Microsoft Clarity
Plane
| Feature | Microsoft Clarity | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | Free / from $7/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | small-businesses, startups, bloggers, budget-conscious-teams | developers, open-source-advocates, startups, engineering-teams |
| Founded | 2020 | 2022 |
| Session Recordings | ✓ | ✗ |
| Heatmaps | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scroll Maps | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rage Click Detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Copilot | ✓ | ✗ |
| Google Analytics Integration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Dead Click Detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cycles | ✗ | ✓ |
| Modules | ✗ | ✓ |
| Views | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Microsoft Clarity Pros
- Completely free with unlimited traffic and recordings
- AI-powered Copilot for asking questions about data
- No data sampling (records every session)
- GDPR-compliant with built-in privacy masking
✗ Microsoft Clarity Cons
- Less advanced analytics than paid alternatives
- No A/B testing or experimentation features
- Limited integration ecosystem
✓ Plane Pros
- Open source and self-hostable
- Modern clean interface
- Jira-like power without complexity
- Active community
✗ Plane Cons
- Relatively new
- Smaller integration ecosystem
- Documentation still maturing
The Verdict
Microsoft Clarity is built for small businesses and startups, with a focus on session-recordings and heatmaps. Plane targets developers and open source advocates and leads with cycles and modules.
Microsoft Clarity uses custom enterprise pricing, while Plane starts at $7/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Microsoft Clarity offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Plane takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for startups — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Microsoft Clarity has a slight overall edge — but if open source and self-hostable matters most to you, Plane may still be the right call.