Testing and CRO
Optimizely vs VWO
VWO is the practical choice for most companies: testing plus heatmaps, recordings and surveys in one place, with a free starter tier. Optimizely is for organisations running experimentation as a discipline, with server-side tests and feature flags across product teams.
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Optimizely or VWO — which should you use?
VWO is the practical choice for most companies: testing plus heatmaps, recordings and surveys in one place, with a free starter tier. Optimizely is for organisations running experimentation as a discipline, with server-side tests and feature flags across product teams. Optimizely starts at Quote only, typically enterprise contracts (free tier: No self-serve free tier.); VWO starts at Paid plans from a few hundred dollars a month, by traffic (free tier: Free starter plan with limited monthly tracked users.). Prices are list prices and change, so check the vendor pages before buying.
Last updated 3 August 2026
Both do split testing properly with sound statistics. The gap is scope: Optimizely has become a broader digital experience platform with feature experimentation for engineering teams, while VWO stayed focused on conversion optimisation for marketers.
Price follows. Optimizely is quote-based and enterprise-shaped; VWO publishes pricing and has a free tier.
Side by side
Optimizely and VWO in short.
Optimizely
Enterprise experimentation and digital experience platform, including server-side testing and feature flags.
- Free
- No self-serve free tier.
- Paid from
- Quote only, typically enterprise contracts
Good at
- Server-side and feature-flag experimentation engineers will trust
- Handles very high traffic and complex experiment programmes
- Statistics engine designed for continuous monitoring
Weak at
- Expensive and sales-led
- Requires dedicated experimentation staff to be worth it
VWO
Conversion optimisation platform: A/B testing, heatmaps, recordings, surveys and personalisation.
- Free
- Free starter plan with limited monthly tracked users.
- Paid from
- Paid plans from a few hundred dollars a month, by traffic
Good at
- Testing, behaviour analytics and surveys under one subscription
- Visual editor marketers can use without a developer
- Published pricing and a free tier to start
Weak at
- Less capable for server-side and product experimentation
- Costs scale with tracked users
The differences
Where they actually diverge.
| Feature | Optimizely | VWO |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | No | Yes, limited |
| Server-side testing | Strong | Available, lighter |
| Heatmaps and recordings | No | Included |
| Pricing | Enterprise quote | Published, traffic based |
| Who runs it | Experimentation team | Marketer or growth lead |
Pick one
Which one fits you.
Choose Optimizely if
- Engineering runs experiments behind feature flags
- You test continuously across several products
- Statistical rigour is scrutinised internally
Choose VWO if
- A marketer will build and read the tests
- You want qualitative and quantitative data together
- You need published pricing to get approval
When neither is the answer
Under about 10,000 monthly visitors, A/B testing rarely reaches significance in a useful timeframe. Use recordings and interviews to find problems, ship the fix, and measure the before-and-after.
Questions
Common questions.
How long should a test run?
At least two full business cycles — usually two weeks — even if significance arrives sooner, so weekday and weekend behaviour are both represented. Stopping early on a promising result is the most common CRO mistake.
Is there a cheaper way to test?
PostHog includes experiments on its free tier, and Google Optimize's 2023 shutdown pushed many small teams there. It's a reasonable starting point if you're already tracking events.
Prices are list prices published by each vendor and change often — check the linked pricing pages before you buy. We take no affiliate commission and nobody pays to appear here.
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