{
  "slug": "heap-alternative",
  "page_type": "alternative",
  "seo": {
    "title": "Heap Alternative: Why Teams Choose OpenPanel",
    "description": "Compare OpenPanel vs Heap. Discover why teams choose OpenPanel as their Heap alternative for transparent pricing, self-hosting, open source freedom, and lightweight analytics without autocapture complexity.",
    "noindex": false
  },
  "hero": {
    "heading": "Heap alternative",
    "subheading": "Looking for Heap's product analytics without the black-box pricing and vendor lock-in? OpenPanel offers transparent event-based pricing, full self-hosting, and MIT-licensed open source code—giving you control over your analytics.",
    "badges": [
      "Open-source",
      "Transparent pricing",
      "Self-hostable",
      "No vendor lock-in"
    ]
  },
  "competitor": {
    "name": "Heap",
    "logo": "/logos/heap.svg",
    "url": "https://heap.io",
    "short_description": "Product analytics platform known for autocapture technology that automatically tracks all user interactions. Now part of Contentsquare.",
    "founded": 2013,
    "headquarters": "San Francisco, CA"
  },
  "summary_comparison": {
    "title": "OpenPanel vs Heap: Which is right for you?",
    "intro": "Both platforms provide product analytics, but with different philosophies. Heap's autocapture records everything automatically; OpenPanel uses explicit tracking for better control.",
    "one_liner": "OpenPanel is transparent, self-hostable, and open source; Heap offers autocapture and retroactive analysis with opaque enterprise pricing.",
    "best_for_openpanel": [
      "Teams needing transparent, predictable pricing without sales calls",
      "Organizations requiring self-hosting for data sovereignty",
      "Open source requirements for transparency and auditability",
      "Teams wanting controlled data collection without bloat",
      "Startups avoiding vendor lock-in after Contentsquare acquisition"
    ],
    "best_for_competitor": [
      "Teams wanting autocapture to avoid manual event tracking",
      "Organizations needing retroactive analysis for new events",
      "Companies requiring visual event definition tools",
      "Enterprise teams with budget for premium features",
      "Teams needing session replay and heatmaps (add-ons)"
    ]
  },
  "highlights": {
    "title": "Key differences at a glance",
    "intro": "Here's how OpenPanel and Heap compare on the factors that matter most.",
    "items": [
      {
        "label": "Pricing transparency",
        "openpanel": "Public, event-based pricing",
        "competitor": "Opaque (requires sales call)"
      },
      {
        "label": "Self-hosting",
        "openpanel": "Yes, completely free",
        "competitor": "No (cloud only)"
      },
      {
        "label": "Open source",
        "openpanel": "Yes (MIT)",
        "competitor": "No (proprietary)"
      },
      {
        "label": "Autocapture",
        "openpanel": "Manual event tracking",
        "competitor": "Automatic capture"
      },
      {
        "label": "Retroactive analysis",
        "openpanel": "Tracked events only",
        "competitor": "Full historical analysis"
      }
    ]
  },
  "feature_comparison": {
    "title": "Feature comparison",
    "intro": "OpenPanel covers core product analytics, while Heap extends into autocapture and visual analytics tools.",
    "groups": [
      {
        "group": "Core analytics",
        "features": [
          {
            "name": "Page views & sessions",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Event tracking",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Funnels",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Retention analysis",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "User profiles",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Cohorts",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Custom dashboards",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Real-time data",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "group": "Advanced features",
        "features": [
          {
            "name": "Autocapture",
            "openpanel": false,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": "Heap automatically captures all interactions"
          },
          {
            "name": "Retroactive analysis",
            "openpanel": false,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": "Heap can analyze historical data for new events"
          },
          {
            "name": "Visual event definition",
            "openpanel": false,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": "Heap's no-code event creation"
          },
          {
            "name": "A/B testing",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": false,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Session replay",
            "openpanel": false,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": "Heap offers as paid add-on"
          },
          {
            "name": "Heatmaps",
            "openpanel": false,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": "Heap offers as paid add-on"
          },
          {
