Still weighing up whether to use Lunio or CHEQ to tackle your invalid traffic problem? Here, find out exactly who each click fraud detection platform is best for, so you can finally choose between Lunio vs CHEQ and start eliminating click fraud from your paid media campaigns.

Key takeaways

• Lunio and CHEQ solve overlapping problems, but each takes a different approach. Lunio is an invalid traffic detection tool built for performance marketers, while CHEQ is an enterprise go-to-market security platform that includes IVT detection.
• There's no unanimous winner — the right choice for you comes down to your specific needs. If you need a focused click fraud prevention tool to improve PPC results, Lunio is generally the best choice. Enterprises seeking a complete cybersecurity platform may benefit more from using CHEQ.
• More features isn’t the same as the right fit when it comes to choosing a click fraud prevention platform. Whether you choose CHEQ or Lunio, make sure the platform offers the specific features you need.
• In-house performance marketers spending $1M+ on lead gen and high CPC campaigns will generally find that Lunio is the stronger option. Lunio is built by and for marketers, offering real-time IVT detection, a false positive rate of less than 1%, and account management support from paid media specialists.

Introduction

You’ve done the research, and now it’s down to two of the top names in click fraud protection: Lunio vs CHEQ. You’ve seen all the scorecards and reviews, but it’s still too close to call.

It’s understandable. Both Lunio and CHEQ are strong contenders with an excellent track record of mitigating click fraud for their customers. So the right choice depends on who you are and how each solution maps to your needs.

In most cases, Lunio is the best click fraud detection platform for in-house performance marketers seeking a focused click fraud tool built specifically for advertisers, while CHEQ is better suited to enterprises who need a full security suite that protects all their digital assets, including websites, APIs, and ads. (Note that in this article, CHEQ refers to the full CHEQ enterprise platform, rather than CHEQ ClickCease — more on this distinction shortly.)

This guide offers an evidence-based comparison of Lunio vs CHEQ against seven key criteria. See the strengths of each platform at a glance in our comparison table, then find out which solution is strongest in each category to decide which best fits your needs.

First, which "CHEQ" are you comparing?

Back in 2020, CHEQ acquired ClickCease, a lightweight click fraud platform aimed at small to medium-sized businesses. ClickCease now operates as CHEQ ClickCease (also previously known as CHEQ Essentials).

This article compares Lunio with CHEQ’s full enterprise platform, not CHEQ ClickCease. CHEQ’s enterprise platform is a broader suite of security tools aimed at large companies, and offers many more benefits than CHEQ ClickCease, which is why we’ve compared it with Lunio here.

To find out more about CHEQ Essentials/ClickCease and how it measures up against competing platforms, read our ranking of the best click fraud detection tools.

Lunio vs CHEQ at a glance

Compare Lunio vs CHEQ against all the key criteria at a glance in this comparison table.

Both Lunio and CHEQ offer world-class invalid traffic detection, but it’s clear from this comparison that there are important differences which can help you make your final decision on which click fraud detection platform to choose.

Lunio vs CHEQ, compared by criteria

Let’s take a deeper look at the pros and cons of both Lunio and CHEQ against each of the criteria above, and find out the verdict for each round.

Scope & coverage

Verdict: Lunio wins for focus, CHEQ wins for coverage breadth

This criterion is the core trade-off between the two platforms. CHEQ offers an expansive range of cybersecurity modules as part of its platform, while Lunio focuses solely on invalid traffic detection.

If you just need protection for your paid media assets, Lunio is the clear winner. The platform is built by and for performance marketers, so everything from the reporting suite to platform setup is optimized for marketers. If you’re looking for a full-stack cybersecurity platform that offers bot mitigation and data governance alongside IVT detection, CHEQ is probably more suitable.

Integrations & setup

Verdict: Lunio wins for ease of setup, CHEQ wins for integration volume

Both Lunio and CHEQ offer simple setup so the platform can be deployed without the need for IT or cybersecurity specialists. But depending on which CHEQ modules you need, it may be best to seek advice or support from your technical team, especially if you’re not using CHEQ’s onboarding package).

If you’re looking for a system that plugs into all your other sales, marketing, and security platforms (think Hubspot, Salesforce, and Cloudflare), CHEQ is the winner here. It offers a broad range of integrations, including many major ad platforms.

False positive methodology

Verdict: CHEQ wins on false positive rate, Lunio wins for methodology transparency

CHEQ’s published false positive rate is 0.8%, while Lunio’s is under 1%. There’s not a huge difference here, but CHEQ just about wins the category based on this.

However it’s also important to understand how click fraud prevention platforms work to reduce false positives. Lunio flags traffic it deems “suspicious” and rechecks it automatically to determine if it’s invalid. This keeps the false positive rate very low and minimizes the impact on real users. CHEQ doesn’t publish its methodology, so Lunio wins for transparency.

Account management

Verdict: Lunio wins

Lunio customers are supported by account managers who are also paid media specialists. This is a key advantage for performance marketers and PPC teams who have unique specific challenges, rather than broad cybersecurity concerns.

Not all CHEQ customers qualify for account management support. Customer support managers tend to offer enterprise support, rather than assistance specifically geared towards paid media.

