Fullstory Autocapture: Feature Overview + an Alternative

Wondering if Fullstory autocapture is the right solution for your product analytics needs?

This article will help you find out! Read on as we explore the pros and cons of this feature and why you might need an alternative.

TL;DR

• Fullstory autocapture is an AI-powered feature that lets you automatically track user clicks, scrolls, mouse movements, form submissions, and other interactions on your website or web application.
• The autocapture records core events, transient events, and long-tail user interactions.
• Curious about what happens in the background? Fullstory autocapture works by leveraging the Document Object Model (DOM) to continuously track and record user activity as it occurs.
• With Fullstory autocapture, you can:

1. Ensure user privacy and data integrity, even as your product evolves.
2. Gain a complete understanding of the user experience.
3. Uncover hidden user insights.
4. Pair quantitative and qualitative data for deeper analysis.

• Why you may need a Fullstory alternative:

1. Limited user engagement and feedback modules.
2. Lack of in-depth segmentation.
3. Not specifically tailored for B2B/SaaS.
4. No dedicated customer support.

• Unlike Fullstory, Userpilot goes beyond passive observation and enables you to actively improve user satisfaction through contextual experiences.
• Userpilot autocapture first records all user clicks, text inputs, and form submissions as “Raw Events.” You can then label the specific events you’re interested in and collect more data to perform actions like customer segmentation, event-based analytics, contextual messaging, and so on.
• Userpilot autocapture helps you:

1. Save time.
2. Maintain data integrity.
3. Get answers instantly.
4. Avoid bias.
5. Make data actionable.
6. Segment users AND companies.
7. Enjoy predictable and cost-effective pricing.
8. Access responsive customer support.

• Ready to get started? Grab a demo and discuss your needs with the Userpilot team.

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What is Fullstory autocapture?

Fullstory autocapture is an AI-powered feature that lets you automatically track user clicks, scrolls, mouse movements, form submissions, and other interactions on your website or web application.

Fullstory itself is a comprehensive product analytics and digital experience intelligence tool with other features like session replays, heatmaps, and frustration signals that empower you to understand user behavior, identify pain points, and deliver perfect digital experiences.

Which types of digital experience data does it log?

Fullstory tracks three types of behavioral data: core events, transient events, and long tail events.

Let’s go over each of them in more detail.

Core events and properties

These are the fundamental interactions that define the user’s experience on a website or app and directly contribute to business KPIs.

Core user events typically include actions like clicks, page loads, form submissions, and hovers. Properties, on the other hand, provide context and details surrounding these events, such as the element that users clicked, the page URL, or the input values in a form.

For example, a user clicking the “Start Free Trial” button on your landing page would be a core event because it directly ties to your product goals. The specific button’s ID, the plan selected (if applicable), and the referral source (e.g., organic search, social media) would be associated properties.

In general, around 80% of core events are typically captured through intentional instrumentation, while the remaining 20% are automatically recorded.

Transient events

As the name suggests, transient events are temporal interactions that occur within your platform. This data type is often seasonal or tied to a specific phase of your product.

For example, new feature adoption is transient because it loses importance after a majority of your users have interacted with and adopted the new feature. The same is true for limited-time in-app messages and offers.

Since transient events change so often, only about 20% of them are typically instrumented. But that’s where Fullstory’s autocapture comes in—it helps you track the data points you didn’t know you needed, and you can use retroactive analysis to update your metrics even after the event has ended.

The long tail

This data type refers to the variety of less frequent or unique events and properties that occur across the user journey.

You typically don’t track these manually because they can be extremely time-consuming to measure, but long tail events are the unknown unknowns that will grant you rich insights into user intent—especially when paired with core events.

Examples of long-tail events are rage clicks, navigation flows, rare interactions with specific elements, actions triggered by unique combinations of events, performance logs, and so on.

How does Fullstory autocapture work?

Fullstory autocapture works by keeping a close eye on the Document Object Model (DOM), which is your platform’s underlying structure or blueprint.

As users interact with your tool—clicking buttons, scrolling, and filling out forms—the DOM is constantly updated to reflect these changes. Fullstory continuously monitors these DOM updates to create a comprehensive record of user behavior and the context in which it happens.

This approach allows Fullstory to go beyond simple auto-tracking and provide detailed session replays, heatmaps, and analytics, to help you uncover nuanced insights.

What are the benefits of Fullstory autocapture?

In general, the feature helps you…

Maintain behavioral data integrity

Autocapture adapts to your evolving platform needs, unlike manual instrumentation, which can break due to code changes or updates.

If a button’s ID changes or a page flow is adjusted, Fullstory autocapture continues to track user interactions without missing a beat. This helps you avoid data discrepancies even in the face of constant product iterations.

Gain a complete understanding of your user experience

Instead of relying solely on pre-defined events, Fullstory records the complete spectrum of user interactions, including those you might not have anticipated.

This empowers you to answer unexpected questions, map customer journeys, build accurate conversion paths, and ultimately deliver positive user experiences.

Uncover hidden interaction insights

Traditional instrumentation requires you to anticipate every question and manually tag events in advance, leading to delays and potential blind spots in your customer analytics. Fullstory autocapture removes this limitation, allowing you to explore user behavior retroactively and gather insights without the need for upfront planning.

