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Tracking users across smartphones, tablets, and desktops has become one of the most frustrating challenges in digital marketing. With cookie deprecation, privacy regulations, and users switching between devices constantly, traditional tracking methods are failing. The result? Incomplete attribution data, wasted ad spend, and marketing decisions based on fragmented insights.
This guide covers the top tools that help marketers overcome cross-device tracking challenges—from attribution platforms to identity resolution solutions. Whether you're dealing with iOS tracking limitations, cookie restrictions, or simply trying to connect the dots across customer journeys, these tools offer practical solutions.
Best for: Marketers focused on accurate ad attribution and conversion optimization across devices
Cometly is an AI-powered marketing attribution platform that tracks customer journeys across devices using server-side technology.
Cometly addresses one of the biggest pain points in cross-device tracking: getting accurate conversion data back to your ad platforms. When users interact with your ads on mobile but convert on desktop, traditional pixel-based tracking often breaks down.
The platform's server-side tracking bypasses browser cookie limitations entirely, capturing the complete customer journey regardless of device switches. This means you can finally see which ads actually drive revenue, even when customers bounce between their phone and laptop before purchasing.
Server-Side Tracking: Bypasses browser restrictions and ad blockers to capture accurate conversion data across all devices.
Multi-Touch Attribution: Connects every marketing touchpoint to revenue, showing the full cross-device customer journey.
Conversion Sync: Feeds enriched, accurate conversion data back to Meta, Google, and other ad platforms to improve their optimization algorithms.
AI-Powered Recommendations: Identifies high-performing ads and campaigns across channels with actionable optimization suggestions.
Real-Time Analytics Dashboard: Connects ad spend directly to revenue with live data updates across all marketing channels.
Digital marketers and agencies running multi-platform paid campaigns who need to understand which ads drive actual revenue. Particularly valuable for businesses dealing with iOS tracking limitations or complex customer journeys that span multiple devices and touchpoints.
Custom pricing based on ad spend volume. Demo available to explore features and determine fit for your marketing stack.
Best for: Companies building first-party data infrastructure with flexible tool integrations
Segment is a customer data platform that collects, cleans, and routes data from multiple sources while resolving user identities across devices.
Segment excels at being the central hub for your customer data. Think of it as the universal translator between all your marketing tools—it collects data once and sends it everywhere you need it.
The platform's identity resolution capabilities merge anonymous sessions with known user profiles, creating unified customer views even when users switch devices. This makes it particularly powerful for teams that need to feed clean, consistent data to multiple downstream tools.
Identity Resolution: Automatically merges user profiles across devices using both deterministic and probabilistic matching.
400+ Integrations: Pre-built connections to marketing, analytics, and data warehouse tools eliminate custom integration work.
Real-Time Data Streaming: Sends customer data to connected platforms instantly as events occur across devices.
Privacy Controls: Built-in consent management and data governance features for GDPR and CCPA compliance.
First-Party Data Collection: Captures data directly from your properties, reducing reliance on third-party cookies.
Marketing and product teams that need to connect data across many different tools while maintaining clean, unified customer profiles. Ideal for companies prioritizing first-party data strategies.
Free tier available for basic use. Team plan starts at $120/month with usage-based pricing for larger data volumes.
Best for: Enterprise-scale identity resolution with deterministic matching accuracy
LiveRamp is an enterprise identity resolution platform that connects fragmented customer data across devices, channels, and platforms using deterministic matching.
LiveRamp operates at a scale most platforms can't match. Their deterministic identity graph connects billions of consumer touchpoints using authenticated data rather than probabilistic guessing.
What sets them apart is the focus on privacy-compliant connectivity. As cookies disappear, LiveRamp's Authenticated Traffic Solution helps brands maintain cross-device measurement through consented, logged-in user data. This approach delivers higher accuracy than cookie-based tracking ever could.
Deterministic Matching: Uses authenticated user data for highly accurate identity resolution across devices and channels.
Privacy-Compliant Infrastructure: Built-in compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations through consent management.
Major Platform Integration: Direct connections to ad platforms, publishers, and data partners for seamless activation.
Authenticated Traffic Solution: Enables cross-device measurement in cookieless environments using logged-in user data.
