FullStory
FullStory is a digital-experience-intelligence tool built on autocapture: it records interaction events automatically so you can replay sessions and analyze behavior retroactively without pre-defining every event. It pairs session replay with quantitative behavioral analytics. It applies a private-by-default posture to reduce capture of sensitive elements.
What this means
FullStory's defining feature is autocapture: rather than requiring you to instrument each event, it automatically records interaction signals (clicks, navigations, element interactions). That data powers session replay and lets you build metrics retroactively — you can ask questions about past behavior you did not pre-instrument.
This trades explicit event design for breadth: you get a lot of interaction data captured by default.
Private by default
Because autocapture is broad, FullStory adopts a private-by-default approach to sensitive elements — for example excluding input values unless explicitly allowed — with element-level controls to mask or exclude. Review these settings against your pages' inputs and any regulated data.
Like other experience tools, it complements rather than replaces traffic-counting analytics.
- Autocapture records interactions automatically
- Session replay plus retroactive analysis
- Private-by-default handling of sensitive elements
- Element-level masking and exclusion controls
How it appears in analytics and logs
FullStory data is autocaptured interaction behavior with replay. Because it captures broadly, it suits retroactive 'what happened on this page' analysis rather than serving as a traffic-volume counter.
Diagnostic use case
Use FullStory when you want autocaptured interaction data and session replay so you can investigate experience issues retroactively, without having instrumented each event in advance.
What WebmasterID can help detect
FullStory's autocaptured behavior explains on-page experience; WebmasterID's first-party traffic intelligence and bot separation address who the traffic is — different and complementary questions.
Common mistakes
- Relying on autocapture and never reviewing exclusions.
- Treating replay tools as a traffic counter.
- Assuming private-by-default covers every sensitive field.
Privacy and accuracy notes
Autocapture records interactions broadly, so FullStory uses private-by-default element handling to exclude sensitive fields; configuring exclusions and consent remains your responsibility. This is educational, not legal advice.
Related pages
- Microsoft Clarity
Microsoft Clarity is a free behavioral-analytics product focused on qualitative signals: session recordings, heatmaps (click, scroll, area), and derived insights like rage clicks and dead clicks. It complements quantitative web analytics by showing how people interact with pages, rather than counting traffic. It applies content masking to reduce capture of sensitive input by default.
- Hotjar
Hotjar is a product-experience tool combining behavioral analytics (heatmaps, session recordings) with voice-of-customer features (on-site surveys, feedback widgets). It is qualitative and attitudinal: it shows how users interact and what they say, complementing the volumes that quantitative analytics report. It provides controls to suppress sensitive content from recordings.
- Heap: autocapture product analytics
Heap is a product analytics platform known for autocapture: instead of manually instrumenting each event, it automatically records user interactions and lets you define meaningful events retroactively from that captured data. This shifts work from up-front instrumentation to later definition, with its own governance and privacy considerations.
- Event Explorer
Explicit events beside autocaptured behavior.
Sources and verification notes
Last reviewed 2026-06-24. Facts are checked against primary/official sources where available; uncertain specifics are marked “Data not yet verified” rather than guessed.