Softwr

Marketing & Analytics · head to head

Countly vs FullStory

Countly logo

Countly

Marketing & Analytics

Product analytics for mobile and web

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
FullStory logo

FullStory

E-commerce

Digital experience intelligence platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Countly the private cloud plan starts at $175 a month and is described as usage based without stating the unit; FullStory free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites
  • They diverge on capability: Countly covers Event tracking, FullStory covers Session replay.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Countly and FullStory actually diverge.

Attributes where Countly and FullStory differ
AttributeCountlyFullStory
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
PlatformsWeb, Mobile, ApiWeb, Mobile
CategoryMarketing & AnalyticsE-commerce
Founded20122014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Countly

  • Event tracking
  • Crash reporting
  • Analytics dashboard
  • User retention
  • Open-source
  • Cloud deployment
  • On-premise deployment
  • Web support

Only in FullStory

  • Session replay
  • Heatmaps
  • Conversion funnels
  • User journey mapping
  • Error tracking
  • Frustration signals
  • Search functionality
  • Custom events

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Countly

  • Product analytics for mobile and web applicationsnot FullStory
  • Self hosting analytics where data cannot leave the organisationnot FullStory

FullStory

  • User experience analysisnot Countly
  • Bug reproductionnot Countly
  • Conversion optimizationnot Countly
  • Customer supportnot Countly
  • Product developmentnot Countly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Countly

  • The private cloud plan starts at $175 a month and is described as usage based without stating the unit
  • No event cap, data point limit or user limit is published for either paid plan
  • The self hosted Enterprise edition is custom priced and billed annually
  • Adaptivity and intelligence features are separately priced add ons on the cheaper plan

FullStory

  • Free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites
  • Personal email addresses cannot be used for signup; business email domain required
  • Paid plan pricing not publicly listed, requires sales contact for quotes
  • Free plan has no email support, only community-based assistance
  • Mobile app analytics requires a separate add-on purchase

Pricing, plan by plan

Countly

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Open-source
    • Self-hosted
    • Full features

FullStory

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1,000 sessions/month
    • 14-day data retention
    • Basic analytics
  • Business$undefined/month
    • Custom sessions
    • 3-month retention
    • Advanced analytics
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited sessions
    • Custom retention
    • Advanced privacy controls

Which should you pick?

Choose Countly if

  • You need event tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, Api.
  • You also want crash reporting.
Countly review

Choose FullStory if

  • You need session replay.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want heatmaps.
FullStory review

Questions people ask

Is Countly or FullStory better?
Neither clearly leads. Countly starts at Free and FullStory at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Countly or FullStory?
Countly starts at Free and FullStory at Free.
Does Countly or FullStory run on more platforms?
Countly runs on Web, Mobile, Api. FullStory runs on Web, Mobile.
Can I use Countly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Countly best used for?
Countly is most often used for product analytics for mobile and web applications, self hosting analytics where data cannot leave the organisation. Of those, product analytics for mobile and web applications and self hosting analytics where data cannot leave the organisation are not what FullStory is typically brought in for.
What can Countly do that FullStory cannot?
Countly covers Event tracking, Crash reporting, Analytics dashboard, User retention. FullStory covers Session replay, Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, User journey mapping.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FullStory: What does FullStory's free tier include?

30,000 sessions per month, 10 user seats, 5,000 server-side events per month, 1 year of session replay retention, and 1 year of product analytics retention. Session capture pauses when you exceed the monthly limit, though existing sessions remain accessible.

Source
FullStory: What features are excluded from the free plan?

Dashboards, configurable form privacy, Go-Live functionality, Streams, client-side rate hooks, mobile app analytics, and StoryAI are not available on the free tier. Email support is also unavailable; only community-based help is provided.

Source
FullStory: Can I use a personal email to sign up for FullStory's free plan?

No. FullStory requires a business email domain for signup; personal email services like Gmail cannot be used for free plan registration.

Source
FullStory: How does FullStory integrate with Slack?

FullStory's Slack integration allows individual users to send noteworthy sessions to Slack channels. Advanced and Enterprise plans can configure Alerts to receive notifications in Slack when user metrics exceed defined thresholds.

Source
FullStory: What analytics platforms does FullStory integrate with?

FullStory integrates with Segment, Mixpanel, Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, Salesforce, HubSpot, and others. These integrations allow you to attach FullStory session URLs to events in your analytics platform for cross-platform correlation.

Source
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Related pages

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