Apex vs ABConvert: 2026 Comparison for Online Shops

01How Do Apex and ABConvert Compare at a Glance?

Note: Likelihood to Win is one percent figure per test idea, shown with how many tests back it. It ranks an idea against the shop’s own backlog. It is not a win probability in the strict sense.

02What Is Each Tool Built For?

ABConvert describes itself as “The A/B testing platform built for Shopify merchants” and sums up its promise as “Test what works. Keep what grows.” Its Shopify App Store listing is more specific: “Test prices, offers and shopping experiences. Compare revenue and profit to guide your next move.” It names its audience as “growing Shopify brands and CRO teams”. The app has been on the Shopify App Store since October 2022.

Apex by DRIP is an A/B testing platform for companies selling online that predicts which tests will win before they go live, built on one of the largest A/B test databases in e-commerce. The method is called Prediction-Based Experimentation. In plain words: we know what shops like yours tested and which tests won.

Apex has three layers. The test memory holds 4.3 million A/B tests from 151,000 shops, collected since 2011; every test idea gets a Likelihood to Win before launch. The testing tool builds, launches and evaluates tests directly in the shop. Managed execution means tests are built, checked, launched and read together with the DRIP team.

ABConvert answers how to test a price, an offer or a page change on Shopify. Apex answers which of your test ideas is worth building.

03What Can You Test With Each Tool?

Pages, theme sections and landing pages

Both tools test pages. ABConvert uses template, theme and visual editor tests, and reaches landing pages through a URL redirect test. Apex tests pages and page elements and runs redirect tests.

Prices, shipping and offers

Here ABConvert does something Apex does not. It runs price, shipping and offer tests, with offers such as “percentage off, dollar off, BOGO, free gifts”, through Shopify Functions. Price tests are not on the Starter plan, and one price test can be active per product. Shipping tests need a Shopify plan with the Carrier Service API. Apex’s documented test types do not include price, shipping or offer tests.

Checkout

ABConvert tests delivery and payment changes in checkout on any Shopify plan. In its own words: “Checkout content, cart and upsell tests require Shopify Plus.” Checkout tests are not among Apex’s documented test types either.

Parallel tests, holdouts and rollouts

Both tools run parallel tests. ABConvert “supports concurrent tests” and added “mutual exclusion groups” in May 2026. Apex runs parallel tests on the same traffic with optional exclusion groups, plus A/A tests, a global holdout, feature flags and staged rollouts. We found no feature flags or holdouts in ABConvert’s documentation.

ABConvert also offers personalisation: “A personalization shows one proven experience to an audience you choose.” Personalisation is not among Apex’s documented features.

04How Do Tests Get Built and Launched?

ABConvert installs as a theme app embed, a web pixel and Shopify Functions. Tests are built in a visual editor, with versions and mobile preview since September 2026, or with custom JavaScript or CSS on any test type. Preview “applies the variant to your session only”. There is a REST API and a storefront JavaScript API. We found no templates and no AI generation of variants.

ABConvert’s MCP server reads and writes all test types except visual editor tests. It works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code and the Claude web app, and is “Currently available on the Growth plan and above.” We found no ChatGPT connection in its MCP docs. A Shopify Sidekick data extension brings tests and results into Shopify’s assistant.

Apex keeps experiment config as code. Tests are built in a code editor or in the visual builder, called Operator, and checked through CLI preview links and QA via preview. Through the MCP connection a shop owner builds and reads tests from ChatGPT or Claude without a terminal; the CLI is the developer path. Clients see four QA checks per test: all devices, tracking and targeting, responsive, and matches design.

The other difference is who does the work. With Apex, managed execution means tests are built, checked, launched and read together with the DRIP team. We found no managed service at ABConvert; it lists a directory of 14 agency partners instead.

05How Are Winners Chosen Before Launch?

In Apex, every test idea gets a Likelihood to Win: one percent figure per idea, shown with how many tests back it. It ranks an idea against the shop’s own backlog. It is not a win probability in the strict sense. The backlog adds auto-classification and a score.

In a holdout check, the top third of ideas won 1.4 to 1.6 times as often within a shop (press release, September 29 2026). And 33 brands were scored and frozen in early September 2026 as pre-registered predictions. We publish the first results from November 2026.

ABConvert added “Autopilot (beta)”, a ranked inbox of recommendations, in July 2026. It describes its approach as “ABConvert combines AI-powered testing with native Shopify capabilities”. Its training data is not published, and we found no per-idea win prediction in its documentation.

