By the Numbers vs Polar Analytics
Polar Analytics is a multi-source ecommerce data platform: connectors, a managed warehouse, a semantic layer, and AI agents on top. Here is the honest side-by-side, area by area, including where Polar is the better pick.
60-second install · 14 days free · No card, no auto-charge
Polar Analytics and By the Numbers answer the same operator questions - what is working, who my best customers are, where ad spend pays back - but they are different classes of product. Polar sells a data stack: 1-click connectors feeding a managed Snowflake warehouse, a semantic layer of metrics, incrementality testing, a first-party pixel, and a growing suite of AI agents. It is genuinely impressive infrastructure.
By the Numbers sells the analytics layer without the infrastructure project: 38 reports that exist the moment you install, an RFM matrix and cohort curves on the $19 plan, Copilot chat and a Monday AI briefing, and segments that sync hourly to your ad platforms. No warehouse to model, no semantic layer to configure, no analyst required.
The buying experience tells the same story before the product does. Polar does not publish prices - plans are quoted on your annual GMV after a demo call. By the Numbers publishes five plans from $19 to $299 and installs from the App Store in about a minute.
Published on /pricing: $19 to $299 a month by order volume, every feature on every plan, 14-day trial with no card and no demo call required.
Not published. Plans (Core and Custom) are quoted on your annual GMV after a demo call. No self-serve trial of the paid product; the primary CTA across the site is "Book a demo".
At a glance
| Capability | By the Numbers | Polar Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | $19-299/mo listed | Quoted by GMV, demo first |
| Self-serve install and trial | 60-second install, no card | - |
| Report library out of the box | 38 question-shaped reports | Semantic-layer metrics you assemble |
| AI chat with your store data | Copilot, every plan | AI agents (Analyst, Data Engineer) |
| Proactive AI weekly briefing by email | - | |
| RFM loyalty matrix (16 cells, nightly) | - | |
| Cohort retention analysis | ||
| Predictive LTV and forecasting | ||
| Segmentation with ad-platform sync | 75+ filters; Klaviyo, Meta, Google, TikTok | Klaviyo Audiences + ad signals |
| Multi-source data warehouse | - | Managed Snowflake + semantic layer |
| Multi-touch attribution models | Multiple models | |
| Incrementality / causal testing | - | |
| First-party tracking pixel | Das Pixel, included free | Polar Pixel + Lifetime ID |
| Contract | Monthly, cancel anytime | Annual quotes typical |
- By the Numbers
- $19-299/mo listed
- Polar Analytics
- Quoted by GMV, demo first
- By the Numbers
- 60-second install, no card
- Polar Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- 38 question-shaped reports
- Polar Analytics
- Semantic-layer metrics you assemble
- By the Numbers
- Copilot, every plan
- Polar Analytics
- AI agents (Analyst, Data Engineer)
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- 75+ filters; Klaviyo, Meta, Google, TikTok
- Polar Analytics
- Klaviyo Audiences + ad signals
- By the Numbers
- -
- Polar Analytics
- Managed Snowflake + semantic layer
- By the Numbers
- Multiple models
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- -
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- Das Pixel, included free
- Polar Analytics
- Polar Pixel + Lifetime ID
- By the Numbers
- Monthly, cancel anytime
- Polar Analytics
- Annual quotes typical
Based on publicly available information, verified 31 August 2026. Polar Analytics is a trademark of its owner; confirm current details on their site.
The deep dive, area by area
Feature checklists flatter everyone. This is how the two products actually differ in each part of the job.
Reporting depth
38 reports pre-built around operating questions - AOV, sales by channel, repeat-buyer share, product velocity, ad CTR by campaign - live the moment the overnight backfill finishes. The trade: you get the reports we built, not a warehouse to build your own.
Hundreds of pre-built metrics and dimensions in a semantic layer over your own Snowflake warehouse. Near-unlimited flexibility once configured, and configuration is the point: it rewards an analyst who lives in it.
AI layer
Copilot chat answers plain-English questions against your store, and the Monday briefing proactively emails the week's story with three ranked actions. Both on every plan, including $19.
A genuinely broad agent suite: AI Data Engineer builds connectors from plain language, an AI Analyst answers questions, plus agents for media buying and inventory, and an MCP server. Powerful, and priced like the platform it sits on.
Retention and customer economics
The 16-cell RFM matrix rescored nightly, cohort retention and repurchase curves, and predictive LTV - all at the entry price. Retention is the center of the product, not a module.
Cohort analysis, LTV, and retention metrics are available through the BI layer and pre-built metrics. No RFM matrix product; retention depth depends on what you assemble.
Segmentation and activation
Segments from 75+ behavioral filters sync hourly to Klaviyo, Meta, Google Ads, and TikTok on every plan.
