, excludes bottom-funnel touchpoints such as direct, branded search, email and SMS from credit. Most other tools include them. After you switch, email and branded search will likely look stronger and prospecting channels weaker, even though nothing about the business changed. If you used modeled views, paid social and video will also lose credit in a tool that counts clicks only.
Accounting mode is the other source of drift. If your team read Accrual Performance, revenue landed on touchpoint dates. Most tools report on order date, which lines up with Northbeam’s Cash Snapshot. Compare like with like during the overlap.
UTMs and tracking code
Northbeam asks brands to use its own UTM parameters on major ad platforms. Before switching, check what the new tool needs and update your ad-level URL templates once, cleanly, rather than layering a second set on top. Then plan the code cleanup. On Shopify that means the Northbeam app, any pixel in the theme and the purchase script on the order status page. On other platforms it means the Server API job your developers built. Leave all of it running during the overlap and remove it only after the new tool is confirmed.
What you might lose
Be honest about what Northbeam was doing for you. If you used its media mix modeling or relied on view-based credit for video and connected TV, most cheaper tools will not replace that. You can cover part of the gap with a post-purchase survey and an occasional geo holdout, but it is a different method, not the same answer at a lower price. If those features were never opened, you lose nothing.
Run both for one full cycle
Give the new tool at least 30 days next to Northbeam, longer if your purchase cycle is long. In that window, check that total attributed orders in the new tool match your store within a few percent, and that the channel ranking makes sense even if the exact numbers differ. Avoid starting the overlap in the middle of BFCM, when nothing behaves normally. I covered the general version in what I check before I trust a new tool’s numbers.
Where brands usually go next
The destination depends on why you are leaving. Brands leaving on price usually look at tools with published pricing. ThoughtMetric is one, an e-commerce attribution tool for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and custom stores with multi-touch attribution, server-side tracking and post-purchase surveys on every plan. (Disclosure: ThoughtMetric sponsors this site.) Pricing starts at $99 a month based on pageviews, with monthly billing, and it does not include view modeling or MMM. Brands leaving for a full data platform look at Polar or Triple Whale. The full field is in Northbeam competitors for Shopify brands and cheaper Northbeam alternatives, and what you give up.
The checklist
- Find your renewal date and notice period, and start the replacement 60 to 90 days ahead.
- Export the reports you use, and label the model, window and accounting mode on each.
- Warn leadership that email and branded search will gain credit after the switch.
- Update UTM templates once, then remove Northbeam code only after the overlap.
- Decide whether you need a substitute for view modeling or MMM before you cancel.
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