Fullstory vs. Heap vs. Optimizely Web Experimentation

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Fullstory
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Fullstory’s behavioral data platform helps technology leaders make better, more informed decisions by injecting digital behavioral data into their analytics stack. The technology's behavioral data transforms digital visit into actionable insights.N/A
Heap
Score 8.2 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Heap is a web analytics platform captures every user interaction on web iOS with no extra code. The tool allows you to track events and set up funnels to understand user flow and dropoff. It also provides visualization tools to track trends over time.
$0
per month
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Whether launching a first test or scaling a sophisticated experimentation program, Optimizely Web Experimentation aims to deliver the insights needed to craft high-performing digital experiences that drive engagement, increase conversions, and accelerate growth.N/A
Pricing
FullstoryHeapOptimizely Web Experimentation
Editions & Modules
Business
Contact Sales
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Free
$0
Up to 10k sessions/month
Growth
Starting at $3,600 annually
Up to 300k sessions/year
Pro
Contact Heap Sales
Custom sessions per month and unlimited projects
Premier
Contact Heap Sales
Custom sessions per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FullstoryHeapOptimizely Web Experimentation
Free Trial
YesYesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptionalOptional
Additional DetailsHeap pricing is based on session volume. A session is a period of activity from a single user on your app or website. It can include many pageviews or events.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FullstoryHeapOptimizely Web Experimentation
Considered Multiple Products
Fullstory
Chose Fullstory
Smartlook seemed very early in its stage, so there seemed to be plenty of bugs with how it worked. FullStory just seemed a bit more put together and ready to service a bigger company like ours. The breadth of features also seemed to be favoring FullStory over Smartlook.
Chose Fullstory
FullStory is simpler to set up and use than some of the other more sophisticated (and expensive!) tools. It's also got a richer feature set than some of the freemium tools in the market. It's a nice 'middle man' in that sense. We wanted it because it was a nice easy way to get …
Chose Fullstory
FullStory takes the best parts of session recording tools and analytics services. While it may not go as deep in the analytics area, it nonetheless provides a good suite of tools to work with. If all you need are the session recording capabilities, then there are few tools that …
Heap
Chose Heap
Comparing to Mixpanel and Amplitude, the retro analytics option and the engineering light event implementation functions that Heap provides were crucial.

Comparing to FullStory, Heap analytics BI options and the data complexity were the reasons.
Chose Heap
We are able to use FullStory for a more comprehensive view of user interactions and see trends in end-to-end user workflows, although we don't have an enterprise license to their software, we just enable it on a user-by-user basis. It is easier in FullStory to see where the …
Chose Heap
Heap has an edge on Google Analytics due to auto-capture and ease of defining events. Heap has an edge on Hotjar, as it helps build funnels and has powerful filter/group by capabilities. FullStory is just session recording and focuses on one aspect of [the] engagement.
Chose Heap
Retroactive tracking really makes the difference. We use both Heap and FullStory.
Chose Heap
all of them may have their own strong suits but Heap is backed by best in class ML and AI algorithms. not only that all this powerful and robust backends are well handles also from the frontend. no matter how good your software is, if it is somewhat hard to navigate or to get …
Chose Heap
Heap had an edge over Google Analytics in many ways. Few points to consider Heap over GA.
1. Low code implementation and less involvement of engineering team.
2. Great reporting dashboard with additional feature of of showing user journey, that helps understand user behaviour
Chose Heap
One of the key features of Heap compared to other tools is auto-capture. Heap is now introducing session recordings, thereby covering features from other competitors as well.
Chose Heap
From a startup perspective, Heap is one of the best and fastest ways to go from 0 analytics to nearly all of what one would need with the least amount of effort. It's faster and easier to implement than many above and it's better suited for quick quantifiable analytics that …
Chose Heap
We selected Heap due to its simplicity in creating events as well as creating reporting on those events.