Data Clean Rooms: Secure collaboration spaces for analyzing combined datasets without exposing raw customer information.
Large enterprises with complex data ecosystems that need enterprise-grade identity resolution. Best suited for organizations with significant first-party data assets and relationships with major publishers.
Enterprise pricing model. Contact LiveRamp directly for custom quotes based on data volume and use cases.
Best for: Product teams analyzing user behavior across web and mobile applications
Mixpanel is a product analytics platform with cross-device user identification that tracks how users interact with your product across platforms.
Mixpanel focuses specifically on product usage rather than marketing attribution. This makes it incredibly powerful for understanding how users behave after they've converted—the stuff that happens inside your app or platform.
The identity merge API automatically stitches together anonymous sessions and authenticated user activity. When someone browses your app anonymously on their phone, then logs in on their laptop, Mixpanel connects those dots retroactively. You get a complete picture of the user journey without gaps.
Identity Merge API: Automatically connects anonymous and authenticated user sessions across devices with retroactive stitching.
Event-Based Tracking: Captures specific user actions across web and mobile platforms for detailed behavioral analysis.
Funnel and Retention Analysis: Tracks user progression through conversion funnels and measures long-term retention patterns.
Real-Time Processing: Analyzes user behavior data instantly without delays or batch processing.
Self-Serve Analytics: Allows non-technical team members to explore data and build reports without SQL knowledge.
Product managers and growth teams at SaaS companies or mobile apps who need to understand feature adoption, user engagement, and retention across devices. Less focused on advertising attribution, more on product optimization.
Free tier supports up to 20 million events per month. Growth plan starts at $28/month with pricing scaling based on event volume.
Best for: Digital analytics with behavioral cohort analysis across platforms
Amplitude is a digital analytics platform that provides behavioral insights across devices with user stitching capabilities for unified customer views.
Amplitude takes a behavioral approach to cross-device analytics. Rather than just tracking where users came from, it focuses on what they actually do—and how those behaviors change across devices.
The platform excels at cohort analysis, letting you group users based on actions they take across devices and measure how those cohorts perform over time. This helps you understand not just that users switch devices, but how device switching affects their engagement and conversion patterns.
User Profile Merging: Automatically identifies and merges user activity across devices into unified profiles.
Cross-Platform Journey Analysis: Visualizes complete user paths across mobile, web, and other digital touchpoints.
Behavioral Cohort Creation: Groups users based on actions taken across devices for targeted analysis.
Real-Time Analytics: Provides immediate insights into user behavior and supports live experimentation.
CDP and Marketing Integrations: Connects with customer data platforms and marketing tools to activate insights.
Product and growth teams that need deep behavioral insights across platforms. Particularly strong for mobile-first companies or businesses with complex product experiences spanning multiple devices.
Free Starter plan available for small teams. Growth plan pricing varies based on monthly tracked users and event volume.
Best for: Real-time identity resolution with strong mobile and IoT device support
mParticle is a customer data platform focused on real-time identity resolution and data orchestration across mobile, web, and connected devices.
mParticle's IDSync technology resolves user identities in real time as events occur. This means when a user switches from their phone to their tablet, the platform instantly recognizes it's the same person and updates their unified profile.
The platform was built with mobile-first architecture, making it particularly strong at handling the complexities of app-based tracking. It also extends to IoT devices and connected platforms, which matters as tracking expands beyond traditional web and mobile.
IDSync Technology: Resolves user identities in real time across devices using multiple identification methods.
First-Party Data Collection: Captures and activates first-party data directly from your properties without third-party dependencies.
Data Quality Management: Built-in validation and governance tools ensure clean, consistent data across all connected platforms.
300+ Marketing Integrations: Pre-built connections to marketing, analytics, and data warehouse tools.
Server-Side Data Forwarding: Sends data directly from servers to reduce client-side tracking vulnerabilities.
Mobile-centric companies and brands managing data across numerous connected devices. Strong fit for organizations prioritizing data quality and real-time identity resolution.
Custom pricing based on data volume and specific platform needs. Contact mParticle for tailored quotes.
