Heap
Auto-capture product analytics. Tracks every click and event without manual instrumentation.
VISIT HEAPQuick facts
- CategoryProduct analytics
- PricingFreemium
- Starts atFree / contact
- LicenseProprietary
- Created2013
- GitHub starsclosed
- Script size~80KB
- CookielessNo
- Self-hostNo
What it is
Heap's differentiator is auto-capture — install one snippet and it records every click, form submit, and pageview retroactively. No manual event-tracking plan needed. Acquired by Contentsquare in 2024. Strong for teams that want analytics without engineering bottleneck on instrumentation.
Best for
- Marketing-led teams who want event analytics without engineering tracking-plan work
- Companies in early product-discovery where you do not yet know what events to track
- Teams who value retroactive analysis of past behaviour
When not to pick it
Skip Heap if your engineering team prefers explicit instrumentation. Skip if you need feature flags or session replay in the same tool — PostHog wins there.
My take
Heap is the right pick when product instrumentation is the bottleneck. The Contentsquare acquisition has shifted Heap's roadmap toward enterprise analytics; smaller teams may find PostHog more appropriate.
Links
Similar tools you should also consider
Mixpanel
The product-analytics original. Funnels, retention, cohorts — the toolkit every PM learned on.
Read the take →Amplitude
Enterprise product analytics. Mixpanel's biggest competitor — heavier, more enterprise-leaning.
Read the take →PostHog
Open-source product analytics. Mixpanel + LaunchDarkly + Hotjar in one self-hostable bundle.
Read the take →If Heap is your pick — the next conversation is short
The 30-min call is where your analytics choice becomes a real implementation, an event-tracking plan that fits your product, and a privacy story that does not need a 4-screen cookie banner.