Fullstory, Smartlook, and Zipy - A Comprehensive Comparison for Technical PMs (2025)

Understanding how users interact with your website, mobile app, or e-commerce platform is key to creating a seamless experience.Session replay tools like FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy have become essential for achieving these goals. These tools allow you to record and replay user sessions, offering a clear view of how people interact with your product in real time.

This guide takes an in-depth look at the features, pricing, and benefits of FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy, highlighting how these tools compare in 2024. Product managers, developers, and UX/UI designers rely on them to track user behavior, troubleshoot issues, and create better customer experiences and optimise your website.

Whether you're working in a startup, a mid-sized business, or a large enterprise, choosing the right session replay tool is crucial for improving user experience and optimizing product performance. Let’s break down the key differences between these platforms to help you make the best choice for your needs.

Key Highlights

• Fullstory: Packed with advanced analytics, powerful segmentation tools, and a wide range of integrations. Best suited for large businesses with complex user experience requirements.

• Smartlook: A more straightforward and budget-friendly option. Known for its intuitive mobile session recording and reliable analytics, making it ideal for startups and mid-sized companies.

• Zipy: A newer player in the market, specializing in performance monitoring and debugging. Offers tools to track API performance, network logs, and advanced error tracking, catering to development-focused teams.

• Pricing varies between all three tools, with Fullstory pricing positioned at the higher end, Smartlook pricing being more budget-friendly, and Zipy pricing focusing on scalability with additional development-focused features.

Criteria for Choosing an Alternative:

When selecting between Fullstory vs Smartlook vs Zipy, there are several factors to keep in mind. Here are some key criteria that can help guide your decision-making process:

• Features: Compare the features offered by Fullstory, Smartlook, and Zipy, such as session replay, error debugging, user identification, advanced devtools, and real-time analytics.

• Pricing: Analyze the pricing plans of Fullstory, Smartlook, and Zipy to determine their affordability and value for money.

• User Interface: Evaluate the user-friendliness and ease of navigation of all three tools.

• Integration: Assess the integration capabilities of Fullstory, Smartlook, and Zipy with other tools and platforms.

• Customer Support: Consider the quality and availability of customer support provided by all three companies.

Overview: FullStory Vs Smartlook Vs Zipy

Before diving into the specifics, let’s provide a brief overview of each tool.

FullStory is a robust analytics platform that assists businesses in comprehending user interactions with their websites and applications. It provides tools such as session replays, heatmaps, and conversion funnels, all of which deliver insights into user behavior and highlight areas for potential enhancement. Through session replays, FullStory enables teams to observe user journeys in real time, providing valuable information to enhance user experience and optimize product performance.

Smartlook is another analytics solution that specializes in tracking user behavior across both web and mobile applications. Similar to FullStory, it offers session replays, heatmaps, and event tracking. However, it differentiates itself with features like automatic event tracking, simplifying the process of monitoring user actions without the need for manual configuration. It also includes advanced segmentation tools that allow for deeper analysis of different user group behaviors. Smartlook aims to empower product and UX teams to gain a better understanding of user experiences, identify usability challenges, and enhance app performance through comprehensive reporting and analysis.

Zipy is a relatively new tool that merges session replay with error tracking. Its primary focus is to provide a holistic view of both user behavior and any technical problems. By linking session replays with error logs, Zipy enables teams to address issues from a single platform, simplifying the identification and resolution of problems. This integration allows teams to quickly identify the root causes of issues, resulting in more effective debugging and improved user experience and app reliability overall.

Why Zipy Stands Out Among FullStory and Smartlook?

Zipy stands out in the field of analytics and performance monitoring by presenting a distinctive set of features that go beyond what is available from FullStory and Smartlook.While FullStory is centered on analyzing user behavior and Smartlook emphasizes usability insights for smaller teams, Zipy addresses a significant need by merging session analysis with advanced error tracking. This makes it a comprehensive solution for product and engineering teams alike.

What distinguishes Zipy is its capability to connect session replays with technical diagnostics, such as error logs, stack traces, and performance metrics. This integration allows teams to quickly pinpoint the underlying causes of issues, making the troubleshooting process more efficient. In contrast to FullStory, which primarily caters to marketers and product managers, Zipy presents insights that developers can leverage to fix bugs and enhance application reliability effortlessly. 

The platform's intuitive interface ensures it's beneficial not just for technical teams but also accessible to all users, fostering collaboration across different departments. Additionally, Zipy enhances its offering by allowing businesses to collect real-time user feedback during sessions, providing context that neither FullStory nor Smartlook can supply. In terms of pricing, Zipy is equally impressive.

It offers adaptable and competitive pricing choices that cater to businesses of any scale, including startups and large enterprises. This positions it as an outstanding option for teams looking for a robust yet cost-effective solution to enhance user experience and app functionality. With Zipy, users enjoy a platform that balances ease of use and innovation, backed by outstanding customer support.By integrating user experience insights with technical diagnostics, Zipy positions itself as a developer-friendly solution that genuinely addresses the needs of contemporary teams

Unveiling the Best User Behavior Analytics Tool: FullStory, Smartlook, or Zipy?

