Choosing between these two comes down to one question: are you optimizing for today's profit or for customer lifetime value over the next year? TrueProfit and Lifetimely both auto-build a profit-and-loss view that Shopify's native reports don't, but they weight the job differently. This guide walks the real numbers so you can decide, and it sits inside our wider profit analytics tools comparison if you want the full landscape.
TrueProfit vs Lifetimely at a glance
TrueProfit ("TP: True Profit Analytics") positions itself as the real-time net-profit dashboard for Shopify sellers, updating profit throughout the day and layering in ad attribution. Lifetimely (by AMP) leads with predictive lifetime value and cohort analytics, delivering a clean daily P&L to your inbox and Slack.
One ownership note before you read further: Lifetimely is owned and operated by AMP, a Singapore Shopify-app company that acquired it in late 2022 (per AMP's company page). It is not connected to Ampla, the unrelated New York fintech lender — a common mix-up. Lifetimely's Shopify listing is live and actively maintained.
What each tool is built for
TrueProfit: intraday profit and ad attribution
TrueProfit's strength is breadth of automated cost tracking — COGS, shipping, transaction fees, taxes, and custom costs — feeding a real-time profit dashboard, plus product- and ad-level profitability and a native mobile app on iOS and Android. It holds a 4.9 / 5 rating across 779 reviews on the Shopify App Store, among the highest in this category.
One catch worth knowing up front: multi-touch marketing attribution is gated to TrueProfit's top Enterprise tier, per its pricing page. Lower plans give you last-click-style views, not the full multi-touch model.
Lifetimely: lifetime value and cohorts
Lifetimely's edge is retention intelligence. It builds predictive LTV, cohort reporting (segment by first purchase date, first product, acquisition channel, or geography), CAC-versus-LTV, repeat-purchase rate, and CAC payback — cohort depth that reviewers call best-in-class for a Shopify app. Its "Profit Agent" AI monitors your numbers and flags risks and opportunities. Lifetimely carries a 4.8 / 5 rating across 504 reviews on the Shopify App Store.
The trade-off: Lifetimely's attribution is first- and last-touch only — simpler than TrueProfit's multi-touch (which, again, is Enterprise-gated on TrueProfit anyway). If you want a fuller breakdown of the profit-tracking mechanics both apps share, see what TrueProfit is and how it works.
Pricing compared
Both price on order volume, not revenue — so your bill tracks how many orders you ship, not your GMV. That's merchant-friendly for POD stores with lower average order values. Figures below are from TrueProfit's pricing page and AMP's pricing page, accessed mid-2026; re-check the live pages before you commit, since these move.
| Monthly orders | TrueProfit | Lifetimely |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 | Basic, $35/mo | Free, $0/mo |
| ~300–500 | Basic, $35/mo (300 incl.) | S, ~$79/mo |
| ~600–3,000 | Advanced $60 / Ultimate $100 | M, $149/mo |
| 7,000–15,000 | Enterprise, $200/mo (3,500 incl.) | XL, $499/mo |
| 25,000+ | Enterprise + overage | Unlimited, $999/mo |
Two things stand out. First, Lifetimely has a genuine free plan up to 50 orders/month — good for validating a new POD store — while TrueProfit's entry is $35 with a 14-day trial. Second, TrueProfit's Basic includes 300 orders and then charges a capped $0.30/order overage before you upgrade, per the pricing page. Lifetimely's S and L prices come from third parties, not AMP's live page, so treat ~$79 and ~$299 as approximate. Note too that Lifetimely's Amazon data is a +$75/mo add-on, per AMP's pricing — irrelevant if you're Shopify-only, but a real cost if you sell on both.
For a store under a few hundred orders a month, TrueProfit is usually cheaper once you're past the free tier; for a validation-stage store, Lifetimely's free plan wins.
The POD problem both tools quietly share
Here's what neither comparison table on the ranking pages tells you: print-on-demand breaks static COGS. Your cost of goods isn't one number you type once — it's set per variant by Printful, Printify, or Gelato, and it shifts with the base product, print method, and the supplier's own price changes.
TrueProfit has the stronger published story here: it advertises quantity-based COGS and custom costs and integrates Printful, Printify, and Gelato directly, per its Shopify listing. Lifetimely ingests COGS into its P&L but does not publish POD-supplier-specific per-variant logic, so don't assume it auto-syncs Printify price changes — enter costs and verify. If POD cost accuracy is your deciding factor, TrueProfit's alternatives are worth scanning too, since several handle supplier costs differently.
