Heap vs Helion

Heap is an analytics product from Heap for tracking events and examining user activity. Its listed capabilities include conversion funnels, session recordings, ecommerce tracking, and API access. The listed platform is API, and the monthly visitor limit is 10,000. Data retention is described as limited. Heap offers a Free plan at free, covering 10,000 monthly sessions and six months of data history. Pro has no listed price and includes account analytics, an engagement matrix, report alerts, standard support, and Session Replay as an add-on. Premier also has no listed price and includes unlimited projects and one year of data history. The product therefore combines event collection with tools for conversion analysis, recordings, and ecommerce activity. Buyers should note that the free allowance is expressed in monthly sessions, while the listed visitor limit is 10,000.

Helion is an open-source product and web analytics platform for tracking user behavior, events, funnels, retention, and web traffic. It combines event tracking and user profiles with funnels, cohorts, retention analysis, real-time dashboards, session replay, A/B testing, and revenue tracking. Its MCP server lets Claude, Cursor, and other compatible AI clients query analytics data. Helion stores events in ClickHouse for analytics queries, and can send event-triggered notifications to Slack, Discord, or a custom webhook with JavaScript payload transforms. Tracking is cookieless by default and does not require third-party tracking cookies. Session replay is opt-in, off by default, and has 30-day retention. SDKs include JavaScript, React, Next.js, Astro, and Python. Helion can be self-hosted with Docker Compose on a VPS, Kubernetes cluster, or cloud provider; the self-hosted software is licensed under AGPL-3.0. The self-hosted plan costs nothing for unlimited events and all features. Helion Cloud costs $90 a month for 1M events and all features. It lists web, mobile, desktop, API, and self-hosted platforms.