AB Split Test vs Nelio A/B Testing
AB Split Test vs Nelio: the two WordPress-native A/B testing plugins, compared honestly.
Nelio A/B Testing and AB Split Test are the two serious A/B testing plugins built for WordPress rather than bolted onto it. Both are good. They disagree about two things that decide everything else: where your test data lives, and how you pay for it. This page goes through both, with the code and the prices as they stood on 14 September 2026.
We build AB Split Test, so read our column with that in mind. Where Nelio is better, it says so.
The 30-second version
Same job. Different bill, different data.
Pick Nelio if
- You want a hosted dashboard and are happy with tests and results computed on Nelio’s servers.
- You need theme-swap tests, PHP-hook tests or synced-pattern tests as named test types.
- Your traffic sits comfortably inside a monthly tested-page-view quota.
- You want the lightest possible frontend script.
Pick AB Split Test if
- You want every visit, conversion and recording stored in your own WordPress database, with no third-party servers in the loop.
- You test inside a page builder: Elementor, Bricks, Beaver Builder, Oxygen, Breakdance, WPBakery, Divi or Gutenberg.
- You do not want traffic quotas, per-site pricing or a bill that grows with your success.
- You want AI that writes the variations, not just suggests them, and a lifetime licence option.
Architecture
Where your tests actually run.
This is the difference that matters most and the one comparison posts skip. We read both plugins’ source to write it.
Nelio: WordPress front end, Nelio cloud back end
The plugin lives in your dashboard, but the work happens on Nelio’s servers. The visitor’s browser sends page views, clicks and conversions to api.nelioabtesting.com, and results are fetched back from there when you open a report. That is by design: it is how Nelio keeps your database light, and it is why they meter usage in “tested page views”. Nelio states it stores no personal data, and we have no reason to doubt it. It does mean the tests stop if the subscription does, and your history lives with them.
Caching is handled by a cookie called nabAlternative that the host cache must vary on. Nelio ships integrations for WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, W3 Total Cache, Kinsta and Autoptimize.
AB Split Test: all of it in your WordPress
Tests, visits, conversions, heatmaps and session replays are written to your own database by your own server. Nothing leaves the site. There is no usage meter because there is nothing to meter; a plugin storing rows in your database costs us nothing extra when you get busy. Results are computed on your server too, with Bayesian stats or a multi-armed bandit that shifts traffic to the leader while the test runs.
For caching and speed there are two modes. Classic mode runs in the browser with an anti-flicker guard and a cache buster. Edge mode pushes the test to Cloudflare Workers, so the variant is chosen and served at the edge before your page cache is even asked: no flicker, no cookie-varying cache to configure, and it works on external domains too.
Fair is fair
Nelio’s frontend script is lighter: about 16 KB gzipped against our 31 KB. Ours carries heatmaps, replay, form and revenue tracking in one file. In edge mode the visitor never waits on it to see the right variant, but if you run classic mode on a slow site, that 15 KB is a real difference.
Test types
What you can test, and how you build it.
Nelio lists eleven named test types. AB Split Test has four. That is not the same as Nelio testing more things; the two plugins slice the job differently. Nelio gives you a type per thing (a headline test, a menu test, a widget test, a theme test). AB Split Test gives you a way of working per situation: pick any element inside your builder, swap whole pages, test code, or point and click and let the AI write the variants.
| AB Split Test | Nelio A/B Testing | |
|---|---|---|
| Pages and posts (split URL) | Yes, unlimited pages, including pages on other domains and edge-served | Yes |
| Elements inside a page builder | Yes, native controls in Elementor, Bricks, Beaver Builder, Oxygen, Breakdance, WPBakery, Divi and Gutenberg | Whole-page alternatives only; the builder is used to make the copy |
| Headlines, menus, widgets | Yes, as on-page element tests where the builder or theme renders them | Yes, as dedicated test types |
| Point-and-click with AI variants | Yes, Magic mode | No, Nelio AI suggests what to test; it does not write variants |
| CSS and JavaScript tests | Yes | Yes |
| Popups | Yes, Elementor popups documented | Yes |
| WooCommerce products and pricing | Yes, plus SureCart, EDD and FluentCart revenue goals (WooCommerce testing) | Yes, WooCommerce and SureCart |
| Whole theme swap | No | Yes |
| PHP hook tests | No | Yes |
| Synced patterns as a named type | Test them as elements | Yes |
| Multivariate | Yes | Yes |
| Goals | 30 goal types: clicks, scroll, time, URL, JavaScript, 18 form plugins, 4 commerce platforms, revenue per visit | Page views, clicks, form submissions, custom events, WooCommerce and SureCart orders |
Checked against both plugins’ current source, 14 September 2026. Tell us if something here has changed and we will fix it.