Moreover, the platform allows non-technical users to add custom events directly within the platform, further enhancing your ability to track and analyze behavioral data without relying on developers.

This democratization of data collection and analysis ensures that everyone on your team can contribute to gathering user insights and driving product improvements.

Pair quantitative and qualitative data

The platform lets you easily combine autocaptured data with session replays to understand the “why” behind user activity.

For example, quantitative metrics might show a high bounce rate on a specific landing page. By watching session replays of users who left quickly, you could uncover qualitative insights—perhaps a confusing layout, slow loading times, or irrelevant content—that explain the quantitative data.

Why you may need a Fullstory alternative?

While Fullstory is a powerful tool for understanding user behavior, there are specific scenarios where its features may not be the ideal fit for your needs. Here’s why:

• Limited engagement and feedback modules: If you’re looking to actively engage with your users through in-app surveys, feedback widgets, or NPS tools, Fullstory’s focus on session replay and analytics may leave you wanting. You might need a more holistic solution that combines user behavior insights with direct user feedback mechanisms.
• No company segmentation: The platform primarily focuses on user-level segmentation, which might not be sufficient for SaaS companies that need to analyze and understand user behavior at the company or account level.
• Not specifically tailored for B2B/SaaS: Fullstory offers valuable insights, but it doesn’t cater to the unique needs of B2B/SaaS companies, such as tracking complex user journeys across multiple touchpoints, triggering contextual in-app experiences, or measuring product adoption and expansion.
• No dedicated CSM/live chat support: If you require proactive support and guidance from a dedicated customer success manager or prefer the immediacy of live chat, Fullstory’s support model might not be the best fit. You might need to consider other behavior analytics tools that offer more personalized and responsive support options.
• Unpredictable pricing: Pricing is based on sessions, which can quickly get expensive.

Fullstory autocapture alternative: Userpilot

Userpilot is a worthy alternative if your focus is on driving product-led growth.

Unlike Fullstory, Userpilot goes beyond passive observation and enables you to actively shape the user experience. With features like advanced segmentation, interactive walkthroughs, checklists, and tooltips, Userpilot makes it easy to take action on all the data you gathered through auto-tracking.

What is Userpilot autocapture?

Userpilot autocapture automatically tracks key user interactions within your web application, allowing you to conduct retroactive analysis without the need for manual event tracking or extensive code implementation.

Once you’ve integrated Userpilot’s code snippet, it begins capturing valuable data about user clicks, text inputs, and form submissions.

How does Userpilot autocapture work?

Userpilot’s autocapture gathers an unprocessed record of all user activities within your application under the “Raw Events” tab:

To get more data, you need to “label” specific events. This process involves assigning a meaningful name and defining the criteria that trigger the event. For instance, you might label a click on the “Sign Up” button as a “Signup Attempt” event.

Once labeled, events move from the “Raw Events” section to your “Overview tab,” where you can:

• Perform event-based analytics: Track their frequency, trends, and impact on user behavior.
• Trigger actions: Use them to initiate in-app experiences like tooltips, modals, or surveys based on specific user actions.
• Create segments: Group users based on their interactions with labeled events, allowing for targeted communication and personalization.

Here’s an example of creating a user segment based on auto-tracked behavioral data:

Why choose Userpilot autocapture?

Userpilot is a great alternative to Fullstory autocapture because it helps you:

• Save time: By eliminating the need for manual event tracking and extensive code implementation, Userpilot autocapture frees up valuable development resources and allows your team to focus on analysis and action.
• Maintain data integrity: Autocapture adapts to changes in your product, ensuring consistent and reliable data collection even as your application evolves.
• Get answers instantly: You can access historical user interaction data and perform retroactive analysis without waiting for events to be manually tagged.
• Avoid bias: Userpilot lets you capture a detailed view of user behavior without relying solely on pre-defined events. This ensures you don’t miss valuable insights or misinterpret user actions.
• Make data actionable: You can go beyond just tracking behavioral data to trigger personalized customer experiences based on specific actions.
• Segment users and companies: Unlike Fullstory, Userpilot lets you segment both individual users and entire companies. This will improve your analytics and help you make more informed decisions.
• Enjoy predictable and cost-effective pricing: Userpilot’s pricing is 100% transparent. No hidden fees or unexpected surprises. You pay a flat monthly rate based on your number of monthly active users (MAUs) and analytics needs.
• Access responsive customer support: Userpilot provides timely assistance through live chat support on all plans, with additional phone support and dedicated customer success managers available on Growth and Enterprise plans.

Conclusion

Manual instrumentation is the most common approach to event tracking because it provides insights into specific user actions tied to business KPIs. However, it alone cannot capture the full spectrum of user behavior.

That’s why combining instrumentation with auto-tracking of unstructured data is the future of product analytics. This holistic approach provides a more complete understanding of user interactions and equips you to improve their overall experience.

Ready to take the next step? Book a demo today to see how Userpilot can help you collect and act on customers’ data in ways that Fullstory’s autocapture can’t.

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• No Credit Card Required