GrowthBook vs Optimizely (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GrowthBook grades higher than Optimizely: 2.8 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
GrowthBook grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
GrowthBook
Open-source feature flags and A/B testing on your own warehouse
Free plan · from $40/mo
Which one is for you
Pick GrowthBook if
- Fits if your data is in a warehouse and you can write SQL metrics
- Works for teams of three that want free flags and experiments
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're past 3 users or 1 project, which means Pro
- Pricey if you're a bigger team, at $40 a seat and capped at 30 users and 3 projects
- Watch out: events past 1M or 2M cost $30 per million on the managed warehouse
- Watch out: SSO is Google only until Enterprise, and CDN use past 2M requests costs extra
- Not for you if you have no warehouse or SQL skills
Pick Optimizely if
- Fits if you run many tests a month and have a team to run them
- Works for a large company that wants experiments, flags and content in one vendor
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price to look at, as nothing is published
- Not for you if you need a free plan or trial, because neither is listed
- Skip it if you are a small site that just wants simple page tests, as this is a platform
- Watch out: it's several products, so what a quote includes varies by which you choose
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAGrowthBookGood | 1.8GPAOptimizelyWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStarter is free with unlimited flags, experiments and traffic, but Pro is $40 a seat, which is where the dearer quarter starts. | CNo prices are published; every plan is quoted after you describe your needs, so there's nothing to compare. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree Starter: 3 users, 1 project and unlimited traffic. One small team can live on it. | FNo free plan and no free trial on the plans page. |
| Features | BExperiments, flags, warehouse metrics, product analytics, SDKs and an API. Nothing core is missing. | BWeb experimentation, feature experimentation, bandits and AI help, plus a CMS and an agent platform. What's in your quote depends on which products you pick. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating read. A warehouse, SQL metrics and SDKs to set up first. | CNo store rating on record. A platform this broad comes with setup and a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb with SDKs and an API, Slack and dbt links, and a self-host option. | CWeb only, with no integrations listed in the listing. |
| Best for | warehouse-based A/B tests and flags | enterprise A/B testing and experiments |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: GrowthBook and Optimizely. How we grade
Where they differ
- GrowthBook is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- GrowthBook also covers dashboards.
- Optimizely also covers AI agents and reports.
In commonWebAI featuresA/B testing
At a glance
| GrowthBook | Optimizely | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $40 per seat / month | Not published |
| Free plan | Starter plan: up to 3 users, 1 project, unlimited feature flags, experiments and traffic, bring your own warehouse or use the managed one. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | GrowthBook | Optimizely |
| Price read from | growthbook.io | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
GrowthBook
- The free Starter plan allows only 3 users and 1 project; Pro caps at 30 users and 3 projects.
- The managed warehouse includes 1M events a month on Starter and 2M on Pro, then $30 per million.
- CDN use beyond 2M requests a month on Pro costs $10 per million, and bandwidth beyond 20GB costs $1 per GB.
- SSO is Google only on Starter and Pro; custom OIDC and SCIM need Enterprise.
Optimizely
- No prices are published: every plan is individually packaged and quoted after the buyer describes their needs.
- Optimizely is a multi-product platform, so what a quote includes depends on which products are chosen.
- No free plan or free trial is listed on the plans page.
Key features
GrowthBook
- Experimentation
- Unlimited A/B tests with Bayesian and frequentist statistics; Pro adds multi-arm bandits and a power calculator.
- Feature flags
- Unlimited flags with percentage rollouts and targeting; Pro adds safe rollouts with automatic rollback, and Enterprise adds ramp schedules.
- Warehouse-native metrics
- Metrics are defined in SQL on the customer's own data warehouse, with an optional managed warehouse so no connection is needed.
- Product analytics
- A metric explorer and fact table explorer on every plan, with funnel builder, user journeys and custom dashboards on higher tiers.
- SDKs and API
- 24+ SDKs, a REST API, webhooks and an MCP server, with local evaluation so flag checks do not call out to GrowthBook.
- Self-hosting
- The pricing page has a Self-Hosted tab, and the homepage describes the platform as open source with a self-hosted option.
Optimizely
- Web experimentation
- A/B and multivariate tests on the front end of a site, which the vendor says run flicker-free.
- Feature experimentation and management
- Experiments and feature releases controlled from code, aimed at engineering teams.
- Bandits and AI assistance
- Multi-armed bandits and AI help with test ideas, test plans and reading results.
- Agentic CMS
- A content management system sold alongside the experimentation tools.
- Agent platform
- AI agents that automate marketing tasks and workflows.
Plans
GrowthBook
Starter$0
Up to 3 users and 1 project. Unlimited flags, experiments and traffic, with community support. Managed warehouse includes 1M events a month.
Pro$40
per seat / month, billing period not shown
Up to 30 users and 3 projects. Adds AI visual editor, multi-arm bandits, safe rollouts, custom dashboards and premium support.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom environments, approval workflows, SSO and SCIM, exportable audit logs, 99.99% uptime SLAs and dedicated support.
Optimizely
Pricing could not be confirmed. See optimizely.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, GrowthBook or Optimizely?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GrowthBook starts at $40 per seat / month, and Optimizely has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, GrowthBook or Optimizely?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only GrowthBook has a free plan. Optimizely does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.