Feature · Session replay
Session replay: see exactly what your users did.
Replay a session to see clicks, scrolls and page changes in order. Text and form fields are always hidden, and the recorder only loads when you turn replay on.
- Opt-in per site
- Text and form fields always hidden
- Block any element
The basics
What is session replay?
- 01Turn on replay in the dashboard
- 02The recorder loads separately
- 03Changes are sent in small chunks
- 04Watch any session in the dashboard
Session replay lets you watch a recording of what a real person did during a visit to your site. You see clicks, scrolls, form interactions and page changes, played back in order.
Most analytics tell you what happened in total: 40% of people dropped off at step 2. Session replay shows you why: someone couldn't find a button, misread a form label or hit an error you didn't know about.
Pieowl session replay is built on rrweb, a widely used recording library. It records page changes and interactions as data, not video. That matters because:
- Privacy is easier to control: text is hidden in the browser, and you can block whole elements with data attributes and CSS selectors
- Recordings stay small: structured data takes far less space than video
- Playback is quick: no video to buffer
Session replay is opt-in and off by default. You turn it on per site in the dashboard, with no code to edit. When it's off, the recorder is never loaded. When it's on, the recorder loads as a separate script, so your main tracking script stays small. You can also record only a share of visits: 50%, 25% or 10%.
Privacy controls are on from the start:
- All text is always hidden: letters are replaced with asterisks, and this can't be turned off
- All form fields are always hidden: form values are never recorded
- Block any element with the
data-pieowl-replay-blockattribute or a CSS selector - Ignore interactions on sensitive elements
Replays belong to visits. In People → Visitors → Visits, a visit with a recording has a Replay chip, and you can watch it next to its list of events. When a user reports a bug, find their session and see what happened, without asking them to reproduce it.
Session replay on every plan
What you get with session replay
What you need to understand real user behavior, with privacy controls built in from the start.
Full session playback
Replay a recorded session from start to finish. See clicks, scrolls, form interactions and page changes in the order they happened.
Linked to sessions and profiles
Each replay belongs to a session, with its events alongside. Identified users' sessions sit on their profile.
Text and form fields always hidden
Text is shown as asterisks and form values are never recorded. This can't be turned off, in the dashboard or in code.
Block and ignore controls
Hide whole elements with a data attribute or CSS selector, and ignore interactions on sensitive areas.
Separate, on-demand recorder
The recorder is a separate script. When replay is off it's never fetched, so your main tracking script stays small.
Choose how many visits to record
Record every visit, or only 50%, 25% or 10% of them. You pick this in the dashboard.
Set up
How session replay works
Turn it on once and qualifying sessions are recorded automatically.
- 1
Turn on replay in the dashboard
In Settings → Site, turn on Session replay and choose how many visits to record. The usual one-line script tag is enough, with no code to edit.
- 2
The recorder loads separately
When a session starts, Pieowl loads the replay recorder as its own script. It doesn't change the size of your main tracking script.
- 3
Changes are sent in small chunks
The recorder captures page changes and interactions and sends them in small chunks about every 10 seconds, and when the visitor leaves the page.
- 4
Watch any session in the dashboard
Open a visit with a Replay chip in People → Visitors → Visits and click Watch replay. You see what the visitor saw, next to the events from that visit.
Use cases
Who uses session replay
Teams that need to see real behavior, beyond what numbers can show.
Product teams
When a funnel shows people dropping off at one step, watch a few sessions to see why: confusion, a missed button or an error.
Support and success teams
When a user reports a bug, find their session and watch it. You see what they saw, without asking them to reproduce it.
Privacy-conscious teams
Text and form fields are always hidden, and sensitive parts of the page can be blocked. You get the insight while recording as little personal data as possible.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about session replay with Pieowl.
Is session replay on by default?
No. Session replay is opt-in for each site. You turn it on in Settings → Site in the dashboard. When it's off, the replay recorder is never loaded.
Do I need my visitors' consent?
Yes. Session replay needs your visitors' consent. Keep the setting "Record only after visitors agree" on (it's on by default), and call pieowl('allowReplay') when a visitor accepts in your consent banner. Until then, nothing is recorded.
Does session replay slow down my site?
The recorder is a separate script that only loads when replay is on, so your main tracking script stays small. It loads without blocking the page.
Is it a video recording?
No. Pieowl records page changes and interactions as structured data using the rrweb library, then rebuilds the page during playback. That makes masking more precise and recordings much smaller than video.
Are form inputs and text recorded?
No. All input values are hidden, and all text is replaced with asterisks. This can't be turned off.
Can I hide parts of my page from recordings?
Yes. Add the data-pieowl-replay-block attribute to an element and it's replaced with an empty placeholder in the replay. You can also set your own CSS selectors to block or ignore elements.
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