MBA vs Amasty Frequently Bought Together
A mature, well-supported Magento 2 recommendations extension that auto-generates "bought together" and "viewed together" blocks with rule conditions and discounted bundle packs, scoped to a single platform.
When MBA wins
If you need explainable co-purchase rules with real support/confidence/lift metrics, the same recommendation engine across Shopify/BigCommerce/WooCommerce/Magento/OroCommerce, or an API plus MCP server that AI agents can call, MarketBasketAnalysis is built for that and Amasty is not.
When Amasty Frequently Bought Together wins
If you run only Magento 2 (or Adobe Commerce) and want a battle-tested, install-and-go merchandising extension with polished admin UX, flexible display rules, and discounted bundle packs without touching code, Amasty is the safer, more turnkey choice.
Feature comparison
Color-striped rows favor MBA, Amasty Frequently Bought Together, or are even. We mark each so you can scan for the trade-offs that matter to you.
| Feature | MBA | Amasty Frequently Bought Together |
|---|---|---|
| Recommendation algorithm and explainability | Six pluggable engines (sql_pairs, fp_growth as default, seasonal_cohort, return_aware, profit-aware high-utility itemset mining, and ai_catalog for cold-start), plus a co_occurrence fallback that emit support, confidence, and lift per rule, all inspectable directly in the admin. | A single statistical engine that scores 'bought together' and 'viewed together' over a time window; effective in practice but the underlying association scores are not surfaced to the merchant. |
| Platforms supported | Five storefronts (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, OroCommerce) on one shared API contract, so rules behave identically across stacks. | Magento 2 and Adobe Commerce only. |
| Magento-native admin experience and turnkey setup | Functional Magento module, but its strength is the cross-platform engine rather than deep Magento merchandising polish. | Purpose-built for Magento with mature, well-documented admin UX, granular display rules, and years of production hardening. |
| Real-SKU bundles and discounted bundle packs | Real-SKU bundles plus substitutions, post-purchase upsell, and A/B testing of recommendation placements. | Real-SKU bundle packs with fixed or percentage discounts, shown on product and cart pages. |
| Agent-native and programmatic access | Public REST API, a 19-tool MCP server (18 off Shopify), and ACP/agentic-commerce endpoints so external apps and AI agents can query and act on recommendations. | No public REST API or MCP surface; configuration and output live inside the Magento admin and storefront blocks. |
| AI-driven cold-start for new catalogs | Dedicated ai_catalog engine generates recommendations from catalog metadata when there is little or no purchase history, using a bring-your-own Anthropic or OpenAI key. | Handles thin history with rule-based conditions on brand, category, or price (no LLM), which covers cold-start without external AI dependencies. |
| Data privacy and where mining runs | Co-purchase mining runs locally inside the merchant's own Magento or WooCommerce install; AI is opt-in via the merchant's own model key (OroCommerce is a thin hosted client). | All processing runs inside the merchant's self-hosted Magento with no third-party data flow, which is a clean first-party privacy story by default. |
| B2B depth | B2B-aware mining on OroCommerce (per-organization context, cross-store insights), reorder-prediction data through the REST API, and a recommendation API for building custom B2B flows. | Focused on B2C-style recommendation blocks and bundle packs; no dedicated RFQ/quote-bundle or reorder-prediction tooling. |
| Pricing model | Flat transparent pricing with a free $0 tier, Plus $99/mo (or ~$79/mo on annual), no GMV or revenue-share. | One-time license (about $199 for Open Source, more for Adobe Commerce/Cloud) with lifetime free updates and 90 days of free support; no recurring fee. |
Pricing snapshot
MarketBasketAnalysis
Flat, transparent plan pricing: Free ($0) and Plus $99/mo flat (or ~$79/mo on annual). One paid plan, everything in it. These are product plans, not per-platform prices, and the same plans apply across every platform. Metered on capability and compute, never on GMV. No revenue share, no add-ons.
See plansAmasty Frequently Bought Together
One-time license, roughly $199 for Magento Open Source (Community), with higher tiers for Adobe Commerce and Cloud editions, plus Amasty's standard 90 days free support and lifetime free updates. No recurring SaaS fee and no GMV or revenue-share.
Visit Amasty Frequently Bought TogetherThe honest verdict
If your world is exclusively Magento/Adobe Commerce and you want a proven, low-maintenance merchandising extension, Amasty is the pragmatic pick; it is mature, well-supported, and you will not have to wire up anything yourself.
Reach for MarketBasketAnalysis when you need the recommendation scores to be explainable: we expose support/confidence/lift per rule in-admin, while Amasty's statistical scoring stays under the hood.
MBA's real differentiator is reach and integration: one engine across five storefronts plus a REST API, a 19-tool MCP server (18 off Shopify), and ACP endpoints, so agents and external systems can drive it. Amasty has no public API or agent surface.
On privacy and pricing it is closer to a wash. Both keep mining first-party (Amasty fully self-hosted; MBA runs locally in your Magento/Woo install with bring-your-own AI key), and both avoid GMV or revenue-share; Amasty is one-time, MBA is a flat subscription with a free Woo tier.
Bottom line: choose Amasty for turnkey Magento merchandising, choose MBA for explainable, cross-platform, agent-native co-purchase intelligence and B2B-aware mining (OroCommerce).
Want the full buyer's deep-dive?
This page is the per-vendor short version. For the long version, read “MBA vs Bloomreach” (8 pages on the enterprise-vs-mid-market trade-off) or “MBA vs the widget cluster” (4 pages of pricing math vs Glood, Rebuy, and PickyStory).
Try MBA on your own store
14-day money-back guarantee on all paid platforms. WP.org free tier on WooCommerce. No credit card required for the free path.