Automatic event capture for complete digital product analytics
Heap is a product analytics platform for digital teams that automatically captures every user interaction without manual event tracking.
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AI Editor ApprovedApproved and published by our AI Editor-in-Chief after full panel analysis.In practice, teams add one JavaScript snippet to their product and Heap begins capturing every user action from that point forward. Analysts and product managers can then define events retroactively in the UI — no code deploys required — and immediately run analysis on historical data. The core workflow involves building funnels, retention analyses, and user journey maps using a point-and-click interface, without waiting for engineers to instrument new tracking each time a new question arises.
Heap surfaces several specific capabilities beyond basic analytics. Heap Illuminate uses data science to automatically flag friction points and high-impact moments in user flows — including behaviors teams weren't actively monitoring. Session replay is integrated directly into the analytics workflow, allowing users to jump from a funnel drop-off to the exact replay moment where it occurred. An AI assistant called CoPilot is available to help users navigate analytics without prior experience. The platform also offers over 100 integrations and a data science layer that maps alternate user paths and correlates events with conversion or retention outcomes.
Heap targets product managers, growth teams, and UX researchers at companies ranging from startups to enterprises. It is used by over 10,000 companies according to the website. Heap has a public pricing page and offers a free trial. It competes in the product analytics category alongside tools like Mixpanel, Amplitude, and FullStory. Heap is now part of Contentsquare, a digital experience analytics company.
Heap supports web, iOS, and Android data collection. The platform connects to data warehouses, CRMs, marketing tools, and customer success platforms through its integration library. All captured data is governed and organized within Heap's own interface, with options to push data to external destinations.
An AI assistant that enables anyone to get started with analytics regardless of experience level, bypassing lengthy onboarding to deliver insights directly.
Advanced data science capabilities that automatically alert users to key moments of friction and opportunity in the digital experience, including behaviors not actively being tracked.
Shows alternate paths users take and the effort required to complete any flow, identifying events that most correlate with conversion and retention.
Tracks customers' complete end-to-end journeys across digital experiences to support improvements in conversion, activation, and retention.
Captures the complete dataset automatically so users can analyze behaviors and create segments retroactively without having pre-configured tracking.
Provides full context on every user action with integrated session replay, directing users to the exact point in a session they care about.
A single snippet automatically captures every user interaction across every platform without requiring any engineering or manual event tracking setup.
Combines quantitative product analytics and qualitative session replay tools into a single platform for complete visibility into user behavior.
Over 100 integrations across the stack to deliver the right information to the right customers at the right moment in their journey.
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Auto-capture analytics that answers questions you didn't know to ask — now backed by Contentsquare.
“Founded 2013. Acquired by Contentsquare in 2023. Heap's autocapture model is the structural answer to 'we should have tracked that event' — retroactively.”
Founded 2013. Matin Movassate and Ravi Parikh. Acquired by Contentsquare in 2023 (price undisclosed). The autocapture differentiator survived the acquisition and now sits inside a larger digital experience platform.
Two things matter. One: the autocapture model — Heap captures every click, tap, form interaction by default, then lets you define events retroactively. That solves the 'we should have tagged that' problem every product analytics team has faced. Compare Mixpanel: requires upfront event tagging; you only know what you instrumented to know. Two: Contentsquare ownership means the strategic shape may evolve — Heap may stay best-of-breed or get bundled into Contentsquare's broader experience analytics suite.
For product teams that have hit the limits of event-tagged analytics, Heap is the most credible alternative. For teams just standing up analytics, Mixpanel's simpler model ships faster.
Differentiated autocapture model vs Mixpanel and Amplitude; PostHog open-source brings new pressure.
Heap brand has 11 years of product analytics credibility; Contentsquare parent adds enterprise-grade backing.
Single snippet install captures everything immediately — no event-tagging sprint required.
Strong fit for product teams past initial analytics setup; weaker fit for greenfield instrumentation projects.
Contentsquare acquisition removes the standalone-survival concern; product roadmap continuity is the new question.
Product teams past initial analytics setup who feel the cost of needing retroactive behavioral data.
You are setting up product analytics for the first time and have not yet hit the cost of missing event tags.
Schema-on-read for behavioral data — the architectural choice that defines retroactive analytics.
“Heap's autocapture stores everything and lets you define events at query time. That architectural call is what separates Heap from Mixpanel's schema-on-write tagging model.”
