Heap pricing concerns: Pros, cons & better alternative

When it comes to Heap pricing, the word custom is everywhere. Custom plans, custom features, custom pricing – it can start to feel like a lot of choices, but not in a good way. With all these custom options, you’re left trying to figure out what’s actually best for you, and chances are, you might end up paying for things you don’t really need. It can be a confusing process, and let’s face it, no one likes unexpected costs. 

But don’t worry, Usermaven keeps things simple. We offer a straightforward, transparent pricing structure that gives you exactly what you need — without the custom chaos and hidden surprises.

What is Heap, and what are its key features?

Heap is a product analytics tool designed to track every user interaction automatically. While it sounds like a dream, using Heap can sometimes feel like navigating a maze. Let’s look at where it stumbles and what it offers.

Features of Heap

• Automatic tracking: Captures all user actions without manual setup.
• Event mapping: Visualizes user actions to help you understand behavior.
• Funnel analysis: Highlights where users drop off in their journey.
• Retention tracking: Monitors user loyalty and churn trends.
• Custom dashboards: Lets you create personalized insights.
• Real-time reporting: Keeps you updated instantly.

Limitations of Heap

• Custom pricing confusion: Heap analytics pricing is custom, but it often feels more like “mystery pricing.” You won’t know what you’re paying until you’re deep in a sales call – and even then, it can escalate quickly as your usage grows.
• High storage costs: All that data comes with a hefty price tag, making it expensive for small businesses.
• Confusing interface: The UI isn’t exactly user-friendly, especially for beginners.
• Privacy concerns: Sensitive data? Heap might not be the most secure choice.
• Limited integrations: Lacks support for some key tools like Flutter, adding extra work for developers.
• Tech skills required: Despite automation claims, you’ll need to know some HTML to make it work.

Heap has its pros, but its quirks can be frustrating if you’re after simplicity, affordability, and ease of use.

Heap pricing breakdown (the custom puzzle)

Heap pricing plans look promising, but the real challenge is figuring out what you’ll actually pay. Here’s a breakdown:

Heap pricing – Free plan

The free plan is… free. It’s a good starting point for small businesses or anyone testing Heap. It includes:

• Charts, funnels, and journeys
• 6 months of data history (short and sweet)
• Visual event labeling and dashboards
• GDPR and CCPA compliance
• Access to Heap University (because the tool isn’t exactly beginner-friendly)

Verdict: Great for trying Heap, but not much room to grow.

Heap analytics pricing – Paid plans

Heap pricing is available on request. You’ll have to contact the sales team for a quote. The final price will depend on various factors, including the number of sessions and integrations you need.

That said, Heap offers a free plan that lets you track up to 10,000 user sessions per month and stores your data for 6 months. Review platforms like G2 say that Heap’s paid plans start at $3,600 per year. All paid plans come with a 14-day free trial, too.

Paid plan – Growth

The first paid plan includes everything in free plus:

• 12 months of data history
• Basic technical support

But here’s the catch: Heap pricing is custom. That means Heap decides what you pay based on your needs.

Verdict: It is a small upgrade, but the unclear Heap pricing might make you pause.

Paid plan – Pro

The pro plan adds more features like:

• Engagement matrix
• SSO and limited projects & environments (extra costs for more)
• HIPAA compliance
• Standard support

And yes, this one’s custom pricing too.

Verdict: Good features, but the “custom” costs can add up quickly.

Paid plan – Premier

The top-tier plan includes everything in Pro Plus:

• Unlimited SSO and projects
• Account-based analytics and Heap Activate
• A dedicated customer success manager

Of course, this also comes with custom pricing.

Verdict: Fancy features, but the price tag might leave you scratching your head.

The bottom line: Heap pricing plans rely heavily on custom pricing, making it hard to budget. Trying Heap alternatives can be a good option if you’re looking for straightforward, budget-friendly pricing.

Related: Top 7 Heap alternatives and competitors

So, is there any alternative with transparent pricing?

