Heap Analytics review and a Better alternative

Heap is a product analytics tool that has its prime focus on heatmaps and session replay. Also, unlike other product analytics tools, Heap focuses on being a go-to tool for product adoption and understanding user behavior.

This blog will cover Heap’s features, strengths, and weaknesses. We'll introduce you to an exciting alternative. This innovative solution offers a fresh perspective, empowering you to make informed decisions.

1. Heap Analytics
2. Heap Analytics Reviews
3. Simple Analytics: A simpler alternative
4. Feature comparison between Heap Analytics and Simple Analytics
5. Conclusion
6. FAQs: A Better Alternative to Heap
   1. What makes Simple Analytics different from other analytics tools?
   2. Can I use Heap Analytics to perform funnel analysis?
   3. How does Simple Analytics handle user privacy?
   4. Does Heap Analytics provide support and training?

Heap Analytics

As mentioned above, Heap is a versatile product analytics tool with many capabilities for funnel optimization, tracking user behavior, and product adoption. Sessions, engagement, entry and exit pages, basic event tracking, bespoke event tracking, retention, conversions, and funnels are all included.

One of Heap's significant features is its ability to create custom reports and dashboards, allowing you to track nearly anything. Setting up user flows is simple.

There’s one thing to note here Heap’s cheapest plans start at $3,600/year and yet have only a 12-month data retention policy.

Pros of Heap

• Customizable reports and dashboards
• Easy setup for tracking user flows
• Offers segmentation and cohort analysis

Cons of Heap

• Poor data retention policy
• You’ll have to pay extra to increase the data retention period
• Requires developer for a complete implementation
• It has a learning curve
• The pricing structure is not publicly available, but data shows its expensive

Heap Analytics Reviews

"Heap is good, not great"

What do you like best about Heap?

I like the sheer * amount * of information I can access with Heap. I can parse out a lot of data and gain a ton of insight by using this tool. I also enjoy the dashboards, and that I can create my own for the charts and funnels that are relevant to my work.

What do you dislike about Heap?

Two things come to mind: first, I don't find it overly intuitive to use. As someone who works primarily in social media and copywriting, running data analyses isn't my #1 skill, but it's still a necessary part of my job; so some of the more technical aspects of the tool make it seem unnecessarily complicated (and a lot of times, I feel like I need to confirm my queries with people who are more well-versed in the tool). Second, I've been hamstringed by queries simply... not loading the data I need it to. I've reached out to CX about this and their response has been that there's simply too much data for the query to run successfully, which is unacceptable.

What problems is Heap solving and how is that benefiting you?

Heap helps me determine how much traffic our social media posts are driving to our marketplace, and therefore how much of an impact our work is having on GMV. I can also analyze a specific post through our UTM links.

***Kelsey P. |*Social Media Specialist, Mid-Market

Source: G2

"Great product analytics"

What do you like best about Heap?

We trialled a number of tools trying to find something that would be able to be used without needing our Head of Insights to generate reports.

Heap was the easiest tool out there, we were able to onboard each team (product, marketing etc) and help them become self-sufficient for reporting.

Also we didn't have to keep asking devs to add tags!

What do you dislike about Heap?

Heap is getting better at this but helping highlight patterns across different reports and events.

This isn't unique to Heap, but sometimes for a non-data pro, it can be hard to understand if you are tracking across the right events.

Hopefully AI can just work backwards from goal and work everything out :)

What problems is Heap solving and how is that benefiting you?

We wanted to democratise insights and stop having everything be requested through one person (Head of Insights).

Since then, we've got everyone using Heap, including customer teams to track health metrics, marketing and even sales

*Murat M. | Co-Founder/CEO, Small-Business*

Source: G2

Simple Analytics: A simpler alternative

Simple Analytics is an easy-to-use analytics tool that gives you the insights you need while being 100% GDPR-compliant.

It was founded by Adriaan van Rossum shortly after the GDPR was approved. Since its inception, Simple Analytics has had customers of all sizes, notable ones being: Michelin, Havas Media, Nomadlist, and the UK Government.

Though Simple Analytics might sound like a simple minimal analytics tool, it does pack some powerful features that many marketers love, such as automated event collection, goal tracking, e-commerce analytics, bypassing ad blockers (as it’s privacy-friendly), and much more.

Let's explore a few reasons why it's become a preferred choice for businesses seeking reliable and affordable analytics tools.

Pros of using Simple Analytics

1. Simple UI: Most product analytics tools like Heap come with a complex UI which takes time to understand if you’re not a regular user. On the other hand, Simple Analytics focuses on a clean and easy-to-understand UI that even non-marketers can easily understand.
2. Affordable: Tracking website and product metrics is pretty affordable with Simple Analytics. For just $9/month, you can track 100,000 datapoints (pageviews + events). Additionally, you get features that you would find in much more expensive tools.
3. Privacy First: The world is moving in a direction where privacy is becoming increasingly important. Google Analytics has been declared illegal in multiple EU countries. You would rather avoid getting caught up in this mess. Take privacy or compliance with regulations into account.
4. Mini Websites: Have you ever seen “t.co” as a referrer in your web analytics? If you have, you must have broken your head trying to find the source. Simple Analytics helps you find the exact tweet that referred/mentioned to your website.
5. Lightweight: Your website is your storefront on the internet. Providing the best possible experience matters. Installing an analytics script has an impact on page speed. Choose an analytics tool that won’t slow your website down. Even Google recommends having a website that loads quickly.
6. Integration: Installing and integrating Simple Analytics is also super easy. It has 20+ integrations to select from, so you can get it added quickly.

Cons of using Simple Analytics

Due to privacy laws, Simple Analytics doesn’t store IPs and user identifiers, which makes it lack a couple of metrics, such as bounce rate, but it does have time on page to give you an idea of user stickiness.

Pricing of Simple Analytics

Simple Analytics offers one of the most affordable pricing structures in its segment. The plans start at just $9/month, which lets you track 100,000 data points.

If you need more features, such as team access, the pricing goes up to $49/month, increasing the data points limit from 100,000 to 1,000,000.

Feature comparison between Heap Analytics and Simple Analytics

Conclusion

Heap Analytics provides enterprises with powerful product analytics capabilities, as shown by analyzing its features and constraints. However, it also has many cons, such as poor data retention policy, expensive pricing, and the product's complexity.

Simple Analytics provides the insights you need while being 100% GDPR compliant. They believe the internet should be an independent place that is friendly to website visitors. If this resonates with you, feel free to give it a try!

FAQs: A Better Alternative to Heap

What makes Simple Analytics different from other analytics tools?

Simple Analytics stands out from other analytics tools by offering a privacy-first approach, an easy-to-use interface, and clear data visualization. It has mini-websites, a simple solution to help you see the referring websites as a browser inside the Simple Analytics dashboard. This feature also helps you find the exact tweets that have been sent or have sent traffic to your website.

Can I use Heap Analytics to perform funnel analysis?

Yes, Heap Analytics supports funnel analysis. Custom conversion funnels can be created by specifying the sequence of user actions or events. This helps you to analyze user behavior and find conversion drop-off points.

How does Simple Analytics handle user privacy?

Simple Analytics is designed to be privacy-friendly and does not collect any personal data or use cookies. It also offers GDPR and CCPA compliance features.

Does Heap Analytics provide support and training?

Yes, Heap Analytics offers customer support, resources, documentation, and tutorials to assist users in getting started and getting the most out of the platform. You can contact their support team for help or use their knowledge base for self-help.