Pricing
How you pay is the real difference.
Nelio sells tested page views. Every load of a page with a running test counts, whether it is a new visitor or the same person refreshing. AB Split Test sells a licence. Run as much traffic through as many tests on as many sites as you like; the price does not move.
| AB Split Test | Nelio A/B Testing | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Lite: 1 active test, 1 variation, 1 goal. No traffic limit, no time limit. Includes a 7-day trial of everything. | 500 tested page views a month, 1 site. Roughly one small test. |
| Entry paid plan | Teams: $49 a month | Basic: from $49 a month, 5,000 tested page views, 1 website |
| Yearly | $399 a year | Professional: 50,000 views, 5 websites. Enterprise: 200,000+ views, unlimited websites. See Nelio’s pricing page for current annual rates. |
| Lifetime | $999 once, or 10 payments of $100 | No |
| Traffic limit | None | Per plan; extra views sold in 5,000 blocks |
| Sites | Unlimited on Teams | 1, 5 or unlimited by plan |
| Session recordings | Included, stored on your server | Paid add-on |
| AI | CROassist writes variations, audits pages, runs the agent. 60 requests a month included, or bring your own key. | Nelio AI suggests tests. Sold as an add-on. |
| Money-back guarantee | 14 days, no questions | 30 days |
AB Split Test prices from our pricing page. Nelio quotas and plan structure from their pricing page on 14 September 2026; their headline prices are rendered by script, so confirm the current figure there.
Worked example
A store doing 60,000 page views a month on two tested pages needs Nelio Enterprise, or Professional plus top-ups, every month. On AB Split Test it is the same $399 a year whether it is 60,000 or 6 million, and the lifetime licence stops the bill altogether. Nelio’s honest counter-argument: their servers do the heavy lifting, so a struggling shared host suffers less. That is true, and it is what the quota pays for.
Results and data
Both show you a winner. Only one keeps the receipts.
Nelio reports conversion rate and confidence per variation, computed in their cloud, and can stop a test automatically on the Professional plan and above. AB Split Test reports conversions, confidence and revenue per visit for every goal, computed on your server, and autocompletes on any plan. Because the raw data is yours, you can also pull it over REST, WP-CLI, webhooks or MCP, or hand a client a public results link with no login.
Heatmaps and scroll maps ship with both. Session replay is where they split: Nelio sells it as an add-on that records to their cloud; AB Split Test includes it and records to your database, with UTM, referrer, device and variation filters.
Track record
Both are maintained, both are real.
Nelio
Founded in Barcelona in 2013 by a three-partner team that still runs it. 4,000+ active installs on wordpress.org, 4.8 out of 5 from 97 ratings, version 8.5.3 released three weeks before this was written, and a support forum they actually answer.
AB Split Test
Shipping since 2018, first as a Beaver Builder extension, now for every major builder. Distributed from this site rather than wordpress.org, so there is no install counter to point at; the reviews page and the logo band on the home page are the closest thing. Built by the founder of a WordPress agency that needed it, and still run by him.
Questions people ask before switching
Nelio vs AB Split Test, FAQ.
Can I run both at once?
Technically, yes, but do not. Two plugins deciding variants on the same page will fight over the cache and double-count conversions. Finish or pause your Nelio tests, then start fresh.
Does AB Split Test need Cloudflare?
No. Edge mode is optional and needs a Cloudflare zone with Workers. Classic mode works on any host with no setup.
Is my visitor data safe with either?
Nelio states it stores no personal data and is GDPR and CCPA compliant. AB Split Test never sends visitor data anywhere; it is on your server under your privacy policy, with a cookie-consent mode for sites that need it.
What do I lose leaving Nelio?
Theme-swap tests, PHP-hook tests and the very light frontend script. What you gain is your data, no traffic bill, AI that writes variants, edge delivery, and a lifetime option.
Ready to compare on your own site?
Install the free plan, run one real test on a page you care about, and look at where the data ends up. That answers most of this page in a week.