RudderStack vs Stape (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, RudderStack grades higher than Stape: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
RudderStack grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
RudderStack
Customer data platform that collects events and sends them on
Which one is for you
Pick RudderStack if
- Fits if you want one stream of events sent to many tools
- Works for teams with a warehouse and someone to wire it up
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you track lots of events, as free stops at 250K a month
- Pricey if you outgrow free, as Growth starts at $265 a month
- Watch out: free has 1 tracking plan, 5 transformations, prod workspace only and 3-hour warehouse sync
- Watch out: SSO and HIPAA are Enterprise, and the self-hosted code is under the Elastic License 2.0, not open source
- Watch out: the Lookout audiences product costs extra, from $12,000 a year
Pick Stape if
- Fits if you want server-side GTM hosted for you
- Works for Shopify and WordPress stores
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, as it stops at 10K requests a month
- Watch out: logs, Cookie Keeper, bot detection and the Data Store need Pro
- Watch out: custom cookies and multi-domain support need Business at $83
- Watch out: dedicated gateways have their own pricing page, and some apps are paid
How we grade them
| 2.6GPARudderStackGood | 2.4GPAStapeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CA free plan exists, but paid starts at $265 a month for 1M events, in the dearer quarter of analytics tools, which starts at $150. | CPro is $17 a month billed annually for 500K requests, just above the $13 the cheaper quarter starts at. |
| Free plan and trial | B250K events a month, 10 team members and 200+ destinations free, which one person could live on. A 30-day Growth trial too. Processing stops after a second overage. | CA free plan with 10K requests and no card, which a real store would pass. |
| Features | BCollection, transformations, destinations, reverse ETL and tracking plans cover the pipeline job. It is data plumbing, not reports. | BServer-side GTM hosting, a custom loader, Cookie Keeper, bot detection, a data store and many store and CRM apps cover the whole job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You install SDKs, write transformations and wire destinations. | CServer-side GTM, domains and tags to set up, and no store rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | B16+ SDK sources and 200+ cloud destinations, plus warehouse and reverse ETL links. Web is the listed platform. | BWeb, with GTM, GA4, Shopify, WordPress, HubSpot, Klaviyo, Pipedrive and Salesforce. |
| Best for | routing event data to your warehouse and tools | server-side Google Tag Manager hosting |
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: RudderStack and Stape. How we grade
Price against what you get
RudderStack starts at $265 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Stape starts at $17 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Stape starts $248 a month lower. Of the other website and product analytics tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than RudderStack for less, and 1 scores higher than Stape 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
- RudderStack is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Stape also covers dashboards and web analytics.
At a glance
| RudderStack | Stape | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $265 per month for 1 million events | $17 per month for up to 500K requests, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 250K events a month, 16 SDK sources, 200+ cloud destinations, warehouse destinations and reverse ETL. | Up to 10K requests, with Custom Loader, Requests Analytics, Setup Wizard, Global CDN and Anonymizer; no credit card required. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of the Growth plan | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | RudderStack Inc. | Stape Inc. |
| Price read from | rudderstack.com | stape.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
RudderStack
- Free processing stops after a second consecutive overage; the Growth tiers are chosen by event volume.
- Lookout is priced separately on activated records: a free plan with 3 activations a year, then plans from $12,000 a year.
- Warehouse sync runs every 3 hours on Free and every 30 minutes on Growth; SSO and HIPAA are Enterprise.
- The self-hosted code is released under the Elastic License 2.0, not an open-source license.
Stape
- Plans are priced by monthly requests: 10K on Free, 500K on Pro, 5M on Business and 20M on Enterprise.
- Logs, Cookie Keeper, Bot Detection and Data Store need Pro; custom cookies and multi-domain support need Business.
- Dedicated Gateways are a separate product line with their own pricing page.
- Some store and CRM apps, such as Salesforce and PrestaShop, are listed as paid apps.
Key features
RudderStack
- Event collection
- 16+ SDK sources and 15+ cloud event sources capture anonymous and known user events, which are then routed to destinations.
- Transformations
- JavaScript and Python transformations reshape events in flight; the limit is 5 on Free, 25 on Growth and unlimited on Enterprise.
- Destinations and reverse ETL
- Delivers to 200+ cloud destinations and 10+ warehouse and data lake destinations, and syncs warehouse tables back out with reverse ETL.
- Tracking plans and data quality
- Tracking plans, violation management and an event audit API check events against a schema before they reach tools.
- Lookout audiences
- A separate product that analyzes warehouse data, builds audiences and activates them in ad, CRM and engagement tools.
Stape
- Server-side GTM hosting
- Runs server-side Google Tag Manager containers on Stape's infrastructure, with a global CDN served through Cloudflare.
- Custom Loader
- Modifies gtm.js and gtag.js paths so tracking is harder for tracking prevention and ad blockers to stop.
- Cookie Keeper
- Extends cookie life in browsers running the latest Safari ITP. Standard cookies start on Pro, custom cookies on Business.
- Requests Analytics and logs
- Shows how data quality changed after moving to server-side tracking, and logs incoming and outgoing requests for debugging.
- Data Store and Enricher
- A built-in database inside the container, and a power-up that merges user data from requests to identify returning users.
- Store and CRM apps
- Apps for Shopify, WordPress, HubSpot, Klaviyo, Pipedrive, Zoho and HighLevel send status and conversion data to ad platforms.
Plans
RudderStack
Free$0
250K events a month, 10 team members, 1 tracking plan, prod workspace only and community Slack support.
Growth$265
per month for 1 million events
Rises with volume (1M to 25M events a month on the slider). Unlimited members and tracking plans, 2 workspaces and email support.
EnterpriseCustom
Enterprise volumes with 5-minute warehouse sync, SSO, HIPAA, unlimited transformations and Profiles & Data Apps.
Stape
Free$0
Up to 10K requests, with Custom Loader, Requests Analytics, Setup Wizard, Global CDN and Anonymizer.
Pro$17
per month for 500K requests, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Adds 3 days of logs, Cookie Keeper (standard cookies), Bot Detection, Data Store, POAS Data Feed and 24/7 email and chat support.
Business$83
per month for 5M requests, billed annually ($100 billed monthly)
Adds multi-zone infrastructure, 10 days of logs, custom cookies, up to 20 domains and monitoring.
Enterprise$167
per month for 20M requests, billed annually ($200 billed monthly)
Adds an account manager, up to 50 domains, log export to S3 or GCS and call support.
CustomCustom
Unlimited requests, custom DPA, BAA for HIPAA, dedicated IP, private cluster and SSO; sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
RudderStack
- Annual discount
15% off Growth with annual billing
The pricing page has a switch to save 15% on the Growth plan with annual billing.
Stape
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
The pricing page labels annual billing as 20% off, for example Pro at $17 a month billed annually against $20 monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, RudderStack or Stape?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Stape is cheaper to start with: $17 a month, against $265 a month for RudderStack. RudderStack starts at $265 per month for 1 million events, and Stape starts at $17 per month for up to 500K requests, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, RudderStack or Stape?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both RudderStack and Stape have a free plan.
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.