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Marketing · head to head

Northbeam vs Zoho Marketing Automation

Northbeam logo

Northbeam

Marketing

Marketing intelligence for growth brands

From
$1500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Marketing Automation logo

Zoho Marketing Automation

Marketing

Contact-count marketing automation priced well below the mainstream platforms, tightest with Zoho CRM

From
$19/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Northbeam limited creative-level reporting focused on campaign and ad set rather than individual ad performance; Zoho Marketing Automation pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • They diverge on capability: Northbeam covers Cross-platform attribution, Zoho Marketing Automation covers Journey builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Northbeam and Zoho Marketing Automation actually diverge.

Attributes where Northbeam and Zoho Marketing Automation differ
AttributeNorthbeamZoho Marketing Automation
Starting price$1500/month$19/month
Pricing modelUnknownPer month by contact count
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Journey builder
  • Lead scoring
  • Unlimited email sends
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Web behaviour tracking
  • Social campaigns
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Lead attribution and X-RAY

What people use each for

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

Northbeam

  • Marketing attributionnot Zoho Marketing Automation
  • Media optimizationnot Zoho Marketing Automation
  • Creative testingnot Zoho Marketing Automation
  • Budget allocationnot Zoho Marketing Automation

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • A B2B team already on Zoho CRM that wants scoring and nurture without paying for a separate platform and an integrationnot Northbeam
  • A business emailing its list frequently, where unlimited sends beats a competitor metering both contacts and emailsnot Northbeam
  • An Indian or emerging-market marketing team that would otherwise pay a US-dollar list price plus card forex feesnot Northbeam
  • A small team upgrading from plain newsletter sending to behaviour-triggered journeys without a five-figure annual commitmentnot 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

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • The Enterprise plan caps users at 25, which is a hard ceiling for larger marketing organisations rather than an upgrade path.
  • Its value depends heavily on running Zoho CRM; used alongside Salesforce or HubSpot the integration is shallower and much of the scoring and attribution advantage disappears.
  • Zoho sells Campaigns, Marketing Automation and MarketingPlus as separate products with overlapping function, and buyers regularly purchase the wrong one and then migrate lists between them.
  • Support and deliverability tooling are basic next to dedicated senders, so sender reputation problems on a large list get less expert help than a specialist provider would give.

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

Zoho Marketing Automation

$19/month
  • Standard$19/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Unlimited social campaigns and signup forms
  • Professional$29/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Contact scoring
    • Journey builder with reports
  • Enterprise$59/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Lead attribution and X-RAY journey tracing
    • Landing page personalisation

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 Zoho Marketing Automation if

  • You need journey builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want lead scoring.
Zoho Marketing Automation review

Questions people ask

Is Northbeam or Zoho Marketing Automation better?
Neither clearly leads. Northbeam starts at $1500/month and Zoho Marketing Automation at $19/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Northbeam or Zoho Marketing Automation?
Northbeam starts at $1500/month and Zoho Marketing Automation at $19/month.
Does Northbeam or Zoho Marketing Automation run on more platforms?
Northbeam runs on Web, API. Zoho Marketing Automation runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 Zoho Marketing Automation is typically brought in for.
What can Northbeam do that Zoho Marketing Automation cannot?
Northbeam covers Cross-platform attribution, Media mix modeling, Creative analytics, Real-time dashboards. Zoho Marketing Automation covers Journey builder, Lead scoring, Unlimited email sends, Landing pages and forms.

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
Zoho Marketing Automation: How does it differ from Zoho Campaigns?

Campaigns is email sending and newsletters. Marketing Automation adds journeys, lead scoring, web tracking and CRM writeback. Buying Campaigns and outgrowing it is the common mistake.

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
Zoho Marketing Automation: Are email sends limited?

No, sends are unlimited on all plans. Only contact count determines your tier, which is unusual at this price level.

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
Zoho Marketing Automation: Is there a user limit?

Yes, up to 25 users on Enterprise, with lower limits below that. It is not designed for large marketing departments.

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
Zoho Marketing Automation: Can I pay in local currency?

Yes, Zoho publishes real local pricing in several markets including India rather than converting the US dollar figure at checkout.

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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