Alternatives to Google Optimize

As the digital landscape evolves, marketers are continually seeking ways to enhance their website optimization efforts. With the sunsetting of Google Optimize in September later this year, it’s crucial for marketers to explore alternative solutions that can provide robust A/B testing and optimization functionalities. 

In this blog post, we will dive into some top alternatives to Google Optimize, highlighting their key features and benefits, and helping marketers make an informed decision ahead Google sunsetting this tool. Let’s get started!

VWO Testing

VWO Testing is a versatile A/B testing and conversion optimization tool that empowers marketers to create engaging and personalized experiences. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive testing capabilities, VWO Testing allows marketers to test multiple variations of their web pages, assess user behaviour, and optimise conversion rates. 

Additionally, VWO offers advanced targeting options, heatmaps, and session recordings, enabling marketers to gather valuable insights and make data-driven decisions.

The Pros of VWO Testing

• Easy no-code changes in existing pages for testing variables (copy, colour, button placement). This allows users to test various elements like text, colours, and button positions. The benefit of this approach is that it empowers users to run tests independently, verifying their hypotheses without relying on technical assistance.

• Supports multiple types of tests on different URLs or via Javascript.
• Responsive support team is available via chat in the web app.
• Built-in features include surveys, heatmaps, and session recordings.
• User-friendly UI for easy navigation through all experiences being tested.
• The report tab allows adjusting time and recalculating probability based on selected duration, helpful for mid-test metric changes.

The Cons of VWO Testing

• Some tests require advanced implementation through the code editor rather than the visual editor.
• Pausing a campaign or test shows a prominent red warning that can’t be dismissed, leading to confusion.
• The platform consumes a large visitor allotment to find results.
• Running tests on multiple pages simultaneously is challenging.
• Observation collection sample rate is low, leading to longer data collection.
• AB test analysis provides a range instead of a specific number for lift, based on Bayesian statistics.
• No easy way to see the duration of a test without manual calculation.
• Comparing conversion rates over time is not straightforward, as the line chart keeps growing with ongoing conversions.

Pricing

Regarding VWO’s pricing, their web-based testing range is available at monthly rates ranging from $99 to $467. Additionally, they provide a FullStack plan priced at $1,999 per month. 

While they do offer a 30-day free trial, there is, at the time of writing, no free version of their services.

Explore by Omniconvert

Omniconvert’s Explore is a powerful experimentation platform designed to help marketers optimize customer experiences and drive conversions. With its easy-to-use visual editor, marketers can create and launch A/B tests, multivariate tests, and personalization campaigns. Explore also offers segmentation options, and real-time reporting, and integrates seamlessly with other marketing tools, enabling marketers to unleash the full potential of their optimization strategies.

The Pros of Omniconvert

• Stacked testing feature sets the winning variation from a test into the control for further validation and data collection, ensuring credible results.
• Integration of the segmentation tool with A/B testing allows testing up to 40 segmentation parameters, including visitor behaviour, geolocation, and traffic source.

The Cons of Omniconvert

• The platform is rather technical, and using it may require an understanding of CSS/HTML.

Screenshot of the interface of Omniconvert

Pricing

Omniconvert offers reasonable pricing based on the number of visitors tested per month. The pricing begins at $167/month for up to 50,000 tested visitors and goes up to $4,658/month for up to five million tested users.

Convert Experiences

Convert Experiences is a feature-rich A/B testing and personalization platform that empowers marketers to improve their website’s performance. It offers an intuitive visual editor, allowing marketers to create and modify experiments with ease. Convert Experiences also provides advanced targeting options, such as geolocation and behaviour-based targeting, and integrates with popular analytics platforms, enabling marketers to gather comprehensive data insights and implement successful optimization strategies.

The Pros of Convert Experiences

• Convert Experiences is a fantastic option for professionals who frequently conduct tests.
• The platform features a user-friendly CSS and Javascript editor, making it easy to customize experiments.
• Unlike many other A/B testing tools, Convert Experiences is GDPR-compliant and prioritizes data privacy. It does not store personal information and solely relies on first-party cookies to track clients.
• Powered by Akamai, Convert Experiences stands out as the fastest loading tool for an optimal user experience, with no annoying flickering.
• With outstanding customer support, Convert Experiences goes above and beyond to assist users. They offer web chat support and seamless integration with over 100 other tools.
• The customer support team is highly responsive and well-versed, ensuring users get the help they need promptly and efficiently.

The Cons of Convert Experiences

• Utilizing Convert Experiences for sophisticated customizations may require dedicated teams due to its advanced features.
• While the tool may be more expensive compared to some alternatives, the advantages it offers make it a worthwhile investment. The benefits outweigh the initial cost.

Pricing

Convert Experiences offers three plans: Kickstart, Specialist Experiences, and Pro. 

