MBA vs FACT-Finder
Europe's best-selling enterprise search, navigation, merchandising and personalization suite, trusted by 2,000+ B2B and B2C shops, with an AI recommendations engine bundled into the broader product-discovery platform.
When MBA wins
If you want explainable co-purchase intelligence (support/confidence/lift rules you can inspect and edit), real-SKU bundles and B2B reorder workflows, agent-native APIs/MCP, and flat transparent pricing instead of a quote-based enterprise contract.
When FACT-Finder wins
If you are an enterprise retailer that primarily needs best-in-class on-site search, faceted navigation, suggest and self-learning personalization across a large catalog, and want one mature European vendor for the whole discovery stack with recommendations included.
Feature comparison
Color-striped rows favor MBA, FACT-Finder, or are even. We mark each so you can scan for the trade-offs that matter to you.
| Feature | MBA | FACT-Finder |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | Co-purchase mining and product recommendations/bundling as the primary product | Full product-discovery suite: search, navigation, merchandising, personalization, with recommendations as one module |
| Recommendation method and explainability | 4 explainable engines (sql_pairs, fp_growth default, seasonal_cohort, return_aware, profit-aware HUI, ai_catalog cold-start), plus a co_occurrence fallback emitting support/confidence/lift; every rule inspectable and editable in-admin | AI/self-learning recommendations driven by behavior and 1:1 personalization signals; merchandisers can swap AI picks, but underlying scoring is not exposed as explainable association rules |
| On-site search and faceted navigation | Not a search engine; focuses on recommendations, bundles and upsell, not query parsing or faceted nav | Error-tolerant, multilingual, self-learning site search plus automatic faceted navigation and suggest, a core strength |
| Storefront coverage on one contract | Same intelligence across 5 storefronts (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, OroCommerce) on ONE API contract | Integrates with 10+ platforms (Shopify/Plus, BigCommerce, Magento/Adobe Commerce, WooCommerce, Shopware, Wix, custom) via SDKs and connectors |
| Agent-native and API access | Public REST API, a 19-tool MCP server (18 off Shopify), and ACP/agentic-commerce endpoints built in | Robust REST/API and web components for integration, but no MCP server or ACP/agentic-commerce surface |
| Bundles, formats and upsell | Real-SKU bundles with BYOB/volume/BOGO/virtual formats, substitutions, post-purchase upsell, cart drawer and A/B testing with lift/CI | Merchandising rules and recommendation placements; complementary and higher-priced alternatives surfaced, but not a dedicated multi-format bundle builder |
| B2B depth | B2B-aware mining with a native OroCommerce build and cross-store insights | Strong B2B support including personalized pricing per customer and B2B-tuned search and discovery |
| Data privacy and where it runs | First-party mining runs locally inside the merchant install (Magento/Woo); AI is bring-your-own-key (Oro is a thin hosted client) | SaaS platform; catalog and behavioral data are exported to FACT-Finder's hosted service |
| Pricing transparency | Flat transparent pricing: free $0 tier, Plus $99/mo (or ~$79/mo on annual), no GMV or revenue share | Quote-based enterprise pricing with no public tiers or free plan; custom annual contracts plus integration effort |
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 plansFACT-Finder
Quote-based enterprise pricing (contact sales); custom annual contracts scoped to catalog size, traffic and modules, with integration/setup effort. No public tiers or free plan.
Visit FACT-FinderThe honest verdict
FACT-Finder is an established, enterprise-grade European discovery suite where recommendations sit alongside its real strength of search, navigation, merchandising and personalization; MarketBasketAnalysis is a focused, explainable co-purchase and bundling engine, not a head-to-head search product.
MBA's edge is transparency and control: support/confidence/lift rules you can inspect and edit, six mining engines including profit-aware and cold-start, plus multi-format real-SKU bundles, A/B testing with lift/CI, and agent-native REST/MCP/ACP surfaces that FACT-Finder does not offer.
FACT-Finder wins when you need world-class on-site search and faceted navigation for a large catalog and want a single mature vendor for the whole discovery stack with recommendations bundled in.
Privacy and pricing favor MBA for many merchants: mining runs locally inside the merchant install with bring-your-own AI keys, on flat pricing with a free Woo tier and no GMV or revenue share, versus FACT-Finder's hosted SaaS and quote-based enterprise contracts.
Both have credible B2B stories: FACT-Finder offers personalized per-customer pricing and B2B-tuned discovery, while MBA leans into B2B-aware co-purchase mining and reorder-prediction data, so the right pick depends on whether your priority is search or co-purchase-driven bundling.
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.