Heap Analytics

What is Heap Analytics?

Heap is a digital insights platform that automatically captures all user interactions on websites and mobile applications, eliminating the need for manual event tracking. Founded in 2013 by Matin Movassate and Ravi Parikh, Heap pioneered the concept of autocapture in product analytics. The platform enables product and analytics teams to understand user behavior without requiring engineering resources for instrumentation, making behavioral data accessible to everyone.

What distinguishes Heap is its foundational principle that data capture should not require advance planning. Traditional analytics tools only track events that have been explicitly instrumented, meaning valuable behaviors go unmeasured if not anticipated. Heap records every click, tap, swipe, pageview, and form submission automatically, enabling retroactive analysis of any user behavior without waiting for implementation.

Heap serves companies seeking to democratize access to user behavior data across their organizations. The platform combines autocapture with powerful analytics capabilities including funnels, retention, paths, and segments. Acquired by Contentsquare in 2023, Heap continues operating as a leading product analytics solution, now with enhanced capabilities from the combined digital experience platform.

Key Features

• Autocapture: Automatically record all user interactions without manual event instrumentation, enabling analysis of any behavior retroactively.
• Event Visualizer: Point-and-click interface for defining meaningful events from captured data without writing code.
• Funnel Analysis: Build conversion funnels to measure user flow through critical paths and identify drop-off points.
• Retention Analysis: Measure how well users return to your product over time with flexible retention metrics.
• Path Analysis: Discover how users navigate through your product, revealing common journeys and unexpected behaviors.
• Segments: Create user cohorts based on behaviors, properties, or events for targeted analysis and comparison.
• User Journeys: View individual user timelines showing complete interaction history across sessions.
• Data Management: Virtual events, property mapping, and data governance tools for maintaining clean analytics.
• Session Replay: Watch recordings of user sessions to understand context behind quantitative data.
• Integrations: Connect with data warehouses, marketing tools, and customer platforms for unified data workflows.

Recent Updates and Improvements

Heap continues development with enhanced analytics capabilities and deeper integration following the Contentsquare acquisition.

• Contentsquare Integration: Combined capabilities with Contentsquare digital experience platform for comprehensive insights.
• Enhanced Session Replay: Improved session recording with better playback, search, and integration with analytics.
• AI Insights: Automated discovery of important patterns and anomalies in user behavior data.
• Improved Mobile Support: Better native mobile SDK with enhanced autocapture for iOS and Android apps.
• Data Connect: Expanded warehouse connectivity for analyzing Heap data alongside other business data.
• Performance: Faster query execution and improved handling of high-volume data.
• Governance: Enhanced data management tools for schema control and data quality.
• Collaboration: Better sharing, annotation, and team workflow features.

System Requirements

Web Implementation

• JavaScript snippet added to web pages
• Works with any web framework
• Modern browsers supported
• No server requirements

Mobile SDKs

• iOS: iOS 11.0 or later
• Android: API 21 or later
• React Native supported

Heap Platform

• Modern web browser for access
• Chrome or Firefox recommended
• Internet connection required

How to Get Started with Heap

Web Installation

1. Create Heap account
2. Add JavaScript snippet to your site
3. Use Event Visualizer to define events
4. Build your first analysis
5. Share insights with team

# Add Heap snippet to your website head
<script type="text/javascript">
  window.heap=window.heap||[],heap.load=function(e,t){
    window.heap.appid=e,window.heap.config=t=t||{};
    var r=document.createElement("script");
    r.type="text/javascript",r.async=!0,
    r.src="https://cdn.heapanalytics.com/js/heap-"+e+".js";
    var a=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];
    a.parentNode.insertBefore(r,a);
    // ... snippet continues
  };
  heap.load("YOUR_APP_ID");
</script>

User Identification

# Identify logged-in users
heap.identify('user-123');

# Add user properties
heap.addUserProperties({
    'email': 'user@example.com',
    'plan': 'premium',
    'company': 'Acme Inc',
    'signup_date': '2024-01-15'
});

# Track custom events when needed
heap.track('Custom Event', {
    'property1': 'value1',
    'property2': 'value2'
});

Event Visualizer Usage

# Using Event Visualizer (no code required):
# 1. Open Heap dashboard
# 2. Navigate to Data > Events > Create Event Visualizer
# 3. Enter your website URL
# 4. Click on elements to define events
# 5. Name and save your events

# Events created this way:
# - Work retroactively on historical data
# - No deployment required
# - Can be modified by non-engineers
# - Automatically apply to future data

Pros and Cons

Pros

• True Autocapture: Comprehensive automatic data collection eliminates missed tracking and enables retroactive analysis.
• No-Code Event Definition: Event Visualizer enables anyone to define events without engineering involvement.
• Retroactive Analysis: Analyze behaviors from day one without waiting for implementation of new tracking.
• Quick Implementation: Single snippet installation captures everything, dramatically reducing time to value.
• User Journeys: Complete individual user histories provide context for behavioral patterns.
• Data Quality: Consistent autocapture reduces discrepancies from inconsistent manual instrumentation.
• Free Tier: Generous free plan makes product analytics accessible to startups and small teams.

