Chartbeat vs Cometly in 2026: Editorial engagement data vs B2B pipeline attribution
Two enterprise-priced, sales-gated analytics tools built for entirely different jobs. One tells newsrooms what readers are doing right now, the other tells B2B SaaS marketers which ad dollar produced closed-won ARR.
Chartbeat
Cometly- Chartbeat measures reader engagement at the article level for media publishers. Cometly measures ad-to-revenue attribution for B2B SaaS companies. The overlap in actual use case is minimal.
- Cometly tracks traffic from AI sources including ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Google AI Overviews as named attribution channels. Chartbeat has no equivalent AI traffic detection.
- Both tools require a sales conversation before pricing is disclosed, and neither offers a self-serve free tier.
- Cometly ships an MCP integration that lets Claude query attribution data through natural language. Chartbeat has no MCP or AI-agent integration.
- Chartbeat includes built-in A/B headline testing, a feature with no equivalent in Cometly since Cometly does not deal with content or copy performance at all.
- Cometly gates MCP and API access to its Enterprise tier. Chartbeat includes API access at its single enterprise pricing level.
Chartbeat and Cometly rarely show up in the same shortlist, and once you look at what each one actually measures, it is clear why they should not. Chartbeat is built for digital publishers and newsrooms, tracking engaged time, scroll depth, and headline performance so editorial teams can make real-time decisions about story placement. Cometly is built for B2B SaaS marketing teams, tracking every ad touchpoint from first click through to closed-won revenue in the CRM. Both require a sales call before you see pricing, both skip a self-serve free tier, and both target teams with a specific, narrow use case rather than general-purpose analytics. The choice here is not really Chartbeat versus Cometly; it is whether your business is a media publisher or a B2B SaaS company running paid acquisition.
The tools at a glance
Chartbeat
Real-time analytics and editorial intelligence for media publishers focused on reader engagement and content performance
Chartbeat is a real-time analytics platform built specifically for digital media publishers and newsrooms. It reports engaged time, scroll depth, and return visitor behaviour at the article level, giving editorial teams the granularity to make story placement and headline decisions during a live news cycle rather than after the fact.
The platform bundles A/B headline testing and competitive benchmarking against other publishers in the same network, which is unusual functionality outside the media vertical. It has no interest in ad attribution, CRM pipeline, or revenue tracking, because that is not the job it was built to do.
Access requires a sales conversation regardless of publisher size, and there is no free tier or self-serve trial. For newsrooms already invested in real-time editorial workflows, that friction is a known cost of entry; for teams outside media, the specialisation means most of the feature set goes unused.
| Feature | Enterprise Contact for pricing |
|---|---|
| Real-time dashboard | Yes |
| Engaged time metrics | Yes |
| A/B headline testing | Yes |
| Competitive benchmarking | Yes |
| API access | Yes |
| Free tier | No |
Cometly
B2B SaaS ad attribution that connects every campaign dollar to pipeline created and closed-won ARR.
Cometly is a marketing attribution platform for B2B SaaS companies that tracks the full customer journey from first ad impression to closed-won ARR in the CRM. It calculates LTV ROAS against actual deal values rather than platform-reported conversion estimates, which matters for the long B2B sales cycles that make last-touch attribution misleading.
Server-side tracking via Conversion API recovers sessions that ad blockers and iOS restrictions would otherwise hide, and the platform automatically identifies traffic arriving from ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Google AI Overviews as named attribution channels alongside Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads.
The Enterprise tier adds Snowflake and BigQuery warehouse sync plus an MCP integration that lets Claude query campaign ROAS and pipeline data conversationally. Pricing is usage-based on website sessions and undisclosed until a sales call, which can be hard to forecast for high-traffic sites.
| Feature | Core Usage-based, contact for pricing | Enterprise Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel and server-side tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-touch attribution | Yes | Yes |
| AI traffic source tracking | Yes | Yes |
| CRM and warehouse sync | No | Yes |
| MCP integration | No | Yes |
| API access | No | Yes |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Chartbeat | Cometly |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Editorial engagement analytics | B2B ad attribution |
| Real-time reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Content/headline testing | Yes (A/B headline testing) | No |
| Ad-to-revenue attribution | No | Yes |
| CRM integration | No | Yes |
| AI traffic source detection | No | Yes (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, AI Overviews) |
| MCP / AI-agent integration | No | Yes (Enterprise only) |
| API access | Yes | Enterprise only |
| White-label delivery | No | No |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Starting price | Contact for pricing | Usage-based (contact for pricing) |
Considering AI Peekaboo alongside Chartbeat or Cometly?
Cometly tracks when a visitor arrives from ChatGPT, Gemini, or Google AI Overviews, but that is referral traffic attribution, not visibility into whether AI models are actually recommending your brand in the first place. Neither Cometly nor Chartbeat monitors what AI answer engines say about you before a click ever happens. AI Peekaboo tracks brand mentions and citations across AI platforms directly, with a self-serve API and white-label reporting, which is a different layer of the funnel than either of these tools covers.
Read the AI Peekaboo review →Which should you choose?
ChartbeatCometlyChartbeatCometlyCometlyChartbeatThere is no real head-to-head here because the two platforms answer different questions for different businesses. Chartbeat answers "is this story working right now" for a newsroom. Cometly answers "did this campaign produce revenue" for a B2B SaaS marketing team. A media publisher evaluating Cometly would find nothing useful, and a SaaS company evaluating Chartbeat would find a tool with no concept of a CRM deal.
Bottom line
Pick Chartbeat if you run a news site or content-heavy publisher and need real-time engagement data to guide editorial decisions. Pick Cometly if you run paid acquisition for a B2B SaaS product and need to know which campaign actually closed revenue, not just booked a demo. Budget for a sales cycle either way since neither publishes pricing or offers self-serve signup.
Frequently asked questions
Can Chartbeat and Cometly be used by the same business?
In most cases no, because the two tools serve entirely different business models. A media publisher monetising through advertising and subscriptions needs Chartbeat's engagement metrics; a B2B SaaS company monetising through recurring contracts needs Cometly's pipeline attribution. A media company that also runs B2B paid acquisition for a subscription product is the rare case where both could coexist.
Does either tool offer a free trial before the sales call?
No. Chartbeat requires a demo and sales conversation with no self-serve trial, and Cometly's free trial availability is unclear and not prominently offered. Both expect a scoped evaluation conversation rather than a self-serve signup flow.
Which tool tracks AI-sourced traffic like ChatGPT or Gemini referrals?
Cometly automatically detects and attributes traffic from ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Google AI Overviews as named channels in its attribution dashboard. Chartbeat has no equivalent feature; its focus is on-site engagement rather than traffic source classification.
Is Cometly worth it for a company that is not B2B SaaS?
Probably not. Cometly is built around connecting ad spend to CRM deal values across a long B2B sales cycle, which is a poor fit for eCommerce, direct-to-consumer, or content businesses where the purchase happens close to the click. Those business types are better served by attribution tools built for immediate-conversion models.
Does Chartbeat have anything comparable to Cometly's MCP integration for Claude?
No. Chartbeat offers a standard API for pulling data into internal BI tools and dashboards, but it has no MCP integration or natural-language AI-agent query layer. Cometly's MCP integration, gated to its Enterprise plan, lets users ask Claude questions about campaign ROAS directly.