By the Numbers vs Triple Whale
Triple Whale is an attribution-first ecommerce data platform: first-party pixel, multi-touch models, MMM, and AI agents. Here is the honest side-by-side, area by area, including where Triple Whale is the better pick.
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Triple Whale earned its reputation on paid-media measurement: the Triple Pixel, multi-touch attribution, marketing mix modeling, and now a fleet of Moby AI agents. For brands spending six figures a month on ads, that measurement stack moves real money and justifies a platform-sized bill.
By the Numbers attacks the same growth problem from the customer side: which buyers repeat, what a customer is worth over a lifetime, which segments deserve the next dollar - and then pushes those segments straight into your ad and email platforms. It ships 38 reports, an RFM matrix, cohort curves, predictive LTV, ML forecasting, Das Pixel server-side tracking, multi-touch attribution, Copilot chat, and a Monday AI briefing, from $19 a month on monthly terms.
Most stores do not need to pick a side philosophically; they need to pick where their next dollar of tooling goes. Below a serious ad budget, retention economics pays that dollar back faster than attribution precision.
$19 to $299 a month by order volume, published on /pricing. Monthly, cancel anytime, every feature on every plan, no-card trial.
A free plan covers blended dashboards with basic attribution. Paid tiers are quoted with GMV-based scaling, typically on annual terms; published third-party breakdowns as of 2026 put base tiers roughly between $129 and $279 a month before GMV scaling, with the pixel and AI features on paid plans.
At a glance
| Capability | By the Numbers | Triple Whale |
|---|---|---|
| First-party pixel / server-side tracking | Das Pixel, included free | Triple Pixel |
| Multi-touch attribution models | Multiple models | |
| Marketing mix modeling / incrementality | - | |
| Blended ROAS and ad spend reporting | ||
| Report library | 38 question-shaped reports | 75+ dashboards + custom BI |
| AI chat with your store data | Copilot, every plan | Moby AI, paid plans |
| Proactive AI weekly briefing by email | - | |
| RFM loyalty matrix (16 cells, nightly) | - | |
| Cohort retention curves | ||
| Predictive LTV + ML sales forecasting | ||
| Segmentation with 4-channel audience sync | Klaviyo, Meta, Google, TikTok - hourly | - |
| Creative analytics | - | |
| Entry price for the full feature set | $19/mo | GMV-scaled quote |
| Contract | Monthly, cancel anytime | Annual terms typical |
- By the Numbers
- Das Pixel, included free
- Triple Whale
- Triple Pixel
- By the Numbers
- Multiple models
- Triple Whale
- By the Numbers
- -
- Triple Whale
- By the Numbers
- Triple Whale
- By the Numbers
- 38 question-shaped reports
- Triple Whale
- 75+ dashboards + custom BI
- By the Numbers
- Copilot, every plan
- Triple Whale
- Moby AI, paid plans
- By the Numbers
- Triple Whale
- -
- By the Numbers
- Triple Whale
- -
- By the Numbers
- Triple Whale
- By the Numbers
- Triple Whale
- By the Numbers
- Klaviyo, Meta, Google, TikTok - hourly
- Triple Whale
- -
- By the Numbers
- -
- Triple Whale
- By the Numbers
- $19/mo
- Triple Whale
- GMV-scaled quote
- By the Numbers
- Monthly, cancel anytime
- Triple Whale
- Annual terms typical
Based on publicly available information, verified 31 August 2026. Triple Whale 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.
Attribution and tracking
Das Pixel ships first-party server-side events to Meta, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Pinterest with event-ID dedup, recovering the 20-40% of conversions browser pixels lose - included free where standalone trackers charge $179-450/mo. On top of it, multi-touch attribution models split credit across the touchpoints that led to a sale, so budget decisions are not locked to last click.
The most battle-tested measurement stack in DTC: Triple Pixel identity resolution, multi-touch models, Sonar CAPI feeds, and Compass MMM/incrementality - modeling science that goes beyond attribution itself.
Retention and customer economics
The center of the product: a 16-cell RFM matrix rescored nightly, cohort retention and repurchase curves, predictive LTV, and time-between-orders analysis - on the $19 plan. This is the side of growth the ad account cannot see.
Cohort and LTV reporting exist inside the dashboard suite, but the platform's center of gravity is the ad account. There is no RFM matrix.
AI layer
Copilot chat for ad-hoc questions plus the Monday briefing that emails the week's story with three ranked actions. Both on every plan.
Moby is a real AI layer: chat, agents for creative analysis, acquisition, and retention workflows on paid plans. Broader agent fleet; no proactive email briefing product.
Reporting depth
38 reports pre-shaped around operator questions, from AOV and sales-by-channel to product repurchase rate and bought-together analysis. Nothing to assemble.
75+ ready dashboards plus custom BI for building your own views - more surface area, more of it self-serve assembly.
