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. The side-by-side below covers each area, including where Polar is the better pick.
60-second install · 14-day free trial · No credit card required
Polar Analytics and By the Numbers answer the same operator questions: what is working, who your best customers are, and where ad spend pays back. 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 capable infrastructure.
By the Numbers sells the analytics layer without the infrastructure project. It comes with 70+ reports that work without setup, an RFM matrix and cohort curves on the $19 plan, Copilot chat and Pulse, and segments that sync regularly to your ad platforms. It needs no warehouse, semantic layer, or analyst.
The buying experience differs too. 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.
Polar Analytics pricingNot 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 | 70+ question-shaped reports | Semantic-layer metrics you assemble |
| AI chat with your store data | Copilot, every paid plan | AI agents (Analyst, Data Engineer) |
| Pulse: proactive AI email | - | |
| RFM loyalty matrix (12 cells, rescored regularly) | Build it yourself | |
| Cohort retention analysis | ||
| Predictive LTV and forecasting | ||
| Segmentation with ad-platform sync | 75+ filters; syncs to 7 platforms | Klaviyo Audiences + ad signals |
| Multi-source data warehouse | - | Managed Snowflake + semantic layer |
| Multi-touch attribution models | First- and last-touch | |
| Incrementality / causal testing | - | |
| First-party tracking pixel | das Pixel, available on every plan | 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
- 70+ question-shaped reports
- Polar Analytics
- Semantic-layer metrics you assemble
- By the Numbers
- Copilot, every paid plan
- Polar Analytics
- AI agents (Analyst, Data Engineer)
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- Build it yourself
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- 75+ filters; syncs to 7 platforms
- Polar Analytics
- Klaviyo Audiences + ad signals
- By the Numbers
- -
- Polar Analytics
- Managed Snowflake + semantic layer
- By the Numbers
- First- and last-touch
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- -
- Polar Analytics
- By the Numbers
- das Pixel, available on every plan
- 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
The table shows what each product includes. Here is how the two differ in each part of the job.
Reporting depth
70+ reports are pre-built around operating questions: AOV, sales by channel, repeat-buyer share, product velocity, and ad CTR by campaign. They go live when the overnight backfill finishes. The trade-off is that 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 answers questions about your store in plain English. Pulse emails what changed, why, and up to three recommended next steps, every Monday and whenever something meaningful changes. Both are included on every paid plan, from $19 a month.
A 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. It is capable, and priced like the platform it sits on.
Retention and customer economics
The 12-cell RFM matrix rescored regularly, 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. It has no built-in RFM report: Polar's own guide has you define R, F, and M cutoffs as custom metrics, then sync the scored segments to Klaviyo. Retention depth depends on what you assemble.
Segmentation and activation
Segments from 75+ behavioral filters sync regularly to Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Attentive, Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, and Reddit Ads on every plan.
Klaviyo Audiences captures and enriches email audiences, and Advertising Signals feeds conversions back to ad platforms. Activation is supported, but it centers on Klaviyo and signal feeds rather than multi-platform audience sync.
Tracking and attribution
das Pixel ships server-side first-party events to Meta, Google, TikTok, and Reddit and is available on every plan. It pairs with first-touch and last-touch attribution 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 drives sales. That is causal modeling By the Numbers does not attempt.
Price and buying experience
Five plans are published on monthly terms, with 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 drives sales. By the Numbers does not.
- First-party pixel with cross-device Lifetime ID tracking, though das Pixel, available on every plan, now closes most of this gap.
- Enterprise fit: multi-brand teams with analysts get warehouse access and custom metrics in Polar.
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 on every plan: das Pixel ships first-party events with first-touch and last-touch attribution without the enterprise contract.
- Time to first insight: install from the App Store and let the backfill run overnight, with no onboarding project and 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.
- Audience sync to seven platforms (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Attentive, Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, Reddit Ads) on every plan.
- Proactive delivery: Pulse pushes the answers to you weekly on Mondays and whenever something meaningful changes; 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, because the 70+ reports answer the standard operator questions without setup.
- →Your complete Shopify history imports on connect, so cohorts, RFM, and LTV are populated from day one.
- →Rebuild your activations: Klaviyo audience workflows map to segment sync, which also adds Mailchimp, Attentive, Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, and Reddit Ads 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 retention and ad-spend answers 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, By the Numbers delivers the same operator answers 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 is a conversational AI that answers questions about your store data. Pulse emails what changed, why, and up to three recommended next steps, every Monday and whenever something meaningful changes. Polar's agent suite is broader (data engineering, media buying, inventory); By the Numbers focuses its AI on answering questions and briefing the operator, on every paid 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 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 regularly to Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Attentive, Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, and Reddit Ads on every plan.
Run By the Numbers next to Polar for two weeks.
Both read the same Shopify data, so running them side by side is a fair test.
60-second install · 14-day free trial · No credit card required