Cons

• Data Volume: Capturing everything generates large data volumes that can be overwhelming and costly.
• Event Organization: Without planned taxonomy, autocaptured data can become messy and hard to navigate.
• Pricing at Scale: Costs increase significantly as session volumes grow beyond free tier.
• Learning Curve: Understanding how to effectively use autocaptured data requires new approaches.
• Server-Side Gaps: Autocapture focuses on client-side; server events still require manual tracking.

Heap vs Alternatives

Who Should Use Heap?

Heap is ideal for:

• Resource-Constrained Teams: Organizations without dedicated analytics engineering who need insights without implementation overhead.
• Fast-Moving Products: Teams iterating quickly who cannot wait for tracking instrumentation before analyzing new features.
• Non-Technical Users: Product managers and marketers who want to define and analyze events without coding.
• Startups: Early-stage companies needing product analytics quickly with generous free tier and fast setup.
• Hypothesis-Driven Teams: Groups who frequently ask new questions about user behavior and need retroactive analysis capability.
• E-commerce: Online retailers wanting comprehensive capture of shopping behaviors without complex implementation.

Heap may not be ideal for:

• Structured Data Teams: Organizations preferring explicitly defined event schemas may find autocapture messy.
• High-Volume Products: Products with massive traffic may face significant costs from comprehensive capture.
• Server-Side Heavy: Applications where important events occur server-side still need traditional instrumentation.
• Privacy Restrictive: Environments with strict data minimization requirements may conflict with capture-everything approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Heap autocapture work?

Heap JavaScript automatically records all user interactions including clicks, form submissions, page views, and field changes. Each interaction is captured with contextual information like element properties, page URL, and timestamp. This data is stored in Heap where you can later define meaningful events using the Event Visualizer without writing code. Autocapture means you never miss tracking important behaviors.

What is the Event Visualizer?

Event Visualizer is Heap’s point-and-click interface for defining events from autocaptured data. You browse your website within Heap, click on elements like buttons or links, and name them as events. These definitions work retroactively on historical data and automatically apply to future data. This approach enables non-engineers to create tracking without deployments or engineering tickets.

How does Heap pricing work?

Heap offers a free tier with up to 10,000 monthly sessions. Paid plans are based on session volume with pricing increasing at scale. Growth and Pro tiers add features like longer data retention, more integrations, and advanced analytics. Enterprise plans include custom volumes, premium support, and enhanced governance. Contact Heap for specific pricing based on your expected volumes.

Does Heap work for mobile apps?

Yes, Heap provides native SDKs for iOS and Android with autocapture capabilities adapted for mobile contexts. The SDK captures taps, swipes, screen views, and form interactions automatically. Mobile implementation requires SDK integration in your app code and app store deployment, unlike web where a snippet suffices. Mobile autocapture provides similar retroactive analysis benefits.

How is Heap different from Amplitude or Mixpanel?

Heap captures data automatically without instrumentation; Amplitude and Mixpanel require explicit event tracking. This means Heap enables retroactive analysis of behaviors not anticipated, while traditional tools only analyze what was instrumented. Trade-offs include potential data messiness with autocapture versus cleaner structured data with manual instrumentation. Heap suits teams wanting quick insights; Amplitude/Mixpanel suit those preferring planned data architecture.

Final Verdict

Heap delivers on its promise of making product analytics accessible without engineering dependencies. The autocapture approach fundamentally changes how teams interact with behavioral data, enabling questions to be answered retroactively rather than waiting for implementation. For organizations frustrated by the traditional cycle of identifying needed tracking, requesting engineering work, waiting for deployment, and then finally analyzing data, Heap offers liberation.

The Event Visualizer particularly transforms analytics workflows by enabling product managers and marketers to define events themselves. This democratization of data definition accelerates insight generation and reduces bottlenecks that plague traditional analytics implementations. Combined with solid analytics capabilities including funnels, retention, and paths, Heap provides comprehensive product analytics.

While autocapture creates data governance challenges and costs can grow significantly at scale, Heap serves its target users effectively. Organizations seeking fast time-to-value, those without dedicated analytics engineering, and teams that frequently ask new questions about historical behavior will find Heap valuable. The combination with Contentsquare promises enhanced capabilities while maintaining Heap’s core autocapture philosophy.