Optimizely started as the A/B testing tool that Dan Siroker built based on his experience running experiments for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He and Pete Koomen founded the company in 2010, and it quickly became the default experimentation platform for enterprise companies.
The product evolved well beyond testing. After Episerver acquired Optimizely in 2020 for an undisclosed sum (estimated around $600 million) and adopted the Optimizely name, the platform expanded into a Digital Experience Platform covering content management, commerce, experimentation, and personalization under one roof.
Optimizely Web Experimentation handles client-side A/B tests, multivariate tests, and personalization. Feature Experimentation (server-side) lets engineering teams run experiments within their code using feature flags — rolling out new functionality to a percentage of users and measuring impact before full deployment. This server-side capability is what separates Optimizely from simpler testing tools.
The Content Marketing Platform helps teams plan, create, and collaborate on content at scale. It includes editorial calendars, workflow management, and asset management. Optimizely CMS and Commerce Cloud power website content and e-commerce experiences for enterprise clients.
Optimizely Data Platform (formerly Zaius) unifies customer data from multiple sources to power segmentation and targeting across all channels. Pricing is enterprise-only and starts well into five figures annually. The company serves thousands of enterprises including Microsoft, eBay, Pizza Hut, and H&M. While the original A/B testing market has become commoditized, Optimizely’s bet on becoming a full DXP has given it a differentiated position that pure testing tools can’t match.
