Hello Bar vs OptinMonster
We give Hello Bar a 2.2 GPA and OptinMonster a 1.8, out of 4.0. Hello Bar grades higher on value for money and the free plan. OptinMonster grades higher on features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hello Bar
Top bars, popups and slide-ins for collecting leads on any site
OptinMonster
Pop-ups, floating bars and opt-in forms added to an existing site
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAHello BarFair | 1.8GPAOptinMonsterWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CA site with 20,000 visitors should fit in Growth's 50,000 popup views a month: $29 billed yearly, or $39 monthly. That's the middle of what popup tools here charge. Webhooks and CRM sync cost more, on Premium at $49. | DGraded on a site with 20,000 visitors, more than Plus's 10,000 impressions a month, so it's Pro: $870 a year at renewal, $72.50 a month, after a $444 first year. That's dearer than most popup tools here. Pro does bring exit intent, which the cheaper plans lack. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe Starter plan is free with no card, but its 5,000 views are in total, not per month, so a site with real traffic runs out fast. Treat it as a trial. There's no A/B testing on it either. | FNothing free and no trial. There's a 14-day refund, but a money-back promise isn't a trial: you pay before you see it on your site. |
| Features | CBars, modals, slide-ins and takeovers, exit-intent, scroll and delay triggers, targeting by country, device and ad campaign, and A/B tests on every paid plan. The core is all there, but there's no spin-to-win, coupons or cart rules on record, which most tools here list. | BThe full popup kit: lightboxes, floating bars, slide-ins, full-screen overlays and coupon wheels, 700+ templates, targeting by page, time, scroll and device, A/B tests and revenue tracking. Exit intent and geolocation sit on the dearer plans. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. 100+ templates and a Design Assistant that copies your site's colours and fonts help a lot, but you still put it on your site and set up the triggers and targeting yourself. | CNo rating on record. Templates and a drag-and-drop builder help, but you have to add its code to your site, or use the WordPress or Shopify route, and set up targeting rules before anything shows. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWorks on an existing website and sends sign-ups to Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, GetResponse, ConvertKit, Salesforce and Zapier. There's no desktop or phone app, so B is as high as it goes. | BWorks on any site you can add JavaScript to, with plugins and guides for WordPress and Shopify, and sends sign-ups to Mailchimp, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit. Zapier needs Pro. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | sign-up bars on blogs and small sites | pop-ups that grow an email list |
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: Hello Bar and OptinMonster. How we grade
Price against what you get
Hello Bar starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. OptinMonster starts at $17.50 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7.
OptinMonster scores higher and starts $11.50 a month lower. Of the other popup and widget tools on the chart, 4 score higher than Hello Bar for less, and none scores higher than OptinMonster for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Hello Bar starts at $29 per month for up to 50,000 popup views, billed annually. OptinMonster starts at $210 per year at renewal, after a first year for $108 (Basic).
- OptinMonster also covers no-code.
At a glance
| Hello Bar | OptinMonster | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $29 per month for up to 50,000 popup views, billed annually | $210 per year at renewal, after a first year for $108 (Basic) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free Starter plan: unlimited popups but 5,000 views in total, not per month, with 1 seat and no card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Hello Bar LLC | Retyp, LLC |
| Price read from | hellobar.com | optinmonster.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Hello Bar
- Blogs and small sites that want a sign-up bar at the top of every page
- Teams that want A/B testing on the cheapest paid plan
- Running popups across several sites from one account
OptinMonster
- Growing an email list from a blog or store you already run
- Online stores trying to win back visitors who are about to leave
- Agencies running sign-up campaigns across client sites
Worth knowing
Hello Bar
- The free Starter plan stops after 5,000 views in total, not per month, and has no A/B testing.
- View limits apply to each website; when a site reaches its monthly limit, its campaigns pause until the next billing cycle.
- Growth allows 3 seats; unlimited seats, priority support, webhooks and CRM sync need Premium or Elite.
- First-time customers get a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a cancelled account drops to the free Starter plan.
OptinMonster
- It does not build or host pages: it runs on an existing site where you can add JavaScript, with plugins and guides for WordPress, Shopify and others.
- First-year prices are introductory; Basic renews at $210 a year, and monthly billing costs $21 a month.
- Exit Intent, countdown timers and Zapier need Pro; geolocation, retargeting and store integrations need Growth.
