Measure A/B tests with Plausible

Plausible doesn't split your visitors into variants, but it can measure the results of an A/B test. Your testing tool, your server or your own code decides which visitor sees which version. Plausible then shows how many visitors saw each version and how each one converts on your goals.

There are two ways to set it up, depending on how your test works.

Variants on different URLs

When each variant has its own page, such as /pricing and /pricing-b, you don't need any code changes:

1. Set up the goal you want to compare, such as a pageview goal for your thank-you page or a custom event goal for a signup.
2. Filter your dashboard by the goal.
3. In the Top Pages report, open the Entry Pages tab. It shows the visitors who started on each variant and the conversion rate of each.

Choose a date range that starts when your test started.

Variants on the same URL

When the variants are shown on the same page, send the variant as a custom property.

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1. Send the variant with your tracking snippet

Your page needs to know which variant the visitor sees. Most testing tools and frameworks let you read it in JavaScript. In this example, your site sets it as an attribute on the page's <html> tag, such as <html data-variant="pricing-b">:

plausible.init({
  // ... Other initialization options
  customProperties: function () {
    var variant = document.documentElement.getAttribute("data-variant")
    return variant ? { variant: variant } : {}
  }
})

The function runs for every pageview and every custom event, so your goal conversions carry the variant too. Pages without a test send no variant property. Replace the line that reads the attribute with however your testing tool exposes the variant.

If you run several tests at once, include the test's name in the value, such as pricing-page-b and signup-form-a, so you can tell them apart.

If you use our NPM package, pass the same customProperties option to init.

2. Add the property in your site settings

Go to your site settings, open the Custom Properties section and add variant.

3. Compare your variants

Filter your dashboard by the goal you're testing. At the bottom of your dashboard, in the Goals section, open the Properties tab and choose variant. You see the visitors who converted, the number of conversions and the conversion rate for each variant.

Is the difference real?

Plausible shows the conversion rate of each variant but doesn't test whether the difference is statistically significant. For that, enter each variant's visitors and conversions into an A/B test significance calculator. With small numbers, let the test run longer before you decide.