Tired of playing the “How much will I pay?” game with Heap? With all their custom pricing, it’s like trying to guess the price of a mystery box—no one really knows until the bill arrives.

But don’t worry, there is a simpler alternative! Meet Usermaven. It’s like finding a clear map after getting lost in the pricing maze.

With Usermaven, you get simple and transparent pricing—what you see is what you pay. No hidden costs, no surprises. Just straightforward plans that fit your business needs without the headache of custom pricing.

Usermaven pricing: A clean and clear view

Pricing shouldn’t feel like a game of “Guess the Cost,” right? Some platforms offer custom pricing that leaves you wondering if your bill is a one-time fee or if you’ve just subscribed to a new hobby of checking invoices every month. But with Usermaven, what you see is what you get—clear, straightforward pricing with no surprises.

1. Pro plan – Essentials done right

Starting at $14/month

For small teams looking to get serious about analytics, this plan includes everything you need to kickstart your data journey without breaking the bank. Here’s what you get:

• Unlimited websites & workspaces: Track as many sites and teams as you need.
• Unlimited users: No cap—everyone’s welcome!
• 2 years of data history: Get all the insights from your past data.
• Website analytics & conversion tracking: Know what’s working.
• AI-powered funnel analytics & visitor profiles: Understand user journeys with smart AI.
• E-commerce revenue attribution: Track where your revenue is coming from.
• Ad-blocker bypassing & cookieless tracking: Stay privacy-compliant without the hassle.
• Maven AI: Get personalized insights powered by AI.

The best part? It’s all at an affordable price—without any “hidden fees” that make you check your bank account twice.

2. Premium plan – For the growth stage

Starting at $49/month

For those looking to scale up, this plan offers deeper insights and more tools to optimize user behaviors across both websites and SaaS products:

• Unlimited data history: All your past data at your fingertips.
• SaaS product & user journey analytics: Track your users from start to finish.
• AI-powered multi-touch attribution: See the full journey of user interactions.
• Google Ads & Meta integrations: Sync with your ad campaigns for better insights.
• Custom channel mapping & intuitive dashboards: Focus on what matters most to you.

For just $49/month, you can access all the powerful tools you need to scale, without the complex pricing models that leave you scratching your head.

3. Enterprise plan – The full package

Custom pricing

For large teams or enterprises, this plan is tailored to meet all your analytics needs. But unlike other platforms that leave you guessing, Usermaven ensures you understand exactly what you’re paying for:

• Data warehouse ingestion: Seamless syncing with your data warehouse.
• On-premise & private cloud hosting: Hosting options that meet your compliance needs.
• Custom integrations & guided onboarding: Personalized setup and integration.
• Dedicated account manager & priority support: Get reliable support when you need it.
• Advanced security & privacy compliance: Top-notch security for your peace of mind.

The best part? You get all the tools and support you need, with a transparent pricing structure that puts your mind at ease.

How does Usermaven pricing compare to Heap?

When it comes to pricing, clarity is key. Let’s take a look at how Usermaven pricing stacks up against Heap pricing.

One reviewer shared their experience with Heap, mentioning that the Heap pricing can be quite steep, especially for small businesses or growing teams. In fact, Heap pricing could run you around $3,600 per year—quite an investment for analytics, don’t you think? And that’s just for the basic features, with potential hidden fees as your data grows.

Now, let’s compare that to Usermaven. Our Premium Plan starts at just $49 per month. That’s a fraction of Heap’s annual cost. For only $49, you get all the advanced features like unlimited data history, AI-powered funnel analytics, multi-touch attribution, and integrations with tools like Google Ads and Meta. And the best part? The pricing is completely transparent—no surprise charges, no sudden jumps in cost as your data grows.

In short, with Usermaven, you’re getting top-tier analytics at a budget-friendly price, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to maximize their insights without breaking the bank.

Usermaven vs. Heap: The head-to-head comparison

1. AI insights

• Usermaven: Powered by AI, Usermaven provides automatic, data-driven insights across your platform. This means you get smart, actionable suggestions on user behavior and ways to improve your strategy.
• Heap: Lacks AI-powered features, so you’re left to manually analyze the data and draw conclusions on your own. No automation here!

