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Marketing · head to head

Microsoft Clarity vs Umami

Microsoft Clarity logo

Microsoft Clarity

Marketing

Free behaviour analytics tool with session recordings, heatmaps, and AI insights

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Microsoft Clarity no paid tier means no premium support; enterprise SLAs and dedicated account management are unavailable; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Clarity and Umami actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Clarity and Umami differ
AttributeMicrosoft ClarityUmami
Pricing modelfreePer month by event count
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Linux

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

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 Microsoft Clarity

Nothing recorded that Umami does not also cover.

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards
  • API access

What people use each for

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

Microsoft Clarity

  • SaaS product teams identifying checkout and signup funnel frictionnot Umami
  • E-commerce sites optimising product discovery and purchase flowsnot Umami
  • Content websites understanding reading patterns and article engagementnot Umami
  • Mobile app teams (iOS/Android) analysing user journey and drop-off pointsnot Umami
  • B2B platforms optimising onboarding and feature discoverynot Umami
  • Agencies and consultants providing UX analysis to clients free of chargenot Umami

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot Microsoft Clarity
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot Microsoft Clarity
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot Microsoft Clarity
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot Microsoft Clarity

Where each one falls short

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

Microsoft Clarity

  • No paid tier means no premium support; enterprise SLAs and dedicated account management are unavailable
  • Dependency on JavaScript tracking; websites with strict CSP (content security policy) may struggle with integration
  • Session replay is limited to browser-based interactions; native app behaviour in web wrappers is not captured
  • AI Chat and summaries require adequate session volume; low-traffic sites lack sufficient data for meaningful pattern detection
  • Privacy masking is automatic but lacks granular configuration; custom masking rules for proprietary data require workarounds

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft Clarity

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft Clarity review.

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose Microsoft Clarity if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
Microsoft Clarity review

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.
Umami review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft Clarity or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Clarity starts at Free and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Clarity or Umami?
Microsoft Clarity starts at Free and Umami at Free.
Does Microsoft Clarity or Umami run on more platforms?
Microsoft Clarity runs on Web, iOS, Android. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Microsoft Clarity for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Microsoft Clarity best used for?
Microsoft Clarity is most often used for saas product teams identifying checkout and signup funnel friction, e-commerce sites optimising product discovery and purchase flows, content websites understanding reading patterns and article engagement, mobile app teams (ios/android) analysing user journey and drop-off points. Of those, saas product teams identifying checkout and signup funnel friction and e-commerce sites optimising product discovery and purchase flows are not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Clarity do that Umami cannot?
Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Clarity: Is Microsoft Clarity truly free?

Yes. Microsoft Clarity is completely free with no traffic limits, no paid tier, and no restrictions based on session volume. It integrates with web properties via a single tracking snippet.

Source
Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

Microsoft Clarity: Does Clarity comply with GDPR and CCPA?

Yes. Clarity automatically masks sensitive form field data before transmission and supports privacy-by-default configuration. EU and California data residency options are available.

Source
Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

Microsoft Clarity: Can Clarity track mobile apps?

Yes. Clarity provides native SDKs for iOS and Android, as well as support for React Native and Flutter apps.

Source
Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

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