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VWO vs. Optimizely

Looking for a Comprehensive A/B Testing Solution?

Optimizely lets you manage and run A/B tests and personalize your website for visitors. VWO provides a data-driven testing solution that connects every step in the visitor journey to impact your conversion rates.

View Feature Comparison

VWO Platform

Experience Optimization & Growth Platform

Optimizely allows you to manage your A/B testing program and offers robust personalization options. With VWO, you can bring your entire experience optimization program on a single platform—track business goals, analyze visitor behavior, build data-driven hypotheses, run tests, and personalize content. By connecting visitor insights with tests, you can develop a continuously scalable testing program that optimizes every step in the visitor conversion funnel.

Optimizely vs. VWO - A/B Testing Feature Comparison

82%

of companies that follow a structured approach to conversion optimization

see an improvement in their conversion rates as opposed to only 64% of companies that don’t follow a structured approach.

Source: Econsultancy Conversion Rate Optimizaiton, 2017

Page Load Time - Comparing Optimizely & VWO

Page Load Time

We never slow you down

VWO uses asynchronous code to serve your campaign data, compared to synchronous code used by Optimizely.

Simply put, asynchronous means that the code will contact VWO servers in the background, download, and process the test package while the rest of your page continues to load and render in the browser as usual. It’s what keeps your visitors’ screens from flickering.

Optimizely’s synchronous code makes the browser wait until Optimizely can deliver the test package, long enough for visitors to notice.

And in the improbable case of our servers being unavailable, the original page gets loaded, ensuring that your visitors' experiences remain unaffected.

Note: Optimizely offers asynchronous code however, they recommend synchronous code.

SmartStats Engine

Configured to deliver data-driven results

SmartStats is engineered to compute accurate results for all your goals. It is configured to help you take the right business decisions without worrying too much about the statistics. We got you covered there while you focus on more important business goals.

It gives easy to digest metrics along with recommendations so that you can stop looking up the definition of p-value or verify statistical significance but only focus on what your next steps should be.

You don’t have to worry about making wrong decisions based on less data. Your results are valid whenever you look at them.

Multiple Products

The right match for your business

Whatever your business needs are, VWO can deliver.

Compare Optimizely and VWO Pricing

Flexible Pricing

Flexible pricing model to accommodate your unique needs

If your team wants to run tests on multiple domains from a single account, that’s not a problem. VWO has a flexible pricing plan that allows you to pay by the average number of unique monthly visitors on your website, no matter how many domains you run tests on within that visitor quota.

Hands-On Support

We help you at each step of the way

Onboarding Icon

Guided onboarding

Spend more time producing results than looking for answers, with in-app guided onboarding and up-to-date knowledge base of all the information you would ever need.

24*7 support icon

24x7 email, phone, and chat

Better still, our dedicated Customer Success Managers will help you set up your Enterprise account and get testing immediately.

Website Optimization Icon

Hands-on support

However, if you do need to contact VWO, you can count on our hands-on support across multiple channels, whenever you want.

Customers

Trusted by 2500+ brands across 90+ Countries

PennState Logo
Hilton Logo
Norwegian Logo
eBay Logo
Disney Logo
Target Logo
AMD Logo

Colart chose VWO over Optimizely

While evaluating between VWO, Optimizely and other A/B testing tools, Colart, one of the leading art brands in the world, found VWO was the right web testing and conversion optimization solution for their business.

Read this success story to find out why they chose VWO.

It was important to select an all-features-in-one tool that allowed testing on multiple domains from a single platform."

