SmartLook: Product Overview And Alternatives In 2023

SmartLook is one of the most well-known product analytics and user insights platform on the market. But is it the best — or is your company potentially missing out on a better solution?

In this article, we'll take a closer look at SmartLook and its alternatives, so you can decide which is right for your company.

What Is SmartLook?

SmartLook is a product analytics and visual insights solution that allows businesses to analyze product and user data. It helps companies discover bugs and issues with their platform or website, and it also helps them see users behavior with funnels and heatmaps.

• Session Recording: Session recording tools give businesses the ability to record customer interactions and sessions on their website or web app. These recordings can be watched to understand exactly what users do in your app, which can help identify bottlenecks. Session recordings can also help companies diagnose product issues and improve the user experience on their site or app.
• Heatmaps: Heatmaps generate data from your users' interactions on your site and create visual representations of where users are most likely to click on a page. This data can be used to improve UX, as well as to identify any potential issues with your site.
• Funnels: Funnels allow businesses to figure out when users exit their site and where they exit from. This data can be used to improve user journeys and flows on your website.

SmartLook Pricing

SmartLook offers a variety of plans, including a free option that gives companies access to 3,000 monthly sessions and basic product analytics. The last time we checked in May 2023, SmartLook's pro plans starts at $55/month (up from $39 in 2022). They also offer custom enterprise plans.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of SmartLook

The pros of Smartlook include: 

• SmartLook offers a free plan, giving users a chance to try the solution without any financial risk.
• Session recordings allow businesses to see customer issues in context, as well as improve the user experience on their site.
• Heatmaps and funnels can help improve your website or web app's user experience.

The cons of Smartlook include:

• The free plan is very limited in its capabilities, making it difficult to use for anything more than the most basic customer support needs. Most premium features are only available on paid plans.
• Smartlook is generic, in that it caters to marketers, designers, and product teams, so its features are not tailored to a specific function and it isn't a complete solution.

Smartlook reviews

On G2, Smartlook has an average of 4.6/5 stars with 861 reviews.

Positive reviews mention the user friendly interface, relatively easy implementation and customizable settings.

Negative reviews mention that there are some inaccuracies in the replay recordings, the heat maps feature can be tricky to use and missing integrations (with CleverTap, for example).

Who Is Smartlook For?

SmartLook is for businesses of all sizes that are looking for a basic customer support solution. It's especially well-suited for companies with limited budgets, as it offers a free plan. However, if you're a growing team or have a SaaS business, you may want to consider an alternative solution that offers more features and is tailored to your specific needs.

SmartLook Alternatives

There are many great alternatives to SmartLook on the market, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Some of the most popular solutions include Fullview, HotJar, ContentSquare, Heap, and FullSession.

Fullview

‍

Fullview is an end-to-end solution for CX, product and customer support teams that helps diagnose customer experience and product issues, as well as provide real-time and asynchronous support to customers.

Fullview's main features include:

• Session replays: auto record and playback user sessions to identify user behavior, bottlenecks, bugs and signs of frustration like rage clicks.
• Cobrowsing: Start a call with users in your app and take control of their screen to solve issues and resolve support tickets faster.
• Console logs: Look under the hood to see what is going on on your end user's side, without having to ask them to explain a bug, send a screenshot or inspect an element. See information about device, network, browser, user journey steps, console errors and console warnings while watching a session replay recording or while on a cobrowsing call with a user.

Fullview Session Replays

‍Fullview's Session Replays feature allows you to record and watch ongoing and past user sessions to understand what went wrong and quickly diagnose user issues and bugs in context. All user sessions in your app are recorded, so support agents can review them on an ongoing basis and proactively reach out to a customer when they notice an issue. This allows businesses to contact the customer with a solution before they write to the support team, which can do wonders to ward off frustration and get ahead of minor issues before they become deal breakers.

