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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Tag Manager

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/AFrom Google, the Google Tag Manager is a tag management application that facilitates creating, embedding, and updating tags across websites and mobile apps. It is a free option, vs. the company's enterprise-tier Google Tag Manager 360.

    $0

    VWO

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AVWO is an A/B testing and conversion optimization platform that enables growing businesses to conduct qualitative and quantitative visitor research, build an experimentation roadmap and run continuous experiments on their digital properties. With its 5 capabilities Plan, Track, Test, Analyze, and Target, it brings the entire CRO (conversion rate optimization) process at one place. VWO helps online businesses follow the process- and data-driven conversion…

    $49

    per month

    Pricing
    Google Tag ManagerVWO
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Subscription
    $99.00
    per month
    TESTING
    Get a Demo
    The classic VWO A/B testing solution
    CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION
    Get a Demo
    The all-in-one platform for all your optimization needs
    ENTERPRISE
    Get a Demo
    Customized solution with advanced AB testing and conversion optimization capabilities
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google Tag ManagerVWO
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google Tag ManagerVWO
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    Chose VWO
    VWO is much more flexible, more affordable, and is easier to implement. We also appreciate how responsive and helpful VWO customer service is.
    Incentivized
    Chose VWO
    At the time we made the decision, these tools didn't allow for AB testing or at least a more built out infrastructure for implementing the testing. They allow us to analyze data though.
    Incentivized
    Chose VWO
    I wanted to select Google Optimize. I used Analytics, Ads and Tag Manager, but they are different from VWO. Google Optimize is quite comparable. As you can do A/B-tests as well. You are only limited to a few test at the same time. And it is not possible to make heat maps. That …
    Incentivized
    Chose VWO
    The user experience was quite similar at least on that level we were and are using these kind of products. We decided to stick with VWO because of a more attractive pricing, the ease of use of the WYSIWYG editor and the user segmentation.
    Incentivized
    Chose VWO
    I had not used any other testing tools prior to using VWO, but I was able to learn how to use VWO relatively quickly.
    Incentivized
    Chose VWO
    VWO has a similar toolkit of features to Optimizely, although in almost every respect Optimizely is a more mature offering. VWO is catching up, which is visible through the addition of SmartStats (to compete with Optimizely's Stats Engine) and acquisitions like Navilytics. Optim…
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    93%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    14 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    Features
    Google Tag ManagerVWO
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Google Tag Manager and VWO
    Feature
    Google Tag Manager
    8.9
    58 Ratings
    5% above category average
    VWO
    -
    Ratings
    Role-based user permissions8.958 Ratings00 Ratings
    Tag Management
    Comparison of Tag Management features of Google Tag Manager and VWO
    Feature
    Google Tag Manager
    8.8
    68 Ratings
    8% above category average
    VWO
    -
    Ratings
    Tag library9.263 Ratings00 Ratings
    Tag variable mapping8.955 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ease of writing custom tags7.367 Ratings00 Ratings
    Rules-driven tag execution8.162 Ratings00 Ratings
    Tag performance monitoring10.056 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page load times8.849 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile app tagging9.334 Ratings00 Ratings
    Library of JavaScript extensions8.838 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Management & Integrity
    Comparison of Data Management & Integrity features of Google Tag Manager and VWO
    Feature
    Google Tag Manager
    7.6
    69 Ratings
    7% below category average
    VWO
    -
    Ratings
    Event tracking8.666 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile event tracking9.447 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data distribution management8.841 Ratings00 Ratings
    Universal data layer8.358 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated error checking3.045 Ratings00 Ratings
    Testing and Experimentation
    Comparison of Testing and Experimentation features of Google Tag Manager and VWO
    Feature
    Google Tag Manager
    -
    Ratings
    VWO
    7.5
    11 Ratings
    11% below category average
    a/b experiment testing00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
    Split URL testing00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Multivariate testing00 Ratings8.011 Ratings
    Multi-page/funnel testing00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Cross-browser testing00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
    Test significance00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Visual / WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Advanced code editor00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Visitor recordings00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Preview mode00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Test duration calculator00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Audience Segmentation & Targeting
    Comparison of Audience Segmentation & Targeting features of Google Tag Manager and VWO
    Feature
    Google Tag Manager
    -
    Ratings
    VWO
    8.2
    1 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Standard visitor segmentation00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Behavioral visitor segmentation00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Traffic allocation control00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Website personalization00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Results and Analysis
    Comparison of Results and Analysis features of Google Tag Manager and VWO
    Feature
    Google Tag Manager
    -
    Ratings
    VWO
    7.0
    1 Ratings
    21% below category average
    Heatmap tool00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Click analytics00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Scroll maps00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Conversion tracking00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
    Goal tracking00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
    Test reporting00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Results segmentation00 Ratings5.51 Ratings
    Experiments results dashboard00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google Tag ManagerVWO
    Small Businesses
    Adobe Experience Platform Launch
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Google Optimize
    Score6.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe Experience Platform Launch
    Score8.4 out of 10
    AB Tasty
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe Dynamic Tag Management (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Google Content Experiments (discontinued)
    Score7.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google Tag ManagerVWO
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.7
    (73 ratings)
    7.7
    (108 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    8.7
    (20 ratings)
    Usability
    7.1
    (18 ratings)
    8.7
    (5 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    2.0
    (12 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.8
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.6
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google Tag ManagerVWO
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    I have found Google Tag Manager as the go to solution for managing all of your event and conversion tags for your website. Not only does it make it easy to manage all of your tags in the one place, it is fairly intuitive to use and there is plenty of videos and help documentation online to help set up what ever you need. No scenarios come to mind at the moment on where it is less appropriate to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    It works better for either small or big companies because small companies can start with the free plan which is very decent and has everything they need. Also for big companies who get the best paid plans they get a lot of premium functionalities, the insight module, outstanding reports. But for medium size companies who can only afford the basic paid plan, it may not be the best tool as it is very limited. For example, they cannot analize a/b tests for new and ruturning visitors, neither based on the users device category.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Google
