System1 vs. Behavio: a detailed review of two ad testing tools

At first glance, both companies offer a similar set of behavioral metrics, but there are key differences to keep in mind.

The biggest one? Price—Behavio is more than ten times more affordable than System1.

To help you make a more informed decision, I'll break down the key differences in these ad testing tools based on the following criteria:

1. Testing metrics and methods
2. Ease of use
3. Pricing

Ad testing metrics & methods

When it comes to predicting and improving ad effectiveness, choosing the right method is crucial. 

Older, legacy methodologies that rely on respondents consciously evaluating ads with their rational brains have been proven to be misleading—so much so that opting out of pre-testing altogether might give you better results.

Because 95% of buying decisions are subconscious, non-declarative behavioral methods (like emotional response and brand recall) are essential for accurate pre-testing. 

Both System1 and Behavio utilize these modern methods, offering incredible second-by-second detail. Let's dive a bit deeper into their methodologies.

System1 

System1 (founded in 1999 as BrainJuicer) is the pioneer of modern ad pre-testing, which, unlike older methods, is predictive of your ad’s in-market performance.

System1 metrics

The platform provides a prediction of an ad’s brand-building capability (Star Rating) and short-term sales impact (Spike Rating). 

You can see how people emotionally react to your ad (happiness, anger, etc.), read their feedback, and, for video ads, track how emotions change second by second. It also measures how many people can correctly identify the brand and the first second they recognize it. 

With an extra package, you can assess if your message was delivered through prompted associations and brand attributes. 

System1 sample size

With System1, your creative is tested on a sample of 150 people, which brings a statistical error: any metric can be ±8% from reality. 

System1 benchmarking

System1 ranks your ad within its massive database of tested ads, providing benchmarks across industries to compare your campaign’s performance.

Behavio

As a second mover founded in 2014, Behavio builds on metrics popularized by System1 (emotional response, brand recall) but adds more nuance and practical detail, allowing for more precise improvements to your ads. 

Behavio metrics

With Behavio, you not only see second-by-second positive and negative emotions but also the reasons for emotional changes at each moment.

This enables valuable insights like the McDonald’s TV ad case study, where both negative and positive emotions peaked simultaneously. People reacting positively focused on the visuals, while the driver of negative emotion was a weak voiceover.

Similarly, for brand recall, Behavio measures branding truly second by second, not just from the first moment people recognize the brand.

Studies show that the longer the branded attention, the higher the brand lift. Behavio lets you check if branding is strong throughout the ad, especially during the emotional peaks that people remember the most. 

Behavio also tracks second-by-second message recall, helping identify when the target message is actually delivered.

Behavio sample size

With Behavio, ad creatives are tested on a sample of 500 people each, which provides a twice smaller statistical error (±4%) compared to System1.

Behavio benchmarking

Behavio has a much smaller database of tested ads than System1, but it still allows benchmarking against the current advertising landscape across different countries. 

The key difference: is emotional response enough?

System1 and Behavio offer a similar set of metrics with nuanced differences. However, their underlying philosophies differ significantly. 

System1 relies solely on emotional response to predict an ad's brand-building potential, while disregarding other metrics. 

Behavio, founded later (after the industry-changing publication of How Brands Grow and the introduction of concepts like branded attention), takes a different approach.

Behavio argues that for an ad to make buyers more likely to choose your brand, it must create subconscious memory links between relevant consumer occasions and the brand. Therefore, strong brand recall and strong need recall are the two crucial components of an effective ad. 

Emotion, the third key component, acts as an amplifier – it grabs attention in a noisy environment and deepens memory retention.

Ease of use

Both ad testing tools offer modern, user-friendly dashboards that avoid academic jargon. Uploading creatives is simple with either platform, and results are delivered within days. 

System1 and Behavio also provide a summary of recommendations, either written or in-person, though System1 charges extra for this service.

One detail to note: System1 uses unique terminology for common metrics—such as calling brand recall ‘Fluency.’ This may require additional explanation when presenting the ad test results to your CEO or board. 

Behavio, on the other hand, feels less text-heavy, with cleaner slide designs that highlight key points. However, it has its own challenges, like uncertainty over whether a figure represents an actual number or a ranking compared to other ads in the database.

While Behavio delivers results in 3-5 days, System1 can test ads as quickly as 24 hours. However, this applies only to their basic "STOP or GO" pre-testing service, which lacks many of the more comprehensive metrics. 

For a full analysis, System1 doesn’t specify a deadline, so it's likely more similar to Behavio’s timeline.

Pricing

Pricing is where the differences between the two vendors are most striking. 

While System1 revolutionized ad testing methods, they’ve maintained a legacy price range – with testing one creative typically costing between $10-20k, making it accessible mainly for large enterprises. 

In contrast, Behavio is pushing to widen the market with radically lower pricing, around $1k. The goal is to attract midmarket businesses or allow enterprises to test more creatives at various stages of production. 

System1 pricing plans

System1 offers three tiers: Predict, Understand, and Improve. 

Predict is the basic option, providing a STOP/GO decision based on emotional response and brand recall, but with no further details, priced at $3,750.

Understand adds message delivery and reasons for emotional response, bringing the total cost to $11,250. 

Improve is added on top of Understand, offering a written summary of recommendations for an additional $5k, or personal consultation for an extra $11k. 

Behavio pricing plans

Behavio offers two tiers: Starter and Professional. Both include a 500-person sample, second-by-second emotional analysis, brand recall, and message recall. 

The Professional tier adds reasons for emotional shifts, key insights written by experts, and consultations.

With a yearly subscription (testing at least 5 creatives a year), prices drop as low as $1,350 for Starter and $1,590 for Professional. Even without a subscription, a one-time Professional test costs $2.2k, still far below System1’s most basic solution.

Final thoughts

Today, we’ve looked at two extremely powerful, enterprise-ready ad testing tools. With similar metrics but radically different pricing, Behavio is the recommended choice for those seeking the best value for money. 

System1 would be a better fit for those looking for extensive industry benchmarks (System1 claims to test every TV ad in the UK and US) or for those who prefer some of the methodological nuances that System1 offers.

Still not sure which ad testing tool is right for your business? Book a demo to learn more about Behavio's solution.