- Going over the impression limit moves the account up to the next plan automatically; there is no free plan or trial, only a 14-day refund.
Key features
Hello Bar
- Bars, modals, sliders and takeovers
- Sticky header and footer bars, modal popups, small alerts, slide-ins, inline forms, video popups and full-screen takeovers.
- Triggers and targeting
- Show a campaign on exit intent, after a scroll or a delay, on chosen URLs, by device, by country or city, or by ad campaign and traffic source.
- A/B testing
- Every paid plan can run unlimited A/B tests to compare popup versions; the free Starter plan cannot.
- Themes and Design Assistant
- Start from more than 100 templates, and the Design Assistant picks up your site's colors and fonts to style a popup to match.
- Lead capture and integrations
- Send sign-ups to Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot and others or export them as CSV; Premium and Elite add webhooks and CRM sync.
- Reports
- Track how each campaign performs and build custom reports from the results.
OptinMonster
- Campaign types
- Lightbox pop-ups, floating bars, inline and sidebar forms, slide-in scroll boxes, full-screen overlays, yes/no forms and, on Growth, coupon wheels.
- Drag-and-drop builder and templates
- Design campaigns from more than 700 templates without code, with custom fonts, CSS and success messages, and an AI Popups option.
- Targeting and triggers
- Show a campaign by page, time on site, scroll depth, device or referrer; Exit Intent detection starts at Pro and geolocation at Growth.
- A/B testing and analytics
- From Plus, split-test campaigns and see full reports; Pro adds revenue attribution to tie campaigns to sales.
- Onsite retargeting and follow-ups
- Growth can show different campaigns to new and returning visitors and follow up after someone has already signed up.
- Email and store integrations
- Sends sign-ups to email services such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact; Growth adds Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento integrations.
Plans
Hello Bar
Starter$0
Unlimited popups and pre-built themes for 1 seat, capped at 5,000 views in total, not per month. No A/B testing and basic targeting only.
Growth$29
per month for up to 50,000 views, billed annually ($39 monthly)
Unlimited popups, subscribers and A/B tests, customizable targeting and 3 seats. Price rises with views: $49 a month at 150,000.
Premium$49
per month for up to 150,000 views, billed annually ($69 monthly)
Unlimited seats, priority support and the premium integrations, including webhooks and CRM sync.
Elite$99
per month for up to 500,000 views, billed annually ($129 monthly)
Everything in Premium with a 500,000 views a month allowance for high-traffic sites.
Agency or EnterpriseCustom
Higher view volumes across several sites, with views that can be shared across the account and dedicated support.
OptinMonster
Basic (yearly)$210
per year at renewal, after a first year for $108
1 site and 2,500 campaign impressions a month, every campaign type, 700+ templates and page targeting. Advertised as $9 a month for the first year.
Basic (monthly)$21
per month, billed monthly
The Basic plan paid month to month: 1 site and 2,500 impressions a month, with basic marketing integrations.
Plus (yearly)$570
per year at renewal, after a first year for $324
2 sites, 10,000 impressions a month, A/B testing, device targeting and content locking. Advertised as $27 a month for the first year; $57 billed monthly.
Pro (yearly)$870
per year at renewal, after a first year for $444
3 sites, 25,000 impressions, exit intent, countdown timers, revenue attribution, Zapier and 2 sub-accounts. $37 a month the first year; $87 monthly.
Growth (yearly)$1,470
per year at renewal, after a first year for $804
5 sites, 100,000 impressions, geolocation, onsite retargeting, coupon wheels and unlimited sub-accounts. $67 a month the first year; $147 monthly.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom impression volumes with dedicated support, and optional Okta SSO login or custom integrations at extra cost.
Ways to pay less
Hello Bar
- Annual discount
Annual billing costs less than paying monthly
Growth is $29 a month billed annually against $39 billed monthly, Premium $49 against $69 and Elite $99 against $129.
OptinMonster
- Other savings
Introductory first year at about half price
New annual plans cost $108 (Basic), $324 (Plus), $444 (Pro) or $804 (Growth) for the first year, then renew at $210, $570, $870 or $1,470.
- Annual discount
Annual plans cost less than paying monthly
Basic renews at $210 a year against $21 a month ($252 a year) on monthly billing, and Growth at $1,470 against $147 a month.
