Product teams choose GrowthBook over Optimizely when they want to reduce complexity and cost with a warehouse-native experimentation, feature flags, and product analytics platform.
Modern product teams choose GrowthBook over ABsmartly when they want robust feature flags, advanced experimentation, and powerful product analytics at scale.
- Developer-friendly tools for experimentation and feature flags to deploy anywhere
- Warehouse-native with self-hosting option so you own your own data
- Run 5x more experiments at 1/5th the cost
- Code-driven experimentation for engineers
- Missing key experimentation capabilities
- Expensive, event-based pricing limits experimentation
GrowthBook’s warehouse-native architecture lowers cost and complexity while giving product teams smarter feature flags and a single source of truth for all their product and experiment data.
Developer-friendly, full-stack experimentation platform
Code-driven experimentation platform for engineers
Designed For
Developers, product teams, analysts
Engineers
Primary Use
Test any new feature you build in any platform
Code-driven experimentation
Statistical Methods
Bayesian, frequentist, sequential (with CUPED, post-stratification)
Bayesian, Frequentist (with CUPED)
Deployment Options
Cloud or fully self-hosted
On-premises or private cloud
Pricing & Plans
Per-seat pricing with unlimited tests, unlimited traffic
Event-based enterprise pricing with no free tier
Setup Time
Hours
Days to weeks
When cost and complexity limit what you can test and how fast you can release with confidence, it’s time to switch to GrowthBook.
Customers are switching to GrowthBook to make rigorous experimentation easy for everyone, build smarter, and ship faster without ABsmartly’s capability constraints and pricing that limits testing.
Developer Experience
GrowthBook works best for product teams that want to launch experiments quickly without engineering required.
GrowthBook
- Developer-friendly, intuitive environment for fast iteration
- Chrome debugger + visual editor
- Clear documentation, AI chatbot access, and responsive support
- Flexible for both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- 24+ SDKs: JavaScript, React, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, Swift, Kotlin, etc.
ABsmartly
- API-first workflows require engineers for setup, QA, and iteration
- No visual editor
- Weak UI framework and no CMS integrations
Performance & Scale
GrowthBook is designed for high-velocity experimentation and feature flags used by the largest websites and apps in the world.
GrowthBook
- Run any number of experiments on any amount of traffic
- Low-latency SDKs with rapid rule processing
- Scales from small teams to large enterprises on the same core platform
- 99.999% uptime for high traffic websites and apps
ABsmartly
- Event-based pricing discourages running experiments broadly at scale
- Better suited for engineering-run high volume A/B testing programs
Experimentation Depth & Flexibility
GrowthBook gives product teams the ability to test almost anything with complete control and flexibility.
GrowthBook
- Testing types: Supports A/B tests, multivariate tests, redirects, visual editor, and holdouts
- One platform for server-side, client-side, mobile, and edge experiments
- Full-stack coverage: server-side, client-side, mobile, and edge experiments
- Flexible targeting and randomization units user, location, postal code, URL path, etc.
- Statistical frameworks: Bayesian, frequentist, sequential (with CUPED, post-stratification)
ABsmartly
- No multivariate or factorial testing
- A/B/n support is limited (not factorial)
- No bandits
- Focused on code-driven experimentation rather than broad experimentation coverage
Feature Flagging & Flag-Based Experiments
GrowthBook is preferred by teams that consider feature flags core infrastructure to product development.
GrowthBook
- World-class feature flags at the core
- Controlled rollouts, gradual exposure, and instant kill switches
- Zero network call SDKs for low latency and high reliability
- Unified system for flags and experiments
ABsmartly
- Feature flagging is a secondary feature
- Better suited for controlled engineering releases than frequent product rollouts
- No bandits or automated optimization
Transparency & Warehouse-Native Architecture
GrowthBook's architecture is the most cost effective way to keep all your data in one place, with full control and visibility.