            "name": "Path analysis",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "group": "Privacy & deployment",
        "features": [
          {
            "name": "Self-hosting",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": false,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Open source",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": false,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "GDPR compliant",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Data export",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "EU data residency",
            "openpanel": "Via self-hosting",
            "competitor": "Premier plan only",
            "notes": null
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "group": "Integrations & data",
        "features": [
          {
            "name": "REST API",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "Data warehouse export",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": "Heap Connect exports to major warehouses"
          },
          {
            "name": "Segment integration",
            "openpanel": true,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          },
          {
            "name": "100+ integrations",
            "openpanel": false,
            "competitor": true,
            "notes": null
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "technical_comparison": {
    "title": "Technical comparison",
    "intro": "For developers evaluating analytics tools, here's how the SDKs and technical implementations compare.",
    "items": [
      {
        "label": "SDK size (JS)",
        "openpanel": "~2.3 KB gzipped",
        "competitor": "Larger (autocapture overhead)",
        "notes": "OpenPanel's lighter SDK means faster page loads"
      },
      {
        "label": "Supported platforms",
        "openpanel": [
          "JavaScript",
          "React",
          "Next.js",
          "Vue",
          "React Native",
          "iOS",
          "Android",
          "Node.js",
          "Python"
        ],
        "competitor": [
          "JavaScript",
          "iOS",
          "Android",
          "React Native",
          "Flutter"
        ],
        "notes": null
      },
      {
        "label": "Open source",
        "openpanel": "Yes (MIT)",
        "competitor": "No",
        "notes": null
      },
      {
        "label": "Self-hosted deployment",
        "openpanel": "Docker, simple setup",
        "competitor": "Not available",
        "notes": null
      },
      {
        "label": "Database",
        "openpanel": "ClickHouse + PostgreSQL",
        "competitor": "Proprietary",
        "notes": null
      },
      {
        "label": "Tracking method",
        "openpanel": "Explicit event tracking",
        "competitor": "Autocapture everything",
        "notes": "Different philosophies on data collection"
      }
    ]
  },
  "pricing": {
    "title": "Pricing comparison",
    "intro": "OpenPanel offers transparent pricing. Heap requires sales calls for anything beyond the free tier.",
    "openpanel": {
      "model": "Event-based, transparent",
      "description": "Simple pricing starting at $2.50/month for 5,000 events. Self-host for free with unlimited events. All features included at every tier."
    },
    "competitor": {
      "model": "Session-based, opaque",
      "description": "Free tier: 10K sessions/month, 6 months data retention. Growth/Pro/Premier plans require custom quotes from sales. Reports suggest Growth plans start around $3,600/year.",
      "free_tier": "Yes (10K sessions/month)",
      "pricing_url": "https://heap.io/pricing"
    }
  },
  "migration": {
    "title": "Migrating from Heap to OpenPanel",
    "intro": "Switching from Heap requires rethinking your tracking strategy since OpenPanel doesn't autocapture.",
    "difficulty": "moderate",
    "estimated_time": "2-8 hours depending on event complexity",
    "steps": [
      {
        "title": "Audit your Heap events",
        "description": "Review which events you actually use in Heap dashboards and funnels. Identify the essential events since OpenPanel won't autocapture everything."
      },
      {
        "title": "Install OpenPanel SDK",
        "description": "Replace Heap's snippet with OpenPanel's lightweight SDK. The SDK is smaller and won't autocapture."
      },
      {
        "title": "Implement event tracking",
        "description": "Unlike Heap's autocapture, OpenPanel requires explicit event tracking. Instrument the key events you identified using op.track() calls."
      },
      {
        "title": "Set up user identification",
        "description": "Replace heap.identify() with OpenPanel's identify() method. Both platforms support similar user identification patterns."
      },
      {
        "title": "Recreate funnels and reports",
        "description": "Build your conversion funnels, retention charts, and dashboards in OpenPanel."
      }
    ],
    "sdk_compatibility": {
      "similar_api": false,
      "notes": "Different tracking philosophies: Heap autocaptures everything, OpenPanel requires explicit tracking. Plan to instrument your key events."
