Northbeam vs Polar Analytics (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Northbeam if

• Fits if you are an e-commerce brand spending on several ad channels
• Makes sense if you want attribution separate from the ad platforms' own numbers

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you are small: from $1,500 for Starter, with no public price list
• Not for you if you aren't on Shopify and on a budget, since other platforms need Professional or Enterprise
• Watch out: MMM+ and incrementality are optional extras
• Watch out: Professional and Enterprise are annual terms
• Skip it if you want a trial or free plan, as none exists

Pick Polar Analytics if

• Fits if you run a Shopify-style store and want your data in a warehouse you control
• Works for agencies that report to ecommerce brands

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a self-serve plan with a published low price
• Pricey if your revenue grows, as the price follows annual gross merchandise value
• Not for you if you are not in ecommerce, since it is not a general client report builder
• Watch out: incrementality testing is priced per test, and the pricing page does not state a contract length

Northbeam

• No plan has a public price list: the vendor says each price is an estimate that depends on data volume in pageviews, and a quote comes from sales.
• Starter is aimed at Shopify brands; other e-commerce platforms need Professional or Enterprise.
• Professional and Enterprise are annual terms with annual or semi-annual billing, and Starter is month-to-month.
• MMM+ and incrementality are optional extras, not part of the base plans.

Polar Analytics

• Pricing follows annual gross merchandise value, so the bill grows with store revenue.
• The monthly prices were read from the pricing page's script; the page does not state a contract length or billing term.
• Incrementality testing is priced separately per test, and some add-ons such as SQL access and custom connectors cost extra.
• Built for ecommerce; it is not a general client-report builder.

Northbeam

Multi-touch attribution

Northbeam builds its own attribution data, shown across several attribution windows, so figures will differ from what an ad platform reports for itself.

Omnichannel dashboards

Dashboards cover channels, campaigns and ads in one view, with sales attribution, product analytics and creative analytics.

Clicks plus deterministic views

Attributes revenue to ads people viewed but did not click, for awareness campaigns.

Northbeam Apex

Sends first-party conversion data back to ad platforms to influence their delivery algorithms.

MMM+ and incrementality

Media mix modeling and incrementality testing are optional add-ons on Professional and Enterprise.

Mobile app and MCP

The vendor offers an iOS app and an MCP connection for its data.

Polar Analytics

Dedicated Snowflake warehouse

Every plan includes its own Snowflake database, a pre-built ecommerce semantic layer and a first-party pixel.

Business Intelligence

Dashboard library, custom reporting, multi-touch attribution, goal tracking, and alerts with scheduled reports.

AI agents and MCP

Polar Operator works in Slack, and an MCP interface lets AI assistants query the data.

Incrementality testing

A dedicated data scientist runs lift tests on Meta, Google, TikTok or TV campaigns; the first test and later tests are priced separately.

Data activations

Klaviyo Audiences and Advertising Signals send audiences and conversions back to other tools.

Unlimited users

All plans list unlimited users, unlimited historical data, custom roles and a dedicated success manager.

Northbeam

• GrowthCustom

  For seven-figure brands spending under $200K a month on ads, bundled with creative, strategy and media buying support from a Northbeam agency partner. Quote only.

• Starter$1,500

  starting rate; the page does not label the billing period

  For brands spending under $1.5M a year on ads. Month-to-month, usage-based pricing for Shopify brands. Includes attribution, dashboards, Apex, deterministic views and the MCP.

• Professional$3,500

  per month and up

  For brands spending up to $500K a month on ads. Adds unlimited users, exports and integrations, any e-commerce platform and a dedicated media strategist. Annual terms.

• EnterpriseCustom

  For teams spending over $500K a month on ads. Adds a customer success manager, touchpoint exports, regional dashboards, and optional hourly data, MMM+ and incrementality.

Polar Analytics

• Core Plan$720

  per month for under $5M annual GMV

  Data platform plus Business Intelligence, AI agents and data activations. Price rises with GMV: $1,020 a month at $5-7.5M, $1,380 at $7.5-10M; quoted above $300M.

• Custom PlanCustom

  Pick products separately, including Business Intelligence, incrementality testing, MCP, Klaviyo Audiences and Advertising Signals. Book a demo for a quote.