Shopify Plus brands are Northbeam’s core audience, so it’s worth being clear about why some of them look elsewhere. The usual reasons are cost, especially once you move past Starter to the $3,500-a-month Professional tier on annual terms, and fit. A Plus brand with expansion stores, Shopify Markets, B2B, and POS has measurement needs that don’t all sit inside an ad attribution model. Some of those are better served by a cheaper attribution tool plus a solid tracking layer.
Here are the alternatives I’d put in front of a Plus brand. (Disclosure: ThoughtMetric, ranked third, sponsors this site.)
| Tool | Starting price | Plus strength | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triple Whale | Free plan; Foundation from $219/mo | Multi-store reporting and unlimited users on paid plans | GMV pricing rises fast at Plus scale |
| Polar Analytics | Not listed on the website | BI layer across stores and teams | Demo required for a price |
| ThoughtMetric (sponsor) | $99/mo for 50,000 pageviews | Multi-touch plus surveys, multi-store reports | Pageview pricing rises with traffic |
| Elevar | Premium $1,250/mo (30,000 orders) | Server-side tracking across storefronts and Markets | Tracking layer, not attribution |
| Fairing | Free up to 200 orders/mo; volume pricing above | Plus-certified post-purchase surveys | Survey data only |
1. Triple Whale
Triple Whale is the most common alternative on Plus. Its paid plans include unlimited users and as many stores as you need, which suits brands running regional storefronts. Foundation adds multi-touch attribution, cohorts, and custom dashboards, and Automate adds Moby automations. On its Shopify listing, Foundation starts at $219 a month and Automate at $749, but price is set by annual GMV, so a Plus brand will land well above the entry figure. Get a quote for your band.
2. Polar Analytics
Polar Analytics fits Plus brands where finance, retention, and merchandising teams all want custom reporting from the same data, with attribution as one part of it. Its pricing is not listed on the website, so a demo is required for a number.
3. ThoughtMetric
ThoughtMetric, which sponsors this site, combines multi-touch pixel attribution with post-purchase surveys, integrates with Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest, and Bing, and supports multi-store reporting. It’s an e-commerce attribution tool for Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and custom stores. Pricing is based on pageviews: $99 a month for 50,000, up to $399 for 300,000, so high-traffic Plus brands should ask about volume above that. Every feature is on every plan.
4. Elevar
Elevar, now sold as Audiense Online, is the tracking foundation many Plus brands run underneath their attribution tool. Its Premium plan, at $1,250 a month for up to 30,000 orders, adds multi-storefront tracking, Shopify Markets segmentation, and an API framework for other commerce platforms. Advanced is $650 a month for up to 10,000 orders.
5. Fairing
Fairing is a Shopify Plus certified post-purchase survey that works with Shopify’s Thank You and Order Status page extensions and Shopify POS. It’s free up to 200 orders a month and $149 for 1,001 to 5,000 orders, with higher-volume pricing on its pricing page.
What Plus brands should check before switching
Confirm the new tool’s pixel works with Checkout Extensibility and your thank-you page setup. Check how it handles expansion stores and currencies, because some tools report each store separately and others combine them. Keep POS and B2B orders out of online ROAS. And run both tools in parallel for at least a month, since attribution history doesn’t transfer and you’ll want to understand the differences before you move budget. See what to check before switching from Northbeam, Checkout Extensibility and attribution tracking, and Triple Whale alternatives for Shopify Plus brands.
FAQs
How much does Northbeam cost for a Shopify Plus brand?
Starter is listed from $1,500 a month for brands under $1.5 million a year in ad spend. Professional is $3,500 a month on annual terms for brands spending up to $500,000 a month, and Enterprise is custom.
Which alternatives handle multiple Plus stores?
Triple Whale’s paid plans cover multiple stores, ThoughtMetric (our sponsor) offers multi-store reports, and Elevar’s Premium plan tracks multiple storefronts.
Will I lose data switching from Northbeam?
Yes, your Northbeam attribution history won’t carry into a new tool. Export key reports and run tools side by side before cancelling.
Do Plus brands need server-side tracking?
Most benefit from it, since it improves the data ad platforms optimize on. It complements an attribution tool rather than replacing one.
How to choose
- Choose Triple Whale for an all-in-one suite with multi-store support, if the GMV quote works.
- Choose Polar Analytics if many teams need custom BI reporting.
- Choose ThoughtMetric (our sponsor) for multi-touch attribution with surveys at a published price.
- Add Elevar for server-side tracking across storefronts and Markets.
- Add Fairing for Plus-certified surveys, including POS.
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