    },
    "historical_data": {
      "can_import": false,
      "notes": "Heap's proprietary data format makes historical migration complex. Contact us if you need assistance."
    }
  },
  "use_cases": {
    "title": "Where OpenPanel is a better fit than Heap",
    "intro": "OpenPanel shines for teams that value transparency, control, and avoiding vendor lock-in.",
    "items": [
      {
        "title": "Teams needing transparent pricing",
        "description": "Heap's pricing is opaque and requires sales calls. OpenPanel offers transparent event-based pricing so you always know what you'll pay.",
        "icon": "dollar"
      },
      {
        "title": "Self-hosting and data sovereignty",
        "description": "Heap is cloud-only. OpenPanel can be fully self-hosted with Docker, keeping all data on your own infrastructure.",
        "icon": "server"
      },
      {
        "title": "Open source requirements",
        "description": "Heap is completely proprietary. OpenPanel is fully open source under MIT license, allowing inspection and modification.",
        "icon": "code"
      },
      {
        "title": "Controlled data collection",
        "description": "Heap's autocapture collects everything by default. OpenPanel gives you explicit control over what data is collected.",
        "icon": "shield"
      },
      {
        "title": "Avoiding vendor lock-in",
        "description": "Heap was acquired by Contentsquare. OpenPanel's open source model prevents vendor lock-in and pricing uncertainty.",
        "icon": "lock"
      }
    ]
  },
  "faqs": {
    "title": "Frequently asked questions",
    "intro": "Common questions about switching from Heap to OpenPanel.",
    "items": [
      {
        "question": "What is Heap's autocapture and why might I not want it?",
        "answer": "Heap's autocapture automatically records every user interaction without manual tracking code. While convenient, it can lead to data bloat, higher costs, privacy concerns (capturing sensitive data accidentally), and difficulty managing what's tracked. OpenPanel's explicit tracking gives you full control over data collection."
      },
      {
        "question": "Can I self-host Heap?",
        "answer": "No. Heap is cloud-only with no self-hosting option. Your data always resides on Heap/Contentsquare's infrastructure. OpenPanel offers full self-hosting with Docker for complete data ownership."
      },
      {
        "question": "Is Heap open source?",
        "answer": "No. Heap is entirely proprietary with closed-source code. OpenPanel is fully open source under the MIT license."
      },
      {
        "question": "Why is Heap's pricing not public?",
        "answer": "Heap only shows its Free tier publicly. Growth, Pro, and Premier plans require contacting sales for custom quotes. Reports suggest Growth plans start around $3,600/year, with costs scaling significantly at higher volumes."
      },
      {
        "question": "What happened to Heap? Was it acquired?",
        "answer": "Yes. Contentsquare acquired Heap in September 2023. Heap is now part of Contentsquare's experience intelligence platform. This acquisition may affect Heap's product direction, pricing, and independence."
      },
      {
        "question": "Does OpenPanel have retroactive analysis like Heap?",
        "answer": "No. Heap's autocapture enables retroactive analysis. OpenPanel only analyzes events that were explicitly tracked. This is a trade-off: Heap offers flexibility but with data bloat; OpenPanel offers control but requires upfront planning."
      },
      {
        "question": "Does OpenPanel have session replay?",
        "answer": "No. Heap offers session replay as an add-on on Pro and Premier plans. OpenPanel focuses on product analytics without session replay or heatmaps."
      }
    ]
  },
  "related_links": {
    "articles": [
      {
        "title": "Find an alternative to Mixpanel",
        "url": "/articles/alternatives-to-mixpanel"
      },
      {
        "title": "9 best open source web analytics tools",
        "url": "/articles/open-source-web-analytics"
      }
    ],
    "alternatives": [
      {
        "name": "Mixpanel",
        "url": "/compare/mixpanel-alternative"
      },
      {
        "name": "PostHog",
        "url": "/compare/posthog-alternative"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ctas": {
    "primary": {
      "label": "Start with OpenPanel",
      "href": "https://dashboard.openpanel.dev/onboarding"
    },
    "secondary": {
      "label": "View on GitHub",
      "href": "https://github.com/Openpanel-dev/openpanel"
    }
  }
}