Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Chartbeat
Score 6.9 out of 10
N/A
Chartbeat delivers real-time analytics, insights, and transformative tools for content teams around the world, to help improve audience engagement, inform editorial decisions, and increase loyalty.N/A
Google Optimize
Score 6.7 out of 10
N/A
Google offers the Optimize A/B testing tool for testing website content and versions.N/A
Pricing
ChartbeatGoogle Optimize
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Google Optimize
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ChartbeatGoogle Optimize
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsChartbeat pricing is based on monthly site page views. Discounts are applied to multi-year contracts. The Basic Plan includes the Real-time Dashboard, Historical Dashboard, Heads Up Display, Reports, Big Board, iOS and Android app, and Real-time API endpoints. The Plus Plan includes all of the Basic Plan features, plus ONE of the following Premium features: Headline Testing, Advanced Queries, or Multi-Site View. The Premium Plan includes all of the Basic Plan features, plus ALL Premium features: Headline Testing, Advanced Queries, Multi-Site View, and enterprise-level support and custom trainings.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ChartbeatGoogle Optimize
Considered Both Products
Chartbeat
Chose Chartbeat
We use Chartbeat in conjuction with these tools. Chartbeat is forward facing and we encourage everyone in the newsroom to use it. It provides the best live view, but lacks depth needed for more longer-term trend reporting and analysis. Domo allows much more advanced data …
Chose Chartbeat
Google Analytics 360 had problems, but after it was discontinued, Google Analytics became a shell of its former self. An added benefit of Chartbeat is that it's more "live" (looking at live concurrents rather than in the past however many minutes) and tells you how that number …
Chose Chartbeat
Chartbeat gives data in real time while Google has an analysis time. Furthermore, the tool is much easier and more intuitive to use.

O Chartbeat dá o dado em temporeal enquanto o Google tem um tempo de análise. Além disso, a ferramenta é de manuseio muito mais fácil e intuitiva.
Chose Chartbeat
Much easier to use and understand than GA4. We tested Marfeel, but felt Chartbeat was so good there was no reason to change.

I still feel like our audit is still based on GA4 so we do have to still pay attention to that.
Chose Chartbeat
Chartbeat's heads up display feature allows the newsroom to see key data right from our site.
Chose Chartbeat
We use Chartbeat for real-time evaluation and Adobe Analytics for longer-term performance reporting. Chartbeat is easier to use overall, particularly for content producers. Researchers tend to rely on Adobe Analytics for their reports. We have found that we need to keep using …
Chose Chartbeat
Google Analytics has gradually become much more difficult to use, and much slower in its realtime reporting. It was the changes that came in with Google Analytics 4 that gave us the final push to work with Chartbeat - a product some of us were already familiar with from …
Chose Chartbeat
Omnilytics is more robust, detailed, and catered for an intermediate media user, while I think Chartbeat is a more user-friendly and beginner-oriented piece of technology. That being said, there is an impressive amount of lift for Chartbeat, and it's evident that simplicity is …
Chose Chartbeat
I used Parse.ly before I used Chartbeat. We shifted away from Parse.ly because it's social standing wasn't as good, it was mostly for site readership and we needed a bigger concentration on social media that Parse.ly couldn't provide. It's not listed, but we now use Social Flow …
Chose Chartbeat
Chartbeat stands out in terms of real-time tracking and information from which to manage homepages, I found this better than Smart Octo's equivalent. However, the ability to quickly explore past data does not go as deep as Google Analytics.
Chose Chartbeat
I really haven't used anything else quite like Chartbeat. Google Analytics might compare but it is very different.
Chose Chartbeat
Chartbeat is better than GA when it comes to ease of use and immediacy. The homepage layover that Chartbeat offers is unique from what I've seen and gives me an instant knowledge of what's working on my site and how to best arrange it.
Chose Chartbeat
Other products like Chartbeat that I've used are Parse.ly, GA, and Omniture. Parse.ly is the only tool, in my opinion, that offers more real-time data, but the interface is lacking and isn't as intuitive as Chartbeat.
Chose Chartbeat
My company selected Chartbeat after we were acquired by a bigger company. Initially I missed the Parse.ly interface, but I have since adjusted.