Best for: Tag management combined with customer data platform capabilities
Tealium is a tag management and customer data platform with AudienceStream capabilities for building unified cross-device customer profiles.
Tealium combines tag management with CDP functionality in a way most platforms don't. This means you can manage all your tracking tags while simultaneously building unified customer profiles from that data.
The AudienceStream feature stitches together visitor activity across devices in real time, creating enriched profiles that update as users move between touchpoints. With 1,300+ turnkey integrations, you can activate these profiles across virtually any marketing tool without custom development.
AudienceStream CDP: Creates unified customer profiles with identity resolution across devices and channels.
Server-Side Tag Management: Moves tracking execution to servers for improved performance and reliability.
Real-Time Visitor Stitching: Connects anonymous and known user sessions instantly as identification occurs.
Consent Management Integration: Manages user privacy preferences across all connected platforms and tracking tags.
1,300+ Integrations: Extensive pre-built connections to marketing, analytics, and data platforms.
Marketing operations teams managing complex tag implementations who also need CDP capabilities. Ideal for organizations with extensive martech stacks requiring centralized data orchestration.
Custom enterprise pricing. Contact Tealium for quotes based on your specific implementation needs and scale.
Best for: Mobile attribution with cross-device measurement for app-focused businesses
AppsFlyer is a mobile attribution platform with People-Based Attribution technology that connects user journeys across apps, mobile web, and desktop.
AppsFlyer specializes in the unique challenges of mobile app attribution. Their People-Based Attribution technology tracks users across app installs, mobile web browsing, and desktop interactions.
With iOS privacy changes making mobile attribution increasingly difficult, AppsFlyer's SKAdNetwork support helps maintain measurement capabilities within Apple's privacy framework. The platform also excels at deep linking, connecting users seamlessly between web and app experiences while maintaining attribution throughout.
People-Based Attribution: Connects user journeys across mobile apps, mobile web, and desktop for complete cross-device measurement.
SKAdNetwork Support: Maintains iOS attribution capabilities within Apple's privacy-focused framework.
Deep Linking: Creates seamless transitions between web and app while preserving attribution data.
Fraud Protection: Built-in validation and fraud detection to ensure data accuracy across mobile channels.
Web-to-App Journey Tracking: Measures how desktop and mobile web interactions lead to app installs and in-app conversions.
Mobile app developers and marketers focused on app growth and monetization. Particularly valuable for businesses where the app is the primary conversion point or revenue driver.
Free Zero plan available for startups. Paid plans scale based on monthly non-organic conversions with custom enterprise options.
Choosing the right tool depends on your specific cross-device tracking challenges and primary use case. The landscape has shifted dramatically with privacy regulations and cookie restrictions, making first-party data strategies and server-side tracking essential.
For marketers focused on ad attribution and optimizing paid campaigns, Cometly offers the most direct solution with its server-side tracking and conversion sync capabilities. The platform addresses the core problem of connecting ad spend to revenue when users switch devices throughout their journey.
If you need enterprise-scale identity resolution for broader data initiatives, LiveRamp or mParticle provide robust infrastructure with deterministic matching and extensive partner integrations. These platforms excel at building unified customer views across massive datasets and complex ecosystems.
Product teams analyzing user behavior across platforms will find Mixpanel or Amplitude more aligned with their needs. Both focus on understanding what users do inside your product rather than how they arrived there, with strong identity stitching for behavioral analysis.
For mobile-heavy businesses, AppsFlyer specializes in app-to-web tracking challenges with People-Based Attribution and SKAdNetwork support. If your primary conversion point is a mobile app, this specialization matters.
Companies building comprehensive martech infrastructure should consider Segment or Tealium for their flexibility in connecting data across hundreds of tools while maintaining unified profiles. These platforms shine when you need to orchestrate data across many different systems.
The key is matching the tool to your primary use case—whether that's fixing attribution gaps in your paid campaigns, building unified customer profiles for personalization, or improving ad platform optimization through better data. Each platform takes a different approach to the same fundamental problem: connecting the dots when users bounce between devices.
Ready to elevate your marketing game with precision and confidence? Discover how Cometly's AI-driven recommendations can transform your ad strategy—Get your free demo today and start capturing every touchpoint to maximize your conversions.
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