No other tool comes close to the simplicity and ease of using Heap.
Chose Heap
So far Heap is better. Adobe is old and clunky, Mixpanel is similar in a lot of ways but I do like the user interface better.
Chose Heap
The big thing for me, that I've mentioned already, is Heap storing all event data retroactively. That's what keeps me with Heap. Google Analytics is industry standard and connected very intimately with all of the ad networks, so we have to use it, even if I think Heap is a …
Chose Heap
Heap's implementation is by far the easiest across the different analytics products I've used. The only downside is that the analysis part is a bit more confusing to set up, and sometimes the confidence of the auto track is a bit shaky, although, these issues can usually be …
Chose Heap
Heap is very similar to other tools out there including the ones I listed above. They all have a similar assortment of graphs, cohort analyses, and live views. Where Heap really stands apart is in its easy-to-use event visualizer, which lets you quickly create all the events …
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Chose Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely is a far more comprehensive solution. While it's true there are competitors to X Web, there's nothing to touch Optimizely's Full Stack product. Their customer support is based out of the USA, which cuts down wait times if we have questions/issues. This wasn't the …
Chose Optimizely Web Experimentation
Haven't tried any other products.
Chose Optimizely Web Experimentation
We chose Optimizely specifically for its split testing and advanced audience segmentation capabilities. It makes it way easier to see which option objectively performs better.
Chose Optimizely Web Experimentation
We're not using UserZoom or Hotjar. We use the others for specific functions. Optimizely is the best for website optimization.
Features
FullstoryHeapOptimizely Web Experimentation
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Fullstory
6.2
19 Ratings
20% below category average
Heap
-
Ratings
Optimizely Web Experimentation
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access7.917 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.910 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.913 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile App Analytics6.412 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Results and Analysis
Comparison of Results and Analysis features of Product A and Product B
Fullstory
9.2
49 Ratings
2% below category average
Heap
-
Ratings
Optimizely Web Experimentation
8.3
149 Ratings
4% below category average
Heatmap tool9.937 Ratings00 Ratings9.313 Ratings
Click analytics8.944 Ratings00 Ratings8.833 Ratings
Scroll maps9.033 Ratings00 Ratings8.517 Ratings
Form fill analysis9.026 Ratings00 Ratings8.072 Ratings
Conversion tracking9.928 Ratings00 Ratings8.744 Ratings
Goal tracking7.923 Ratings00 Ratings8.2127 Ratings
Funnel Analysis8.034 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Session Recording and Replay10.048 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
User Segmentation10.043 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Test reporting00 Ratings00 Ratings7.9137 Ratings
Results segmentation00 Ratings00 Ratings7.7103 Ratings
CSV export00 Ratings00 Ratings7.9102 Ratings
Experiments results dashboard00 Ratings00 Ratings8.049 Ratings
Testing and Experimentation
Comparison of Testing and Experimentation features of Product A and Product B
Fullstory
-
Ratings
Heap
-
Ratings
Optimizely Web Experimentation
8.0
163 Ratings
5% below category average
a/b experiment testing00 Ratings00 Ratings9.0163 Ratings
Split URL testing00 Ratings00 Ratings8.5135 Ratings
Multivariate testing00 Ratings00 Ratings8.4139 Ratings
Multi-page/funnel testing00 Ratings00 Ratings7.9126 Ratings
Cross-browser testing00 Ratings00 Ratings8.197 Ratings
Mobile app testing00 Ratings00 Ratings8.175 Ratings
Test significance00 Ratings00 Ratings8.4147 Ratings
Visual / WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings00 Ratings8.1133 Ratings
Advanced code editor00 Ratings00 Ratings8.0125 Ratings
Page surveys00 Ratings00 Ratings6.217 Ratings
Visitor recordings00 Ratings00 Ratings8.418 Ratings
Preview mode00 Ratings00 Ratings7.6145 Ratings
Test duration calculator00 Ratings00 Ratings7.8112 Ratings
Experiment scheduler00 Ratings00 Ratings8.2112 Ratings
Experiment workflow and approval00 Ratings00 Ratings7.890 Ratings
Dynamic experiment activation00 Ratings00 Ratings7.674 Ratings
Client-side tests00 Ratings00 Ratings7.896 Ratings
Server-side tests00 Ratings00 Ratings7.250 Ratings
Mutually exclusive tests00 Ratings00 Ratings8.180 Ratings
Audience Segmentation & Targeting
Comparison of Audience Segmentation & Targeting features of Product A and Product B
Fullstory
-
Ratings
Heap
-
Ratings
Optimizely Web Experimentation
8.2
152 Ratings
7% below category average
Standard visitor segmentation00 Ratings00 Ratings8.4147 Ratings
Behavioral visitor segmentation00 Ratings00 Ratings7.7122 Ratings
Traffic allocation control00 Ratings00 Ratings9.1144 Ratings
Website personalization00 Ratings00 Ratings7.8111 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FullstoryHeapOptimizely Web Experimentation
Small Businesses
Smartlook
Smartlook
Score 8.6 out of 10
Fullstory
Fullstory
Score 9.3 out of 10
Convert Experiences
Convert Experiences
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Contentsquare
Contentsquare
Score 7.4 out of 10
Whatfix
Whatfix
Score 9.9 out of 10
Dynamic Yield
Dynamic Yield
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Contentsquare
Contentsquare
Score 7.4 out of 10
Whatfix
Whatfix
Score 9.9 out of 10
Dynamic Yield
Dynamic Yield
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FullstoryHeapOptimizely Web Experimentation
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(72 ratings)
8.5
(233 ratings)
8.7
(253 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.7
(9 ratings)
9.3
(9 ratings)
9.4
(51 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(65 ratings)
10.0
(58 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
10.0
(7 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.4
(61 ratings)
7.3
(6 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(61 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
10.0
(16 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(56 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
8.0
(11 ratings)
Configurability
7.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
7.3
(2 ratings)
8.0
(162 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
FullstoryHeapOptimizely Web Experimentation
Likelihood to Recommend
Fullstory
It was extremely useful in identifying places in our product where things weren't functioning, or where it looked like action was available to the end user but in reality, it was not and therefore caused lots of confusion. It doesn't help as much in other scenarios to see what catches a user's Eye or where they go if they leave our application as well as an actual in-person interview would help with eye-tracking software.
