E-Commerce · head to head
FullStory vs Swell Commerce
The short version
- Only FullStory has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: FullStory free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites; Swell Commerce each plan carries an annual revenue ceiling, and exceeding it is charged as a percentage of the excess: 2 percent on Starter down to 0.4 percent on Unlimited
- They diverge on capability: FullStory covers Session replay, Swell Commerce covers Headless architecture.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which FullStory and Swell Commerce actually diverge.
| Attribute | FullStory | Swell Commerce |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $29/month |
| Pricing model | quote | subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, Mobile | Web |
| Founded | 2014 | 2019 |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).
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 Swell Commerce
- Headless architecture
- GraphQL & REST APIs
- Subscription commerce
- Multi-currency support
- Inventory management
- Custom checkout
- Webhook integrations
- Developer-friendly SDK
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
FullStory
- User experience analysisnot Swell Commerce
- Bug reproductionnot Swell Commerce
- Conversion optimizationnot Swell Commerce
- Customer supportnot Swell Commerce
- Product developmentnot Swell Commerce
Swell Commerce
- Running a headless commerce backend with APIs for a custom storefrontnot FullStory
- Selling subscription products alongside one off purchasesnot FullStory
- Operating multi currency stores from one commerce backendnot 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
Swell Commerce
- Each plan carries an annual revenue ceiling, and exceeding it is charged as a percentage of the excess: 2 percent on Starter down to 0.4 percent on Unlimited
- Starter at $29 a month allows 2 admin users and includes only 100,000 API requests and 1GB of storage per month
- Additional API requests cost $5 per 100,000 and extra storage $5 per GB
- Role based permissions and developer support are restricted to the Unlimited plan at $2,250 a month
- Advanced reports and priced currencies require the Standard plan or higher
- Published prices are the billed yearly rates, so monthly billing costs more
Pricing, plan by plan
FullStory
Free- FreeFree
- 1,000 sessions/month
- 14-day data retention
- Basic analytics
- Business$undefined/month
- Custom sessions
- 3-month retention
- Advanced analytics
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited sessions
- Custom retention
- Advanced privacy controls
Swell Commerce
$29/month- Starter$29/month
- Up to $50K annual revenue
- Basic reports
- Up to 5 admin users
- Basic$79/month
- Up to $250K annual revenue
- Most popular plan
- Basic reports
- Standard$299/month
- Up to $1M annual revenue
- Advanced reports
- Up to 15 admin users
- Unlimited$2250/month
- Up to $5M annual revenue
- Unlimited scalability and granular control
- Unlimited admin users
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 Swell Commerce if
- You need headless architecture.
- You also want graphql & rest apis.
Questions people ask
- Is FullStory or Swell Commerce better?
- Neither clearly leads. FullStory starts at Free and Swell Commerce at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, FullStory or Swell Commerce?
- FullStory has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for FullStory and $29/month for Swell Commerce.
- Does FullStory or Swell Commerce run on more platforms?
- FullStory runs on Web, Mobile. Swell Commerce runs on Web.
- Can I use FullStory for free?
- Yes. FullStory has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Swell Commerce starts at $29/month.
- 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 Swell Commerce is typically brought in for.
- What can FullStory do that Swell Commerce cannot?
- FullStory covers Session replay, Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, User journey mapping. Swell Commerce covers Headless architecture, GraphQL & REST APIs, Subscription commerce, Multi-currency support.
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.
SourceSwell Commerce: How much does Swell Commerce cost?
Swell offers four tiers starting at $29 per month for Starter and going up to $2,250 per month for Unlimited. Annual billing provides a 25% discount compared to monthly billing. All prices are in USD.
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.
SourceSwell Commerce: What are Swell's revenue tier overages?
Each plan includes a revenue ceiling based on 12-month trailing sales. Starter allows up to $50K with 2% overage, Basic allows $250K with 1.5% overage, Standard allows $1M with 1% overage, and Unlimited allows $5M with 0.4% overage. Custom plans are available for merchants exceeding $10M annually.
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
More on Swell Commerce
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