Compliance

Verdict: CHEQ wins

Both solutions adhere to all the major compliance frameworks, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR. However, CHEQ also complies with additional privacy modules that give it a slight edge over Lunio on compliance.

Reporting

Verdict: Lunio wins for actionable marketer reports; CHEQ wins on report volume

CHEQ offers more reports than Lunio, which makes sense as the platform has a broader scope. In addition to granular insights in CHEQ Analytics, you’ll also get access to reports across CHEQ’s full enterprise suite.

While Lunio may offer fewer total reports than CHEQ, its dashboards are carefully optimized to give performance marketers all the data they need to make informed, actionable decisions. Reports are broken down by channel, campaign, and location, so you can see exactly which campaigns are affected by IVT and where the traffic is coming from. If you want a concentrated set of reports designed specifically for paid media campaign management, Lunio is the winner here.

Pricing

Verdict: Lunio wins for free trial

Neither Lunio nor CHEQ publishes their pricing; both require a demo to provide a quote. So there’s not an obvious winner here, although Lunio does offer a 14-day free trial so you can see how much IVT is affecting your campaigns.

Which should you choose: Lunio or CHEQ?

Ultimately, whether you choose Lunio or CHEQ boils down to how bots are affecting your business:

• Choose Lunio if you’re an in-house performance marketer looking to reduce wasted ad spend and improve automated campaign results.
• Choose CHEQ if you’re an enterprise organization that needs a strong bot mitigation tool to protect all its digital assets.

For high-spend in-house performance marketers, Lunio is the obvious choice. It offers everything you need to improve campaign performance and minimize wasted ad spend, without sacrificing user experience for genuine site visitors. And you won’t pay for an array of extra security tools you just don’t need.

The verdict

According to our ranking of the 9 best click fraud detection tools currently on the market, Lunio ranked #1 with a score of 4.63/5. CHEQ ranked #2, scoring 4.00/5. So you could do worse than choosing either of these platforms to tackle your invalid traffic problem.

The real verdict comes down to who you are and what you need from your solution. Performance marketers will get the most value from Lunio, while CHEQ is more likely to suit enterprises with broader cybersecurity needs.

Why performance marketers choose Lunio

Lunio offers true value to performance marketers. With our IVT detection platform, you’ll get cleaner data, better automated campaign results, and more genuine leads. It’s why companies like advertisers like Canto choose to work with Lunio — within just two months, Canto increased their qualified pipeline by $350,000.

Lunio blocks IVT in real-time, removing bots and other fake users from your traffic before the click, so they can’t affect your data or campaign performance. Eliminating IVT before the click also saves you thousands in wasted ad spend, so you can redirect it to real users with a genuine interest in your ads.

Lunio lets real users access your site seamlessly, with no delays or UX issues. Our false positive rate is less than 1%, and Lunio automatically rechecks any suspicious traffic before taking action. With fast, easy deployment, support from a dedicated paid media specialist CSM, and accessible, actionable reports, Lunio has everything advertisers need to boost their paid media performance.

Get a free 14-day traffic audit with Lunio to see exactly how much IVT is affecting your campaigns today.

FAQ

Learn more about Lunio and CHEQ (and how they measure up) in these frequently asked questions.

Is Lunio or CHEQ better for click fraud protection?

Both Lunio and CHEQ offer excellent click fraud protection, but Lunio is generally more suitable if you’re looking for click fraud prevention exclusively. CHEQ may be preferable if you want a full-stack cybersecurity solution that includes click fraud prevention, but it may be overkill if you don’t need a full bot mitigation suite.

What's the difference between CHEQ and CHEQ Essentials (ClickCease)?

CHEQ is an enterprise cybersecurity platform that includes click fraud detection, bot mitigation, data governance, and web form protection. CHEQ ClickCease — formerly known as CHEQ Essentials and ClickCease — is a basic click fraud detection solution designed specifically for small to medium-sized businesses.

Is CHEQ a click fraud tool or a cybersecurity platform?

CHEQ is a broad cybersecurity platform that includes a click fraud tool — CHEQ Acquisition — as part of its suite. CHEQ also includes many other products as part of its software suite, including CHEQ Analytics, CHEQ Form Guard, CHEQ Manage, and CHEQ Enforce.

Which is better for Google Ads and Meta lead gen specifically?

Lunio is designed for performance marketers using paid media for lead generation, so this is probably the better choice if you’re looking to protect paid Google and Meta lead gen campaigns specifically.

Lunio has a proven track record of improving lead quality for its customers, as eliminating invalid traffic reduces the amount of spam leads in your CRM. Funding Circle saw a 10% increase in MQL conversion rate alongside an 81.41% reduction in average IVT after using Lunio for 14 months.

Is CHEQ worth it for a performance marketing team?

CHEQ will help mitigate click fraud for a performance marketing team, but it comes with a lot of other modules that are often excessive for teams seeking click fraud prevention alone. This can make it expensive and unwieldy for performance marketers.

Buying a full security suite to fix a click fraud problem can be overkill. But if IVT across your whole digital estate — including APIs, forms, and websites — is a serious risk for your business, buying a full security suite like CHEQ may be worthwhile. So you’ll need to decide if CHEQ is worth it on that basis.