Softwr

Marketing · head to head

Northbeam vs Umami

Northbeam logo

Northbeam

Marketing

Marketing intelligence for growth brands

From
$1500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Umami has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Northbeam limited creative-level reporting focused on campaign and ad set rather than individual ad performance; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • They diverge on capability: Northbeam covers Cross-platform attribution, Umami covers Cookie-free tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Northbeam and Umami actually diverge.

Attributes where Northbeam and Umami differ
AttributeNorthbeamUmami
Starting price$1500/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownPer month by event count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Linux
Founded2020Unknown

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

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 Northbeam

  • Cross-platform attribution
  • Media mix modeling
  • Creative analytics
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Incrementality testing
  • Customer journey
  • Cohort analysis
  • LTV predictions

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards
  • API access

What people use each for

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

Northbeam

  • Marketing attributionnot Umami
  • Media optimizationnot Umami
  • Creative testingnot Umami
  • Budget allocationnot Umami

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot Northbeam
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot Northbeam
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot Northbeam
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot Northbeam

Where each one falls short

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

Northbeam

  • Limited creative-level reporting focused on campaign and ad set rather than individual ad performance
  • Lack of transparency in attribution modeling methodology and how credit is assigned
  • Pageview-based pricing that can scale faster than perceived value for high-traffic, lower-conversion brands
  • Slower reporting cadence limits real-time feedback for teams requiring immediate performance data

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Northbeam

$1500/month
  • Starter$1500/month
    • Multi-touch attribution
    • Media mix modeling
    • Up to 1M monthly pageviews
  • Professional$2500/month
    • All Starter features
    • Creative analytics
    • Export API access

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose Northbeam if

  • You need cross-platform attribution.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want media mix modeling.
Northbeam review

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.
Umami review

Questions people ask

Is Northbeam or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. Northbeam starts at $1500/month and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Northbeam or Umami?
Umami has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1500/month for Northbeam and Free for Umami.
Does Northbeam or Umami run on more platforms?
Northbeam runs on Web, API. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Umami for free?
Yes. Umami has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Northbeam starts at $1500/month.
What is Northbeam best used for?
Northbeam is most often used for marketing attribution, media optimization, creative testing, budget allocation. Of those, marketing attribution and media optimization are not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can Northbeam do that Umami cannot?
Northbeam covers Cross-platform attribution, Media mix modeling, Creative analytics, Real-time dashboards. Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Northbeam: How is Northbeam priced?

Northbeam offers three tiers: Starter ($1,500/month), Professional ($2,500/month), and Enterprise (custom quote). Pricing is based on monthly pageviews and refreshed data frequency. There are no setup fees, free plan, or free trial.

Source
Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

Northbeam: What platforms does Northbeam integrate with?

Northbeam integrates with Shopify, Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, Klaviyo, Recharge, and others. It pushes attribution data to Meta CAPI, Google Conversion API, GA4, and TikTok Events API.

Source
Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

Northbeam: What does Northbeam measure?

Northbeam uses multi-touch attribution (MTA), media mix modeling (MMM), and Northbeam Apex to measure how paid media spend translates to revenue. Apex sends attribution data directly back to ad platforms for algorithm optimization.

Source
Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

Northbeam: Who should use Northbeam?

Northbeam is ideal for intermediate to advanced ecommerce operators at Shopify-based DTC brands generating $1M+ annual revenue and spending at least $1.5M yearly on paid media across multiple channels.

Source
Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

Northbeam: What are Northbeam's main limitations?

Key limitations include a steep learning curve and complex interface, shallow creative-level reporting, lack of model transparency, pricing that can scale faster than value for high-traffic brands, and slower reporting cadence compared to real-time dashboards.

Source
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