AgentXray vs Perpetua: Settlement-Verified Profit vs Goal-Based Ad Optimization
Last updated: 2026-08-16
TL;DR
Perpetua is a goal-based ad optimizer from $695/mo plus a percentage of ad spend above $10K. AgentXray does not drive your ads — it verifies what they earned against settlement line items, for a flfrom $29/mo with no percentage of anything. One scales its fee with your spend; the other audits the spend.
Perpetua (perpetua.io) is one of the best-known Amazon ad optimizers: you set a target ACoS or growth goal and its engine manages bids and budgets across Sponsored Products, Brands, Display and DSP, with strong creative tooling on top. Entry is $695/mo (Essentials, up to $10K monthly ad spend) and above that a percentage of spend is added — the rate is not publicly disclosed. There is no free trial and no annual billing. AgentXray sits on the other side of the ledger: it reads your settlement line items — the fees Amazon actually charged, not the estimates — and tells you the net contribution of every advertising arm. It changes nothing by itself and costs a flfrom $29/mo. This page is for sellers deciding whether they need a driver, an auditor, or both.
The tools compared
AgentXray
From $29/mo — Flat fee, no commission on ad sales; every feature at every tier
Measurement layer for Amazon sellers: settlement-verified profit, break-even and per-arm net contribution.
Strengths
- Profit verified against settlement line items, not estimates
- Net contribution per advertising arm — the core metric
- Flat from $29/mo — never a percentage of ad spend
- Free no-login tools; no commission
Best for: Sellers who want the ads they run — by hand or by any optimizer — audited against the money that actually landed.
Perpetua
$695/mo+ — Essentials $695/mo up to $10K ad spend; Growth adds % of spend; no free trial, no annual billing
Goal-based ad optimization platform for Amazon and other retail media.
Strengths
- Goal-based, always-on bid optimization (SP, SB, SD, DSP)
- Strong creative/video ad tooling (Perpetua Studios)
- Established mid-market/enterprise base
- Multi-retailer: Amazon, Walmart, Instacart
Best for: Brands with $10K+ monthly ad spend that want goal-based automation and are comfortable with percentage-of-spend pricing.
Feature comparison
Side by side
| Aspect | AgentXray | Perpetua |
|---|---|---|
| Manages bids/budgets | No — measures and flags | Yes, goal-based, always-on |
| Profit source of truth | Settlement line items | Platform metrics + estimates |
| Pricing model | From $29/mo flat | $695/mo + % of spend above $10K |
| Free trial | 21 days | No (demo only) |
| Creative/video tooling | No | Yes (Studios) |
| Entry cost / year | $348 (or $290 yearly) | $8,340+ |
Verdict by use case
- Driving/optimizing ad campaigns: Perpetua
- Verifying ads actually made money: AgentXray
- True per-unit break-even (fees as settled): AgentXray
- Optimizer plus independent audit: Both
If you want a system to drive your Amazon ads, Perpetua is a credible pick in its bracket. If you want to know whether the driving made money — whoever or whatever did it — that is AgentXray: profit verified at the settlement, flat fee, no percentage of the spend it audits. The two run together without conflict.
Frequently asked questions
- Is AgentXray a Perpetua alternative?
- Only partially. Perpetua manages your ads; AgentXray measures whether the ads made money at settlement level. A seller replacing Perpetua still needs something to run campaigns — Amazon's own free Ads Agent, another optimizer, or manual management. What AgentXray replaces is flying blind on whether the optimization paid.
- Why does percentage-of-spend pricing matter?
- A fee that grows with ad spend rewards the vendor when your spend grows — which is exactly the variable an optimizer controls. It is a common model and not dishonest, but an AUDIT priced that way would have a conflict of interest. AgentXray charges a flfrom $29/mo precisely because it grades the spend.
- Can I run Perpetua and AgentXray together?
- Yes — that is the natural pairing. Perpetua (or any optimizer) drives; AgentXray independently verifies net contribution per arm from the settlement. Optimizers report their own results; the settlement is the referee.
- What does AgentXray have that Perpetua's analytics do not?
- Settlement-line-item truth. Measured on our own seller account, Amazon's fee estimate ran $0.69/unit below the settled FBA fee, and on amazon.com.au every fee carries +10% GST that estimates exclude. Analytics built on estimates inherit those gaps; a break-even computed from them is wrong before the first click.
Research sources
- Perpetua pricing analyses (jordiob.com, xneeti.com) — accessed 2026-08-16
- Perpetua site (perpetua.io) — accessed 2026-08-16
- AgentXray settlement-measured economics — internal, 2026-07