Northbeam — Performance Grade B
Acceptable — monitor on mobile
Northbeam is a heatmaps, session recording, and analytics app for Shopify that scores Grade B in StackConflict’s independent performance lab — placing it among the better-performing apps in the Analytics category. With a moderate JavaScript bundle that is acceptable but worth monitoring as your stack grows (131.23 KB compressed) and a modest main-thread cost that stays within safe limits on most devices (69 ms desktop), it adds minimal friction to the storefront experience.
On mobile devices, StackConflict’s 4× throttle pass measured Northbeam’s execution cost directly at 1153 ms (1.2s) on mid-range Android hardware. This is within a manageable range, but stacks additively with every other third-party script on your store. Merchants adding multiple apps should monitor combined mobile CPU load using StackConflict’s Stack Builder.
Verdict (Grade B — Acceptable): Northbeam by Northbeam is a safe choice from a Shopify site speed perspective. It passes all StackConflict thresholds for payload, CPU, and layout stability. Install it with confidence on any storefront, including high-traffic mobile-first stores where JavaScript overhead directly influences Add-to-Cart conversion rates and Google’s Core Web Vitals ranking signals.
Lab Results
| Metric | Value | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| JS Payload | 131.23 KB | B |
| CPU Execution (desktop) | 69 ms | B |
| CPU Execution (mobile) | 1153 ms | — |
| Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.0 | A |
| Overall Grade | — | B |
| Category | Analytics | — |
| Last tested | 2026-05-28 | — |
Lab Verdict
Download size is within acceptable range. Monitor conversion impact on mobile storefronts.
Grading Scale
Each app is graded across three independent dimensions. The final grade is the worst of the three — no dimension can be hidden by a good score elsewhere.
| Grade | Payload | CPU (desktop) | CLS | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | ≤ 30 KB | ≤ 50 ms | < 0.1 | Lightweight — zero friction |
| B | ≤ 150 KB | ≤ 150 ms | < 0.25 | Acceptable — monitor on mobile |
| C | ≤ 500 KB | ≤ 500 ms | < 0.5 | Heavy — high conversion risk |
| D | > 500 KB | > 500 ms | ≥ 0.5 | Critical — avoid on mobile stores |
Real-World Production Benchmarks
StackConflict replayed 1 distinct merchant bundle variant in the clean-room shell — each representing a different merchant’s enabled feature set.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Median CPU (production variants) | 12 ms |
| Best-case merchant config | 12 ms |
| Worst-case merchant config | 12 ms |
| Merchant variants sampled | 1 |
All variants: 12 ms. The spread between best and worst case reflects how much the app’s JavaScript footprint changes when merchants enable heavy features (AI chatbots, video reviews, complex filter UIs, etc.).
About This Test
StackConflict measures app performance in a clean-room environment. Each app’s JavaScript bundle is injected into an owned Shopify development store via a Playwright-controlled browser, with no other third-party apps installed. V8 CPU cost is the ScriptDuration delta measured before and after injection on the same live page. Mobile CPU estimate applies the 4× Lighthouse slowdown factor to approximate real-device impact.
Data sourced from the StackConflict Lab. Last updated 2026-05-28.