1. Reputation & Support
| Feature |
Alia Popups |
Privy |
| User Ratings |
4.9/5 (100+ reviews on Shopify App Store) |
4.5/5 (4k+ reviews on Shopify App Store) |
| Common Praise Points |
"Actually works" simplicity; fast ROI (days not months); genuine education-first approach; white-glove support; "set it and forget it" AI optimization |
Easy for beginners; strong list-growth uplift; real “hand-holding” onboarding; exceptional human support; education-first guidance via Zoom |
| Support Channels |
White-glove onboarding, live chat, Slack channel access, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM) who acts like "part of the team." |
Email and chat support seven days a week; 1:1 ecommerce coaching and dedicated success managers on higher tiers |
| User Critiques |
Shopify-exclusive platform; catered toward established brands rather than early-stage stores. |
Missing or limited features; technical glitches; uneven support; confusing billing |
| Onboarding Experience |
Hands-on setup assistance included for all users to ensure proper implementation from day one. |
Free onboarding session for stores over 250 contacts; live chat & email support |
| Retention & Migration |
High stickiness with 3-5x ROI reported long-term. Heavy inflow of users switching from Klaviyo, Privy, and Justuno seeking better conversion without discounts. |
High long-term stickiness with long term users; common entry-point tool for new stores migrating from basic apps; merchants report ~50+% revenue lift via expert coaching. |
Privy excels as an entry-point tool for beginners and new stores, offering a strong list-growth uplift through an all-in-one approach. It provides exceptional human support, including 1:1 ecommerce coaching and education-first guidance via Zoom, which merchants report can lead to a ~50+% revenue lift.
Alia Popups excels at delivering fast ROI (days not months) and high-converting, "set it and forget it" AI optimization for established Shopify brands. It provides a premium, white-glove onboarding experience with dedicated Slack channel access and a CSM that acts like "part of the team" to ensure proper implementation from day one.
"The customer support/team provided the level of service and timely
responses you would expect of a
5-star resort."
—Urban Smokehouse team
2. Design, Templates, & Performance
| Feature |
Alia Popups |
Privy |
| Template Library |
100+ production-ready, conversion-focused templates designed for storytelling and education. |
Dozens of proven display templates (pop-ups, quizzes, wheels) for rapid launch. |
| Site Speed Impact |
Zero-lag loading. Built specifically for Shopify to load instantly without slowing down store performance. |
Reliable performance with standard popup loading; unified analytics across email/SMS/display. |
| Customization Options |
Custom fonts, code, translation, localization and advanced triggers for Shopify stores. |
Drag-and-drop editor with responsive templates and gamified layouts like wheels and quizzes. |
| Mobile Experience |
Popup templates and new projects are desktop, tablet, and mobile-friendly by default. |
Responsive templates and mobile-optimized forms with multi-step layouts. |
| Analytics & Tracking |
Conversion-focused analytics that track revenue impact and performance lift. |
Unified dashboard for email/SMS/display campaigns showing views, conversions, and revenue. |
Privy excels by giving brands broad design control. Its benefits include a drag-and-drop editor, responsive templates, and gamified layouts (like quizzes and wheels) for those wanting flexible, multi-format onsite campaigns.
Alia offers a Shopify-native experience built for speed and simplicity with zero-lag loading. It is the smoother choice for merchants wanting polished, conversion-ready popups and auto-optimized mobile designs. It is designed for merchants who treat popups as a revenue channel using creative offers like “scratch-to-win” and “mystery box” discounts.
Nakie saw 600% improvement in email capture and $5.8M in sales after switching to Alia
35%
PEAK EMAIL OPT-IN RATE (UP FROM 5-6%)
600%
IMPROVEMENT IN EMAIL CAPTURE
$5.8M
IN ATTRIBUTED SALES
Dean Leibbrandt
Co-Founder of Nakie
“
"We always cared about the customer journey, and Alia's the first tool that actually let us design one that makes sense. And once we did, everything clicked — sign-up rates, conversions, the whole funnel started significantly performing. Since switching to Alia, our lowest sign-up rate has been 28%, and we've even reached 35% in some months."