Ad-platform coverage
POD sellers concentrate spend on Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, and Google. Coverage differs sharply. TrueProfit names eight ad networks — Meta, Google, TikTok, Bing, Snapchat, Amazon Ads, Pinterest, and X — on its Shopify listing. Lifetimely connects three: Google Ads, Meta, and TikTok, per AMP's product page.
If you run Pinterest or Snapchat ads, that gap matters: TrueProfit will pull that spend into profit; Lifetimely won't show it as a native channel. For a Meta-and-Google-only POD store, both cover you.
A worked example: per-order profit
Say you sell a print-on-demand hoodie at $45. Walk the real math a profit tool should show you, not the gross-revenue number Shopify highlights:
- Printify base cost (garment + print): $22.00
- Shipping charged to you: $5.50
- Shopify transaction fee (~2.9% + $0.30): $1.61
- Ad cost per order (say $12 spend to acquire the sale): $12.00
Revenue $45.00 − $22.00 − $5.50 − $1.61 − $12.00 = $3.89 net profit per order. That's an 8.6% net margin ($3.89 ÷ $45.00), not the 51% "gross" you'd eyeball from $45 − $22. Now suppose Printify raises the garment cost to $24.50. Your per-order profit drops to $1.39 — a 64% cut — from a $2.50 supplier change you never saw. This is exactly why per-variant COGS accuracy, not the dashboard's polish, is the metric that decides whether a POD tool is telling you the truth.
Both TrueProfit and Lifetimely will build a version of this P&L automatically. The question is whether the COGS line stays correct after your supplier reprices.
Where PodVector fits (honest disclosure)
Full transparency: PodVector publishes this comparison and has an interest in it, so here's the fair version. Both TrueProfit and Lifetimely are strong, well-reviewed profit apps — if you want a classic profit dashboard, either is a reasonable buy, and Lifetimely's cohort depth genuinely beats most rivals.
PodVector is a different shape. It's not a dashboard. PodVector connects Shopify, Meta Ads, Google Ads, Printify, and Printful, and computes your true per-order profit from that live data. On top sits Victor, an AI operator who analyzes your numbers and proposes moves — and, with your approval, executes Shopify-side actions. Victor reads your ad data to find where margin leaks; he does not touch your ad account. If you're weighing a tool against a manual profit sheet first, our take on TrueProfit vs spreadsheets covers that decision. Or you can try PodVector and see your real per-order profit.
FAQs
Is TrueProfit or Lifetimely better for a print-on-demand store?
For most POD stores, TrueProfit edges it on two axes that matter to POD: broader ad coverage (eight networks vs. three) and direct Printful/Printify/Gelato integration with quantity-based COGS, per its Shopify listing. Choose Lifetimely if lifetime value and retention are your main question rather than intraday profit.
Which one is cheaper?
It depends on order volume. Lifetimely is free up to 50 orders/month, per AMP's pricing, so it wins for validation-stage stores. Past that, TrueProfit's $35 Basic (300 orders included) is usually cheaper than Lifetimely's ~$79 S and $149 M tiers, per TrueProfit's pricing. Both bill on orders, not revenue.
Does Lifetimely have multi-touch attribution?
No. Lifetimely uses first- and last-touch attribution. TrueProfit offers multi-touch, but only on its top Enterprise tier, per its pricing page — so neither gives you affordable multi-touch on an entry plan.
Do either of them handle POD supplier costs automatically?
TrueProfit publishes direct Printful, Printify, and Gelato integrations plus quantity-based COGS, per its Shopify listing. Lifetimely ingests COGS into its P&L but doesn't publish per-variant POD logic, so verify your costs after any supplier price change rather than assuming they sync.
Is Lifetimely still supported, or did its parent company shut down?
It's live and maintained. Lifetimely is owned by AMP (Singapore), confirmed on AMP's page. The company that had financial trouble was Ampla, a separate New York fintech — a name collision, not the same business.
What if I want the tool to act on the profit leaks, not just show them?
That's the gap dashboards leave: they surface the number and stop. PodVector's Victor analyzes your connected Shopify, ad, and POD data, proposes the fix, and can execute Shopify-side changes with your approval. From there you'll see per-order profit and where it's leaking.