Compare · Microsoft Clarity
Microsoft Clarity alternative.
Clarity is free and great for watching sessions. Pieowl adds the product analytics around them: funnels, retention, cohorts, user profiles and revenue. It sets no cookies, and it runs in our EU cloud.
- Session replay
- Funnels, retention and cohorts
- No cookies
- EU cloud
Pieowl vs Microsoft Clarity: Which is right for you?
Pieowl if…
- 1You need retention, cohorts and user profiles, not just recordings
- 2You want analytics without cookies
- 3You want your data stored in the EU
Microsoft Clarity if…
- 1You want recordings and heatmaps at no cost, with no traffic limits
- 2You want rage-click and dead-click detection
- 3You want replay in native iOS, Android or Flutter apps
Clarity shows how people behave on a page. Pieowl shows what users do across visits and what it means for your business.
Why consider Pieowl over Microsoft Clarity?
Microsoft Clarity is free forever with no traffic limits. It records sessions, draws heatmaps, flags rage clicks and dead clicks, and now adds AI summaries and an AI chat. For watching how people use a page, it is hard to beat on price.
Clarity is built around single sessions and pages. Pieowl is built around users and outcomes. You can see which steps people skip in a funnel, how many come back after a week, how a cohort behaves over time, and which campaign brings revenue. Pieowl also has session replay, so you can jump from a drop-off to the recording.
Privacy works differently too. Clarity relies on first-party cookies. Microsoft says it needs explicit consent in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, and without consent it splits visits into separate sessions and cannot show full replays. Pieowl sets no cookies and does not store IP addresses.
Clarity keeps your data in Microsoft's Azure cloud. Pieowl runs in our EU cloud. If heatmaps matter most to you, keep Clarity. Some teams run both: Clarity for heatmaps, Pieowl for product analytics.
Key differences at a glance
How Pieowl and Microsoft Clarity compare on the points teams ask about most. Clarity details checked October 2026.
| Feature | Pieowl | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|
| Key differences | ||
| Focus | Product analytics plus replay | Recordings and heatmaps |
| Price | From $9/mo for 10K events, after a 14-day free trial | Free, no traffic limits |
| Cookies | None | First-party cookies |
| Hosting | EU cloud | Microsoft Azure |
| Heatmaps | No | Yes |
| Behavior analytics | ||
| Session replayPieowl replay is for websites, opt-in per site, with text always hidden | Yes | Yes |
| Rage and dead click detection | No | Yes |
| Sessions with JavaScript errors | No | Yes |
| AI summaries of recordings | No | Yes |
| Product analytics | ||
| Custom events | Yes | Custom tags |
| Funnels | Yes | Yes |
| RetentionNot found on Clarity's site | Yes | No |
| CohortsNot found on Clarity's site | Yes | No |
| User profilesNot found on Clarity's site | Yes | No |
| Revenue trackingNot found on Clarity's site | Yes | No |
| AI answers about your dataPieowl lets Claude, Cursor and other assistants query funnels, retention and more | Via your AI assistant (MCP) | Yes |
| Web analytics | ||
| Visitors, pages and sources | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy and hosting | ||
| No cookiesClarity uses first-party cookies | Yes | No |
| Masking sensitive content | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations and SDKs | ||
| Web SDKs | Yes | Yes |
| React Native | Events, no replay | Yes |
| Native iOS, Android and Flutter SDKs | No | Yes |
| Google Analytics integration | No | Yes |
Technical comparison
For developers, here is how the two tools differ under the hood.
| Feature | Pieowl | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|
| SDKs |
|
|
| Tracking script | About 3 KB gzipped; replay add-on loads only if you turn it on | Tracking code is public on GitHub |
| Browser storageWithout consent, Clarity splits visits into separate sessions | No cookies | First-party cookies |
| Hosting | EU cloud | Microsoft Azure only |
Pricing comparison
Clarity is free at any volume, which Pieowl cannot match. Pieowl has a 14-day free trial and then charges by events, from $9/mo. Checked October 2026.
Pieowl
Event-based, prices on the page- 14-day free trial, no card needed.