Understanding user interactions is pivotal for product success, but choosing the right tool can be daunting. FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy lead the market, each excelling in specific areas. This comparison highlights their strengths, helping you find the perfect fit for your needs.

Feature Spotlight: What Sets Them Apart

• FullStory’s Strengths: FullStory shines in capturing detailed user behavior insights, offering tools like heatmaps and session replays to help teams refine user journeys. However, it lacks technical troubleshooting features.

• Smartlook’s Specialty: Smartlook’s ease of use and automatic event tracking make it a great choice for UX-focused teams. Its capabilities, however, are limited in technical areas like error diagnostics.

• Zipy’s Edge: Zipy stands out with its comprehensive approach, integrating user behavior insights with error tracking and API diagnostics. This dual capability makes it a strong contender for cross-functional teams.

Feature Deep Dive: Session Replays

All three platforms offer session replay capabilities, but they differ in how they integrate these insights with other data points.Let us look at the table comparing FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy across several features.

• FullStory: Provides detailed replays along with heatmaps and event tracking, perfect for understanding user behavior. However, it doesn’t offer error tracking integration, making it less suitable for debugging technical issues.

• Smartlook: Simplifies the replay process with automatic event tracking, making it user-friendly. It’s a great choice for UX teams but doesn’t go beyond basic session analysis.

• Zipy: Merges real-time session recordings with technical diagnostics such as error logs and API performance, making it an ideal option for teams that want to enhance user experience while simultaneously addressing technical issues.

Bridging the Gap: UX and Technical Capabilities

When assessing tools like FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy, it's crucial to comprehend how each aims to close the divide between user experience (UX) and technical performance. Although these tools offer unique strategies for analyzing user behavior, their features related to technical diagnostics and error tracking differ notably.Take a look at below Snapshot of FullStory vs Smartlook vs Zipy in Technical Features

• FullStory: Primarily known for its exceptional focus on UX analytics.
  The platform features functionalities like session replays, heatmaps, and sophisticated filtering, which make it a great option for UX teams committed to the enhancement of user experiences and the identification of pain points. However, FullStory lacks a few critical technical features such as error tracking, API diagnostics, and performance monitoring. While it is excellent in capturing user behavior, it does not have the tools required to diagnose technical issues or insights into application performance.. While FullStory excels in illustrating user interactions with your website, it does not assist in monitoring or addressing the fundamental technical challenges.

• Smartlook: Shares many of the same strengths as FullStory, focusing heavily on user experience with session replays, event tracking, and heatmaps. It enables teams to track user behavior, allowing them to pinpoint where users face difficulties in their journey. However, Smartlook, like FullStory, does not provide built-in error tracking or performance diagnostics. It lacks the tools necessary for troubleshooting technical issues, such as monitoring network errors, API performance, or catching stack traces. Smartlook is a solid choice for UX teams that want deep insights into user behavior but is limited in providing technical data for developers.

• Zipy: In contrast, is a tool that offers the best of both worlds—user experience analytics and technical troubleshooting capabilities. It includes all the core UX insights like session replays, heatmaps, and advanced segmentation, and it integrates robust technical features, including error tracking and filtering errors, API diagnostics, and real-time performance monitoring. That makes Zipy an invaluable asset for both UX and development teams.This dual functionality allows teams to pinpoint not only where users are experiencing issues but also what technical problems may be causing those issues. Zipy’s AI-powered insights and proactive anomaly detection further enhance its value, alerting teams to potential technical problems before they escalate.

Workflow Integration and Team Efficiency

Modern development teams need efficient workflow integration, and FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy all provide robust tools to help teams collaborate. These platforms streamline communication and allow teams to take action on insights from user behavior and technical performance as quickly as possible. Though each of them integrates with the popular platforms like Slack and Jira, Zipy takes a somewhat different approach because it allows using an independent session recording plugin, which makes it simple to capture user sessions without cumbersome setups. Below table marks various integrations that each of the platforms has offered:

• FullStory: FullStory integrates with key platforms like Slack and Jira, making it easy for teams to share session replays, track issues, and stay informed about user experience insights. When a problem arises, teams can quickly share relevant data and insights in Slack channels and create Jira tickets for easy task management. However, FullStory’s setup for session recording and other features requires more configuration compared to Zipy, which can slow down the process for teams that need to quickly capture and analyze user sessions.

• Smartlook: Smartlook also integrates seamlessly with Slack and Jira, offering real-time notifications and issue tracking. By sharing session replays and user behavior insights within Slack, teams can collaborate quickly to resolve issues. The integration with Jira ensures that tasks are logged and managed effectively. However, Smartlook also requires a certain setup to start session recording, which can introduce some complexity for teams looking for a more flexible, hassle-free solution.

