A self-hostable Heap alternative
Heap autocaptures every click and lets you define events retroactively, which is genuinely useful, but it is hosted-only, sales-led above a small free tier, and now part of Contentsquare. smolanalytics also autocaptures, runs as one Go binary you can self-host, prices flat and cheap, and lets you ask it questions in plain English.
is smolanalytics a good Heap alternative?
Yes, if you want Heap's autocapture without the hosted-only lock-in and sales-led pricing. Heap (now Heap by Contentsquare) captures every click and page view from the moment its snippet loads, so you can define events retroactively against historical data, and it pairs with Contentsquare session replay on higher plans. But Heap is hosted-only, its free tier caps at about 10,000 sessions a month, and paid plans start around $3,600 a year and go custom above that. smolanalytics is a single MIT-licensed Go binary you can self-host: docker run and it is up in about 30 seconds, storing roughly 7 bytes per event with no Kafka, ClickHouse, or Postgres. It does web and product analytics from one snippet (visitors, referrers, funnels, retention, paths, cohorts), leads with a daily verdict on what to fix, and lets you ask questions in plain English, from a dashboard bar or your own Cursor or Claude over MCP, with answers computed from deterministic reports, not guessed by an LLM. Pricing is flat: self-host free forever, or hosted from $9 a month. Keep Heap if you need its retroactive autocapture depth or Contentsquare session replay, which smolanalytics does not do on purpose.
why people leave Heap
“Autocapture records every user interaction from the moment the snippet is installed, without manual event tracking setup.”
Heap's autocapture docs
“Virtual Events are retroactive to the moment you installed Heap, so you can define and redefine events against historical data.”
Heap's virtual events docs
“The free plan covers up to 10,000 monthly sessions; paid plans are custom and start around $3,600 a year.”
Heap pricing coverage, 2026
Heap vs smolanalytics
| Heap | smolanalytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | hosted only (part of Contentsquare) | self-host the Go binary, or hosted cloud |
| Capture model | autocapture, define events retroactively | autocapture, web + product from one snippet |
| Getting an answer | build reports, define virtual events | ask in plain English, a verdict on what to fix |
| Ask from your editor | no | MCP, your own AI answers free, computed not guessed |
| Session replay | yes, via Contentsquare (extra cost) | no, deliberately |
| Price | free to ~10K sessions, then sales-led | free self-host (MIT), or $9 flat cloud |
when to keep Heap
- You rely on Heap's retroactive autocapture depth: defining and redefining virtual events against every historical click without re-instrumenting. That deep retroactivity is Heap's core strength and smolanalytics keeps things simpler.
- You want Contentsquare session replay and digital experience analytics alongside product analytics in one suite. smolanalytics does not do session replay, heatmaps, or experiments on purpose.
Self-host in 30 seconds
# no hosted-only lock-in, no sales call docker run -p 8080:8080 -v $PWD/data:/data \ -e SMOLANALYTICS_DB=/data/smolanalytics.data \ ghcr.io/arjun0606/smolanalytics # dashboard + MCP at http://localhost:8080
Autocapture you can host yourself, priced flat instead of sales-led. Point Claude or Cursor at it and ask anything: no model to pay for, no number it can make up.
questions
Is smolanalytics a good Heap alternative?
Yes, if you want autocapture without the hosted-only lock-in and sales-led pricing. Heap autocaptures every click and lets you define events retroactively, but it is hosted-only, its free tier caps around 10,000 sessions a month, and paid plans start near $3,600 a year and go custom. smolanalytics is a single MIT-licensed Go binary you can self-host, up in about 30 seconds with docker run, storing roughly 7 bytes per event. It does web and product analytics from one snippet, leads with a verdict on what to fix, and you can ask it questions in plain English from a dashboard or your own editor over MCP. Keep Heap if you need its retroactive autocapture depth or Contentsquare session replay.
Can I self-host smolanalytics instead of using Heap's cloud?
Yes. Heap (now Heap by Contentsquare) is hosted-only, so your event data lives on their infrastructure. smolanalytics is one static Go binary with no external database: no Kafka, ClickHouse, or Postgres beside it. You run docker run on your own box, it stores events in plain files at about 7 bytes each, and the dashboard plus MCP endpoint come up in about 30 seconds. Self-hosting is free forever under an MIT license.
Does it autocapture like Heap does?
Yes, from one snippet, and it turns that into web and product analytics together: visitors, referrers, funnels, retention, paths, and cohorts, plus channel and revenue attribution and a daily verdict on what to fix. Where Heap leans on defining virtual events retroactively in a point-and-click UI, smolanalytics leans on letting you just ask the question in plain English and getting an answer computed from deterministic reports.
What does Heap do that smolanalytics doesn't?
Deep retroactive autocapture with virtual events you redefine against all historical data, and Contentsquare session replay and digital experience analytics on higher plans. smolanalytics deliberately does not do session replay, heatmaps, experiments, or surveys. It is for teams who want a straight answer on what to fix, that they own, priced flat and cheap, and can ask in plain English.
How does the pricing compare?
Heap has a free tier up to about 10,000 monthly sessions, then paid plans start around $3,600 a year and become custom and sales-led above that. smolanalytics is flat: self-host is free forever under MIT, or the hosted cloud is Solo $9, Pro $29, Scale $149, and Business $499 a month, with extra events at $5 per million (versus roughly $50 at the big tools). There is a 14-day trial and no card required.
Get the verdict, not another dashboard.
Drop one snippet, ask in your editor, own your data. 14-day full trial, no credit card.