Prediction is not for every team. A team that already picks winning tests well gets less from the prediction layer.

06How Do the Statistics and Metrics Compare?

ABConvert states: “At 95% or higher, the result is statistically significant.” It does not name its method. It warns against stopping early: acting the moment confidence crosses 95% will, in its words, “call some tests a winner that are not.” Metrics include revenue per visitor, average order value, conversion rate and profit per visitor, where profit is “Revenue - Product Cost - Shipping Cost - Transaction Fee”, taken from your cost of goods settings.

ABConvert checks the traffic split: “Traffic split (SRM): the actual split across test groups matches the target split.” Apex does not list a sample ratio check among its documented checks. We found no guardrail metrics, auto-stop or holdouts in ABConvert’s documentation.

Apex uses fixed-horizon statistics with confidence. Each test shows the main metric, lift and runtime revenue. On Shopify, Apex reads profit per test, and you can optimise for profit: discount share, refund share and profit per sale. Guardian stops a test automatically when it crosses a revenue loss threshold.

Apex shows heat maps and behaviour per variant: clicks, scroll depth, average fold and funnel steps, plus an Engagement view with bounce rate, read depth and keep browsing. ABConvert has funnels, engagement metrics, custom events and segments built in. Its heat maps and recordings come through Clarity, Hotjar, Contentsquare or Heatmap, in an integration hub labelled “Pre-release”.

07What Do Apex and ABConvert Cost?

ABConvert bills on test orders, “not your whole store”. A test order is “a unique order ABConvert records while a test or personalization runs”. These are the published plans, checked October 2026:

Every plan has a 14-day trial. There is no free tier. Yearly billing is advertised as “Get 2 months for free”. Price tests start on the Growth plan, and so does the MCP server. Scale and Pro add priority and Slack support. Contract length and setup fees are not published.

Apex does not publish its pricing. A card-free free tier for one store exists; beyond that, you book a call. This is the limitation we name for Apex in this comparison: if you need a published price list before a conversation, ABConvert gives you one and Apex does not.

08How Do Data, Hosting and Compliance Compare?

ABConvert names its hosting as “MongoDB Atlas, Linode and Google Cloud”; the region is not published. It acts as a data processor, and its DPA includes “EU standard contractual clauses where they apply”. To get it: “Email privacy@abconvert.io from your store’s owner address and we send a countersigned copy.”

ABConvert says it does not collect “Shopper names, email addresses, phone numbers and street addresses”. On consent it says: “Your cookie notice is your responsibility, as it is for every app on your store”, and its integrations “do not bypass a consent manager”. We found no ISO 27001 or SOC 2 for ABConvert.

Apex has GDPR in place, with hosting in the EU plus UK and DPAs for the US tools it uses. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 are in progress. It installs as a Shopify app with server-side tracking and first-party data. Consent apps for most Shopify GDPR apps are supported.

09Where Is ABConvert the Better Choice?

• You want to test prices, shipping thresholds or offers such as “percentage off, dollar off, BOGO, free gifts” on Shopify. These are ABConvert test types and not among Apex’s documented test types.
• You run Shopify Plus and want to test checkout content, cart and upsell blocks. ABConvert supports these, and its delivery and payment tests work on any Shopify plan.
• You need a published price list and a trial before a conversation. ABConvert lists four plans from $99 a month with a 14-day trial (checked October 2026).

10Where Is Apex the Better Choice?

• Your tests keep coming back flat and the constraint is choosing which tests to run, not building them. Apex gives every idea a Likelihood to Win before launch, backed by 4.3 million A/B tests from 151,000 shops.
• You want heat maps and behaviour per variant inside the testing tool, plus a global holdout and Guardian auto-stop at a revenue loss threshold. ABConvert offers heat maps through integrations, and we found no holdouts or auto-stop there.
• You want tests built, checked, launched and read together with a team. Apex includes managed execution with the DRIP team; we found no managed service at ABConvert.

11Apex or ABConvert: Which Should You Choose?

If you want to test prices, shipping thresholds, offers or checkout on Shopify and need a public price list, ABConvert covers that and Apex, as documented, does not. If your tests keep coming back flat because the hard part is choosing which ones to run, Apex puts a Likelihood to Win on every idea before anything is built. If you cannot yet ship a test a week, build that habit on a lighter tool first, because buying prediction before you can execute is the wrong order. Either way, check both vendors’ current documentation before you sign, because plans and features change.