Optimizely Performance Edge and Optimizely Web Experimentation

You cannot run a Optimizely Performance Edge and Optimizely Web Experimentation project on the same individual webpage. Depending on the use-case of the specific page, one product has particular advantages over the other.

Where and why

Optimizely Performance Edge and Optimizely Web Experimentation both offer distinct advantages. Below, we suggest where you might run experiments using Optimizely Performance Edge, Optimizely Web Experimentation, and Optimizely Feature Experimentation and why.

Product	Where	Why
Optimizely Performance Edge	Entry pages: Homepage, Landing pages, SEO pages Category pages - Product, Article pages	Extremely fast Seamless redirects Single page application (SPA) support ** Focused on A/B testing
Optimizely Web Experimentation	Checkout, Subscription pages Critical personalized experiences	Powerful targeting PCI compliance available - Already set up to track conversions (shared with Edge experiments)
Optimizely Feature Experimentation	Everywhere Backend and frontend Search algorithm and pricing New cart features	SDKs in backend languages Control over core application / site code and functionality - Zero latency

The following page triggers for dynamic websites are now available for Optimizely Performance Edge: Immediately, When a callback is called, When the DOM changes, When a JavaScript condition is true, and Manually. The following page conditions for dynamic websites are now available for Performance Edge: URL Match, Element is present, and JavaScript condition.

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Running Optimizely Performance Edge and Optimizely Web Experimentation together
Please note that you cannot run a Optimizely Performance Edge experiment and a Web experiment on the same page at the same time. For more information, see our FAQ .

Core functionality

Optimizely Performance Edge uses a smart, lightweight microsnippet that enables you to deliver client-side web experiments to your site visitors faster.

Feature Category	Feature
Visual Editor (WYSIWYG)	Insert HTML Edit HTML Style changes Rearrange Redirects
Code Editor	Custom JavaScript** Custom CSS
Page Triggers	Immediately Manually* When the URL Changes* When the DOM Changes*
Page Conditions	URL Match Element is Present* JavaScript Condition*
Audience conditions	Cookie Device Browser Query Parameter IP Address Location
Event tracking	Click events Pageview events Custom events**

*These page triggers and conditions are available. Please get in touch with your account team if you would like access to these features.

**Performance Edge uses a different JavaScript API from Web. Instead of using window.optimizely to use the API as you would in Web, you'll need to use window.optimizelyEdge. See the Performance Edge API reference for more.

Optimizely Web Experimentation vs. Optimizely Performance Edge feature support

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Important
Not all Optimizely Web Experimentation features are available for all product tiers and plans. Product tier eligibility triumphs anything documented here.

Create and Deliver Experiences

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?	Comments
Experiments	Yes
Visual Editor	Yes
Preview Mode	No	Force variation IDs work and you can preview from the visual editor on a variation-by-variation basis, but there is no preview mode with a preview widget in it
Experiment Change History	Yes
Traffic Allocation	Yes	Sticky bucketing is not supported if changes in traffic are made mid-experiment
Cross-Browser Testing	Yes
Project JavaScript	Yes
Dynamic Website Support	Yes
Experiment Scheduler	Yes
Extensions	Yes

Experiment Types

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?
Multi-Page (Funnel) Tests	Yes
Multiple Variation (A/B/n) Tests	Yes
Multivariate Testing (MVT)	No
Stats Accelerator	No
Multi-Armed Bandits	No
Mutually Exclusive Experiments	Yes

Implementation

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?
One-Line Implementation	Yes
Custom Snippets	No

Results and Results Segmentation

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?	Comments
Exit / Bounce rate	No	This type of metric is only compatible for Personalization campaigns which is currently not supported
Browser Type	Yes
Device Type	Yes
Referrer Segmentation	Yes
Source Type Segmentation	Yes
Campaign Results Page	No	Personalization Campaigns are not supported
Experiment Results Page	Yes
Stats Engine	Yes
CSV Export	Yes
Bot Filtering	Yes
Cross-Project Events	Yes
Custom Attributes	No
Offline Events	Yes
Custom Events	Yes

Page Triggers

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?	Comments
Immediate	Yes
Manually	Yes	Requires Support for Dynamic Web Pages to be enabled
When URL Changes	Yes	Requires Support for Dynamic Web Pages to be enabled
When DOM Changes	Yes	Requires Support for Dynamic Web Pages to be enabled
Polling	No (incompatible)	Polling page trigger is incompatible with Performance Edge due to fundamental technical limitations
Callback	No (incompatible)	Callback page trigger is incompatible with Performance Edge due to fundamental technical limitations

Page Conditions

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?	Comments
URL Match	Yes
Element is Present	Yes	Requires Support for Dynamic Web Pages to be enabled
JavaScript Condition	Yes	Requires Support for Dynamic Web Pages to be enabled
Callback	No (incompatible)	Callback page condition is incompatible with Performance Edge due to fundamental technical limitations

Audience Targeting

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?	Comments
Audience Builder	Yes
Referrer URL	No
Query Parameter	Yes
Custom JavaScript	No
Cookies	Yes
IP Address	Yes
Traffic Source	No
Device	Yes
Browser	Yes
Language	No
Ad Campaign	No	There is a workaround using query parameters, however, that targeting condition is not sticky. Please view on documentation on Audience Conditions
New vs Returning Visitors	No
Geotargeting (Location)	Yes
Time of Day	No
Custom Attributes	No (incompatible)	Custom Attributes for audience targeting is incompatible with Performance Edge due to fundamental technical limitations
Platform/OS	No

Security and Administrative Control

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?
PCI Compliant Snippet	No

Advanced Personalization

Optimizely Web Feature	Supported in Performance Edge?
Adaptive Audiences Add-on	No (incompatible)
Adaptive Recommendations	No
Dynamic Customer Profile	No
External Attributes	No
Personalization Campaigns	No
Uploaded Audiences	No
Behavioral Targeting	No
Third Party Data Audience	No
Campaign Results Page	No

Analytics Integrations

Optimizely Web Experimentation Feature	Supported in Optimizely Performance Edge?
Out-of-Box One-Click Integrations (GA, Adobe, etc)	No
Custom Analytics Integrations supported via custom ProjectJS	Yes