The architectural call is schema-on-read for behavioral data. Heap captures every DOM interaction by default and stores it in a queryable form. Events get defined retroactively against captured data. Mixpanel and Amplitude operate on a schema-on-write model — you define events upfront, and historical data only exists for events you tagged.
If we adopt this, in 3 years our analytics culture is different. Product managers ask retrospective questions without engineering involvement. 'How did users interact with the checkout flow before we shipped the redesign?' becomes a 5-minute analysis instead of a sprint to instrument and wait. The lock-in lives in the captured behavioral history; migration off Heap means losing the retroactive analysis capability.
Integration surface is JavaScript snippet, mobile SDKs, server-side ingestion API. Standard for the category. Contentsquare parent means the data may eventually flow into a broader experience analytics graph — strategic upside or platform-bundle pressure depending on your view.
Differentiated architectural model; PostHog's open-source autocapture is the new competitive pressure.
Maps to how product teams actually need analytics — answer questions you didn't know you'd have.
JavaScript snippet, mobile SDKs, server-side API — covers all instrumentation points modern apps need.
Behavioral history is the lock-in; Contentsquare ownership shapes the next 3 years of product evolution.
Schema-on-read autocapture is real architectural depth — not a feature, a foundational data model choice.
Product organizations where retroactive behavioral analysis is a daily question and event-tagging cycles are friction.
Your team has settled on a small set of stable metrics that fit the schema-on-write event-tagging model.
Contact-sales pricing on a category where Mixpanel publishes its tiers — the procurement friction is real.
“No published pricing. Category norm puts mid-market deployments at $20K-100K/year. The autocapture data volume is the cost driver and it scales fast.”
No published pricing. Category norm for product analytics at mid-market: $20K-100K/year all-in. Heap's autocapture model means data volume scales faster than event-tagged competitors — every interaction is captured, not just instrumented events.
10M monthly active users on Heap typically lands in the $50K-150K/year range based on category benchmarking. Compare Mixpanel published pricing: $25/month starter, scaling to $1500+/month for similar volume. PostHog Cloud at $0 for first 1M events, then per-event — materially cheaper at small scale, similar at enterprise scale.
The finance friction is the contact-sales motion. Heap requires a sales call before you see a number. That extends procurement by weeks. For published-pricing competitors like Mixpanel, finance can model annual cost without involvement. Heap's pricing opacity is the systematic friction in 2024 SaaS budgeting.
Sales-led procurement extends time-to-deployment by weeks vs self-serve competitors.
Annual contracts assumed standard; auto-renewal terms not visible without sales conversation.
Contact-sales pricing across all tiers — Mixpanel publishes; PostHog publishes; Heap does not.
Retroactive analysis ROI is real — measured in eliminated tagging sprints — but harder to quantify upfront.
Autocapture data volume drives storage cost up faster than event-tagged competitors at scale.
Mid-market and enterprise product teams already in budget conversations who can absorb sales-led procurement cycles.
Your team needs published pricing for fast budget modeling and self-serve procurement.
Define events after you ship — the workflow that changes how product analytics actually feels.
“Day-3 reality: you're defining events on data that's already captured. Day-30 reality: you stop asking engineering to add tracking before exploring questions.”
The workflow change is real. Define an event in Heap's UI by clicking on a button in your product, and Heap retroactively populates that event from captured DOM interactions. No engineering ticket. No tagging sprint. No waiting for the next release.
Day-three reality: you're running funnel analysis on flows you never instrumented. Compare Mixpanel: you'd be writing the engineering ticket to add tracking, then waiting two weeks for data. Compare Amplitude: same friction, same wait. The autocapture model removes the upfront cost from analytics work.
Day-thirty fight is data quality. Captured DOM interactions sometimes don't map cleanly to user intent — a click on a wrapper div might count as a click on the button inside. You learn to use Heap's element-matching rules carefully. The trained product analyst handles this; the casual PM trips on it. Documentation is dashboard-shaped, written by people who use it daily.
Define-event-by-clicking workflow lands immediately — analysis on retroactive data starts day one.
Help center is analyst-shaped — uses real funnel and retention examples, not marketing copy.
Element-matching for autocapture events takes calibration; data quality requires analyst attention.
Custom event definitions, segments, virtualized properties — depth scales for senior analysts.
Single snippet install plus mobile SDKs — fewer engineering tickets than event-tagged competitors.