GrowthBook
- Bring your data architecture Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Postgres, etc.
- Analyze all your product and experimentation data in one place
- Customize metrics using SQL, use metric libraries, and even add metrics retroactively
- Reproduce and confirm any GrowthBook calculation
ABsmartly
- Not warehouse-native
- Limited visibility into underlying data and calculations
- No retroactive metric creation
Privacy, Security & Deployment
GrowthBook works well for any industries with strict privacy and compliance requirements, including AI, financial services, healthcare, education, and gaming.
GrowthBook
- Fully self-hosted, air-gapped option for data residency requirements
- Meets strict privacy compliance requirements GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, SOC 2 Type II certified
- No end-user PII required. Your data stays in your data warehouse
- Open-source code is publicly available for security review on GitHub
ABsmartly
- Supports on-premises or private cloud deployment
- Data remains platform-managed rather than warehouse-native
AI-Ready & Future-Proof
GrowthBook gives teams building AI software the control they need to test and optimize features for better engagement and outcomes.
GrowthBook
- 3 of the 5 leading AI companies use GrowthBook to optimize their chatbots and APIs
- Design highly customized metrics to measure engagement, usage and outcomes
- Tune AI responses per use case with very targeted experiments
- MCP integration for natural language access to GrowthBook directly in IDE Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code
ABsmartly
- Limited visibility and control over model behavior
- No model customization or variable-level controls
Cost of Ownership
GrowthBook keeps pricing predictable at 1/5th the cost of ABsmartly.
GrowthBook
- Predictable per-seat pricing with unlimited experiments and unlimited traffic
- Free tier and open source options
- Enterprise self-hosting gives customers flexibility and control
- Warehouse-native architecture means you do not pay twice to capture the same data
ABsmartly
- Expensive, event-based enterprise pricing (starting around $60K)
- No free tier
- Engineering-only workflows increase the cost of running experiments
- Event-based pricing discourages running more experiments
What do GrowthBook users say?
“Experimentation is now part of how we think, build, and improve. GrowthBook made that possible.”
Marek Maciusowicz, Treatwell
"Being able to spin up new metrics mid-experiment is a game changer. This was simply never possible before."
Merritt Aho, Breeze Airways
"Native data warehouse and feature flagging capabilities exceed expectations."
FAQs
What types of experiments does ABsmartly support?
ABsmartly focuses primarily on code-driven, A/B testingexperimentation. GrowthBook supports a broader range of experiment types, including multivariate tests and bandits.
Is GrowthBook cheaper than ABsmartly at scale?
Yes, GrowthBook is significantly cheaper than ABsmartly. GrowthBook is often around 1/5 the cost of ABsmartly, and pricing stays predictable as usage grows, while ABsmartly pricing increases with event volume.
How do GrowthBook and ABsmartly compare on data ownership and transparency?
GrowthBook offers more data ownership and transparency than ABsmartly. GrowthBook analyzes experiments directly in your data warehouse, while ABsmartly typically runs analysis and reporting inside its own platform.
How do GrowthBook and ABsmartly handle data residency requirements for regulated industries?
Both GrowthBook and ABsmartly platforms support data residency requirements, but with different approaches. GrowthBook offers maximum flexibility through open-source self-hosting with free and enterprise tiers. Companies have full control over data location and processing through Docker containers and Kubernetes. ABsmartly offers enterprise-grade managed options for on-premises deployment in your cloud or private cloud hosting.
Does ABsmartly require engineers to run experiments?
Yes, ABsmartly typically requires engineers to launch and manage experiments. GrowthBook supports workflows that both engineers and non-technical users can use, including no-code options for feature flags, a visual editor, and URL redirects.
Is GrowthBook or ABsmartly better for running lots of experiments across a product?
GrowthBook is better than ABsmartly for running lots of experiments across a product. GrowthBook stays predictable as you run more tests, while ABsmartly’s event-based pricing makes running more tests increasingly expensive.