Read full review
Heap
Scenarios when Heap was well suited: It is when a user claims that he encountered a bug without giving us the details of the error message. Scenarios where it is less appropriate: Its when we try to capture user interaction in our mobile app
Read full review
Optimizely
I think it can serve the whole spectrum of experiences from people who are just getting used to web experimentation. It's really easy to pick up and use. If you're more experienced then it works well because it just gets out of the way and lets you really focus on the experimentation side of things. So yeah, strongly recommend. I think it is well suited both to small businesses and large enterprises as well. I think it's got a really low barrier to entry. It's very easy to integrate on your website and get results quickly. Likewise, if you are a big business, it's incrementally adoptable, so you can start out with one component of optimizing and you can build there and start to build in things like data CMS to augment experimentation as well. So it's got a really strong a pathway to grow your MarTech platform if you're a small company or a big company.
Read full review
Pros
Fullstory
  • Tracks users' online experiences from start to finish.
  • Makes it easy to share a customer's experiences with the rest of my team.
  • Allows me to use different methods to find evidence of a customer's experience.
  • Shows page insights via segmentation that help me know where to improve my site.
  • Tracks error clicks and dead clicks for quick insights into site improvements.
  • Integrates with HelpScout for easy access to customer problem-solving.
Read full review
Heap
  • Realtime interactions which are captured automatically is a unique feature which no other product offers.
  • Low code implementation is a big plus for marketing teams, as there is less dependency on engineering
  • Detailed customer behaviours can be studied with captured replay sessions
  • Due to all the above points - it helped to improve customer experience
Read full review
Optimizely
  • The Platform contains drag-and-drop editor options for creating variations, which ease the A/B tests process, as it does not require any coding or development resources.
  • Establishing it is so simple that even a non-technical person can do it perfectly.
  • It provides real-time results and analytics with robust dashboard access through which you can quickly analyze how different variations perform. With this, your team can easily make data-driven decisions Fastly.
Read full review
Cons
Fullstory
  • The ramp-up time to learn the entire product can take a little while. There are just so many absolutely wonderful tools and different ways to look at the same type of information that it can take a new user a few weeks to understand and then more time to master. However, FullStory has a ton of training resources to help with that! A lot of my own teammates have taught themselves FullStory through those training resources.
  • The UX of the product is totally wonderful, but there are tiny things that make getting to certain parts of the product slightly more challenging (like clicking into a modal in a modal). Sometimes buttons or links are placed out of my field of view, but those are minor things I notice because I work in UX.
Read full review
Heap
  • I think Heap can improve its onboarding; I would love to see some info that is helpful for someone who isn't in Heap every single day.
  • Sharing dashboards can be tricky, it feels like a huge learning curve that I already have forgotten how to do.
Read full review
Optimizely
  • JavaScript is hard to implement sometimes especially for JQuery elements
  • ROI reporting should be part of the overall experimentation reporting
  • CMP integration: where we can easily show status of test on the HPT request
  • CMS integration
  • More widgets like social proof banners, etc.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Fullstory
It's been a phenomenal tool for us; every department that uses it has found something new and unexpected that it can do that they're really excited about. Even if we *only* used it for bug triage, it would be worth our time and money. The fact that we can use it for so many other things as well--gauging how customers interact and use our site, identifying UI problems, etc.--is above and beyond
Read full review
Heap
It's a great platform. I'm glad that one of our product managers introduced it because it has allowed us to create all kinds of new functionality. We're not only able to create a better product experience from our communications because of Heap, but we're also able to generate all kinds of helpful analysis.
Read full review
Optimizely
I rated this question because at this stage, Optimizely does most everything we need so I don't foresee a need to migrate to a new tool. We have the infrastructure already in place and it is a sizeable lift to pivot to another tool with no guarantee that it will work as good or even better than Optimizely
Read full review
Usability
Fullstory
Because everything seems to be easy to find and it doesn't take long at all to learn how to use the product
Read full review
Heap
On a scale from 1-10, I find Heap to be incredibly user-friendly and easy to use. I enjoyed the training videos available and was quickly able to pick up how to create events and reports to track user interactions on our product. I would recommend Heap for its usability first and foremost.
Read full review
Optimizely
Optimizely Web Experimentation's visual editor is handy for non-technical or quick iterative testing. When it comes to content changes it's as easy as going into wordpress, clicking around, and then seeing your changes live--what you see is what you get. The preview and approval process for sharing built experiments is also handy for sharing experiments across teams for QA purposes or otherwise.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Fullstory
We've never had issues with availability
Read full review
Heap
I've never run into any issues with Heap's availability, Heap is always there when I need it. I haven't run into any issues like application errors or unplanned outages during my 2+ years of using Heap. Each and every time I log in to Heap I have a completely functional experience
Read full review
Optimizely
I would rate Optimizely Web Experimentation's availability as a 10 out of 10. The software is reliable and does not experience any application errors or unplanned outages. Additionally, the customer service and technical support teams are always available to help with any issues or questions.
Read full review
Performance
Fullstory
It seems the performance is really good and always loads quickly
Read full review
Heap
