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.
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Parse.ly
Score 7.8 out of 10
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Parse.ly is a content optimization platform for online publishers. It provides in-depth analytics and helps maximize the performance of the digital content. It features a dashboard geared for editorial and business staff and an API that can be used by a product team to create personalized or contextual experiences on a website.
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Pricing
Chartbeat
Parse.ly
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Chartbeat
Parse.ly
Free Trial
Yes
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
Required
Additional Details
Chartbeat 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.
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 …
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.
Larger analytics suites like Google Analytics and Omniture simply do not provide the kind of real-time data that Chartbeat does. I have used Parse.ly which has some interesting real-time features as well; I would say Parse.ly is similar in terms of ease of use, though Chartbeat …
In a previous job I had use of Parse.ly and, while at the time I thought it was a very useful tool, it wasn't as detailed as the Chartbeat metrics. Chartbeat gives you more insight into concurrents on your website at a given time, rather than just individual stories, and when …
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 …
Parse.ly provides clearer insights into what stories are performing strongly in real time. Its interface is more user-friendly and it is easy to compare different time periods, titles or author statistics. Chartbeat had a website overlay to show where readers are going on site, …
Doesn't come with an integrated overlay like Chartbeat, but is more intuitive (just) than GA. Seems more accurate and detailed than Chartbeat but less than GA. It's my go-to for day-to-day traffic engagement but monthly I'm more likely to look at in-house GA-generated reports.
Firstly, I didn't make the business decision to use Parse.ly. I'm just an employee using it. However, the first thing you notice is the change in appearance. Parse.ly's dashboard looks far more complicated than Chartbeat's and the black, white, and green theme [are] not as …
Parse.ly is easier to use and more self-explanatory than Google Analytics. The site essentially explains itself upon visiting it. Chartbeat was quite good but I believe Parse.ly provides more granular details on web traffic and gives the user more insights into how and why …
Parse.ly seems to be more user-friendly than Adobe and is on the same user-friendly level as Chartbeat. Chartbeat had features that I would love to see integrated into Parse.ly like an overlay feature that showed where website users were dropping from that page. Chartbeat also …
Parse.ly does pretty well compared to Chartbeat, particularly when it comes to historical information and analysis options that are easy for employees to use after some short training. The onboarding for Parse.ly is intuitive, and the scheduled reports take away basically all …
Having used both Parse.ly and Chartbeat I personally just think Parse.ly is a better product. The UI is better and the features are more optimal and well thought out, again fitting publisher needs very well. In addition, whilst Chartbeat is certainly an improvement on GA in …
Parse.ly was already used at my company when I started, we stayed because they'd done a lot of work on their end to make sure that our site's architecture was properly read in our system. We appreciated the work they put into making the system work for us. I did miss the …
Parse.ly is easier to understand with more detail that is relevant to the team. Google Analytics, while some parts of the business still use it in conjunction with Parse.ly, can be confusing with so many options to choose from. Chartbeat doesn't have as many features as …
When I referenced a Parse.ly competitor earlier in my review, I was referencing Chartbeat, the platform used in every newsroom I encountered before my current employer switched to Parse.ly. Both get the job done, but as I said earlier, whether it be reality or perception, Chartb…
Parsely has the best UI, best reports, best real-time data, and the best historical data that I've used. I'd never go back to any of the tools I've used before.
One of the things users first say when they start with Parse.ly is how easy it is to navigate through a lot of data thanks to the design. Parse.ly also has several data points and metrics that their competitors do not track. The automated reporting also makes it much easier to …
As GA and AA are more general purpose digital analytics tools, they can be configured to do any type of web analytics tracking. However, Parse.ly is custom-made for editorial teams and newsrooms. Parse.ly is far more intuitive and easy to use. It's a fantastic tool for …
It's not as powerful or reliable as Google Analytics (e.g. it's missing demographic data, and doesn't integrate with Google Search Console or AdWords), but it meets most of the basic requirements that we need. It's a difference user experience in general, and slightly more …
Chartbeat and Parse.ly are both web content analytics tools built to help businesses optimize their content by tracking and analyzing reader engagement metrics. Chartbeat is designed for enterprise-grade newsrooms and online publishers; the majority of Chartbeat reviewers on TrustRadius come from midsize and enterprise organizations. Compared to Chartbeat, Parse.ly may be better suited for small and midsize publishers. On TrustRadius, the majority of Parse.ly reviewers are from small and midsize organizations.