- Starter: from $9/month for 10K events, $19 for 100K and $69 for 1M.
- Growth: twice the Starter price, for up to 30 sites and 30 team members.
- Over 10M events a month: talk to us.
- Pay yearly and get 2 months free.
- Paid plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Microsoft Clarity
Free forever- Clarity is free, with no traffic limits and no paid plan to upgrade to.
- Projects and team members are not limited.
- Checked October 2026.
Moving from Microsoft Clarity to Pieowl
Decide first whether you want to replace Clarity or run both. Clarity stays free, so keeping it for heatmaps is a fair choice.
- 01Decide: replace or pair
If you need replay plus funnels and retention, Pieowl can replace Clarity. If you rely on heatmaps or rage-click detection, keep Clarity for those.
- 02Add the Pieowl script or SDK
Add the Pieowl script tag or an SDK such as @pieowl/web. Page views and outgoing links are tracked for you.
- 03Turn on session replay
Turn it on in Settings → Site, with no code to edit. Text and form fields are always hidden. Block other sensitive elements with data-pieowl-replay-block.
- 04Track key events and identify users
Call pieowl.track('signup') at key steps and pieowl.identify({ profileId: user.id }) after login. Events, sessions and replays then connect to one profile.
- 05Build funnels and retention
Set up a signup funnel and a retention chart. Or ask your AI assistant to run them for you over MCP.
Effort: Easy
Estimated time: 30 minutes to 2 hoursSDK compatibility
Clarity records sessions automatically and uses custom tags. Pieowl tracks events you name, plus page views and outgoing links.Historical data
Clarity recordings cannot be moved to Pieowl. Clarity keeps recordings for about a month, so most teams start fresh.
Where Pieowl is a better fit than Microsoft Clarity
Pieowl suits teams that need to measure outcomes, not only watch sessions.
SaaS products that track retention
See how many users come back each week and which actions keep them. Clarity has no retention or cohort reports.
Teams that avoid cookies
Pieowl sets no cookies and does not store IP addresses. Clarity relies on cookies and needs consent in parts of Europe.
Products with logged-in users
Identify users and see each person's events, sessions and replays in one profile.
Revenue questions
Track revenue with one call, like pieowl('revenue', 4900) for $49, and see it by source, campaign and referrer. Or ask your AI assistant over MCP.
Using both tools
Clarity is free, so some teams keep it for heatmaps and use Pieowl for funnels, retention and revenue.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Microsoft Clarity and Pieowl.
Is Microsoft Clarity really free?
Yes. Microsoft says Clarity is free forever, with no traffic limits and no paid version. Checked October 2026.
Why pay for Pieowl when Clarity is free?
They answer different questions. Clarity shows how people behave on a page. Pieowl shows what users do across visits: funnels, retention, cohorts, user profiles and revenue. You can try Pieowl free for 14 days, no card needed.
Does Clarity use cookies?
Yes. Clarity relies on first-party cookies. Microsoft says it needs explicit consent in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. Pieowl sets no cookies.
Does Clarity have retention and cohorts?
Clarity has funnels, but we found no retention or cohort reports. Pieowl includes both.
How long does Clarity keep my data?
Microsoft says recordings are kept for about a month from the time of recording.
Does Pieowl have heatmaps or rage-click detection?
No. This is where Clarity is stronger. Pieowl has session replay, but no heatmaps and no frustration signals.
Does Pieowl support mobile apps?
Pieowl has a React Native SDK for events. Session replay is for websites only. Clarity has mobile SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter and React Native.
Can I use Clarity and Pieowl together?
Yes. Clarity for heatmaps and Pieowl for product analytics is a common setup. Keep in mind that Clarity still needs consent where its cookies require it.
Does Pieowl have AI like Clarity?
Yes. Pieowl has an MCP server, so your own AI assistant, like Claude or Cursor, can answer questions about funnels, retention and more. Clarity also has AI summaries and an AI chat.
Keep reading
Ready to make the switch?
14-day free trial, no card needed. Then from $9 a month for 10K events.