    • Selecting elements on a site [object, class, cookie, etc] (to later fire an event, send some data, etc) is very easy with triggers. Want to add an event when someone clicks on a button? Super easy. It was many many DOM selectors and you can even add custom functions if you need to do something more specific
    • In general, firing events in different circumstances is very easy mixing triggers and tags. You can track almost any element of the DOM and do whatever you want with it.
    • Testing is a great functionality. Only you can see what's on the site and you can debug it easily by seeing which events or tags were triggered and all the DOM elements involved (and why they matched the trigger).
    • Working in environments (staging, production) and versioning is easy to do, deploying changes in 2 clicks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    • VWO is pretty easy to implement on websites and doesn't require a heavy technology lift
    • The VWO interface is pretty intuitive and let's non-technical users make variants for testing
    • The VWO reporting dashboard is excellent for determining statistical significance and understanding whether differences in conversion rates are meaningful or not
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Google
    • There are several good integrations, but there can always be more. Native tracking for call tracking solutions, analytics providers, non-Google advertisers would be top of my list.
    • Documentation is just dreadful. Luckily there are some awesome folks out there doing crowdsourced tutorials (shout out to Simo Ahava) but by and large the Google Tag Manager instructions are worth what you pay for them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    • The user interface within VWO does take a bit of time to get used to, especially as it pertains to switching back and forth between tests. When running multiple experiments on a site at a time, a clear and succinct dashboard for everything in one place would be helpful (as opposed to needing to switch between A/B, multivariate, etc).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    I haven't found another option for us to use especially one that is free. Down the road we may go a different route but for now GTM is a good option and does what we need it to do. It'd be nice to get more support or more integrations but with the free version there's only so much one can expect to get I suppose.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    It's great value and we think we've ironed out all the major teething troubles. However, if we experience any more bugs or problems that significantly slow us down then we're seriously considering switching to Optimizely, which I haven't personally tested but have heard great things about from my CRO peers
    Read full review
    Usability
    Google
    No difficult obstacle to overcome but Google Tag Manager can still be difficult for many users to deploy. Sure the basic HTML script can be deployed quite easily, but when you start to require triggers, variables, etc, it can be a little daunting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    I gave Visual Website Optimizer a rating of 8 because it is overall a great product to use. Setting up and keeping track of various tests is easy and straight forward. The only reason why this product is not rated higher is because the support documents online leave a lot of room for improvement.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    I have not experienced an application error or unplanned outage with VWO.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    VWO doesn't appear to slow down our website at all, though some customers with adblockers like UBlock Origin have been known to not see entire pages if VWO is making changes to the page at a macro level (background, font, etc). This is rare though.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Google
    GTM does not provide support. This is one of GTM's biggest issues but it's due to the level of customization for each website. If your team thinks they would heavily rely on the need for a support staff it is probably better to invest in a paid service with a team that can support your needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    While their online document support is lacking a simple email to their support team will almost always get responded to the next day. It has however taken more than one email to explain the problem to the support team till they understood the problem. The solution I was given also only half fixed the problem the rest I figured out on my own.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Google
    I thought there was a little bit too much emphasis on AdWords stuff, not enough on the generic application of GTM.
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    Training was good, just limited to the onboarding process. They walked through all of the steps it takes to get started in VWO and each of the modules, along with giving us ideas for starting our first test. I feel like it could be better if there was a guided process within the VWO program to continue to educate you along the way, and a way to turn that off for experienced users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Google
    Planning and communication will help greatly with an in-house implementation. If there are large teams, try to limit the number of people involved to 1-2 developers (back-end dev may be necessary depending on your platform), one analytics marketer and one project manager.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    Overall, the implementation of VWO is straightforward. If you've got a straightforward way of deploying code to all of your test pages, either a good CMS or a TMS, then implementation should be a breeze. There is no tweaking to be done to the code itself, and once deployed it has the flexibility to cope with different VWO modules (tracking, conversion analysis, session analysis) without modification.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    We moved to GTM from a standard Google Analytics implementation. GTM is much more flexible and easier to make changes, especially as the changes relate to multiple sites and environments. While there is a learning curve when figuring out how to use GTM, I believe the change has been worth it because it helps us understand at a more fundamental level how our tracking works and gives us a lot more control over what we track and how.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    There are significant differences in each platform when it comes to Optimizely and vwo. From a functionality and performance perspective they each have their pros and cons. It is important to go through the feature sets of each and ensure the solution you select will work specifically with your business objectives and conversion rate optimization goals
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    The product seems infinitely scalable for our needs (small business) and we've never had any issue with loading VWO-edited elements. I will say, though, that online customers with ad blockers have been known to not see certain VWO elements as their third-party scripts are disabled.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Google
    • GTM is very useful to determine if a particular element on the site is useful (i.e. is it being watched, is it being clicked, does it help customers navigate through more pages). As an SEO person, I can use this information to decide what to optimize for but also to track progress and see improvements in engagement.
    • With the use of Google Tag Manager, I was able to easily inject an A/B testing tool which lead to several improvements in lead generation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Wingify Pvt Ltd
    • The ability to offer a CRO service is greatly enhanced by VWO, as it allows us to run tests for clients
    • The editor means to some extent we don't need much developer resource to run the tests, lowering costs of doing so
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    VWO Screenshots

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