The best tools for tracking marketing ROI depend on one thing: where your money and your sales data live. If they sit in different apps, you need a tool that pulls them together. I read the official pricing pages for three options, so you can match a tool to your setup.
Quick answer
- Start with the ROI formula and a spreadsheet. Add a tool only when copying numbers by hand hurts.
- Want one dashboard from many ad and analytics accounts? Look at Databox or Supermetrics.
- Already run your leads and email in one CRM? Check the reports inside HubSpot first.
- Prices below are from each vendor's page, read on November 6, 2026. They change, so check before you buy.
How to calculate marketing ROI first
The basic formula is simple. Marketing ROI = (revenue from marketing minus marketing cost) divided by marketing cost.
Say you spend $2,000 on ads and they bring $5,000 in sales. That is ($5,000 - $2,000) / $2,000 = 1.5, or 150%. This is a plain example I made up to show the math, not a benchmark.
Notice the hard part. You need two clean numbers: what you spent, and what sales you can tie to that spend. Tools help with both.
What a marketing ROI tool must do
- Pull in spend. Ad costs from Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and others.
- Pull in results. Leads, orders, or revenue from your site, store, or CRM.
- Put them side by side. One view, one date range.
- Stay affordable. A small team should not pay for features it will not use.
If you also need to know which channel deserves credit for a sale, read my guide to marketing attribution tools for small teams. ROI and attribution are related, but they are not the same job.
Three options I looked at
Databox, for dashboards on a budget
Databox builds dashboards from your connected data sources. Its pricing page, read November 6, 2026, lists a free plan with 1 user, 3 data sources, 1 dashboard, and daily data sync.
The paid Analyst plan showed $71 per month billed annually, with 5 data sources and hourly sync. The page also mentions AI credits that power its AI features. Prices on that page changed with the billing toggle, so check the view you plan to buy.
Good fit: a solo marketer who wants to test a dashboard before paying. Weak fit: a team that needs many sources at once on the free plan.
Supermetrics, for moving data into your own reports
Supermetrics pulls marketing data into places like Google Sheets, Looker Studio, and Power BI. Its pricing page, read November 6, 2026, listed Starter from $39 per month and Growth from $159 per month, both billed yearly.
Starter includes 2 data sources and 1 user. Growth includes 7 data sources and 2 users. Extra sources, users, and accounts cost more.
Good fit: you like building your own ROI sheet and just want the numbers to arrive on their own. Weak fit: you want a finished dashboard without any setup.
HubSpot Marketing Hub, if your leads already live there
HubSpot's marketing pricing page, read November 6, 2026, shows a free tier for up to 2 users. Paid tiers are priced per seat and by contacts, and the page showed different prices for monthly and annual billing.
I did not confirm which ROI or revenue reports sit in which tier. Check HubSpot's current plan comparison for that before you pay. If your deals are already in HubSpot, ask whether its built-in reports can answer your question first.
Moving off HubSpot instead? See my picks for a HubSpot alternative for agencies.
A quick way to choose
| If you... | Try |
|---|
| Want a free dashboard to test | Databox Free |
| Build your own sheet or report | Supermetrics |
| Keep leads and email in one CRM | HubSpot reports |
| Have one ad channel only | That channel's own report plus a sheet |
Common mistakes
- Counting only ad spend. Add tool fees, freelancers, and your time if you can.
- Mixing date ranges. A sale in March may come from a click in January. Pick a window and keep it.
- Trusting a platform's own numbers alone. Each ad platform reports its own credit. Compare against your real sales records.
- Buying too early. If you run one or two channels, a sheet may be enough.
A simple setup checklist
- List every channel where you spend money.
- Decide what counts as a result: a lead, a sale, or revenue.
- Pick a reporting window, such as 30 days.
- Connect spend and results in one place.
- Check the first report by hand against your bank or store data.
FAQ
What is a good marketing ROI?
It depends on your margins and industry. I did not find a benchmark from a source I could read, so I will not give a number. A positive ROI after all costs is the minimum goal.
Can I track marketing ROI for free?
Yes. A spreadsheet with spend and revenue columns works. Databox and HubSpot both list free plans, with limits on users and data sources.
What is the difference between ROI and ROAS?
ROAS usually compares ad revenue to ad spend. ROI subtracts all costs first, so it shows profit more fully. Use ROAS for quick ad checks and ROI for the bigger picture.
Do I need attribution software to track ROI?
Not always. Attribution tells you which channel gets credit. ROI only needs spend and results. Add attribution when you run several channels that overlap.
Which tool should a small business pick first?
Start with the free tier of a tool you can test in an afternoon. Move to a paid plan only when you hit its limits.
This is general information, not financial advice. I did not test these tools. My picks come from the vendor pages I read.
Sources
All three are vendor pages. I tried to read Google's Analytics help page but could not open it, so I made no claims about Google Analytics. Also see my guide to SEO tools for competitor analysis.
Last updated: November 6, 2026
Comments
Post a Comment