Patxi Gadanon VWO Customer
Patxi Gadanon
Senior Web Manager, Colart

Feature Comparison

See how Optimizely compares with VWO

VWO Logo Optimizely
Yes Yes
Behavior Targeting Yes Yes
Custom targeting Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Custom dimensions Yes Yes
No. of domains
Unlimited Limited & based on plan
24x7 support
Enterprise plans Only for priority support package
SSO
Yes Yes
API
Yes Yes
Self Hosting
Yes Yes
Business Goals
Yes No
Single-page apps support
Yes Yes
User permissions
Yes Yes
Idea factory
Yes No
Yes Yes
Customizable Widgets Yes Using code editor & extensions
Visual Editor with HTML attributes and CSS modification support Yes Yes
Code editor Yes Yes
Capability to add new elements on page Yes Using code editor & extensions
Yes Yes
Multi page testing Yes Yes
Mobile website testing Yes Yes
Multiple domain support Yes Yes
Behavior targeting support in A/B testing Yes Yes
No concurrent test limit Yes Yes
No limit on goals tracked in each test Yes -
SmartStats - Bayesian based statistics engine Sequential hypothesis testing
Intutive reporting dashboard Yes -
Customizable report dashboard Yes No
Quicker results vs traditional stats Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Cross browser screenshots Yes Yes
Live preview with traffic and segment simulation Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Page visit Yes Yes
Click on element Yes Yes
Click on a link Yes Custom goals
Form conversion Yes Custom goals
Custom conversion Yes Yes
Revenue tracking Yes Yes
Web testing Integrations
3rd party analytics, eCommerce platforms, CMS, tag manager 3rd party analytics, DMP, CRM, tag manager
A/B Testing
Yes Yes
Multivariate Testing
Yes Yes
Multi armed bandit testing
Yes Yes
Mutually exclusive campaigns
Yes Yes
Heatmap of Variations
Yes No
IdeaFactory
Yes No
Mobile App Testing
Yes Yes
Personalization
Yes Yes
Yes No
Survey Logic Yes -
Question bank Yes -
Variation targeted surveys Yes -
Custom triggers Yes -
NPS Yes -
Recordings of respondents Yes -
Themes and customisation Yes -
Yes No
Browsable heatmaps Yes -
Clickmaps and area stats Yes -
Element list Yes -
Heatmap of test variations Yes No
Heatmap views Yes -
Yes No
Recordings of variations Yes No
Tagging Yes -
Adjust playback speed Yes -
Skip idle time Yes -
Save recordings Yes -
Recording views Yes -
Yes No
Form performance tracking Yes -
Field level analytics Yes -
Interaction time Yes -
Hesitation time Yes -
Refilled Yes -
Ignored Yes -
Dropped Yes -
Yes No
Drop-off analysis Yes -
Insights integration
No NA
Yes Yes
SDK support in various Languages Java, Javascript, .NET, NODEJS, PHP, Python, Android, IOS, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, GO Java, Javascript, C#, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, Obj-C, Python, Swift, Android, iOS, Android TV, GO
Multiple Environments Supported Yes Yes
Multi-Platform Testing Yes Yes
Goal Tracking Yes Yes
Targeting Yes Yes
Reporting Yes Yes
Report Segmentation Yes Yes
3rd party Integrations Yes Web analytics, CRM, DMS, CMS, eCommerce
User Whitelisting Yes Yes
Forced Bucketing Yes Yes
Scheduling Yes Yes
Yes Yes
SDK support in various Languages Java, Javascript, .NET, NODEJS, PHP, Python, Android, IOS, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, GO Java, Javascript, C#, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, Obj-C, Python, Swift, Android, iOS, Android TV, GO
Multiple Environments Supported Yes Yes
Multi-Platform Testing Yes Yes
Goal Tracking Yes Yes
Targeting Yes Yes
Reporting Yes Yes
Report Segmentation Yes Yes
3rd party Integrations No Web analytics, CRM, DMS, CMS, eCommerce
User Whitelisting Yes Yes
Forced Bucketing Yes Yes
Scheduling Yes Yes
Yes Yes
SDK support in various Languages Java, Javascript, .NET, NODEJS, PHP, Python, Android, IOS, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, GO Java, Javascript, C#, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, Obj-C, Python, Swift, Android, iOS, Android TV, GO
Multiple Environments Supported Yes Yes
Multi-Platform Testing Yes Yes
Targeting Yes Yes
3rd party Integrations No Web analytics, CRM, DMS, CMS, eCommerce
Yes -
Plugin Yes -
Report snapshots Yes -
Yes Yes
Customisable workflow Yes No
Yes Yes
Idea backlog Yes Yes
Prioritization Yes Yes
Learnings
Yes No

Frequently Asked Questions

The first step between choosing VWO or Optimizely is to know the objective you want to achieve with your experimentation program. Do you wish to only run tests without a long-term plan? Do you wish to analyze your site visitors’ behavior or not? Optimizely only offers testing and personalization capabilities, while VWO provides everything that Optimizely does, along with the crucial visitor behavior analysis, program management, and even the option to re-engage with lost visitors.

Next, gauge your CRO team’s experimentation maturity or skill level. If you’re just getting started, you would need assistance and VWO offers industry-leading support with a 98% customer satisfaction rate. Irrespective of your skill level, VWO support is reliable and has a great UI that suits any skill level.

Lastly, what’s your budget? Optimizely is considerably expensive, while VWO is not. Getting a higher ROI from your experimentation program is more likely to be achieved with VWO.

VWO is a comprehensive CRO platform, and the only one you need for all your experimentation needs. Right from tracking your key metrics and gathering visitor behavior insights to running UI-based and more sophisticated tests, VWO allows you to do it all via a single connected platform.

You can also plan and manage your optimization pipeline in VWO. Optimizely only offers testing and personalization, that too at a high price point. VWO also has exceptional support and is compliant with most of the important internet laws.

No, Optimizely does not have the features that allow you to track key metrics and glean visitor behavior insights. VWO, on the other hand, has an Insights capability built specifically for this.
VWO Insights offers heatmaps, session recordings, on-page surveys, and form analytics so you can step into your visitors’ shoes and understand their pain points.

You can then use the insights you discover to optimize your digital experiences accordingly.

VWO’s plans are based on the features you need. VWO offers various products-
VWO Testing, VWO Insights, VWO Engage, VWO FullStack, and VWO Plan. For each of these products, you can opt for either the Growth, Pro, or Enterprise plan based on your team’s CRO maturity level.

You can either opt for these individual products or a combination of these under the Conversion Optimization Essentials or Experience Optimization Essentials plans. You also get a dedicated success manager from VWO to guide you with your CRO program with each plan.

VWO also offers Free Trial, while Optimizely does not. You can use the Free Trial to figure out your requirements and opt for the most-suited plan accordingly.

Learn more about VWO’s plans.

Self-hosting is a very niche feature, which VWO has also been focusing on. But the way we go about it is a little different from Optimizely and is tailored to suit our customers’ needs. We don’t have integrated setups for various CDNs like Optimizely.

We share the various files which you can execute easily.
VWO has 10 dynamic CDNs in various geographies that help reduce load time and ensure data security while complying with critical internet laws.

While VWO also offers an equally powerful configuration of the VWO SmartCode (implementation snippet), we don’t have the option of implementing it through the app.

Also, VWO’s SmartCode implementation is the best in the industry in terms of size and ease of usage.
Unlike in the case of Optimizely, you don’t need to pay extra for this. The various integrations with popular CMSes like WordPress, Joomla, etc. help you set up the VWO SmartCode in no time, and with robustness.

VWO has a MAB feature in beta right now and will be rolled out for general access soon!

Deliver great experiences. Grow faster, starting today.

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All you Need to Know About Conversion Optimization Get the Guide