Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Plausible.io VS Microsoft Clarity

Compare Plausible.io VS Microsoft Clarity and see what are their differences

Plausible.io logo Plausible.io

Plausible Analytics is a simple, open-source, lightweight (< 1 KB) and privacy-friendly web analytics alternative to Google Analytics. Made and hosted in the EU, powered by European-owned cloud infrastructure 🇪🇺

Microsoft Clarity logo Microsoft Clarity

Website analytics powered by machine learning 📊
  • Plausible.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2020-07-07

Plausible Analytics is not designed to be a clone of Google Analytics. It is meant as a simple-to-use replacement and a privacy-friendly alternative that can help many site owners.

  • It's quick, simple to use and understand with all the metrics displayed on one page. Doesn't track hundreds of metrics like Google Analytics does

  • Lightweight script of less than 1 KB so sites load fast. The script is 45 times smaller script than the Google Analytics one

  • Doesn't use cookies so there's no need to worry about cookie banners

  • Doesn't track personal data so it's compliant with GDPR out of the box and you don't need to worry about asking for data consent

  • It's open source with the code available on GitHub so you can even self host exactly the same product free as in beer

  • Unlike Google Analytics, the cloud product is not free as in beer because the business model is subscriptions rather than selling the data of your visitors. Plausible Analytics is bootstrapped without any external funding so the subscription fees help cover the costs and time spent on development.

  • Microsoft Clarity Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-09-17

Plausible.io

$ Details
paid Free Trial $9.0 / Monthly (10,000 pageviews)
Platforms
Web Browser Google Chrome Firefox Safari Wordpress
Release Date
2019 April

Microsoft Clarity

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Plausible.io features and specs

  • Privacy-focused
    Plausible does not collect personal data about your visitors and is fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR.
  • Simple to Use
    The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it accessible for users without technical expertise.
  • Lightweight
    Plausible's script is under 1 KB in size, making it fast to load and reducing the impact on site speed.
  • Open-Source
    The platform is open-source, which allows for community contributions and transparency in how data is handled.
  • Real-Time Data
    Plausible provides real-time analytics, which can be useful for monitoring live events and activities on your site.
  • Affordable Pricing
    Offers competitive pricing models that can be more budget-friendly for small to medium-sized businesses compared to other analytics platforms.

Possible disadvantages of Plausible.io

  • Limited Features
    Lacks some advanced features found in more comprehensive analytics tools like Google Analytics, such as multi-channel funnels and detailed demographic information.
  • No Free Tier
    Plausible does not offer a free tier, which could be an obstacle for very small websites or individual users on a tight budget.
  • Basic Reporting
    The reporting may be too basic for larger enterprises that require more granular and customizable analytics.
  • No App Integration
    Currently, Plausible does not offer integrations with mobile app analytics, limiting its use to web applications.
  • Smaller User Base
    As a relatively new and smaller player in the market, it may not have the extensive user community or third-party support seen with more established platforms.

Microsoft Clarity features and specs

  • Cost
    Microsoft Clarity is free to use, which makes it a cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform offers an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible even for users who are not particularly tech-savvy.
  • Heatmaps
    Clarity provides heatmaps that give a visual representation of user interactions on your website, helping you understand user behavior at a glance.
  • Session Replay
    The session replay feature allows you to watch recordings of user sessions, providing detailed insights into how users navigate your site.
  • GDPR Compliance
    Clarity is designed to be GDPR compliant, ensuring that user data is handled in accordance with regulations.
  • Integration with Tools
    It integrates well with other Microsoft products and various third-party tools, enhancing its functionality and ease of use within a broader software ecosystem.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft Clarity

  • Advanced Features Limitation
    Compared to some other analytics tools, Clarity may lack some advanced features like detailed conversion tracking or advanced segmentation.
  • Data Delay
    There can be a delay in data processing and updates, which might be a drawback for businesses that require real-time analytics.
  • Limited Customization
    Customization options for how data is collected and displayed can be somewhat limited, potentially restricting how specific insights are gathered.
  • Resource Intensive
    Session replays and detailed heatmaps can be resource-intensive, which might slow down the performance of the analytics dashboard on lower-spec systems.
  • No A/B Testing
    As of now, Clarity does not offer built-in A/B testing capabilities, which are useful for optimizing different versions of web pages.
  • Data Retention
    The platform might have limited data retention policies, which could be a concern for businesses that need long-term data storage.

