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Technology · head to head

Amplitude vs Thought Machine

Amplitude logo

Amplitude

Technology

The digital analytics platform to understand your users

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Thought Machine logo

Thought Machine

Technology

Cloud native core banking where products are written as smart contracts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Amplitude has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amplitude metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow; Thought Machine a core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • They diverge on capability: Amplitude covers Event tracking, Thought Machine covers Smart contract product engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amplitude and Thought Machine actually diverge.

Attributes where Amplitude and Thought Machine differ
AttributeAmplitudeThought Machine
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, API, Cloud
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Technology).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amplitude

  • Event tracking
  • User segmentation
  • Funnel analysis
  • Retention analysis
  • Cohort analysis
  • A/B testing
  • Revenue analytics
  • Predictive analytics

Only in Thought Machine

  • Smart contract product engine
  • Cloud native architecture
  • Real time ledger
  • Vault Payments
  • API first design
  • Multi entity and multi currency
  • Product versioning and testing
  • Configurable posting rules

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amplitude

  • User behavior analysisnot Thought Machine
  • Feature adoption trackingnot Thought Machine
  • Conversion rate optimizationnot Thought Machine
  • Customer journey mappingnot Thought Machine
  • Retention improvementnot Thought Machine

Thought Machine

  • A large bank launching a separate digital brand on a clean core rather than migrating the back booknot Amplitude
  • A bank whose product launches are blocked by vendor change requests on a legacy corenot Amplitude
  • An institution needing real time balances and postings for instant payment obligationsnot Amplitude
  • A group consolidating multiple country cores onto one multi entity platformnot Amplitude

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amplitude

  • Metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow
  • The free plan covers 2M events a month
  • The Plus plan scales to 70M events, above which pricing is custom
  • Growth and Enterprise pricing is not published

Thought Machine

  • A core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • The smart contract model presumes a bank can write and maintain Python financial products, and institutions without that engineering capability end up outsourcing the very flexibility they bought.
  • Cloud infrastructure cost sits with the bank and is not trivial at scale, so total cost of ownership comparisons against a hosted legacy core often miss a large recurring line.
  • Thought Machine has made two rounds of job cuts pursuing profitability, which is a legitimate supplier stability concern for a system a bank expects to run for fifteen years.
  • The functional footprint is core ledger and product engine, so origination, collections, regulatory reporting and channels all come from other vendors, and the integration estate around Vault is the bank's problem to design and own.

Pricing, plan by plan

Amplitude

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 2 million events per month
  • Plus$49/month
    • $0.049 per MTU
    • Up to 300k MTUs
    • Advanced analytics
  • GrowthFree
    • Causal insights
    • Feature experimentation
    • Real-time streaming
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Cross-product analysis
    • Advanced permissions
    • Dedicated account manager

Thought Machine

On request
  • Vault Core$undefined/year
    • Quoted per institution, typically on account volumes or annual contract value
    • Implementation and system integrator costs commonly exceed the licence fee
    • Cloud infrastructure costs are the bank's and are not included

Which should you pick?

Choose Amplitude if

  • You need event tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want user segmentation.
Amplitude review

Choose Thought Machine if

  • You need smart contract product engine.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want cloud native architecture.
Thought Machine review

Questions people ask

Is Amplitude or Thought Machine better?
Neither clearly leads. Amplitude starts at Free and Thought Machine at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amplitude or Thought Machine?
Amplitude has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amplitude and On request for Thought Machine.
Does Amplitude or Thought Machine run on more platforms?
Amplitude runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Thought Machine runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use Amplitude for free?
Yes. Amplitude has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Thought Machine starts at On request.
What is Amplitude best used for?
Amplitude is most often used for user behavior analysis, feature adoption tracking, conversion rate optimization, customer journey mapping. Of those, user behavior analysis and feature adoption tracking are not what Thought Machine is typically brought in for.
What can Amplitude do that Thought Machine cannot?
Amplitude covers Event tracking, User segmentation, Funnel analysis, Retention analysis. Thought Machine covers Smart contract product engine, Cloud native architecture, Real time ledger, Vault Payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amplitude: Does Amplitude have a free plan?

Yes, Amplitude offers a free Starter plan with 2 million events per month and access to the entire platform including analytics, session replay, and experimentation features.

Source
Thought Machine: Is Vault Core genuinely cloud native?

Yes. It is containerised, runs on Kubernetes on public cloud, and posts in real time rather than in overnight batch.

Amplitude: What is Amplitude's pricing based on?

Amplitude's pricing is based on the number of monthly tracked users (MTUs), data volume, and advanced features selected. The Plus plan starts at $49 per month with a rate of $0.049 per MTU.

Source
Thought Machine: How long does a migration take?

Eighteen months at the absolute fastest for a narrow greenfield launch; two to four years for a phased migration at an established bank.

Amplitude: What analytics features does every Amplitude plan include?

Every plan includes access to the full platform: analytics, session replay, feature experimentation, web experimentation, guides and surveys, activation, and AI tools like AI Feedback and AI Assistant.

Source
Thought Machine: Does the licence fee represent the total cost?

No. Implementation, system integration, parallel running and cloud infrastructure typically cost more than the licence over the programme.

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