Heap doesn't affect page load times considerably nor has a large impact [on] our overall score, as far as page loading times inside of the tool its pretty reliable to retrieve data as much as "instant" that it can be the delay seems to be on data getting tracked into the servers to be read but it's not significant.
Read full review
Optimizely
I would rate Optimizely Web Experimentation's performance as a 9 out of 10. Pages load quickly, reports are complete in a reasonable time frame, and the software does not slow down any other software or systems that it integrates with. Additionally, the customer service and technical support teams are always available to help with any issues or questions.
Read full review
Support Rating
Fullstory
They have been overall pretty responsive and proactive. The tool is pretty straightforward to use. Most of the questions we have had to work with them on our how to use new features or adjust our integration to ensure we are gathering all the data from all of our tools.
Read full review
Heap
Heap support has allowed us to troubleshoot and test a lot of different items. Their support team is always helpful and friendly, even when we come to them with the most complicated questions. I think this greatly improves the value proposition of the product because their support team is knowledgable and friendly.
Read full review
Optimizely
They always are quick to respond, and are so friendly and helpful. They always answer the phone right away. And [they are] always willing to not only help you with your problem, but if you need ideas they have suggestions as well.
Read full review
Online Training
Fullstory
No answers on this topic
Heap
No answers on this topic
Optimizely
The tool itself is not very difficult to use so training was not very useful in my opinion. It did not also account for success events more complex than a click (which my company being ecommerce is looking to examine more than a mere click).
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Fullstory
To successfully implement FullStory, it is important to plan your implementation carefully by defining your goals and user segments. You should also use tags and filters to analyze your user data, train your team to use FullStory effectively, and use FullStory in conjunction with other analytics tools to get a more complete picture of your user's behavior. By following these tips, you can gain valuable insights into your users' behavior and experiences, and use this information to improve your website or application.
Read full review
Heap
The implementation was smooth and easy. The Heap team helped us with implementation and it went great! Within a few weeks, we were fully up and running and utilizing the platform to its full capability. This is an additional thing that has made this platform so great and we couldn't recommend it enough.
Read full review
Optimizely
In retrospect: - I think I should have stressed more demo's / workshopping with the Optimizely team at the start. I felt too confident during demo stages, and when came time to actually start, I was a bit lost. (The answer is likely I should have had them on-hand for our first install.. they offered but I thought I was OK.) - Really getting an understanding / asking them prior to install of how to make it really work for checkout pages / one that uses dynamic content or user interaction to determine what the UI does. Could have saved some time by addressing this at the beginning, as some things we needed to create on our site for Optimizely to "use" as a trigger for the variation test. - Having a number of planned/hoped-for tests already in-hand before working with Optimizely team. Sharing those thoughts with them would likely have started conversations on additional things we needed to do to make them work (rather than figuring that out during the actual builds). Since I had development time available, I could have added more things to the baseline installation since my developers were already "looking under the hood" of the site.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Fullstory
Smartlook is software that records users on a website
and mobile app. Finding useful information within thousands of recordings is
made quick and easy with features that help you accomplish this. I have chosen FullStory because it is easier to use and has more advanced features compared to Smartlook.
Read full review
Heap
Heap offers a ton of functionality on a single platform.It also has an smart data science layer to offers suggestions for next steps in the analysis, allowing us to explore alternative paths we may not think to take. The low-code option for updating data is appealing, and there is a lot of automation with minimal engineering effort.
Read full review
Optimizely
The ability to do A/B testing in Optimizely along with the associated statistical modelling and audience segmentation means it is a much better solution than using something like Google Analytics were a lot more effort is required to identify and isolate the specific data you need to confidently make changes
Read full review
Scalability
Fullstory
Full story was easy to scale with the growth of our teams and organisation
Read full review
Heap
The most challenging part of using Heap in a growing organization is the naming and structure in which reports and dashboards are organized. I work within the marketing department and our Heap leader internally works within the IT/Product department, which makes it challenging because we often don't speak the same language, so the learning curve has been steep without any specific use-case examples to leverage online.
Read full review
Optimizely
We can use it flexibly across lines of business and have it in use across two departments. We have different use cases and slightly different outcomes, but can unify our results based on impact to the bottom line. Finally, we can generate value from anywhere in the org for any stakeholders as needed.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Fullstory
  • Triage for front end bugs - FullStory can sometimes help you spot a bug in action much more quickly than trying to recreate it on your own
  • Observing customers use new features and understanding why a new feature may be performing better or worse than expected
Read full review
Heap
  • It has helped us make decisions on what products to scope for our MVP based on the usage data.
  • It's allowed us to measure success with our beta product.
  • It's helped us view our conversion rates in an easy and usable manner.
Read full review
Optimizely
  • We're able to share definitive annualized revenue projections with our team, showing what would happen if we put a test into Production
  • Showing the results of a test on a new page or feature prior to full implementation on a site saves developer time (if a test proves the new element doesn't deliver a significant improvement.
  • Making a change via the WYSIWYG interface allows us to see multiple changes without developer intervention.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Fullstory Screenshots