Fullview session replays even has powerful segmentation and filtering options. You can apply preset filters (such as user name, user role, rage clicks, environment, console errors, etc) or create custom labels and tag sessions to quickly find the exact session/s you're looking for. If you use certain filter combinations often, you can even create custom views based of them to pin those replays to your dashboard for easy access.

All data is encrypted, stored in the EU, and only you have access to it, making this a fully compliant GDPR-solution. In addition to that, Fullview offers users granularity in security and privacy by making what data fields you want to blur out during session replay recordings fully customizable. Some PII (personally identifiable information), like email addresses and payment information, is automatically censored.

Fullview Cobrowsing

Fullview's cobrowsing allows agents to directly call users in their app and use screen control to solve support tickets that cannot be handled via chat or email. It has features such as video and audio calling, multi-cursor control, and annotation tools to enable support agents to quickly and painlessly solve tricky customer support tickets that cannot be resolved over email or chat.

Fullview Console Logs‍

With Fullview's console logs and troubleshooting features, teams can get an immediate overview of any issues occurring from your customer's in-app journey by seeing console information such as network and device information, user steps, errors and warnings while on a call with a user or when watching a user session recording. This allows agents and developers to gain much needed context quickly, without having to ask users to explain issues, take screenshots or describe bugs.

Integrations

Fullview integrates with a variety of popular tools, making it easy for teams to get started. For example, teams that use Salesforce, Intercom or Zendesk can now integrate with Fullview to start cobrowsing calls and watch session replays straight from those apps. This makes it much easier and more convenient to solve those support tickets that are too complicated to solve over chat or email, meaning support agents can stay productive and maintain low average time-to-resolution scores, even on more complex support tickets.

Pricing

Fullview has free and paid plans. The free plan for session replays and cobrowsing caps the limit of recorded sessions at 1000 and the number of cobrowsing sessions at 4 support calls per agent per month, respectively.

Fullview's paid plans start at $39 user/month for Fullview Cobrowsing (which also gives you access to the free Fullview Session Replays plan) and $79 for Fullview Session Replays (starting at 10,000 recorded sessions. This also gives you access to the free plan of Fullview cobrowsing).

The pro modules can be purchased separately, but work best when purchased together so you can offer your users an end-to-end support and product experience — from watching a user's replays, to jumping on an in-app call to solve an issue, to using the console log side panel to see what is going on under the hood.

Why Fullview?

Fullview is an excellent alternative for businesses that are looking for a comprehensive solution that offers powerful features. Tailored to support and product teams, Fullview provides a better approach for businesses to understand their customers than regular session replay products, which anonymize user data to give marketers and UX designers big picture overviews of how most people are navigating in their product.

Unlike SmartLook, Fullview connects the async support of session replays with the live support of Fullview cobrowsing, allowing for a seamless and end-to-end workflow to solve technical support tickets.

These features help to improve metrics like CSAT, CES and time to resolution.

Fullview offers a forever-free plan, as well as a 14-day free trial on any of the premium plans, making it a risk-free way for businesses to try out a comprehensive customer support solution.

Plus, as one of the few solutions based in Europe, Fullview is fully GDPR compliant, and all user data is stored in the EU, which makes it an attractive option for European companies.

Hotjar

Hotjar is a Smartlook alternative that works by recording user behavior and displaying it in the form of heatmaps. These heatmaps can be used to show where users are clicking on a webpage, how far they scroll down a page, and what kind of interactions they're having with your site or app. This data can be extremely valuable for marketing teams as it provides insights into user behavior and preferences.

The benefits of Hotjar include the heatmap feature, visitor recordings, and funnels which allow you to track the steps users take before they convert or leave your site. One downside of Hotjar is that it doesn't have as many integrations as some of the other options on this list. It also doesn't have the ability to segment customers, making it less comprehensive than some of the other solutions.

Hotjar offers three plans, ranging from a free plan to a business plan starting at $80 per month. For startups or eCommerce businesses who want to increase their conversion rates, Hotjar is a great solution.