Chose Chartbeat
Chartbeat is a lot easier to use.
Chose Chartbeat
Chartbeat is better for live metrics than either Adobe or Google, but Adobe Omniture especially is much better for tracking historic numbers.
Chose Chartbeat
Chartbeat is certainly better at visualizing content and segmenting the data all on one screen. We can filter by section, author, channel and more without leaving the main dashboard page. Combining properties together in roll up groups is another key feature. We're able to …
Google Optimize
Chose Google Optimize
We switched from Google Optimize to ab tasty which is a paid platform. Ab tasty provides much better capabilities and support, although this is with a cost implication which Google Optimize didn’t have. Google Optimize was useful as an introductory platform prior to getting a …
Chose Google Optimize
Google Optimize 360 is expensive but definitely more accurate and reliable than the other simple tools out there.
Chose Google Optimize
Adobe Target is extremely powerful and provides features Google Optimize does not, but Adobe Target is also more expensive and harder to use. Google Optimize could benefit by offering basic built-in reporting so it doesn't require Google Analytics events.
Chose Google Optimize
We didn't use Optimizely very long as it fell out of budget due to complexity with the experiment setup.
Chose Google Optimize
Google Optimize is a great entry-level test platform and is an ideal solution for my clients that want something simple to start with and see value. Although not as robust as the paid platforms, it still does the job well and delivers believable data ties to one of the most …
Chose Google Optimize
Google Optimize being part of the Google stack makes it great in reporting and analysis. Wish Google would add more features like dynamic tests, multi funnel tests, conversion calculator based on the total number of traffic of the page being tested instead of using the websites …
Chose Google Optimize
Other products probably are more in-depth, but also cost more money and require technical resources to install.
Chose Google Optimize
To be very honest, we haven't used any software different from Optimize at this point. It would be irresponsible to write about alternatives that we don't know much about.
Features
ChartbeatGoogle Optimize
Web Analytics
Comparison of Web Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Chartbeat
7.4
Ratings
8% below category average
Google Optimize
-
Ratings
Lead Conversion Tracking6.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Bounce Rate Measurement6.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Device and Browser Reporting7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Pageview Tracking7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Event Tracking7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting in real-time9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Referral Source Tracking8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Dashboards7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Testing and Experimentation
Comparison of Testing and Experimentation features of Product A and Product B
Chartbeat
-
Ratings
Google Optimize
4.9
Ratings
51% below category average
a/b experiment testing00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Split URL testing00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Multivariate testing00 Ratings4.00 Ratings
Multi-page/funnel testing00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Cross-browser testing00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Mobile app testing00 Ratings2.70 Ratings
Test significance00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Visual / WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Advanced code editor00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Page surveys00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Visitor recordings00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Preview mode00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Test duration calculator00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Experiment scheduler00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Experiment workflow and approval00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Dynamic experiment activation00 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Client-side tests00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Server-side tests00 Ratings2.60 Ratings
Mutually exclusive tests00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Audience Segmentation & Targeting
Comparison of Audience Segmentation & Targeting features of Product A and Product B
Chartbeat
-
Ratings
Google Optimize
7.0
Ratings
20% below category average
Standard visitor segmentation00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Behavioral visitor segmentation00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Traffic allocation control00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Website personalization00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Results and Analysis
Comparison of Results and Analysis features of Product A and Product B
Chartbeat
-
Ratings
Google Optimize
8.2
Ratings
2% below category average
Heatmap tool00 Ratings2.00 Ratings
Click analytics00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Scroll maps00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Form fill analysis00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Conversion tracking00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Goal tracking00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Test reporting00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Results segmentation00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
CSV export00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Experiments results dashboard00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
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ChartbeatGoogle Optimize
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User Ratings
ChartbeatGoogle Optimize
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.9
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ChartbeatGoogle Optimize
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited to keeping me toward a specified goal, and gives me concrete numbers and gives me an idea of what we need to do to meet our goals. It's less appropriate if you want something more than pageviews, and doesn't really do a lot for video views.