The pricing is determined based on the number of tests performed, the functionality included, and the level of service provided. 

The Kickstart plan, ideal for beginners, is priced at $699.00 per month. While there is no free version available, Convert Experiences does offer a free 15-day trial for users to explore the platform before making a commitment.

AB Tasty

AB Tasty is an all-in-one optimisation platform that combines A/B testing, personalization, and user engagement features. With its drag-and-drop editor, marketers can create and manage experiments effortlessly, ensuring seamless user experiences across devices and channels. 

AB Tasty offers an extensive range of targeting options, including geolocation, user behaviour, and weather-based targeting. The platform also provides in-depth reporting and analysis, allowing marketers to measure the impact of their optimization efforts accurately.

The Pros of AB Tasty

• The AB Tasty interface is user-friendly and easy to understand.
• Launching and observing tests is a straightforward process.
• Various configuration options are available, such as adding channels, client IP address, localization, or cookie values.
• Setting up tests is simple, and the WYSIWYG editor is easy to use with a helpful review mode.
• Even clients with minimal technical experience can modify pages, create new designs, or utilize the widget library.
• AB Tasty offers many integrations, including Google Analytics, Heap, Amplitude, FullStory, Tealium, Segment, and Contentsquare.
• The price is mid-range, making it more affordable compared to some competitors.
• The customer support team is highly responsive and efficient in handling any issues that may arise.

The Cons of AB Tasty

• The statistical significance calculator is presented as a bar graph, which some users may find basic.
• Test results might experience delays due to necessary interactions with the customer support team, potentially prolonging the testing process.

Pricing

AB Tasty does not provide full pricing information on its website; interested customers can obtain quotes from their team directly. The cost of AB Tasty depends on the specific products included in the package and the overall traffic of your website. 

For a detailed and personalized pricing estimate, it is recommended to reach out to their sales team.

Optimizely

Optimizely, a well-established player in the optimization space offers a comprehensive experimentation platform that empowers marketers to deliver impactful experiences. Its intuitive visual editor allows marketers to create, launch, and manage A/B tests and personalization campaigns efficiently. Optimizely offers advanced targeting capabilities, along with real-time results tracking, machine learning-powered insights, and integrations with popular marketing tools. This combination enables marketers to optimize customer experiences and drive conversions effectively.

The Pros of Optimizely

• Optimizely’s user interface and WYSIWYG editor are user-friendly and require no coding experience. However, they offer the flexibility to use JavaScript and CSS if needed.
• The extension feature allows developers to create prototype templates for specific features, which non-dev users or marketing team members can easily utilize by providing necessary information.
• Test results are presented clearly with great graphs and tables, making it easy to interpret performance, the likelihood of beating the baseline, and comparisons between variations.
• Even with multivariate tests, the results remain clear and concise.
• Traffic allocation options are convenient and enable easy splitting of traffic into different variations.
•  Integrating Optimizely is simple with just one line of JavaScript required to start testing. Minor configurations may be needed based on specific product requirements, but they are quick to implement.
• The results dashboard provides valuable insights into test progress and metric changes over time.
• Optimizely’s Stats Engine allows marketers to declare a winner sooner with a smaller required sample size compared to traditional statistics.
• The tool’s robust results engine automatically creates segments based on URL parameters and standard criteria like new vs. returning visitors.
• The support from the Optimizely implementation team and customer care is beneficial, offering guidance on tool usage and building a testing and experimentation culture within the company.
•  The drag and drop/click and pull functionality throughout the tool enables seamless changes and updates to be made.

The Cons of Optimizely 

• The linting feature for JavaScript and CSS in Optimizely may take some time to load large code and switch between editors.
• Using third-party scripts for linting might slow down webpage rendering, potentially causing flickering issues if not implemented properly.
• The cost structure of Optimizely might be considered expensive for small businesses.
• URL targeting lacks a mass upload option for lists of unrelated URLs, but it does offer substring and regular expression matches for other needs.
• Clicking on elements with extensive nested HTML in the HTML editor pane can lead to bugs, with only partial code being displayed or the pane going blank.
• Reporting and exporting data across multiple campaigns in Optimizely can be challenging.
• Integration with Google Analytics may encounter issues in some cases.

Pricing

Optimizely provides three plan options: Standard, Business, and Enterprise. The pricing for these plans starts from $50,000 per year.

Conclusion

As Google Optimize approaches its sunset, marketers have a plethora of alternative tools to consider for their A/B testing and optimization needs. Whether it’s VWO Testing, Explore by Omniconvert, Convert Experiences, AB Tasty, or Optimizely, each platform brings its unique features and capabilities to the table. 

By selecting the right alternative based on their specific requirements, marketers can continue to optimize their websites, enhance customer experiences, and achieve their conversion goals in a post-Google Optimize era.

Want to discuss CRO in more detail? Get in touch with our specialist team!