UserProofMicrosoft Clarity alternative for founders who build with Claude Code
Microsoft Clarity is free with no traffic cap stated, so the reason to leave it is the job, not the price. If you are a founder who builds with Claude Code and want your agent handed one fix with the file and line instead of recordings to watch, UserProof is the alternative: free for 3 sites and 5,000 recorded visits a month, then $29 for 50,000. Clarity still wins on price, heatmaps and volume.
One number only this page shows: what the handoff costs next to a free tool. Against Clarity’s $0, UserProof is $0 at 5,000 visits a month, $29 at 50,000 and $99 at 250,000 (our arithmetic from both pages).
Jump to: who should switch · comparison · cost at real volumes · reasons to switch · where Clarity still wins · FAQ
Microsoft Clarity alternatives: who should switch
| If you | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want the agent handed one fix and a check afterward | UserProof | Counts come from recorded events; your agent gets the file and line. |
| You want free sessions and heatmaps with no limit | Microsoft Clarity | Free forever, no traffic limits and no sampling, per its FAQ. |
| You want a marketing team’s heatmaps and surveys | Hotjar | Heatmaps and surveys on every plan. |
| You want replay beside event analytics | PostHog | First 5,000 recordings a month free, usage priced after. |
UserProof vs Microsoft Clarity, 12 rows
Clarity cells quote its FAQ and MCP README as read October 20, 2026. UserProof cells come from our pricing page and plan limits in our code.
| Microsoft Clarity | UserProof | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever; no paid tier listed | Free, Pro $29 a month, Scale $99 a month |
| Volume limits | No traffic limits; no sampling | 5,000 recorded visits a month on Free, 50,000 on Pro, 250,000 on Scale; 1 in 4 recorded past the limit |
| Recording retention | 30 days; favorites and a random sample up to 9 months | 7 days on Free, 90 days on Pro and Scale |
| Heatmaps | Yes, for PC, tablet and mobile, kept up to 9 months | None |
| AI summaries | Copilot in Clarity summarizes heatmaps; its FAQ says takeaways are not expert recommendations | No LLM in the counts; your coding agent writes the explanation and the fix |
| Agent access | Open-source MCP server, needs Node.js and a Clarity API token | Claude Code plugin and MCP tools |
| What you get out | Recordings, heatmaps and insights you read | One ranked fix with the file and line |
| Check after a fix | The FAQ and MCP README do not describe one | Yes: UserProof checks whether the fix moved your goal |
| Scan before traffic | Not described on the pages we read | Free scan of the live site on day one |
| Cookies | First-party cookies; the FAQ says you must tell users | No cookies |
| Coding agents | Any MCP-compatible client | Claude Code only today |
| Track record | Microsoft; the FAQ says over 100 million users a month | Launched October 2026 |
Cost at real volumes
Clarity is $0 at every volume. The question is what the extra spend buys.
| Monthly volume | Microsoft Clarity | UserProof |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 visits | $0 | $0 on Free |
| 50,000 visits | $0 | $29 on Pro |
| 250,000 visits | $0 | $99 on Scale |
| Fine print | No traffic limits stated; recordings kept 30 days | Pooled across sites; 1 in 4 recorded past the plan limit; no contract |
Reasons to switch from Clarity
Watching sessions does not decide what to change
Clarity gives you recordings, heatmaps and AI summaries. Its own FAQ says Copilot takeaways are not expert recommendations, so the decision is yours. UserProof ranks the changes by recorded evidence and gives Claude Code the top one with the file and line.
You want a fix check, not another dashboard
After you ship, UserProof compares the goal rate before and after. Neither the Clarity FAQ nor its MCP README describes that step.
Longer history on a paid plan
Clarity keeps recordings 30 days. UserProof Pro and Scale keep them 90, which covers a deploy from last quarter. UserProof Free keeps only 7 days, shorter than Clarity.
No cookies
The Clarity FAQ says you must inform users of its cookie. UserProof sets none.
Where Microsoft Clarity still wins
| Need | Why Clarity fits better |
|---|---|
| Zero cost at any size | $0 at 250,000 visits, against $99 on UserProof Scale. |
| Heatmaps | Built in for PC, tablet and mobile. UserProof has none. |
| Any coding agent | Its MCP server works with MCP-compatible clients, not Claude Code only. |
| Longer free retention | 30 days against UserProof Free’s 7. |
| Scale and backing | Microsoft says it processes more than 1 petabyte of data a month. UserProof launched in October 2026. |
Other Microsoft Clarity alternatives
Our ranking of 12 session replay tools for AI coding agents covers Clarity, PostHog, FullStory, LogRocket and others with prices and sources. Closest pairs: Hotjar for marketing teams and PostHog for event analytics.
Set up UserProof from the home page See pricing
FAQ
Is Microsoft Clarity really free?
Its FAQ says Clarity is “a free service forever” with no traffic limits and no pressure to upgrade, and lists no paid plan (read October 20, 2026). That is why the case for an alternative is the job it does, not the price.
How long does Clarity keep recordings?
30 days from the time of recording. Favorite recordings and a randomly selected sample are kept up to 9 months, and heatmap data can be viewed for up to 9 months (Clarity FAQ, read October 20, 2026).
Does Clarity have an MCP server for Claude Code?
Microsoft publishes an open-source MCP server on GitHub. Its README says it gives MCP-compatible clients access to your session recordings, project analytics and documentation, and it needs Node.js and a Clarity API token. We did not test how much of a session an agent can read through it.
Why pay for UserProof when Clarity is free?
Only if you want the agent handed a decision. Clarity gives you recordings, heatmaps and summaries to read. UserProof returns one fix with the file and line and checks afterward whether it worked. If you are happy to read sessions yourself, Clarity costs less.
Can I run Clarity and UserProof together?
Yes, both are script tags. A common split is Clarity for heatmaps and UserProof for the fix and the check. Two recorders add page weight, so try it on one site first.
Sources
- Microsoft Clarity: Clarity FAQ; Clarity MCP server README (read October 20, 2026)
- UserProof: UserProof pricing (read October 20, 2026)
Corrections
If a Clarity fact here is out of date, Microsoft’s page is the source of truth. Report it through our GitHub issues. We re-read these pages every quarter.