What is first-touch attribution?
First-touch attribution is the practice of assigning credit for a lead or sale to the first marketing channel a customer interacted with.
In a customer journey, people often engage with multiple touchpoints before converting. For instance, someone might first see your brand on LinkedIn, then read more on ChatGPT, and finally click a Google Ads link to complete a purchase.
First-touch attribution simplifies this journey by giving full credit to the initial touchpoint, highlighting which channels are most effective at generating initial awareness.
Benefits of first-touch attribution
By assigning credit to the first touchpoint, marketers can identify which channels are most effective at introducing prospects to their brand.
Using the same example: Click from LinkedIn → Visit from ChatGPT → Click on Google Ads → Lead/sale
First-touch attribution would give all credit to LinkedIn (the first touch).
ROI would then look like this:
- LinkedIn: ROI = X
- ChatGPT: ROI = 0
- Google Ads: ROI = 0
While this approach doesn’t measure mid- or late-funnel contributions, it emphasizes which channels drive initial awareness. This is especially useful for businesses focused on lead generation and top-of-funnel growth, helping marketers allocate resources to channels that attract prospects first.
11 best first-touch attribution tools
1. LeadSources
LeadSources is a first-touch attribution tool that tracks the source of your leads throughout the whole customer journey.
It is probably the most advanced first-touch attribution tool when it comes to lead source tracking, as each lead comes with a comprehensive dataset of lead source data: channel, source, UTM parameters (campaign, term, content), device, OS, and browser. LeadSources also records all the pages visited during each session.
By unifying data from multiple sources, LeadSources eliminates fragmented reporting and provides a single source of truth for marketing performance.

Features:
- First-touch attribution across all channels
- Multi-touch attribution across all channels
- Captures detailed lead data: source, UTM parameters (campaign, term, and content), page paths, device, OS, and browser
- Integrates with all popular form builders and CRMs
Best for: LeadSources is ideal for B2B service businesses using multiple lead generation channels or managing long sales cycles.
Pricing: Starting at $48/month
2. Usermaven
Usermaven is a marketing attribution platform that centralizes data from multiple channels, giving a clear view of the customer journey. Its first-touch attribution tracks the initial touchpoint, helping businesses understand the first channel’s impact on conversions and make informed, data-driven decisions.

Features:
- Full customer-journey analytics
- First-touch and multi-touch attribution across channels
- Automatic tracking of clicks, page views, form submissions, and custom events
- Built-in attribution models (first-touch, last-touch, linear, time-decay, U-shaped)
- Revenue attribution
Best for: Mid-sized businesses seeking an intuitive, privacy-focused analytics platform with robust multi-touch attribution capabilities.
Pricing:
| Plan | Growth | Scale | Enterprise |
| Price | $84/month (monthly payment) $71/month (annual payment) | $199/month (monthly payment) $169/month (annual payment) | Contact sales |
| Usage | 3 users 3 workspaces 5 years of data history | Unlimited users 5 workspaces 7 years of data history | Unlimited users Custom workspaces Unlimited data history |
3. Ruler Analytics
Ruler Analytics is a first-touch attribution software that assigns each lead with the first channel that contributed to its generation, and links each lead to revenue.

Features:
- First-touch and multi-touch attribution modeling
- Revenue and opportunity attribution
- Track lead data for leads coming from web forms, call, and live chat
Best for: Businesses generate leads via forms, live chat, or phone calls that need to connect marketing efforts directly to revenue outcomes.
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing *Ruler Analytics offers a 12-month agreements as standard. | Website visits included |
| Small business | from £199 (pay monthly)* from £179 (pay annually)* | 5,000 monthly visits |
| Medium business | from £649 (pay monthly)* from £584 (pay annually)* | 50,000 monthly visits |
| Large business | from £1149 (pay monthly)* from £999 (pay annually)* | 100,000 monthly visits |
| Advanced | Contact sales | 200,000+ monthly visits |
4. ThoughtMetric
ThoughtMetric provides first-touch attribution for e-commerce and DTC brands. It tracks the full customer journey (from first click to final purchase) and attributes credit for conversions across all relevant marketing touchpoints, including the first touchpoint.

Features:
- First-touch conversion attribution
- Customer journey visualization, campaign and creative performance analysis, product-level analytics, lifetime value (LTV) tracking, and post‑purchase surveys to enrich attribution data
- Integrates with major e‑commerce platforms
Best for: E‑commerce DTC brands with simple customer journey that run brand awareness ads, and need an accurate view of their ROI to understand which awareness campaigns contribute to the final sale.
Pricing: Plans begin at US $99/month for stores with up to 50,000 pageviews per month
5. Hyros
Hyros is a campaign attribution tool for e-commerce brands offering first-touch attribution and ad tracking.

