Software · head to head
FullStory vs Stoplight
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; Stoplight the free plan allows one project and one user
- They diverge on capability: FullStory covers Session replay, Stoplight covers API Design.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which FullStory and Stoplight actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2014).
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 Stoplight
- API Design
- API Documentation
- Governance
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Jenkins
- Azure DevOps
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
FullStory
- User experience analysisnot Stoplight
- Bug reproductionnot Stoplight
- Conversion optimizationnot Stoplight
- Customer supportnot Stoplight
- Product developmentnot Stoplight
Stoplight
- Designing and documenting OpenAPI specifications visuallynot FullStory
- Serving interactive API docs and instant mock servers from a specnot 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
Stoplight
- The free plan allows one project and one user
- Private projects, multi branch support and custom domains start at the Startup plan, $113 a month billed annually
- SSO and shared style guides are Pro Team only, at $362 a month billed annually
- Seats beyond each plan's allowance are $11 to $27 each per month depending on tier and billing period
Pricing, plan by plan
FullStory
Free- FreeFree
- 1,000 sessions/month
- 14-day data retention
- Basic analytics
- Business$undefined/month
- Custom sessions
- 3-month retention
- Advanced analytics
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited sessions
- Custom retention
- Advanced privacy controls
Stoplight
Free- FreeFree
- API design
- Documentation
- Community support
- Pro$75/monthly
- Governance
- Advanced testing
- Team collaboration
- Enterprise$undefined/monthly
- Custom deployment
- SLA
- Priority support
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.
Choose Stoplight if
- You need api design.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Cloud.
- You also want api documentation.
Questions people ask
- Is FullStory or Stoplight better?
- Neither clearly leads. FullStory starts at Free and Stoplight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, FullStory or Stoplight?
- FullStory starts at Free and Stoplight at Free.
- Does FullStory or Stoplight run on more platforms?
- FullStory runs on Web, Mobile. Stoplight runs on Web, Cloud.
- 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 Stoplight is typically brought in for.
- What can FullStory do that Stoplight cannot?
- FullStory covers Session replay, Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, User journey mapping. Stoplight covers API Design, API Documentation, Governance, GitHub.
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.
SourceFullStory: 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.
SourceFullStory: 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.
SourceFullStory: 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.
SourceFullStory: 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.
SourceRelated pages
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