Plausible.io videos

Cardano Blackboard Series #5: What is plausible deniability?

More videos:

  • Review - How Plausible is the Balkanized America from Crimson Skies? (A Map Analysis)
  • Review - Movie Review - How Plausible is The Martian?

Microsoft Clarity videos

No Microsoft Clarity videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Plausible.io and Microsoft Clarity)
Analytics
88 88%
12% 12
Web Analytics
88 88%
12% 12
Privacy
87 87%
13% 13
Marketing Analytics
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Plausible.io and Microsoft Clarity. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Plausible.io and Microsoft Clarity

Plausible.io Reviews

  1. Happy Paying User :)

    I've been using plausible since Sep 2019 and never had any doubts about it. It provides me with everything I need related to visitor stats while keeping privacy in first place.

    It doesn't slow down my website loading speed (it's amazing, it's less than 1KB in size!), is not blocked by adblockers since it's not really a tracker tracker, and owners are super cool and they actually respond to every inquiry you could possibly have.

    If you're looking for de-googling your stuff, you can start with Plausible :)

    🏁 Competitors: Google Analytics, Matomo, Woopra
    👍 Pros:    Loading speed|Clean ui|Privacy concisous|Custom domain|Affordable prices|Easy integration|Super simple
  2. Makis
    · Senior Software Engineer ·
    Plausibly simple analytics!

    I tried several analytics tools prior to Plausible, namely Google Analytics and later on Matomo. I found both to be fairly complicated for my usage which is a personal blog. Complicated in the way I had to install and use them. Plausible's simple to set up approach combined with a very clean and inviting user interface was a breath of fresh air. It's simple and clean enough that it actually makes me want to check and analyse my traffic which is a feeling I never thought I'd have having tried alternatives.

  3. Cesar Reyes
    · CEO at Reyes.Pro ·
    Excellent alternative to google analytics

    It offers clear information about what I really need, without distractions, without advertising and does not slow my site.

    🏁 Competitors: Google Analytics

Top 5 Plausible Analytics Alternatives in 2024
Looking for an excellent Plausible Analytics alternative? Read on as in this blog we will be exploring the best Plausible alternatives in 2024.
Source: www.putler.com
Top 9 Plausible Analytics alternatives in 2024
Plausible is an analytics platform focused on delivering clear insights into website traffic. By offering essential metrics like page views and referral sources, Plausible aids businesses in making informed decisions to optimize their online presence.
Source: usermaven.com
Top 5 Self-Hosted, Open Source Alternatives to Google Analytics
Use Case Example: An educational blog opts for Plausible to track user engagement metrics without impacting site performance or user privacy.
Source: zeabur.com
Top 5 open source alternatives to Google Analytics
Plausible is a newer kid on the open source analytics tools block. It’s lean, it’s fast, and only collects a small amount of information — that includes numbers of unique visitors and the top pages they visited, the number of page views, the bounce rate, and referrers. Plausible is simple and very focused.
Source: opensource.com
Privacy-oriented alternatives to Google Analytics
I learned about Plausible just recently, but they deserve to be on top of this list for me. Their platform is completely Open Source on GitHub under the MIT license. I personally also like that it’s written in Elixir.