Features
Chartbeat and Parse.ly both offer real-time reader engagement tracking and content performance analytics. Both platforms integrate with popular third-party systems including Google AMP, WordPress, Slack, Apple News, YouTube, and Google Tag Manager. However, they also each have a few unique features that set them apart from one another.
Chartbeat provides tools for tracking real-time and historical audience analytics, with a focus on understanding and driving reader engagement. These include the ability to see real-time engagement data and homepage curation opportunities from an intuitive overlay (“Heads Up Display”) that sits on top of customers’ websites. It also offers optimization tools like Headline Testing and Image Testing, which allow users to run A/B and multivariate tests directly on their homepage.
Parse.ly is frequently used by online magazines and other online content publishers. With website content analytics, Parse.ly users can track marketing campaign performance across traffic sources and integrate the tool with Twitter and third-party CMS software. According to the vendor’s website, Parse.ly’s systems meet SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR data security standards. However, it is unclear whether this refers to Parse.ly’s own systems or the third-party infrastructure they use, such as Amazon Web Services. Chartbeat is also committed to providing customers with a high level of data protection, you can read more about their data security measures here.
Limitations
Though Chartbeat and Parse.ly both provide robust content analytics features, they also have a few limitations that are important to consider.
Reviewers on TrustRadius have noted that Chartbeat is better suited for large newsrooms and content publishing organizations whose websites generate substantial traffic. Smaller websites that struggle to generate large volumes of traffic likely won’t benefit much from Chartbeat’s optimization tools. Other users have expressed the desire for better suggestions and recommendations from Chartbeat about how to boost recirculation numbers. Multiple reviewers highlight that, while Chartbeat is ideal for organizations that need real-time metrics, it’s historical data often does not line up with historical data from Google Analytics.
Conversely, Parse.ly does not offer content optimization tools while Chartbeat does. For example, Chartbeat’s Headline Testing feature allows users to A/B test and optimize their article titles. Businesses looking for a tool to optimize reader engagement and utilize AB testing to improve readership may prefer Chartbeat. Parse.ly. Reviewers on TrustRadius also note that new features Parse.ly develops come at an extra cost, and its data sometimes doesn’t match reporting from Google Analytics. Other users comment that the historical data only goes back one year.
Pricing
Chartbeat does not provide detailed pricing information publicly, but buyers can reach out to the vendor for a quote.
Parse.ly offers three pricing packages. The Starter package costs $995 per month and includes web analytics for a single website and provides three months’ worth of historical data. The Growth package costs $1,850 per month and provides support for additional users and access to priority customer support. Lastly, the Enterprise package includes support for multiple websites and provides one year’s worth of historical data. Businesses can reach out to the vendor for enterprise pricing information.
Features
Chartbeat
Parse.ly
Web Analytics
Comparison of Web Analytics features of Product A and Product B
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.
For people working in online media, or digital content creators, the platform could help them understand their audience and allow them to interact with them in a user-friendly way. Since the digital media industry is booming, Parse.ly can allow the user and the content creators to meet each other's demands and reduce redundancies and bombard the users with unnecessary content.
Real-time metrics are great and help us decide what content to follow up on.
Audience segmenting is key, helps us determine where we're strong and where we're not.
Historical metrics are also helpful in helping us see what readers come back to overtime, which drives decisions about what content to devote more resources to producing.
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.
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.
Cost is always a factor when considering any renewal, so we will always see how that compares to other offerings, but we have been pleased with the functionality from Parse.ly. Importantly, it has engaged news teams, and writers can easily assess their own performance--it is not just a management tool. This wider take-up makes it more likely that we would renew.
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.
The Parse.ly platform is very user-friendly and easy to use. User management is simple, and reporting setup only takes a few minutes. They provide very helpful documentation for implementing the scripts on your site and have great customer support to help with custom development such as implementing their content recommendation engine.
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.
Seems to be more bugs than I encounter in Google Analytics, but Parse.ly is always very quick to answer my questions or fix something. It seems like most of my issues are due to communications around my requests being outside of the package we pay for with this tool (i.e., only two years of data).
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
Parse.ly excels in providing detailed insights into how users are interacting with specific pieces of content, allowing us to make data-driven decisions about content strategy and optimization. Its real-time reporting also provides us with immediate feedback on the effectiveness of content changes, which is particularly important for content-heavy sites that need to iterate quickly.
Sometimes in meetings our editorial director will point out stories that didn't perform well. To us, that means readers don't really care about the topic, so we'll pivot away from writing about that in the future. That might not be "business objectives" though.
