UserProofUserProof vs Microsoft Clarity, for founders who build with a coding agent
Clarity has no paid tier and adds heatmaps, so it wins if you want to watch sessions yourself. UserProof wins if you build with a coding agent and want one fix with the file and line, plus a check afterward: free for 5,000 visits a month, then $29 for 50,000. Many founders can run both.
One number only this page shows: we have read Clarity's FAQ every morning since October 23, 2026, and the FAQ's page text was identical on all 14 reads through November 5, including “a free service forever”. Against that $0, UserProof costs $0 at 5,000 visits a month, $29 at 50,000 and $99 at 250,000.
Jump to: who each fits · 14 rows · cost at real volumes · run both · pick one if · FAQ
Who should pick what
| You are | Pick | Deciding factor |
|---|---|---|
| A founder who wants your coding agent handed the next change | UserProof | One fix with the file and line, then a check on your goal. |
| Anyone who wants to watch sessions and read heatmaps for free | Microsoft Clarity | No paid tier, heatmaps included. |
| Running a site past 250,000 visits a month on no budget | Microsoft Clarity | No price at any volume. UserProof's top published plan stops at 250,000. |
| Needing recordings kept longer than 30 days | UserProof Pro | 90 days for $29. Clarity keeps favorites and a random sample up to 9 months. |
The 14-row comparison
Clarity cells quote its FAQ and MCP server README, read November 6, 2026. UserProof cells come from our pricing page and our product code.
| Microsoft Clarity | UserProof | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever; no paid tier | Free, Pro $29 a month, Scale $99 a month |
| Volume | No traffic limits; records up to 100,000 sessions per project per day | 5,000 recorded visits a month on Free, 50,000 on Pro, 250,000 on Scale; 1 in 4 visitors recorded past the limit |
| Sites | No limit per account | 3 on Free, unlimited on paid plans |
| 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, on PC, tablet and mobile, up to 100,000 page views per map | None |
| AI summaries | Copilot summaries; the FAQ says not to treat takeaways as 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 v16 or higher and an API token | Claude Code plugin; MCP server for Codex, Cursor and others |
| 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 README describe none | Yes, compares your goal before and after |
| Scan before traffic | Not described on the pages we read | Free scan of the live site on day one |
| Setup | Add the tracking code by hand or through a platform integration | Your coding agent writes the tag and proves it records |
| Cookies | First-party cookies; the FAQ says to inform your users | No cookies; a random visitor id in localStorage |
| Consent | Explicit consent needed in the EEA, UK and Switzerland; without it, features like funnels and recordings might be impacted | Check your own rules; localStorage may count where you operate |
| Typed text | Input boxes masked in all modes | Field values never recorded; password fields always masked; clicks keep 50 characters of element text |
Cost at real volumes
| 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 | 100,000 sessions a project a day; no contract | Pooled across sites; no contract; cancel from the billing link |
If you never need a decision handed to you, those three cells on the left are the whole argument. The $29 buys the step after watching: a ranked change, the file and line, and a check on whether it worked.
Can you run both?
Yes. Both are script tags. A common split is Clarity for heatmaps and UserProof for the fix and the check. Ours adds 8,701 bytes over the wire with gzip, measured November 6, 2026. Two recorders add page weight, so try it on one site first. Setting up Clarity's own server: Clarity MCP in Claude Code. Comparing the analytics tools instead? Read Amplitude vs PostHog.
Pick one if
Pick Clarity if you want free heatmaps, you are happy to read sessions yourself, or your traffic is past our plans. Microsoft says Clarity handles more than 1 petabyte of data a month. UserProof launched in October 2026.
Pick UserProof if you build with Claude Code, Codex or Cursor and want your agent to get the next change without you watching recordings. Setup steps are on the Claude Code setup page.
The wider field: Microsoft Clarity alternatives, Clarity vs Hotjar and our ranking of 12 session replay tools.
Set up UserProof from the home page See pricing
FAQ
Is UserProof better than Microsoft Clarity?
For a different job. Clarity is better at free recordings and heatmaps, with no paid tier. UserProof is better if you want your coding agent handed one fix with the file and line and a check afterward.
Why pay for UserProof when Clarity is free?
Only if you want the decision made for you. Under 5,000 visits a month UserProof is free too. At 50,000 the $29 pays for the ranked fix and the check on your goal.
Does Clarity have an MCP server?
Yes. Microsoft publishes an open-source server that gives MCP clients access to analytics, session recordings and documentation. It needs Node.js v16 or higher and a Clarity API token.
Does UserProof have heatmaps?
No. UserProof records sessions and hands your agent one fix at a time. If you want heatmaps, run Clarity beside it.
Sources, read November 6, 2026
- Clarity FAQ, read November 6, 2026 and daily in our ledger since October 23, 2026
- Clarity MCP server README, read November 6, 2026
- UserProof: pricing, recording script and plan code, read November 6, 2026