Product managers and analysts who run frequent retrospective behavioral analyses on user flows.
Your team has stable metrics that rarely change and event-tagged tools fit your pace.
The analytics tool that actually answers 'what did users do before we changed it?'
“Once you've worked in autocapture analytics, going back to event-tagged tools feels like analyzing with one hand tied.”
The first time you ask a Heap question on data you never instrumented, the workflow click clicks. 'How did users interact with the search bar last quarter?' becomes a five-minute analysis instead of a sprint. That's the entire pitch and it works.
The dashboard is functional, slightly dated compared to Amplitude's polish, but the queries return fast and the funnel views are clean. Compare Mixpanel: similar UX shape, requires upfront tagging. Compare PostHog Cloud: similar autocapture model, open-source DNA, less polished web UI. Each tradeoff is real.
The friction is the pricing. Heap is contact-sales-only, which feels off in 2024 when Mixpanel and PostHog publish their tiers. The Contentsquare acquisition didn't change that. The product itself is solid; the procurement feels stuck in 2018.
Dashboard is functional and analyst-shaped; less visually polished than Amplitude, more polished than PostHog.
First hour is fine; week three is when retroactive analysis starts changing how you think about questions.
Web dashboard works on mobile; analysis workflow is desktop-shaped — laptop is the primary surface.
Sales-led procurement extends time-to-first-query; self-serve competitors feel friendlier on day one.
Queries return fast; data ingestion is reliable; 11 years of refinement shows in the daily UX.
Product analysts who run retrospective behavioral analyses regularly and have hit event-tagging friction.
You expect published pricing and self-serve sign-up before evaluating a product analytics tool.
Acquired in 2023 — the green flag is survival, the yellow flag is post-acquisition product direction.
“Three green flags: 11 years, real architectural differentiation, Contentsquare acquisition removes early-vendor risk. The yellow flag: post-acquisition products either grow or get bundled.”
Founded 2013. Acquired by Contentsquare in 2023 (price undisclosed). Three signals — 11-year operation, real architectural moat, exit at scale. That's the survival pattern most product analytics startups missed (RJMetrics, Localytics, others got absorbed at lower valuations or shut down).
Green flags. The autocapture architectural moat is real and PostHog's open-source version validates the approach. Contentsquare parent has enterprise distribution Heap couldn't reach standalone. The product team appears intact post-acquisition — early signal, not a guarantee.
Two yellow flags. Post-acquisition product direction is the new uncertainty — does Heap stay best-of-breed or get bundled into Contentsquare's broader experience analytics suite? History says best-of-breed acquisitions get bundled within 24-36 months. The other yellow: PostHog's open-source autocapture brings genuine price pressure that didn't exist 18 months ago. The category is reshaping, not just consolidating.
Autocapture architectural moat is real; PostHog open-source brings new price pressure.
Behavioral history is yours; CSV export available; replicating retroactive analysis elsewhere is the lock-in.
Contentsquare parent removes survival concern; product direction post-acquisition is the new uncertainty.
Architectural differentiation claims hold up under scrutiny; pricing opacity is the only marketing concern.
11 years of operation plus successful exit matches survivor patterns more strongly than most competitors.
Product teams already at scale who value the autocapture moat and can absorb post-acquisition uncertainty.
You want to bet on category direction over the next 3 years and PostHog's open-source path is more aligned.
Common questions answered by our AI research team
Session Replay is only available as a paid add-on for the Pro and Premier plans — it is not included by default in either tier. The Free and Growth plans do not have access to Session Replay at all, even as an add-on.
Beyond installing a single snippet, no additional engineering effort is required. The content states that 'a single snippet automatically captures the entire digital experience of every user on every platform — no engineering needed,' giving you the most complete dataset on the market.
Yes, Heap Connect syncs Heap data to your data warehouse automatically and retroactively. It is available as a paid add-on for Pro and is included with the Premier plan.
Heap holds GDPR, CCPA, and SOC-2 certifications, along with Data Privacy Controls and a User Privacy API. All of these compliance features are available across all plans, including the Free tier.
Heap Illuminate alerts you to key moments of friction and opportunity in your digital experience, including on user behaviors you haven't been following — meaning it surfaces insights automatically without requiring you to manually define events first. It also shows alternate paths users take, effort required to complete flows, and events that most correlate with conversion and retention, all automatically.
