Fullstory vs OpenReplay (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fullstory grades higher than OpenReplay: 3.0 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fullstory grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Fullstory
Session replay and behavior analytics for websites and apps
OpenReplay
Open-source session replay and product analytics you can self-host
Which one is for you
Pick Fullstory if
- Fits if support needs to see what a customer saw before they wrote in
- Works for teams hunting for friction in a checkout or sign-up flow
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price list, as every paid plan is quoted
- Tight if you stay free and more than 10 people need access, or you pass 30,000 sessions a month
- Not for you if you need app replays or in-app surveys without buying an add-on
- Watch out: the free plan leaves out dashboards and StoryAI
- Pricey if you want data in BigQuery, Redshift or Snowflake, which needs a paid warehouse add-on
Pick OpenReplay if
- Fits if you're a developer who wants replays next to errors and network logs
- Works for a team that must keep recordings on its own servers
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free: 1,000 sessions a month and data kept for 7 days
- Pricey if you want Dedicated, at $199 a month before you pick a bigger VM
- Watch out: self-hosting means you handle storage, scaling and upgrades, and the open-source edition is listed for low traffic
- Watch out: Serverless costs $5.95 per 1,000 sessions a month, so busy sites climb quickly
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAFullstoryVery good | 2.4GPAOpenReplayFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AGraded against LogRocket and Contentsquare. A site with 10,000 visitors a month fits in the free plan's 30,000 sessions, so the figure is $0, with 12 months of data and 10 users. Paid plans are all quoted by sales. | CDedicated starts at $199 a month, billed hourly, and Serverless is $5.95 per 1,000 sessions. That's around the top quarter of analytics prices. |
| Free plan and trial | BFullstoryFree needs no card: 30,000 sessions a month, 12 months of data, replays, basic analytics and debugging for up to 10 users. Dashboards and StoryAI aren't included, and there's no free way past 30,000. | CFree cloud plan: 1,000 sessions a month, 2 users, 1 project and 7-day retention. The open-source edition is free but you host it, and the Dedicated trial is 7 days. |
| Features | BReplays with developer tools, heatmaps, rage-click signals, funnels, journeys and retention, all from automatic capture, with sensitive data left out by default. That's the whole replay and analytics job. Mobile capture and in-app surveys are add-ons on paid plans. | BSession replay with network and console tools, product analytics, co-browsing, bug reports, data residency, an API and MCP server. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Capture is automatic once the snippet's in, but there's a lot of platform behind the replays: segments, funnels and journeys take some learning. | CNo store rating on record. You add the tracker to your app, or set up a server for self-hosting. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, no desktop or phone app of its own. It connects to Google Analytics, Shopify, Salesforce, Zendesk, Intercom, Jira, Slack and Twilio Segment, with warehouse sync as a paid add-on. | BWeb only, with Sentry, Datadog, Jira and GitHub links and an API. |
| Best for | seeing exactly what a user did | session replay you can host yourself |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Fullstory and OpenReplay. How we grade
Where they differ
- OpenReplay is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Fullstory also covers surveys and dashboards.
At a glance
| Fullstory | OpenReplay | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $199 per month for a Dedicated instance, billed hourly |
| Free plan | FullstoryFree: 30,000 sessions a month, 12 months of data, session replay, basic analytics and debugging tools for up to 10 users. No credit card needed. | Free cloud plan: 1,000 sessions a month, 2 users, 1 project and 7-day data retention; the open-source edition is free to self-host. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day trial of the Dedicated plan, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Fullstory, Inc. | OpenReplay |
| Price read from | fullstory.com | openreplay.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Fullstory
- No paid prices are published: Business, Advanced and Enterprise are all quoted through sales.
- Mobile app capture and in-app guides and surveys are add-ons on every paid plan.
- The free plan stops at 30,000 sessions a month and 10 users, and leaves out dashboards and StoryAI.
- Syncing data to BigQuery, Redshift or Snowflake needs the Anywhere: Warehouse add-on, sold for Business, Advanced and Enterprise.
OpenReplay
- The free cloud plan stops at 1,000 sessions a month and keeps data 7 days.
- Serverless is billed at $5.95 per 1,000 sessions a month, with 30-day retention and unlimited users and projects.
- Self-hosting means you manage storage, scaling and upgrades; the open-source edition is listed for low traffic.
- Dedicated has no published cap on users or recordings, but its price rises with the VM size you choose.
Key features
Fullstory
- Session replay
- Replays of real visits with developer tools, live session viewing, tabbed browsing and notes, so support and product teams can see what a user saw.
- Heatmaps and frustration signals
- Click, scroll and conversion maps, plus sentiment signals such as rage clicks that point to broken or confusing parts of a page.
- Product analytics
- Funnels, page flows, user segments, retention and journeys built from automatically captured data, with retroactive history.
- Privacy controls
- Sensitive data is excluded by default and masked in the browser, with consent-based recording, user deletion and IP or location restrictions.
- StoryAI and add-ons
- StoryAI adds session summaries and a set of AI agents; mobile capture, in-app guides and surveys, and multi-org management are sold as add-ons.
OpenReplay
- Session replay with developer tools
- Replays are paired with DevTools data such as network calls and backend logs pulled in from monitoring tools.
- Product analytics
- Funnels, heatmaps, journey analysis and web analytics sit alongside the replays, with mobile app support listed as well.
- Co-browsing and bug reports
- Co-browsing lets support staff view a customer's session live, and the Spot tool records bug reports for developers.
- Three ways to deploy
- Self-host the open-source edition, run a Dedicated instance in OpenReplay's cloud or yours, or use the usage-based Serverless cloud.
- Data residency
- The Dedicated plan lists 50 regions across AWS, GCP and Azure, plus bring-your-own-cloud, so data can stay in a chosen location.
- API and MCP server
- A REST API fetches sessions, users and events, and an MCP server is listed in the plan comparison. AI Agents are marked coming soon.
Plans
Fullstory
FullstoryFree$0
30,000 sessions a month, 12 months of data and up to 10 users. Dashboards and StoryAI need a paid plan.
BusinessCustom
Sold through sales: for companies that want product analytics alongside session replay, heatmaps and dashboards.
AdvancedCustom
Sold through sales: for larger organizations tracking trends and improving funnels at scale. Marked as the popular plan.
EnterpriseCustom
Sold through sales: for data science and analytics teams that use behavioral data in predictive models or AI projects.
OpenReplay
Free$0
On OpenReplay's cloud: up to 1,000 sessions a month, all core features, 2 users, 1 project, 7-day retention.
Open-Source$0
Free to self-host on your own infrastructure, with self-managed storage and community support through GitHub and Slack.
Dedicated$199
per month for a managed instance, billed hourly ($0.276/hr)
Dedicated VM managed by OpenReplay, with no limits on users, recordings or retention; the price is for the smallest size.
EnterpriseCustom
Self-hosted at scale with SAML and SCIM, audit trail, dedicated support and volume pricing on a multi-year contract.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fullstory or OpenReplay?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fullstory publishes no starting price, and OpenReplay starts at $199 per month for a Dedicated instance, billed hourly.
Which has a free plan, Fullstory or OpenReplay?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Fullstory and OpenReplay have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.