Features:
- First‑touch and multi-touch revenue attribution
- Full ad‑platform attribution
- LTV tracking
Best for: Businesses with significant ad spend who need granular tracking of ad ROI and attribution
Pricing: Starting at $230/month (with annual plan)
6. Triple Whale
Triple Whale is a first-touch attribution tool for e-commerce brands with strong behavioural analytics and ecommerce attribution capabilities.

Features:
- First-touch attribution
- Multi-touch attribution
- Behavioral analytics
- Proprietary pixel technology
- Signals
- AI agent
- Custom events
- Audience builder
Best for: E‑commerce DTC brands with strong ad spend on awareness, and that need strong attribution insights.
Pricing: Free tier available, paid tier starts at $149/month.
7. Dreamdata
Dreamdata connects ad campaigns data, customer journey and revenue together to provide a full activation and attribution picture.

Features:
- Customer journey
- Performance attribution
- Build audience
- AI signals
- Revenue analytics
Best for: B2B businesses wanting precise analytics to tie marketing activities to actual revenue.
Pricing: Free tier available, paid tier starts at $750/month.
8. Cometly
Cometly is a first-touch attribution platform designed to track first interaction in the customer journey and assign accurate conversion credit to first touchpoint.

Features:
- User actions monitoring across multiple devices, domains, and ad platforms
- Server-side tracking
- AI-powered ad manager
Best for: SaaS, e-commerce and agency businesses that want to transform their marketing and sales data into actionable insights.
Pricing: Pricing is customized and requires contacting Cometly’s sales team for a tailored quote.
9. LeadsRx
LeadsRx is a first-touch marketing attribution platform that tracks and analyzes how the first touchpoint across digital and offline channels contributes to conversions and revenue.

Features: It provides first-touch marketing attribution, web, TV, radio, podcast, and OTT tracking, as well as integration of inbound calls and offline events
Best for: Enterprise marketers and agencies running a complex network of marketing channels, both digital and offline.
Pricing: Pricing is available upon request from LeadsRx sales.
10. Rockerbox
Rockerbox combines first-touch attribution, marketing-mix modeling, and testing to give businesses a complete and accurate view of how all their marketing efforts contribute to conversions and revenue.
It captures the first touchpoint across digital and offline channels, links it to actual conversions, and allows marketers to understand the true impact of their first channel in driving business results.
Features:
- First-touch attribution across all channels
- Multi-touch attribution across all channels
- Customizable attribution models
- Cross-device tracking
- Path-to-conversion analysis
- Integration with data warehouses and BI tools
Best for: Medium to large brands running complex marketing campaigns across multiple channels, including digital and offline.
Pricing: Pricing is available upon request.
11. HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot Marketing Hub offers first‑touch attribution as part of its advanced marketing reporting functionality. Available in Marketing Hub Enterprise (or high‑end tier).
Features:
- First-touch and multi-touch attribution models
- Contact, deal and revenue attribution reporting
Best for: Enterprise organisations that already use HubSpot, and want attribution without buying a specialised tool.
Pricing: $3,600 per month
How to choose the first-touch attribution tool that fits your needs
Are you focused on lead generation or brand awareness?
First-touch attribution works best for businesses that want to understand which channels effectively capture prospects at the beginning of the journey.
What data do you want to track?
Decide which initial touchpoints matter most—website visits, ad impressions, social media interactions, or email opens. Track the earliest point of engagement for actionable insights.
What attribution model is best for you?
Since first-touch attribution gives credit to the initial interaction, ensure the tool supports tracking and reporting first interactions clearly.
Integration capabilities with your tech stack:
Confirm the platform integrates with your CRM, analytics tools, and ad platforms to automatically capture first interactions.
Factor in pricing and scalability:
Consider the cost relative to the features you need. Some tools charge based on tracked interactions, while others have fixed pricing; pick one that scales with your business growth.
Test before committing:
Test the tool with your own campaigns through demos or trial periods to ensure it captures first interactions accurately and provides insights for top-of-funnel strategy.
FAQ
First-touch attribution assigns credit for a lead or sale to the first marketing interaction a customer had with your brand, emphasizing the channel that generated initial awareness.
It highlights which channels are most effective at attracting prospects, helping marketers optimize top-of-funnel efforts and allocate budgets efficiently.
They work best for businesses focused on lead generation, brand awareness, or top-of-funnel growth. Companies with short sales cycles or simpler journeys can benefit most.
Yes. By identifying channels that drive initial engagement, marketers can invest in campaigns that successfully attract new prospects and improve overall ROI.