2. Attribution Models

• Usermaven: It offers 7 flexible attribution models, which helps you understand how different user touchpoints lead to conversions. You can track everything from first click to last click to see what’s really driving your results.
• Heap: Unfortunately, Heap doesn’t offer any attribution models. This means you’ll be guessing how your users are getting to your site and what’s influencing their actions. Not ideal if you want to optimize your marketing efforts.

3. Funnels

• Usermaven: Usermaven uses AI to analyze your funnels and provide intelligent suggestions to improve conversion rates. It helps identify where users drop off and offers recommendations to fix these bottlenecks.
• Heap: Heap doesn’t provide AI-driven funnel analysis. It gives you basic funnel data, but you’ll need to manually analyze it to figure out what to improve. No helpful suggestions or smart insights here.

4. Journeys

• Usermaven: Offers deep, AI-powered insights into user journeys, helping you understand how users are interacting with your site step by step. You can see exactly where they go, what they do, and what might be causing friction.
• Heap: Heap offers basic path analysis, which shows you how users navigate through your site, but it doesn’t give you the deeper insights that AI-powered journey analysis provides. It’s a bit like following a trail without knowing where it leads.

5. Data Retention

• Usermaven: Provides unlimited data retention. This means you can store and access your data for as long as you need, making long-term trend analysis and historical comparisons easier.
• Heap: Heap limits data retention to just one year. If you want to keep data beyond that, you’ll have to pay more. So, if you’re looking to keep your historical data for years to come, Usermaven is your go-to.

6. User Interface

• Usermaven: Designed to be intuitive and easy to navigate, with a minimal learning curve. You don’t need to be a tech expert to start using it—anyone on your team can get up to speed quickly.
• Heap: The interface is a bit more complex and requires some technical knowledge. If you don’t have a developer on hand, you might find it challenging to fully utilize Heap’s features. A steeper learning curve here!

7. Tracking Method

• Usermaven: Uses cookieless tracking and bypasses ad-blockers, meaning you can capture more accurate data while ensuring privacy compliance. This is especially important in today’s privacy-conscious world.
• Heap: Relies on first-party cookies for tracking, which can be blocked by users using ad-blockers or browsers with strict privacy settings. This might cause gaps in your data.

8. Annotations

• Usermaven: Lets you add annotations to your data, so you can tag key events or insights and make notes for your team. This feature helps with tracking changes over time and keeping everyone on the same page.
• Heap: Doesn’t offer annotations, so you’ll need to rely on external tools to track your insights and updates. No in-app note-taking or reminders here.

9. Trends Analysis

• Usermaven: Provides trends analysis, allowing you to spot patterns in user behavior over time. This helps you make long-term strategic decisions based on real insights, not just one-time reports.
• Heap: Doesn’t offer trend analysis. You’ll need to do a lot more manual tracking and comparisons to notice any shifts in user behavior.

10. Contacts Hub

• Usermaven: Gives you detailed data at both the user and company level, allowing for deeper segmentation and targeting. With Contacts hub, you can track individual behaviors and then drill down to see company-level trends.
• Heap: Lacks the ability to provide detailed user and company-level data. This makes it harder to segment your audience and create personalized strategies based on individual user behavior.

Conclusion

In the battle of analytics tools, it’s clear—Usermaven is the heavyweight champion! With its AI-powered insights, unlimited data retention, and no-surprise pricing, it knocks out Heap’s steep learning curve and limited features in the first round. If you want your website analytics to be easy, actionable, and cost-effective (without needing a PhD in tech to figure it out), then Usermaven is your tag team partner.

So, why settle for just the basics when you can have the whole package? Leave the outdated, complex pricing behind and join the growing ranks of businesses that are making smarter decisions, not bigger payments. With Usermaven, the data’s clearer, the price is kinder, and the insights are smarter. Ready to step up your analytics game? Sign up today and see the difference for yourself—no hidden fees, just data brilliance!

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