Technology · head to head
Heap vs Whimsical
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Heap no built-in A/B testing or feature flags; requires integration with separate tools for experimentation; Whimsical the free plan is capped at 3 team boards, 3 teams and 10 guest seats
- They diverge on capability: Heap covers Autocapture, Whimsical covers Flowcharts.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Heap and Whimsical actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Technology).
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 Heap
- Autocapture
- Retroactive analytics
- Session replay
- Funnel analysis
- User segmentation
- Path analysis
- Data science
- Virtual events
Only in Whimsical
- Flowcharts
- Wireframes
- Mind maps
- Sticky notes
- Docs
- Real-time collaboration
- Templates
- Keyboard shortcuts
Both cover
- SOC2
- GDPR
- Cloud deployment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Heap
- User behavior analysisnot Whimsical
- Conversion optimizationnot Whimsical
- Product adoptionnot Whimsical
- Customer journey mappingnot Whimsical
- A/B testing analysisnot Whimsical
Whimsical
- Product planningnot Heap
- UI/UX designnot Heap
- Brainstormingnot Heap
- Process documentationnot Heap
- Project visualizationnot Heap
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Heap
- No built-in A/B testing or feature flags; requires integration with separate tools for experimentation
- Group analytics and advanced features require a sales conversation, not self-serve
- Cloud-only deployment; no self-hosted option for data security or compliance requirements
- Session replay lacks developer debugging tools compared to PostHog
- Pricing for Growth and Pro plans requires direct sales contact; no transparency on how pricing scales
Whimsical
- The free plan is capped at 3 team boards, 3 teams and 10 guest seats
- File uploads are limited to 5MB per file and 1GB in total on the free plan
- Version history on the free plan goes back 7 days
- Voting, the timer, private teams, the GitHub integration, password-protected files and watermark removal all need Pro at $10 per editor per month
- SSO and SAML are Business tier only at $20 per editor per month
Pricing, plan by plan
Heap
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 10,000 monthly sessions
- Basic charts
- 6 months data history
- Growth$undefined/custom
- Custom session pricing
- Sense AI assistant
- 12 months data history
- Pro$undefined/custom
- Custom session pricing
- Account analytics
- Engagement matrix
- Premier$undefined/custom
- Custom session pricing
- Data warehouse integration
- Unlimited projects
Whimsical
Free- StarterFree
- Up to 4 boards
- Unlimited viewers
- 7-day version history
- Pro$10/month
- Unlimited boards
- Unlimited version history
- Advanced permissions
- Org$20/month
- Everything in Pro
- SSO
- User management
Which should you pick?
Choose Heap if
- You need autocapture.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want retroactive analytics.
Choose Whimsical if
- You need flowcharts.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want wireframes.
Questions people ask
- Is Heap or Whimsical better?
- Neither clearly leads. Heap starts at Free and Whimsical at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Heap or Whimsical?
- Heap starts at Free and Whimsical at Free.
- Does Heap or Whimsical run on more platforms?
- Heap runs on Web, iOS, Android. Whimsical runs on Web.
- Can I use Heap for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Heap best used for?
- Heap is most often used for user behavior analysis, conversion optimization, product adoption, customer journey mapping. Of those, user behavior analysis and conversion optimization are not what Whimsical is typically brought in for.
- What can Heap do that Whimsical cannot?
- Heap covers Autocapture, Retroactive analytics, Session replay, Funnel analysis. Whimsical covers Flowcharts, Wireframes, Mind maps, Sticky notes. Both handle SOC2, GDPR, Cloud deployment.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Heap: What does Heap's autocapture feature do?
Heap's autocapture is a single code snippet that automatically captures every click, swipe, tap, pageview, and form fill on your website and apps without requiring manual event setup. Once installed, Heap captures the entire digital experience of every user on every platform with no ongoing engineering maintenance needed.
SourceWhimsical: What are Whimsical's pricing tiers?
Whimsical offers three plans: Free at 0 dollars per month per editor, Pro at 10 dollars per month per editor, and Business at 20 dollars per month per editor.
SourceHeap: What are Heap's pricing plans and how much do they cost?
Heap offers a Free plan for up to 10,000 monthly sessions. Growth, Pro, and Premier plans use custom session-based pricing that requires contacting sales for a quote. Free includes basic charts and 6 months data history. Growth adds the Sense AI assistant. Pro adds account analytics. Premier adds data warehouse integration and dedicated customer success management.
SourceWhimsical: What is included in the Free plan?
The Free plan allows creation of up to 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks per month, includes watermarked exports, and provides 7-day version history. Storage is limited to 1GB.
SourceHeap: Does Heap include session replay and A/B testing?
Heap includes integrated session replay showing exactly what users did on your site. However, Heap does not include built-in A/B testing or feature flags. Teams requiring these capabilities must use separate tools or integrate with third-party platforms.
SourceWhimsical: What features unlock in the Pro plan?
The Pro plan removes the object creation limits, provides unlimited board objects and doc blocks, removes watermarks from exports, extends version history to 90 days, and offers 100GB of storage.
SourceHeap: What integrations does Heap support?
Heap supports over 100 integrations connecting to business tools including marketing platforms, CRMs, and data warehouses. This allows insights to reach relevant teams and ensures data flows to other business systems automatically.
SourceWhimsical: What security and team features come with Business?
The Business plan adds private teams, SAML single sign-on, SCIM and advanced security controls, unlimited version history, priority support, and a dedicated success manager. Storage starts at 2TB.
SourceHeap: Does Heap offer self-hosting or is it cloud-only?
Heap is cloud-only and does not offer self-hosted options. Organizations requiring on-premises deployment should consider alternatives like PostHog which supports self-hosting alongside its cloud product.
SourceWhimsical: Do discounts apply for annual billing?
Yes, annual billing offers a 17 percent discount compared to monthly rates. Additionally, nonprofits receive a 20 percent discount and students and teachers get full access.
SourceHeap: What is Sense and how does it help with analytics?
Sense Chat is Heap's AI assistant that enables users to access analytics without extensive technical knowledge. It allows teams to ask questions about user behavior and get answers directly without lengthy onboarding or technical expertise, making insights more accessible to non-technical stakeholders.
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