The quake in the CRO industry was foreseeable, but the intensity is still surprising:
The merger of VWO and AB Tasty under the umbrella of Everstone Capital creates a new industry giant with over 4,000 customers and an ARR of 100 million dollars.
While the press releases talk about „synergies“ and „AI innovations“, many marketers, agencies and small and medium-sized enterprises are faced with a completely different question:
What does that mean for me?
We at Varify.io have been monitoring these developments closely over the past few weeks. The signals are clear:
The market for A/B testing is taking a path that is increasingly detrimental to those who form the backbone of the industry: small and medium-sized companies and specialized agencies.
In this article, you'll learn about the three major dangers that lie ahead and why „bigger“ rarely means „better“ in testing.
Danger 1: Barred market access for A/B testing
After the shutdown of Google Optimize in 2023, VWO was seen as the new „safe haven“ for many companies. The free entry plan in particular was the first step into the world of A/B testing for many teams.
But the tide turned at the turn of the year (January 2026). The free plan was officially discontinued. This means that not only is an important tool for growing companies disappearing, but also a piece of transparency in the market. Anyone visiting the websites of the major providers today will no longer find clear prices. They are hidden behind „individual offers“ and sales pitches.
Why this is a danger for you:
- Not a risk-free start: A/B testing is becoming a major financial hurdle. The easy way to start experiments without a huge budget no longer exists in this form.
- Lack of price transparency: If prices are no longer communicated publicly, you lose comparability. Testing tools evolve from a clear software solution to complex, opaque contract negotiations.
- The focus on „Enterprise“: The message behind these changes is clear: if you don't have a massive budget, you are no longer considered by the new industry giants. We call this the „SMB squeeze“ - small and medium-sized companies are being systematically squeezed out.
At Varify.io, we believe that access to data and optimization shouldn't depend on the size of your budget. While others close the doors and hide prices, we keep access open and conditions clear.
Danger 2: Yield pressure and the brake on growth
Why this penalizes your growth financially:
- Success is expensive (the MTU trap): Most large platforms charge according to „Monthly Tested Users“ (MTU). The problem with this is that the more successful your optimization is and the more traffic you generate, the more your costs increase. Your success is therefore penalized by a kind of „growth tax“.
- Intransparent contract negotiations: We keep hearing from the industry that talks with the big players today often no longer feel like a partnership. Without publicly available prices, negotiations often turn into a tough battle for budgets in which transparency falls by the wayside.
- Complexity instead of innovation: In order to justify ever higher enterprise prices, the software is often overloaded with unnecessary functions. You end up paying for a huge package of „bells & whistles“ that you never use in practice, but which make the tool cumbersome and expensive.
At Varify.io, we take a different approach. Since we operate independently of short-term investor targets, we can rely on a fair flat-rate model. Your traffic can grow as much as it wants and your costs remain predictable.
Danger 3: The all-in-one trap and the attack on agency performance
Why the „complete solution“ is often a dead end:
- The attack on expert services: Large providers are increasingly selling „done-for-you“ solutions and automated processes directly to end customers. Instead of just supplying a tool, they are trying to take on the role of strategic consultant or agency. The problem: a tool can deliver software, but it can rarely replace individual, in-depth expertise.
- Automation vs. strategy: „No-code“ and AI automation are often sold as a panacea. But real growth requires experts who understand and manage complex test scenarios. When tools try to „exclude“ the expert, all that often remains is superficial optimization.
- Dependency through „lock-in“: The more functions a tool takes on, the more difficult it is to change. You are locked into a closed system. If prices rise or performance drops, leaving is extremely time-consuming and expensive.
Varify.io sees itself as a partner for experts and agencies. Our goal is to enable technological freedom instead of enforcing rigid systems. You retain full control over your strategy. We do away with unnecessary ballast and hidden competition from the software provider.
Danger 4: The loss of digital sovereignty in Europe
The merger effectively means that a major European player is being absorbed into a global conglomerate that is primarily controlled from India and Singapore. We need to ask ourselves a crucial question in this context:
Do we really want India to technologically swallow the European market for optimization?
This is a fundamental question of competitiveness in the global market. The protection and targeted strengthening of European companies is crucial today in order to secure our position on the international market in the long term.
Those who hand over technological sovereignty over their optimization data to large non-European corporations will lose digital sovereignty and innovative strength at their own location in the long term.
Varify.io: The right answer for small and medium-sized companies and agencies
Varify.io was developed by CRO experts as a direct counter-design to this market consolidation.
Our goal is clear: We want professional A/B testing to remain accessible to everyone.
Optimization should not be the privilege of large corporations. That is why we have created a platform that empowers small and medium-sized companies and agencies alike and enables scaling without artificial barriers.
This is what our counter-design looks like:
Planable costs without MTU contracts: We don't penalize your success. With us, there is a fixed price per client, completely independent of your traffic volume. This means your budget remains predictable and you don't have to worry about surprises when user numbers increase.
Technological freedom for professionals: We offer you full flexibility with CSS and JS injections as well as our own API for complex test scenarios. Varify.io gives you the technological power without forcing you into a rigid corset of automated standard solutions.
Agencies' partners instead of competitors: We see ourselves as a door opener that allows the industry to grow. Instead of displacing agencies with automated services, we provide the tools that experts can use to implement their strategies optimally. Our packages already include full targeting and segmentation options.
Digital sovereignty for Europe: As a German company, we are sending a clear signal against global market consolidation. We strengthen European competitiveness and data sovereignty directly at our location and offer an independent platform for all those who do not want to be dependent on non-European power shifts.
Our conclusion: review your strategy for the future now
The merger of VWO and AB Tasty marks a turning point in the industry. The shift towards non-transparent enterprise models is jeopardizing the agility and independence of many companies. Now is the right time to critically scrutinize your own tool strategy.
At Varify.io, we stand for a market in which testing remains accessible to everyone: small teams, SMEs and agencies. Rely on transparency and real expert tools and don't let yourself be forced into golden cages that make your success unnecessarily expensive.