2
Launch first popup in 5 minutes
3. Automation & AI features
| Feature |
Alia Popups |
Privy |
| Testing & Variants |
Automated A/B testing. AI generates and tests multiple popup variants, automatically shifting traffic to the winner. |
A/B testing and multivariate tests; manual variant creation required. |
| Smart Triggers |
AI-Powered. System learns from traffic and behavior to trigger popups at the exact moment a user is most likely to convert. |
Real-time segmentation and site displays (exit-intent, cross-sell popups) to engage visitors. |
| Optimization Model |
Self-Improving. Continuous learning loop that optimizes content and popup timing without manual intervention. |
Rule-based automation. Map personalized customer journeys using visual flow builders. |
| Content Intelligence |
Optimizes for brand story and conversion (zero-party data capture) rather than just discount codes. |
Optimizes for content creation using AI to generate on-brand copy, headlines, and offers. |
Privy provides solid automation for email and SMS campaigns with effective cart abandonment recovery that works quickly out of the box. However, it lacks advanced flow mapping or branching logic for complex customer journeys. (If the limitations in advanced automation and flow logic are holding you back, we've compiled a list of the top Privy alternatives worth considering.)
Alia offers hands-off automation through AI-driven testing and smart triggers, helping Shopify merchants boost conversions with minimal setup. Its zero-party data capture and interactive flows turn engagement into long-term insights—making it the more sophisticated choice for growth-focused brands.
"
Alia gave us the power to A/B test everything…
Personalized triggers made popups feel more relevant and less intrusive… Access to conversion, AOV, and orders data has made decision-making so much faster.
Andrea Haynes
Retention Marketing Manager at Portland Leather
4. Data Collection & Integrations
| Feature |
Alia Popups |
Privy |
| Data Collection |
Zero-party data capture. Uses mini-quizzes and interactive flows to capture customer preferences (shopping goals, interests) alongside capturing emails. |
Multi-step forms for email/SMS capture, custom fields, and audience data. |
| Targeting Precision |
AI-Predicted targeting using behavioral cues, predicted intent, and standard page/geo rules. |
Precise targeting with behavior, geography, cart value, history, and display rules. |
| ESP/SMS Platforms |
Supports Klaviyo, Yotpo, Attentive, Omnisend, Sendlane, One Text, Contlo. |
Syncs with ESPs like Klaviyo and Mailchimp plus other ecosystem partners. |
| Analytics & Tools |
Yotpo, Ground AI, Black Crow AI, Fermat. |
Brands needing flexible multi-channel tools combining popups, email, and SMS with analytics. |
| Visitor Management |
Smart suppression using cookies and ESP data to prevent popup spam. |
Frequency controls, visitor targeting, and lifecycle-based messaging rules. |
| Best For |
Shopify brands prioritizing zero-party data, deep integrations, and education-led signup flows. |
Businesses needing granular behavioral targeting and complex personalization across channels. |
Privy is built for brands needing granular behavioral targeting and complex personalization. It excels at capturing data through multi-step forms and managing frequency with lifecycle logic, making it a great fit for syncing across a broad ecosystem like Klaviyo or Mailchimp.
Alia is a Shopify-exclusive powerhouse focused on zero-party data through interactive mini-quizzes. It keeps the experience smooth with AI-predicted targeting and Smart Suppression to avoid spamming subscribers, making it ideal for merchants who value education-led signup flows and deep native integrations.
"
"Alia has helped us gather richer, more actionable data by making it easier to capture customer intent in real time."
“We use it to collect customer-specific data, which helps us deliver more personalized product recommendations for each individual shopper.”
5. Pricing & Scalability
| Feature |
Alia Popups |
Privy |
| Pricing Model |
Plans start at $100/month (up to 20k visitors). |
Plans start at $30/month (up to 1,500 contacts). |
| Trial Options |
14-day free trial with full feature access. |
15-day free trial; pop-ups-only plan offers low-cost entry. |
| Usage Limits |
Pricing based on monthly unique visitors; higher tiers available. |
Pricing based on mailable contacts or pageviews for pop-ups. |
| Best For |
Shopify merchants wanting predictable, all-in-one pricing. |
Brands needing flexible entry pricing and scaling across email, SMS, and pop-ups. |
Privy is built for brands needing flexible entry pricing and scaling across email, SMS, and pop-ups. It offers a lower-cost entry starting at $30/month, making it appealing for small brands, though costs can scale based on mailable contacts or pageviews.
Alia is the choice for Shopify merchants wanting predictable, all-in-one pricing. With plans starting at $100/month, it provides full feature access without add-on confusion, scaling cleanly based on monthly unique visitors rather than contact lists.
.svg)
%20(3).webp)
.png)
.webp)