• Zipy: Zipy distinguishes itself with its independent session recording plugin, allowing teams to capture user sessions without needing complex setup processes. This feature improves team efficiency by making it easier to start recording sessions and quickly analyze user behavior. Zipy also integrates with Slack and Jira, providing real-time notifications and task tracking to help teams stay on top of issues. Its simple session recording, paired with its strong integration capabilities, makes it the best choice for teams that need both ease of use and robust workflow integration.

Privacy and Data Security: FullStory vs Smartlook vs Zipy

FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy are all committed to maintaining privacy and compliance with industry standards, ensuring the safety and security of user data. All tools are GDPR-compliant, being the basis of data protection, thus allowing organizations to function in countries that have strong data privacy regulations.

Below is a full comparison of privacy features among the three tools:

FullStory is well-known for its focus on privacy and compliance. The platform offers support for GDPR compliance by making sure user data is collected and processed according to stringent legal standards. However, FullStory does not have advanced masking customizations for sensitive data, which may be a limitation for sectors with granular requirements for data protection.

Smartlook also meets GDPR compliance requirements, safeguarding user data under the mandated regulations. Like FullStory, it does not offer customizable masking features, which might be a concern for businesses handling highly sensitive information, such as financial or healthcare data.

Zipy distinguishes itself by offering advanced privacy features that cater to organizations with heightened data security needs. In addition to GDPR compliance, Zipy’s hallmark feature is its customizable masking capability. It gives businesses the chance to define special fields or data points—credit card numbers, medical records, etc.—that are more sensitive than others. The feature is valuable for finance and healthcare industries as data sensitivity matters most there.

Pricing and Plans: FullStory vs Smartlook vs Zipy

Pricing models across FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy cater to different organizational needs, with distinct features and flexibility. FullStory employs a session-based pricing model, ideal for businesses that prioritize detailed session analysis but may find its lack of flexibility limiting. Smartlook, while also using a session-based model, offers a more accessible free tier, making it attractive to startups or smaller teams. Zipy, on the other hand, stands out with its scalable pricing structure and generous free tier, offering the most flexibility among the three.

Free Tier Comparison

FullStory provides a free tier allowing up to 1,000 sessions, suitable for smaller-scale projects or trial evaluations. Smartlook’s free tier offers 3,000 sessions, making it a better choice for organizations needing slightly higher usage without upfront costs. Zipy takes the lead here with a free tier of 6,000 sessions, catering to growing businesses that want to explore its features more extensively.

Session-Based Pricing and Flexibility

Both FullStory and Smartlook adhere to a session-based pricing model, which can be advantageous for businesses aiming to track user behavior at a granular level. However, neither of these platforms offers the flexibility of customizable plans. Zipy sets itself apart by forgoing a session-based model in favor of a usage-based approach, allowing organizations to scale effortlessly as their needs grow. Additionally, Zipy offers flexible plans that adapt to different budgets and requirements.

Why Compare FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy?

The right platform, for understanding the behavior of a user, making customer experiences richer, and for solving technical problems, is quite important for any competitive business. In this space, three of the most prominent tools are FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy, each boasting unique strengths, tailored to suit specific needs. This comparison would clarify their capabilities, so the choice made is aligned with increasing customer engagement, improving usability, or even resolving bugs quickly.

This comparison will outline the strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use cases for each platform, demonstrating how FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy shine as a streamlined, developer-friendly solution. In addressing both user experience and technical troubleshooting, Zipy offers a unique combination of value and innovation that makes it a standout choice for teams seeking a balanced approach to product improvement and performance optimization.

Final Verdict: Which Tool is Right for You?

When choosing between FullStory, Smartlook, and Zipy, your decision should align with your team’s specific objectives. FullStory is suitable for marketing and UX teams who want to optimize user journeys and analyze behavior in detail. It is one of the most powerful session analytics solutions for businesses focused on improving user experiences.

Smartlook is a more affordable and user-friendly solution that fits well for startups and smaller teams. It offers a higher free tier and more intuitive session tracking, making it an excellent choice for deriving quick, actionable insights without much investment.

However, Zipy is the most versatile and future-ready tool. Combining robust user behavior analytics with powerful technical diagnostics, Zipy is perfectly suited for cross-functional teams that need both UX insights and error tracking capabilities. Its generous free tier of 6,000 sessions and flexible pricing plans ensure scalability for businesses as they grow, making it the best choice for teams looking for a comprehensive and adaptable solution.

Don’t just analyze—act on insights, choose the right tool depending on your team’s goals and the challenges and see how it can empower your team to unlock the full potential of your product and user experience.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Fullstory suitable for small businesses?

Fullstory is ideal for enterprises due to its premium pricing and advanced features.

How does Smartlook handle crash reports?

Smartlook provides basic crash reporting for mobile applications.

Does Zipy support error tracking, and how does it compare to the other tools?

Yes, Zipy excels in error tracking. It provides features such as stack traces, console logs, and API performance monitoring, paired with AI-driven insights. Neither FullStory nor Smartlook focus on error tracking, making Zipy a superior choice for teams requiring technical diagnostics.