A developer-focused alternative to Convert: Statsig

Most A/B testing platforms force you into a pricing model that punishes growth. You add more users, run more experiments, and suddenly you're negotiating enterprise contracts just to keep testing. Convert exemplifies this traditional approach - tiered pricing that jumps from $399 to $700 monthly as you scale.

Statsig takes a fundamentally different approach. Built by engineers who scaled experimentation at Facebook, the platform treats feature flags as infrastructure, not a luxury. You pay for data processing, not artificial user limits.

Company backgrounds and platform overview

Convert has been around for 15 years, carving out a niche serving CRO agencies with predictable pricing. They've built a solid reputation in the optimization community. The company even dedicates revenue to environmental causes - planting trees and supporting conservation efforts.

Statsig emerged from a different world entirely. The founding team built Facebook's experimentation infrastructure, then left in 2020 to create something new. They didn't just build another A/B testing tool. They created four integrated systems: experimentation, feature flags, analytics, and session replay. Today that infrastructure processes over 1 trillion events daily for OpenAI, Notion, and Figma.

The platforms reflect their origins:

• Convert serves conversion specialists who need dedicated A/B testing

• Statsig targets product teams building modern applications

• Convert emphasizes agency features like unlimited projects

• Statsig provides warehouse-native deployment for data sovereignty

Convert's pricing starts at $399 monthly for 1.2 million tested users. Need more? The enterprise plan requires a sales conversation. Statsig flips this model - unlimited feature flags stay free forever. You only pay for analytics events, and even then you get 2 million free monthly.

As Software Engineer Wendy Jiao from Notion puts it: "Statsig enabled us to ship at an impressive pace with confidence." That confidence comes from infrastructure built for scale, not retrofitted for it.

Feature and capability deep dive

Experimentation capabilities

Convert delivers what most marketers expect from A/B testing. You get multivariate tests, split URLs, and a visual editor for creating variations without code. The platform handles the basics well - perfect for teams optimizing landing pages and conversion funnels.

Statsig approaches experimentation differently. The platform includes CUPED variance reduction that cuts experiment runtime by 50%. Sequential testing lets you check results early without inflating false positive rates. You can choose between Bayesian and Frequentist statistics depending on your team's preferences.

Paul Ellwood from OpenAI's data engineering team explains the difference: "Statsig's experimentation capabilities stand apart from other platforms we've evaluated. Statsig's infrastructure and experimentation workflows have been crucial in helping us scale to hundreds of experiments across hundreds of millions of users."

The technical depth shows in deployment options. Statsig's warehouse-native approach means your data never leaves Snowflake, BigQuery, or Databricks. You maintain complete control while still getting sub-millisecond feature flag performance. Convert can't match this architecture - they require data flows through their infrastructure.

Developer experience and integrations

Convert built their platform for marketers first. Their 90+ integrations connect primarily to marketing automation tools and web analytics platforms. The REST API and JavaScript SDK work fine for website testing. But modern product development demands more.

Statsig ships with 30+ open-source SDKs covering every major programming language. More importantly, they support edge computing deployment. Your experiments can run at the CDN level, eliminating latency concerns. One developer noted in a G2 review: "Implementing on our CDN edge and in our nextjs app was straight-forward and seamless."

The integration philosophies differ fundamentally:

• Convert optimizes for marketing tool connections

• Statsig prioritizes engineering infrastructure

• Convert focuses on web-based testing

• Statsig handles mobile, backend, and edge deployments

This isn't about feature counting. It's about building experimentation into your product's foundation versus bolting it on later.

Pricing models and cost analysis

Pricing structure comparison

Convert's pricing follows the playbook every A/B testing vendor uses. Pick your tier based on tested users:

• Growth: $399/month for 1.2 million tested users

• Pro: $700/month for 3 million tested users

• Enterprise: Custom pricing for 12 million+ users

Notice the pattern? Your costs double while capacity increases by 2.5x. Scale further and you're negotiating enterprise contracts.

Statsig breaks this model entirely. Feature flags remain free at any scale - unlimited. You pay only for analytics events, starting after 2 million free monthly events. No user limits. No forced upgrades. Just transparent usage-based pricing.

Real-world cost scenarios

Let's model costs for a typical SaaS product. You have 100,000 monthly active users generating 20 sessions each. Standard engagement tracking adds up quickly.