Pros of Hotjar

• Easy-to-use interface for quick setup and usage
• Complete user behavior data with various tools like heatmaps, recordings, surveys, polls, and funnels
• Affordable plans suitable for most business needs
• Exceptional customer support from expert staff that can assist with any inquiries or problems

Cons of Hotjar

• Hotjar offers many features but lacks customization when compared to some other tools
• Hotjar's integrations with other tools are not as comprehensive as some other solutions
• The unlimited recordings and heatmaps provided by Hotjar can generate a lot of data, which may be overwhelming to analyze and derive actionable insights from.

Hotjar pricing

With Hotjar, users can access a variety of tools to enhance their website's user experience. The free plan includes up to 35 daily sessions, which can be used for heatmaps, recordings, surveys, and polls. For those who need more, Hotjar offers paid plans that start at just $32 per month and include up to 100 daily sessions.

HotJar reviews

Hotjar has a 4.3-star rating with 292 reviews on G2.

Contentsquare

Contentsquare is a digital experience intelligence platform that provides insights into how users interact with websites and apps. The platform helps businesses harness and make sense of their data to improve CX and increase conversion rates.

Some of the benefits of Contentsquare include the ability to see how users interact with your site or app in real-time, heatmaps that show where users are clicking and scrolling, and session replays that allow you to watch recordings of user sessions. The platform also offers a variety of integrations with web analytics or other applications. The downsides of Contentsquare include the fact that it's a relatively new platform, so there aren't as many reviews and case studies available. Plus, there is no free trial or plan, so businesses will need to decide if the investment is worth it.

Contentsquare is not very transparent in its pricing model. Customers can expect this price to fluctuate based on the number of sessions and page views on your app or website. Companies will need to reach out for a custom quote.

Pros of Contentsquare

• Provides real-time data on user interactions with websites and apps
• Heatmaps show where users are clicking and scrolling
• Session replays allow you to watch recordings of user sessions
• Offers a variety of integrations with other web analytics tools

Cons of Contentsquare

• Relatively new platform, so few reviews and case studies are available
• No free trial or plan
• No pricing information listed

Contentsquare pricing

There is no pricing information on ContentSquare's website, but they offer a free trial and custom quotes after onboarding. The cost depends on the type of plan customers subscribe to and the number of users or page views that need to be tracked.

Contentsquare reviews

ContentSquare has a 4.6-star rating with 418 reviews.

Heap

Heap is a Smartlook alternative that offers a number of features to help businesses understand their customers. Heap provides insights into how users interact with websites and apps through features such as heatmaps, session replays, retroactive analysis, and conversion funnels.

The benefits of using the platform include the ability for companies to analyze customer behavior, track conversions, and improve customer experiences. One downside of Heap is that it doesn't have as many integrations as some other options on this list. Additionally, the platform can be difficult to use for those who are not familiar with web analytics.

If you're looking for a comprehensive solution that will provide insights into how users interact with your site or app, Heap could be a good option. The platform offers a free trial. For more pricing information, companies will need to contact the platform directly for a customized quote.

Pros of Heap

• Heap allows companies to analyze customer behavior and gain insights into how users interact with their website or app
• The platform enables businesses to track conversions and identify areas for improvement in their customer journey
• By providing valuable insights, Heap can help companies optimize their website or app for a better customer experience

Cons of Heap

• Compared to some other options on the market, Heap has fewer integrations available
• For those who are not familiar with web analytics, the platform can be difficult to use

Heap pricing

For those interested in using the platform, Heap does offer a free trial. However, to get specific pricing details, customers must contact Heap directly.

Heap reviews

Heap has a 4.3-star rating with 911 reviews on G2.

FullSession

FullSession is a basic Smartlook alternative that offers simple yet effective features to help businesses understand user behavior. The platform provides heatmaps, session recording, and customer feedback tools. For companies who are new to the world of web analytics, FullSession can be a great entry point.

