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Software · head to head

FullStory vs Substack

FullStory logo

FullStory

Software

Digital experience intelligence platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Substack logo

Substack

Software

The newsletter platform for writers and publishers

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; Substack substack takes a 10% cut of subscription revenue (writers keep 90%), plus separate credit card processing fees
  • They diverge on capability: FullStory covers Session replay, Substack covers Newsletter publishing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FullStory and Substack actually diverge.

Attributes where FullStory and Substack differ
AttributeFullStorySubstack
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Founded20142017

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Mobile), 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 Substack

  • Newsletter publishing
  • Subscriber management
  • Paid subscriptions
  • Email analytics
  • Post scheduling
  • Archive creation
  • Free/paid tier split
  • Comments & discussion

What people use each for

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

FullStory

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

Substack

  • Newsletter distributionnot FullStory
  • Reader monetizationnot FullStory
  • Community buildingnot FullStory
  • Subscriber managementnot 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

Substack

  • Substack takes a 10% cut of subscription revenue (writers keep 90%), plus separate credit card processing fees

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

Substack

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited newsletters
    • Basic design
    • Archive access
  • Pro$12/month
    • Custom domain
    • Advanced analytics
    • Member chat

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 Substack if

  • You need newsletter publishing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want subscriber management.
Substack review

Questions people ask

Is FullStory or Substack better?
Neither clearly leads. FullStory starts at Free and Substack at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FullStory or Substack?
FullStory starts at Free and Substack at Free.
Does FullStory or Substack run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Mobile, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Substack is typically brought in for.
What can FullStory do that Substack cannot?
FullStory covers Session replay, Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, User journey mapping. Substack covers Newsletter publishing, Subscriber management, Paid subscriptions, Email analytics.

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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