Segmentation and activation
Segments from 75+ filters sync hourly to Klaviyo, Meta, Google Ads, and TikTok. Your best-customer cell becomes tomorrow's lookalike seed without an export.
Sonar pushes conversion signals back to platforms for optimization, which is signal enrichment rather than audience sync. Building and syncing behavioral customer segments to four channels is not the product.
Price and buying experience
Published plans $19-299, monthly, cancel anytime. The bill does not grow because your GMV did.
Free tier for blended dashboards; paid tiers quoted with GMV scaling on typically-annual terms, roughly $129-279 base before scaling per third-party breakdowns.
Where Triple Whale wins
- Measurement science beyond attribution: Compass MMM and incrementality testing model what actually causes sales, a layer By the Numbers does not ship. Very-high-spend teams buy Triple Whale for exactly this.
- Creative analytics: ad-creative performance breakdowns that By the Numbers does not offer.
- A broader AI agent fleet (Moby agents for creative, acquisition, retention workflows) on paid plans.
- A free tier exists for basic blended dashboards.
Where By the Numbers wins
- Retention economics as the main event: RFM matrix, cohort repurchase curves, predictive LTV, and time-between-orders on the $19 plan. Triple Whale's center of gravity is the ad account, not the customer file.
- Server-side tracking included free: Das Pixel ships first-party events with multi-touch attribution on every plan, while standalone trackers charge $179-450/mo and Triple Whale's pixel lives inside GMV-scaled paid tiers.
- Four-channel audience activation: segments sync hourly to Klaviyo, Meta, Google, and TikTok - signal feeds are not the same as living audiences.
- Pricing you can plan around: five published tiers, monthly terms, no GMV clause that grows your bill with your revenue.
- The Monday briefing: proactive AI that emails the week's story and three ranked actions, on every plan.
- Simplicity: one app, every report answering a named question, no data-platform learning curve.
Switching from Triple Whale
- →Be honest about the job: if MMM and incrementality science are the job, Compass does modeling By the Numbers does not - some high-spend stores run Triple Whale for measurement science and By the Numbers for customers, retention, and day-to-day tracking.
- →Your complete Shopify history imports on connect: cohorts, RFM, and LTV are populated from day one, no pixel seasoning period required for the retention side.
- →Blended ROAS carries over: ad spend and marketing-attributed sales reports cover the budget-allocation question most stores actually act on.
- →Watch the contract dates: Triple Whale terms are typically annual, so line up the trial well before renewal. Ours is monthly either way.
Which one fits your store?
Pick Triple Whale if paid media is your dominant channel, you spend enough that attribution precision moves real money, and an annual GMV-scaled contract is acceptable.
Pick By the Numbers if the questions keeping you up are about repeat purchase, loyalty, and lifetime value - and you want ad ROI reporting included without an attribution-platform bill.
Triple Whale measures your ads better; By the Numbers understands your customers better and costs a fraction as much. Below heavy ad spend, the customer side pays back first - and the two tools are not mutually exclusive.
Weighing more options? See vs Lifetimely, vs Polar, vs Shopify's built-in analytics or how stores consolidate their reporting stack.
Frequently asked questions
Is Triple Whale worth it for a small Shopify store?
Triple Whale's strengths are attribution and MMM, which pay off at meaningful ad spend. Stores below roughly five figures of monthly spend usually get more from retention analytics: knowing which customers repeat, what they are worth, and syncing those segments to ads and email. That is the job By the Numbers is built for, from $19 a month.
How much does Triple Whale cost in 2026?
Triple Whale offers a free plan for basic blended dashboards; paid plans are quoted with GMV-based scaling, typically on annual terms, with third-party breakdowns placing base tiers roughly between $129 and $279 a month. By the Numbers publishes flat monthly plans from $19 to $299 by order volume.
Does By the Numbers have a tracking pixel like Triple Whale?
Yes. Das Pixel ships first-party, server-side conversion events to Meta, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Pinterest with event-ID deduplication, recovering the conversions ad blockers and iOS limits eat - included free on every plan, where standalone trackers charge $179-450 a month. It pairs with multi-touch attribution models in the advertising reports, so credit splits across the real touchpoints instead of defaulting to last click.
Does Triple Whale do RFM analysis or segment sync?
Triple Whale reports cohorts and LTV but does not ship an RFM loyalty matrix, and its Sonar products push conversion signals rather than syncing behavioral customer segments. By the Numbers rescores a 16-cell RFM grid nightly and syncs any segment hourly to Klaviyo, Meta, Google Ads, and TikTok.
Can I run Triple Whale and By the Numbers together?
Yes, and ad-heavy stores sometimes do exactly that: Triple Whale for attribution modeling, By the Numbers for retention analytics, RFM, forecasting, and audience sync. Both read Shopify directly and do not conflict.
Run By the Numbers next to Triple Whale 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