If you're searching for a TrueProfit alternative, you probably already believe the core idea: revenue dashboards lie, and net profit is the only number that matters. Shopify tells you what you sold. It doesn't tell you what you kept after COGS, shipping, payment fees, app subscriptions, refunds and — the big one — ad spend.
A whole category of apps grew around fixing that. Here's an honest look at the main options, where each one is strong, and the question to ask before you pick any of them.
The quick comparison
| App | Best at | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| TrueProfit | Polished real-time net profit tracking with broad ad-platform integrations. A safe, mature pick for pure tracking. | Pricing scales with order volume; it reports the numbers but largely leaves the "so what do I change?" to you. |
| BeProfit | Detailed profit & loss reports and export-friendly analytics. | Similar story — strong reporting layer, thinner on guidance and action. |
| Lifetimely (AMP) | LTV and cohort analysis. Excellent if repeat purchase behavior is your core question. | It's an LTV tool first; day-to-day margin tracking is not its center of gravity. |
| SimplyCost | Cheap, simple cost tracking for small stores that just need COGS subtracted. | Mostly manual, minimal ad-spend handling — you'll outgrow it once you scale ads. |
| Marginflow | Net profit, per-product margins, ROAS and POAS per order — plus an AI analyst that tells you which product or ad is bleeding money and what to fix. 7 languages. Free to start. | Newer than the incumbents; if you need a niche integration today, check it's supported first. |
(Pricing changes often in this category, so we've deliberately compared shape rather than dollar amounts — check each vendor's current pricing page.)
The question that actually separates them
Every app above can subtract costs from revenue. The real question is: when the number is bad, what happens next?
For most trackers the answer is "you stare at the dashboard and figure it out." That works if you enjoy spreadsheet archaeology. In practice, the profit leak is usually one of a small set of causes: one SKU with a quietly negative margin, an ad set whose ROAS looks fine but whose POAS is under 1.0, a fee stack that crept up, or refunds concentrated in one product.
This is where Marginflow takes a different bet: the tracking layer is table stakes, and the product is the AI analyst on top — a daily briefing that says things like "LED Lamp loses money on every order after ad spend; pause the ad set or raise the price" in plain language. You can agree or disagree with its advice, but you're never left alone with a wall of charts.
When each pick makes sense
- Pick TrueProfit or BeProfit if you want a mature pure tracker, you're comfortable doing your own analysis, and volume-based pricing fits your margin.
- Pick Lifetimely if your business lives and dies on repeat purchase and LTV:CAC, not per-order margin.
- Pick SimplyCost if you're small, ad-light, and just need COGS handled for a few dollars.
- Pick Marginflow if you run paid ads and want the profit math and the diagnosis — per-product margins, POAS on every order, and an AI that flags what to fix. It's free to start with no card, so the cheapest way to decide is to connect your store and compare its numbers against whatever you use today.
Do the math before you pick anything
One habit beats every app choice: know your unit economics cold. Two free tools (no signup):
- The profit & POAS calculator — your real margin per product after every cost.
- The break-even ROAS calculator — the exact ROAS your ads must beat before a single order is profitable.
If those two numbers surprise you, a profit tracker isn't optional anymore — whichever one you choose.