Scope
Where do you stop?
Ask whether checkout, an embedded menu, follow-up, and the handoff after a form are in scope, or only the page.
Compare = pick the system around the number
Engine or agency?
Decide.
A good CRO agency brings experienced people and a testing habit, and plenty of stores are well served by one. The Conversion Engine makes a narrower promise: find where the whole path loses buyers, ship one change at a time, and prove each one against a baseline you can inspect.
Quick verdict
Choose a CRO agency when the problem is on the page, there is traffic to test on, and you want a team to plan and run an experiment program. Choose the Conversion Engine when the loss might sit anywhere on the path, including checkout, an embedded menu, reply speed, or the handoff after a form, and you want every change written into a ledger with its baseline, its date range, and what else was going on that week.
Side by side
Conversion Engine vs CRO agency at a glance.
The dimensions that decide it: how wide the scope is, how often changes ship, how each one is proved, and what you keep at the end.
| Dimension | Conversion Engine | CRO agency |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | The whole path: source match, page, cart, checkout or menu, follow-up, and handoff. | Varies by agency. Many center on the page and testing; some go further. |
| Cadence | Weekly: one change shipped, or one closer rule live. | Varies. Often a test roadmap sized to the traffic. |
| How a change is proved | A ledger row: the change, the baseline, the after, the date range, and what else was going on. One live change per path. | Usually test results inside a testing tool. Ask how overlapping changes and seasonality are handled. |
| After the page | In scope. The fix can be a reply-time rule, a handoff, or a recovery flow. | Depends on the agency. Follow-up and CRM work often sit with another team. |
| Who does the work | Our team plus three AI agents, with a person approving anything a customer sees. | Strategists, designers, and developers at the agency. |
| Traffic needed | Useful at lower volume, because a clear leak can be fixed without waiting for a test to finish. | Enough traffic for a test to reach a result in a sensible time. |
| What you keep | The ledger: every change with its baseline and date range, written down. | Test reports and shipped variants, depending on the contract. |
Agencies differ widely in scope and method. Ask any agency how they prove a change before you sign.
Before you hire
Ask how a change is proved.
Three questions worth asking any team before the first change ships.
Proof
What is the baseline?
Ask for the baseline, the source it was read from, and the date range, before the first change ships.
Overlap
What else is changing?
Ask how two changes are kept from blurring one result, and how promotions and seasonality get written down.
Choose Conversion Engine
When this path fits.
- You are not sure the page is where buyers drop off.
- The order happens in a hosted checkout, an embedded menu, or a booked call.
- Traffic is too thin to wait weeks for a test to finish.
- You want each change proved against a baseline you can inspect.
Choose CRO agency
When this path fits.
- The page is clearly the problem, and there is traffic to test on.
- You want a dedicated team to plan and run an experiment program.
- Follow-up and CRM are already handled well elsewhere.
- You need design and development hands more than a measurement loop.
How we would actually decide
Name the leak before you hire the fix.
The honest version of this comparison is short. If you know the page is losing buyers and there is traffic to test on, a good CRO agency is a reasonable hire, and we will tell you that.
If you do not know where the sale is lost, or you suspect it happens after the page, start there. A test program aimed at the wrong step can run for months without moving the order count.
The free page scan ranks what is most likely losing buyers on one page, and the free plan names what to fix first across the path.
Frequently asked
Conversion Engine vs CRO agency questions answered.
Is the Conversion Engine a CRO agency?
It does conversion work, but it is built as a weekly loop rather than a test program: measure the path, find the leak, fix one thing, prove it. Every change gets a ledger row with its baseline, date range, and confounders. See how the Engine works.
How is that different from A/B testing?
An A/B test splits traffic between versions at the same time. The Engine ships one change on a path and reads it against the baseline recorded before it, over a stated date range.
That works at lower traffic, and it is why every ledger row writes down what else changed that week.
What does the ledger contain?
The change, the baseline rate, the after rate, the source both were read from, the date range, and what else was going on. Nothing is published as a result until all of those are there.
Can an agency and the Engine work together?
Yes, if the rule of one live change per path holds. If an agency is testing the product page, the Engine can work on checkout, follow-up, or the handoff, so the two changes do not blur each other.
How much does each option cost?
We do not publish prices on this site, and agency pricing varies with scope.
What decides this comparison is where the sale is lost. If it is a page with traffic to test, an agency may be the better choice. If it is after the page, a test program will not reach it.
Where do I start?
With the free page scan. Paste the page you send traffic to and it ranks what is most likely losing buyers, with no email required. When you want a person to look at the whole path, the free plan is next.
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Next step
Find the leak first.
The free scan ranks what is most likely losing buyers on a page you send traffic to, with no email required. When you want a person on the whole path, the free plan is next.