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Google Optimize is well suited for testing small changes on the browser pages. You have the option of changing designs, texts, and some small features on the page. The audience can be divided using a long list of factors, so it makes it quite easy to set up the test. It is not well suited for complicated feature tests where you need to monitor the user over a long period or where the user is likely to use multiple sessions across multiple devices or browsers
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Pros
  • Provides easy at-a-glance look at what people are reading right now
  • Heads-up Display allows you to make sure the homepage is showing the content people want to read
  • Headline testing tool provides fascinating insight into what makes people read a story and improves headline-writing ability
Read full review
  • Easy test implementation. You're up and running once you've pinned down your hypothesis.
  • Goals and conversion points can be easily mapped to any test.
  • Customization of goals in case you don't have one setup.
  • Integrated with Google Analytics so you can correlate with other metrics under behavior and e-commerce data.
Read full review
Cons
  • Source of traffic needs improvement. Search and social make sense, but "internal" and "links" is a grey area. It would be helpful to define those with an organization and provide an information icon so users can easily remember what each of those buckets is tracking.
  • More ways to customize the real-time board. For example, with video content, that's great that I can see a user has started a video, but what is the completion rate, was that only on O&O or can that track Facebook, too?
  • Would like to see demo (age) information included as a way to slice the data so I can see what's working with my older and younger demo.
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  • Track site performance with each test version; see if the resource timing of each test has anything to do with conversion rates.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
I gave Chartbeat a 5 for a renewal rating, because, while it delivers clear and understandable content, Google Analytics also provides many of the same features for free. For a small to medium website, I believe it would be more cost effective to use Google Analytics. A website with a high amount of traffic, however, could merit spending the money on Chartbeat to maximize their potential.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
Chartbeat is really pretty straightforward. The only things that may cause confusion are the string of sidebar features and tools at the left of the screen. I mostly use the big leader board in real-time and the historical feature (looking at the monthly or weekly performance of my team's content) and then generate reports automatically from there.
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Google has always been known to make easy-to-use products. The Google Optimize interface is intuitive and easy to follow for anyone.
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Support Rating
I have had limited experience of support for Chartbeat but whenever I have needed help it has been there. Recently there was an issue of seeing different forms of data in real time - app and otherwise effectively, and the issue was being clearly dealt with and communicated back to us.
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Google has well-documented resources and unlimited use cases that can be found online. Plus, their support is always helpful and available.
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Alternatives Considered
Google Analytics has gradually become much more difficult to use, and much slower in its realtime reporting. It was the changes that came in with Google Analytics 4 that gave us the final push to work with Chartbeat - a product some of us were already familiar with from previous jobs. Things are just much harder to find in GA, and when time is always tight you can't afford to spend a long time looking for particular data - it should be quick and easy to locate
Read full review
We switched from Google Optimize to AB Tasty which is a paid platform. AB Tasty provides much better capabilities and support, although this is with a cost implication which Google Optimize didn’t have. Google Optimize was useful as an introductory platform prior to getting a full programme running but this has now sunset so is no longer available.
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Return on Investment
  • It has helped us save time in report generation and performance analysis.
  • By helping us evaluate our contributors, we're able to get our money's worth.
  • Seeing our numbers on the Big Board fosters healthy competition among brands, motivating us to distribute our stories better.
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  • Useful with clients on a budget who need to see ROI without another paid platform to install.
  • Setting up Google Optimize helps as an additional value add when bidding on projects.
  • Nothing negative unless a larger client needs a more robust package; then, there is always Google Optimize 360 as well as platforms from other vendors.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Chartbeat Screenshots

Screenshot of Big Board: For newsrooms, the leaderboard-style visualization shows the top stories on the biggest screen.Screenshot of Real-time dashboard: Displays how an audience is connecting with content in the moment – across platforms, channels, and devices.Screenshot of Historical Dashboard: To assess content performance, KPIs, and valuable trends over the long term.Screenshot of Heads Up Display: Shows which homepage articles are the top performers, how stories are trending up or down in traffic, and how far visitors are scrolling down the page.Screenshot of Video Dashboard: Reveals how video content captures viewer attention.Screenshot of Conversion Dashboard: Tracks conversion metrics and insights.