The Ecomm Analyst

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Northbeam vs Hyros: Which Attribution Tool Fits an E-commerce Brand?

Northbeam and Hyros both promise a truer read on paid ads than the platforms give you, and both cost real money. They come from different places, though. Northbeam was built for e-commerce brands running media across many channels. Hyros grew up tracking paid traffic for funnels, lead generation, and info products, and added a Shopify plan later. That origin shows up in how each one prices, what it measures well, and who ends up happy with it.

NorthbeamHyros
Pricing modelStarter from $1,500/mo; Professional $3,500/moTiers by tracked monthly revenue
ContractStarter month to month on Shopify; higher tiers annualTerms shown by tier on its pricing page
Attribution approachMulti-touch plus Clicks + Deterministic ViewsPaid traffic tracking tied to sales and leads
Best fitMulti-channel e-commerce at scaleFunnels, calls, and high-ticket offers
PlatformsShopify on Starter; any platform on ProfessionalSeparate Business and Shopify plans
ExtrasApex signal, MMM+ and incrementality add-onsAgency plan, CRM and call data

How they price

Northbeam lists Starter from $1,500 a month for brands spending under $1.5 million a year on ads, with the final number set by data volume measured in pageviews. Starter is month to month for Shopify brands. Professional is $3,500 a month on annual terms for brands spending up to $500,000 a month, and Enterprise is custom. There’s also a Growth tier sold through agency partners.

Hyros prices by tracked monthly revenue, with separate Business, Shopify, and Agency plans. The more revenue Hyros attributes to your ads, the higher your tier. That’s simple to understand but hard to budget for a fast-growing store, because a strong month moves you up. Check its pricing page for the figure at your revenue level.

What each one measures well

Northbeam’s edge is cross-channel modeling. It integrates natively with Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, Microsoft, and Amazon Ads, and its Clicks + Deterministic Views model gives credit to ads people saw but didn’t click, which matters for YouTube, CTV, and upper-funnel Meta. Apex pushes Northbeam’s first-party data back into ad algorithms.

Hyros is strongest where a sale has steps outside the store: a lead form, a sales call, a webinar, a CRM stage. If you sell a $3,000 product with a phone consultation in the middle, Hyros is built for that path. For a typical Shopify brand selling $60 orders through Meta and Google, much of that machinery goes unused. I covered this in is Hyros good for e-commerce.

Setup and day-to-day use

Both require real setup: DNS work for first-party tracking, UTMs, and ad account connections. Northbeam’s numbers will look different from Ads Manager by design, and it takes a few weeks of learning to trust them. Hyros setups are often more custom, especially when calls and CRMs are involved. Budget time either way, and run the new tool in parallel with your old reporting before you change budgets based on it.

A lower-cost option

If neither price fits, ThoughtMetric, which sponsors this site, is an e-commerce attribution tool for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and custom stores. It combines multi-touch pixel data with post-purchase surveys and integrates with Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest, and Bing. Pricing starts at $99 a month for 50,000 pageviews. It doesn’t model view-through conversions or track phone sales, so it’s a fit for straightforward online stores rather than funnel businesses. See ThoughtMetric vs Northbeam and ThoughtMetric vs Hyros.

FAQs

Is Northbeam or Hyros cheaper?

It depends on revenue. Northbeam Starter is listed from $1,500 a month. Hyros tiers scale with the revenue it tracks, so compare its price at your revenue level on its pricing page, and remember it rises as you grow.

Which is better for Shopify brands?

Northbeam, for most multi-channel Shopify brands with large ad budgets. Hyros fits Shopify brands whose sales involve calls, leads, or long funnels.

Does either track view-through conversions?

Northbeam does, through its Clicks + Deterministic Views model. Hyros focuses on tracked clicks and the sales and leads they lead to.

Do they require annual contracts?

Northbeam Starter is month to month for Shopify brands, and Professional and Enterprise are annual. Hyros shows billing terms by tier on its pricing page, so confirm them for your revenue level before you sign.

How to choose

  • Choose Northbeam if you run large budgets across many channels and need view-through credit.
  • Choose Hyros if your sales involve leads, calls, webinars, or a CRM.
  • Choose ThoughtMetric (our sponsor) if you run a standard online store and want multi-touch attribution from $99 a month.
  • Run any new tool in parallel for a few weeks before moving budget on its numbers.

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About

Six years in e-commerce. Three Shopify stores across different niches, one scaled past seven figures. I’ve tested hundreds of ad creatives, obsessed over email flows, and learned more from my failures than my wins.

Now I focus on conversion optimization, retention marketing, and the analytics behind it all. This blog is where I share what actually works, backed by real numbers. No fluff, no guru energy.