Klaviyo Audiences captures and enriches email audiences, and Advertising Signals feeds conversions back to ad platforms. Activation is real but oriented around Klaviyo and signal feeds rather than four-channel audience sync.
Tracking and attribution
Das Pixel ships server-side first-party events to Meta, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Pinterest, included free on every plan - paired with multi-touch attribution models and ROAS reporting, so credit is not locked to last click.
A first-party pixel with Lifetime ID cross-device tracking, plus incrementality testing to validate what actually drives sales - causal modeling By the Numbers does not attempt.
Price and buying experience
Five published plans, monthly terms, no GMV clause. Install to first insight is one overnight backfill.
GMV-quoted contracts behind a demo call, typically annual. Third-party roundups consistently place typical Polar spend at several times a By the Numbers subscription.
Where Polar wins
- Data breadth: if you need Amazon, retail, wholesale, or custom sources unified in one warehouse with a semantic layer, Polar is built for exactly that.
- Incrementality testing: Polar runs causal lift tests to validate what actually drives sales. By the Numbers does not.
- First-party pixel with cross-device Lifetime ID tracking - though Das Pixel now closes most of this gap at no extra cost.
- Enterprise fit: multi-brand teams with analysts get warehouse access and custom metrics Polar-side.
Where By the Numbers wins
- You know the price before you talk to anyone: five published plans against a GMV-based quote behind a demo call.
- Server-side tracking from $19: Das Pixel ships first-party events with multi-touch attribution without the enterprise contract.
- Time to first insight: install from the App Store, backfill overnight, Monday briefing in your inbox the same week. No onboarding project, no analyst prerequisite.
- Retention analytics at the entry price: the RFM matrix, cohort curves, and predictive LTV are on the $19 plan, not gated behind a custom quote.
- Four-channel audience sync (Klaviyo, Meta, Google, TikTok) on every plan.
- Proactive delivery: the Monday briefing pushes the answers to you; a warehouse waits for questions.
Switching from Polar
- →Expect to trade flexibility for immediacy: if you never built custom metrics in Polar's semantic layer, you will not miss it - the 38 reports cover the operator question set out of the box.
- →Your complete Shopify history imports on connect, so cohorts, RFM, and LTV are populated from day one.
- →Rebuild activations in minutes: Klaviyo audience workflows map to segment sync, which also adds Meta, Google, and TikTok destinations.
- →What you give up: the warehouse, semantic layer, non-Shopify data sources, and incrementality tests. If an analyst or agency lives in those, Polar is doing a job we do not do.
Which one fits your store?
Pick Polar if you are consolidating many data sources, have an analyst or agency who will live in the warehouse, and the budget for a quoted enterprise-style contract.
Pick By the Numbers if your data lives in Shopify plus your ad and email platforms, and you want the retention and ad-spend answers this week at a price you can see up front.
Polar is a data platform you invest in; By the Numbers is an analytics app you switch on. For a single-brand Shopify store without a dedicated analyst, switched-on wins - it delivers the same operator answers this week, at a published price.
Weighing more options? See vs Lifetimely, vs Triple Whale, vs Shopify's built-in analytics or how stores consolidate their reporting stack.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Polar Analytics cost?
Polar does not publish pricing. Plans are quoted on your store's annual GMV after a demo call, typically on annual terms. By the Numbers publishes all five plans, from $19 to $299 a month, and the trial requires no call and no card.
Is Polar Analytics overkill for a small Shopify store?
For a single-store brand whose data lives in Shopify, Klaviyo, and two or three ad platforms, a warehouse and semantic layer is usually more platform than the question requires. Polar earns its complexity when you are unifying many sources, running incrementality tests, or staffing an analyst.
Does By the Numbers have AI like Polar's agents?
Yes, two: Copilot, a conversational AI that answers questions against your store data, and the Monday AI briefing, which proactively emails what changed, why, and three ranked actions every week. Polar's agent suite is broader (data engineering, media buying, inventory); By the Numbers focuses its AI on answering and briefing the operator, on every plan.
Does By the Numbers do incrementality testing or a data warehouse?
No. By the Numbers deliberately stays an analytics layer on your Shopify data rather than a warehouse product. If you need causal lift testing or multi-source warehousing, Polar genuinely does things we do not - most single-brand stores need neither to fix retention and ad payback.
Do both apps sync audiences to marketing platforms?
Polar activates data primarily through Klaviyo Audiences and advertising signal feeds. By the Numbers builds segments from 75+ filters and syncs them hourly to Klaviyo, Meta, Google Ads, and TikTok on every plan.
Run By the Numbers next to Polar for two weeks.
Both read the same Shopify data, so the trial is a fair test. Ours never takes a card, so comparing costs you nothing.
60-second install · 14 days free · No card, no auto-charge