Microsoft Clarity Reviews

The best Hotjar alternatives & competitors, compared
Microsoft Clarity is a 100% free session replay tool that supports basic replay features and heatmaps. It also records rage clicks and dead clicks, and integrates with Google Analytics 4, so you can view your GA data in Clarity.
Source: posthog.com
12 Hotjar alternatives for website and mobile app analytics
For session recordings and heatmaps, Clarity is a suitable alternative to Hotjar. Clarity tracks every user’s visit to your website, although it notes that recordings may not be available for all sessions. It also offers unlimited heatmaps and more than 25 filter options you can apply to both recordings and heatmaps.
10 Best Inspectlet Alternatives 2022
Microsoft Clarity is an alternative that allows companies to check the usability of their website. For this purpose, Microsoft Clarity records selected sessions of users. Companies can then evaluate the sessions. In addition, the tool provides measured values that indicate possible usability problems.
Source: www.plerdy.com
WatchThemLive vs. Microsoft Clarity: A Detailed Comparison
WatchThemLive and Microsoft Clarity have both been launched in 2020. Both of them are extremely powerful tools, but, of course, they’re not the same. Each one has its own unique features. In this post, we compare WatchThemLive and Microsoft Clarity and go through the pros and cons of each to give you a comprehensive insight into their differences.
Free SEO Tools To Improve Your Rankings
Microsoft Clarity - Free analytics tool for webmasters that shows you how people are using your website without hurting your site performance. It supports all sizes of websites, and offers session recordings, heatmaps, and insights dashboard that shows you interesting user sessions.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Plausible.io should be more popular than Microsoft Clarity. It has been mentiond 200 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Plausible.io mentions (200)

  • 10 of the Best Web Analytics Tools for React Websites
    Plausible is a privacy-focused website analytics tool that provides simple, actionable insights into website traffic and visitor behavior. It prioritizes data privacy by offering transparent analytics without cookies, tracking scripts, or personal data collection. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Top 10 European Open-Source Projects to Watch in 2025
    Perfect for companies running under tight EU privacy regulations. Find more: Plausible analytics. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Meet Marko Saric, Co-founder of Privacy-friendly Plausible Analytics
    In this interview, Marko Saric shared his thoughts on privacy and running a bootstrapped SaaS business. Plausible integration is already available in Open SaaS as a privacy-friendly alternative to Google Analytics. We hope this interview helps you understand the value of such a product, and the nature of running an open source business. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • 5 Side Project Ideas for Developers to Monetize as Micro-SaaS in 2025
    Plausible Analytics (https://plausible.io/) is a lightweight, privacy-focused analytics tool that’s designed to be simple and easy to use. Unlike Google Analytics, Plausible gives you just the metrics you need—without the bloat. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Umami is a simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics
    It is not entirely clear who wrote these descriptions. Maybe it was not the vendor. At least their website https://plausible.io/ has a much better wording. > No need for cookie banners or GDPR consent. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
View more

Microsoft Clarity mentions (31)

  • Revolutionize your Website: Free Heat Maps, Recordings, Analytics & more
    Microsoft Clarity provides masking options to prevent sensitive text from being sent to servers. By default, Clarity masks all sensitive text, such as email addresses and information entered by users. It offers three masking modes:. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • A list of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings that have free tiers of interest to devops and infradev
    Microsoft Clarity - Session recording completely free with "no traffic limits", no project limits, and no sampling. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • How to advocate for basic UX as a junior designer. Any cheap or free resources will be greatly appreciated
    THAT said, MS does have a free heatmapping tool which I've not tried yet. https://clarity.microsoft.com/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Mobile Screen Recorder App recorded thousands of users without consent
    In terms of getting people unstuck and improving the app we just recently integrated Microsoft Clarity https://clarity.microsoft.com/ which is very similar to Hotjar 🔥 https://www.hotjar.com in our Android and Web apps ( not iOS ) The way it works is it doesn't record the screen but it actually reassembles a simulation of your screen and movements from our code and where it thinks you moved/clicked. It also masks... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Best onsite heatmap that won't slow me down?
    Surprisingly, Microsoft Clarity is pretty good...and 100% free. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Plausible.io and Microsoft Clarity, you can also consider the following products

Google Analytics - Improve your website to increase conversions, improve the user experience, and make more money using Google Analytics. Measure, understand and quantify engagement on your site with customized and in-depth reports.

Simple Analytics - The privacy-first Google Analytics alternative located in Europe.

Fathom Analytics - Simple, trustworthy website analytics (finally)

Hotjar - The #1 Leader in Heatmaps, Recordings, Surveys & More. Sign up for a 15-day free trial and start learning from real user behavior today!

Matomo - Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform

Lucky Orange - Get into the minds of your customers by watching them navigate your site and chatting with them as they do so.