happenstance vs Microsoft Clarity

Skip the setup.
Start tracking now.

Clarity gives you free heatmaps and recordings. But for structured event analytics — funnels, goals, error tracking — you need Happenstance.

Happenstance

Zero-config

  1. 1 Add one script tag to your site
  2. 2 Done. Every interaction tracked as structured events.
~30 seconds

Microsoft Clarity

Traditional setup

  1. 1 Create a Microsoft/Clarity account
  2. 2 Add the Clarity tracking code
  3. 3 Heatmaps and recordings start automatically
  4. 4 No custom event tracking available
  5. 5 Need a separate analytics tool for event data
Hours to days

Microsoft Clarity is a free tool that provides heatmaps and session recordings. It's genuinely useful for understanding how users visually interact with your site. But Clarity is a visualization tool, not an analytics platform. There's no event tracking, no funnels, no goals. You still need Mixpanel, Amplitude, or Google Analytics for quantitative data. Happenstance gives you complete product analytics in one tool.

Feature Comparison

FeatureHappenstanceMicrosoft Clarity
Zero-config setup
Automatic event tracking
Click trackingStructured dataHeatmaps
Form tracking
Error tracking
Session recordings
Heatmaps
Funnel analysis
Goal tracking
Privacy-friendly
No cookies
Free tier10k events/moUnlimited

Why teams switch

Teams use Clarity alongside other analytics tools because it fills a specific niche — visual feedback. But running multiple tools means more scripts, slower pages, and more dashboards to check. Happenstance replaces the analytics half of that equation with automatic event tracking that requires zero code.

How to migrate from Microsoft Clarity

  1. 1 Add the Happenstance script tag for structured event analytics.
  2. 2 Keep Clarity for heatmaps if you still find them valuable.
  3. 3 Use Happenstance for funnels, goals, and quantitative product decisions.
  4. 4 Remove any other analytics tools that Happenstance now replaces.
  5. 5 Optionally remove Clarity later if structured data meets your needs.

Who should use what

Choose Happenstance if...

You need quantitative product analytics — event tracking, funnels, goals, and error capture. Structured data you can make decisions from.

Choose Microsoft Clarity if...

You want free visual insights — heatmaps and session recordings — and are okay using separate tools for quantitative analytics.

Integration Code

Happenstance (complete setup)

<script src="https://happenstance.click/v1/track.js"></script>

Microsoft Clarity (just initialization)

<script type="text/javascript">
  (function(c,l,a,r,i,t,y){
    // ... Clarity snippet
    c[a]=c[a]||function(){
      (c[a].q=c[a].q||[]).push(arguments)
    };
  })(window,document,'clarity');
</script>

// Heatmaps and recordings only
// No event tracking or analytics

Clarity is a great free complement for visual UX insights. Happenstance is the structured analytics tool you need alongside it — or on its own if you don't need heatmaps.

Start tracking in 30 seconds

No signup. No configuration. Just add one script tag and see your analytics instantly.

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Also considering alternatives?