One downside of using FullSession is that it's a fairly basic platform and doesn't offer as many features as some of the other options on this list. Additionally, there is no ability to use the platform for free, so you'll need to choose one of the paid plans in order to get started with the platform. However, interested customers can still request a demo of the platform before making a decision.

Pros of FullSession

• FullSession offers simple yet effective features such as heatmaps, session recording, and customer feedback
• It can be a great entry point for companies that are new to web analytics
• The platform is easy to use and navigate

Cons of FullSession

• FullAession is a fairly basic platform and doesn't offer as many features as some of the other options available
• There is no free version available, so companies will need to choose a paid plan in order to get started with the platform
• Some users have reported issues with the accuracy of the data provided by the platform

FullSession pricing

Pricing starts at $39/month for 5,000 monthly sessions. If you need additional features or a bigger sessions limit, you can upgrade your plan for more at any time.

FullSession reviews

There are currently no user reviews available for FullSession.

LogRocket

LogRocket is a front-end monitoring and product analytics platform that enables developers to capture granular experience data. It combines session replay, product analytics, and error tracking – empowering software teams to create the ideal product experience. With LogRocket, developers can get detailed insights into their users' experiences, helping them identify and fix problems quickly and efficiently.

LogRocket pros

• Provides session replay for developers to view user sessions in real-time
• Detailed product analytics to track usage trends and user interactions
• Error tracking feature helps identify and address errors quickly

LogRocket cons

• Cost may be expensive for small businesses or startups
• The setup process can be complicated and time-consuming

LogRocket pricing

LogRocket provides a free plan that includes up to 1,000 sessions a month and a 1-month data retention. If you need a larger plan, the team plan starts at $99 per month and includes 10,000 sessions a month.

LogRocket reviews

LogRocket has a 4.6-star rating with 796 reviews on G2.

Mouseflow

Mouseflow is a website analytics tool that offers heatmaps, session replays, funnels, forms, and feedback campaigns. It helps website owners understand how users interact with their websites by analyzing mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, keystrokes, and more.

With Mouseflow, website owners can identify the pain points of their users through session recordings and heatmaps. They can then optimize their website's usability and user experience to improve conversions and engagement. Mouseflow also offers advanced features such as conversion funnels and form analytics to help users reach their business goals.

Pros of Mouseflow

• User-friendly interface that is easy to navigate. Users can quickly access the different features and analyze their website's performance
• In-depth analysis of website performance through session recordings, heatmaps, funnels, forms, and feedback campaigns. This helps website owners identify and fix issues that may be hindering user engagement and conversions
• Ability to create customizable feedback campaigns to gather user feedback. This feature helps website owners make data-driven decisions for improving their website's user experience

Cons of Mouseflow

• Limited integrations with third-party applications, which may hinder its functionality for some users
• Mouseflow only offers a 7-day free trial, which may not be sufficient for some users to test out the software before committing to a paid plan

Mouseflow Pricing

Mouseflow offers a free forever plan that includes 500 recordings per month, 1 website, 1 month of storage, and unlimited page views. For those who need a larger plan, their starter plan starts at $31 per month and includes 5,000 recordings per month, 1 website, 3 months of storage and unlimited page views.

Mouseflow reviews

Mouseflow has a 4.6-star rating and 468 reviews on G2.

Wrapping things up

SmartLook is a popular product analytics and user insights platform that offers features such as session recording, heatmaps, and funnels to help businesses analyze user behavior and improve their websites or apps. While it has a free plan and positive reviews for its user-friendly interface, SmartLook's free plan has limited capabilities and its features are not tailored to specific functions. There are several alternatives to SmartLook available, such as Fullview, Hotjar, Contentsquare, Heap, and FullSession. Fullview, for example, offers comprehensive features for CX, product, and customer support teams, including session replays, cobrowsing, and console logs, making it a powerful solution. Hotjar focuses on heatmaps and user behavior data, while Contentsquare provides real-time data and session replays. Heap offers insights into customer behavior and conversion funnels, while FullSession is a basic alternative for those new to web analytics.