With Convert, you'd pay $400-700 monthly depending on your tier. Hit a growth spike? You might need to upgrade mid-month or risk hitting limits.

Statsig often keeps the same usage within the free tier. Even with heavy analytics, costs rarely exceed $100 monthly. As one enterprise customer noted: "Statsig's pricing model typically reduces costs by 50% compared to traditional feature flagging solutions, with unlimited seats and MAU support."

The real difference emerges at scale. Convert's pricing jumps in large increments. Statsig grows linearly with actual usage. You're paying for data processing, not arbitrary user buckets.

Decision factors and implementation considerations

Time-to-value and onboarding

Convert wins on immediate gratification. Their visual editor lets marketing teams launch tests without touching code. The guided setup walks through creating your first experiment in minutes. For teams that need quick website optimization, this works.

Statsig offers two paths. Technical teams can integrate SDKs in under an hour using comprehensive documentation. Enterprises can deploy warehouse-native for complete data control. The AI support bot handles most questions instantly - though as one customer discovered: "Our CEO just might answer!"

Scalability and enterprise readiness

Convert claims support for 1.2 billion monthly tested users on enterprise plans. They offer data segregation and custom deployments for privacy requirements. The infrastructure handles high-traffic sites adequately.

Statsig operates at a different scale entirely. Processing trillions of daily events with 99.99% uptime isn't marketing speak - it's operational reality. OpenAI, Microsoft, and Atlassian trust this infrastructure for mission-critical experiments. SOC2 compliance and warehouse-native deployment satisfy the strictest security requirements.

Integration complexity and technical requirements

Convert minimizes technical overhead deliberately. Drop in their JavaScript snippet and start testing. The visual editor empowers marketers to work independently. This reduces engineering bottlenecks but limits experimentation sophistication.

Statsig requires more upfront technical investment. But the payoff justifies the effort:

• 30+ SDKs support every platform including edge computing

• Gradual rollouts with automatic kill switches

• Real-time monitoring and alerting

• Custom metrics and dimensional analysis

Teams can start simple and add capabilities over time. As one developer noted: "Implementing on our CDN edge and in our nextjs app was straight-forward and seamless."

Cost considerations at scale

Both platforms publish transparent pricing. The models just work differently. Convert charges based on tested users with clear tier boundaries. Hit the limit? Time to upgrade.

Statsig's event-based model scales predictably. You pay for what you use - data processing and storage. No artificial limits force plan changes. This philosophy extends throughout the platform: unlimited team members, unlimited feature flags, unlimited experiments.

Bottom line: why is Statsig a viable alternative to Convert?

Statsig delivers more capability for less cost than Convert's pricing tiers. The free tier includes unlimited feature flags, 50K session replays, and 2M monthly events. Convert starts charging at $399 for basic A/B testing features.

But cost savings miss the bigger picture. Statsig unifies experimentation, feature flags, and analytics in one platform. This integration accelerates development cycles. Flag a feature, run an experiment, analyze results - all without context switching.

Sumeet Marwaha, Head of Data at Brex, captures the benefit: "The biggest benefit is having experimentation, feature flags, and analytics in one unified platform. It removes complexity and accelerates decision-making."

Technical teams gain access to enterprise-grade statistical methods:

• CUPED variance reduction for faster results

• Sequential testing for safe peeking

• Stratified sampling for complex user segments

• Warehouse-native deployment for data control

These capabilities extend beyond traditional A/B testing tools. You're building experimentation infrastructure, not just running website tests.

The platform handles massive scale effortlessly. Processing over 1 trillion events daily with 99.99% uptime supports companies like OpenAI, Notion, and Figma. Whether you run 10 experiments or 1,000, performance stays consistent without additional costs.

Closing thoughts

Choosing between Convert and Statsig isn't really about features. It's about philosophy. Convert represents the traditional approach - A/B testing as a discrete activity performed by specialists. Statsig embodies modern product development - experimentation woven into every deployment.

For teams serious about building data-driven products, the choice becomes clear. You need infrastructure that scales with your ambitions, not pricing tiers that punish growth.

Want to explore further? Check out Statsig's interactive demo or dive into their technical documentation. The platform offers a generous free tier - enough to run production experiments without spending a dollar.

Hope you find this useful!