Softwr

Software · head to head

FullStory vs Google News

FullStory logo

FullStory

Software

Digital experience intelligence platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Google News logo

Google News

Software

Comprehensive news coverage powered by Google

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: FullStory free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites; Google News google News is free with no paid tier at all; there is no subscription to compare, and Google monetises it through advertising and Showcase partnerships rather than a user fee
  • They diverge on capability: FullStory covers Session replay, Google News covers AI-powered curation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FullStory and Google News actually diverge.

Attributes where FullStory and Google News differ
AttributeFullStoryGoogle News
Pricing modelquotefree
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Ios, Android
Founded20141998

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

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 FullStory

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

Only in Google News

  • AI-powered curation
  • Full coverage
  • Local news
  • Topic following
  • Newsstand
  • Google account
  • Google Assistant
  • Chrome

What people use each for

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

FullStory

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

Google News

  • News consumptionnot FullStory
  • Topic trackingnot FullStory
  • Local newsnot FullStory
  • Researchnot FullStory

Where each one falls short

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

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

Google News

  • Google News is free with no paid tier at all; there is no subscription to compare, and Google monetises it through advertising and Showcase partnerships rather than a user fee

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Google News

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Personalized news feed
    • Full coverage feature
    • Local news

Which should you pick?

Choose FullStory if

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

Choose Google News if

  • You need ai-powered curation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want full coverage.
Google News review

Questions people ask

Is FullStory or Google News better?
Neither clearly leads. FullStory starts at Free and Google News at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FullStory or Google News?
FullStory starts at Free and Google News at Free.
Does FullStory or Google News run on more platforms?
FullStory runs on Web, Mobile. Google News runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use FullStory for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is FullStory best used for?
FullStory is most often used for user experience analysis, bug reproduction, conversion optimization, customer support. Of those, user experience analysis and bug reproduction are not what Google News is typically brought in for.
What can FullStory do that Google News cannot?
FullStory covers Session replay, Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, User journey mapping. Google News covers AI-powered curation, Full coverage, Local news, Topic following.

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
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on FullStory

More on Google News

Keep looking

Other head to heads