Screenshot of AI-generated Summaries used to Take Action More QuicklyScreenshot of a Visualization of Behavioral Data with Custom DashboardsScreenshot of Ready-made for AI Behavioral Data Straight to the organization's Data EcosystemScreenshot of Fullstory's Session Replay, Combined with Dev ToolsScreenshot of Mobile App Behavioral Data

Heap Screenshots

Screenshot of Dashboard in Heap (Use to get Product or User Behavior Insights)Screenshot of Effort Analysis provides the first-ever quantitative measurement of user friction, capturing the difficulty users face when moving through every step of every user flow across the digital experience.Screenshot of Heap Illuminate looks for the most common events between two steps in a funnel and generates a Top Events table that displays how well paths including different events convert to the next step so you can understand how that behavior is helping or hurting conversion.Screenshot of From Top Events you can choose an event and use Path Comparison to fork your funnel and see how the selected behavior impacts conversion downstream.

Optimizely Web Experimentation Screenshots

Screenshot of AI-Powered Experimentation with Opal:

- Instant Test Ideas: Generates high-quality A/B test ideas based on any goals and audience insights.
- Smarter Experimentation: The AI can suggest impactful variations, reducing guesswork and increasing test velocity.
- More Than Just Ideas: From hypothesis generation to analyzing results, Opal helps optimize every stage of the experimentation process.Screenshot of the Web Experimentation Visual Editor :

- Tweak experiments using the visual editor or dive into custom code when needed.
- Modify elements, update styling, or add dynamic behaviors.
- Ensure perfect variations while keeping control over every detail of the experiment.Screenshot of AI Content Suggestions:

- Generates copy variations to supercharge experiments.
- The AI suggests high-impact messaging for tests when hovering over a field.
- AI-powered content suggestions help skip the brainstorming process.Screenshot of Advanced Audience Targeting:

- Delivers personalized experiences by targeting users based on behaviors, attributes, and real-time conditions.
- Defines precise audience segments using first-party data, geolocation, and device type.
- Can test and optimize for different audience groups to maximize impact and engagement.Screenshot of Custom Templates in the Visual Editor:

- Offers pre-built templates for common test setups.
- Standardized variations and maintains brand integrity with reusable templates.
- Templates can be customized visually or tweak them with code for full flexibility.Screenshot of the Web Experimentation Results Page:

- Data visualizations help interpret experiment performance.
- Displays which variations are winning with built-in statistical significance calculations.
- Results can be filtered by audience segments, events, and conversions to uncover key trends.