In-depth two-product comparison
Amplitude vs Heap
In-depth comparison of Amplitude and Heap for B2B SaaS companies. We analyze analytics depth, autocapture, experimentation, pricing, and real-world use cases.
Last updated: 2026-03-15. Verify current features, pricing, limits, and integrations on official vendor pages.
Short answer
Amplitude wins for enterprise-grade behavioral analytics, predictive cohorts, collaboration, and experimentation. Heap wins for teams that want immediate analytics without engineering instrumentation, thanks to autocapture and retroactive event definition. Sequenzy integrates with both via Segment and adds SaaS-specific lifecycle email automation.
Amplitude
Enterprise behavioral analytics with predictions and experimentation
Heap
Autocapture analytics for instant insights without instrumentation
Quick comparison
| Decision area | Amplitude | Heap | What to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracking Approach | Explicit instrumentation | Autocapture everything | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
| Retroactive Analysis | Limited to instrumented events | Full retroactive event definition | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
| Predictive Cohorts | ML-powered behavior predictions | Not available | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
| Experimentation | Full A/B testing platform | Limited experimentation | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
| Collaboration | Notebooks, team spaces | Dashboards and sharing | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
| Session Replay | Available (newer) | Available (via Contentsquare) | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
| Starting Price | $49/mo | Custom pricing | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
| Billing Integration | Not native | Not native | Test this with representative data and the next realistic usage tier. |
Feature comparison
| Feature | Amplitude | Heap |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral cohorting | 9/10 Advanced cohorts with ML predictions | 7/10 Behavioral cohorts from autocaptured data |
| Retention analysis | 9/10 Lifecycle retention with user state segmentation | 7/10 Retention tables with cohort analysis |
| Pathfinder | 9/10 Journey discovery and visualization | 7/10 User path analysis |
| Autocapture | 4/10 Limited, primarily explicit tracking | 10/10 Captures everything without code |
| A/B testing | 8/10 Full experimentation platform | 5/10 Limited experimentation |
| Data governance | 9/10 Taxonomy management and quality controls | 6/10 Event curation tools for autocaptured data |
| Session replay | 5/10 Available, newer capability | 8/10 Session replay via Contentsquare integration |
| Email automation | 2/10 Not an email platform | 2/10 Not an email platform |
| Billing integration | 3/10 Track as events | 3/10 Track as events |
| Dunning | 1/10 N/A | 1/10 N/A |
Pricing and operating cost
Amplitude
Free plan: 50K MTUs
MTU pricing expensive at scale Experiment is separate CDP separately priced
Heap
Free plan: up to 10K sessions/month
Custom pricing makes budgeting hard Contentsquare premium features extra Session-based pricing scales with traffic
| Tier or usage case | Amplitude | Heap |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo (50K MTUs) Core analytics | $0/mo (10K sessions) Core autocapture analytics |
| Growth | From $49/mo Advanced analytics, cohorts | Custom pricing Full features, replay |
| Enterprise | Custom SSO, governance, support | Custom SSO, Contentsquare features |
Pros and cons
Amplitude
Pros
- Predictive cohorts with ML
- Notebooks for collaboration
- Full experimentation platform
- Enterprise governance
- Publicly traded stability
- Pathfinder journey discovery
Cons
- Requires instrumentation effort
- Higher starting price ($49/mo)
- MTU pricing expensive at scale
- Cannot retroactively analyze
- Not email platform
Heap
Pros
- Autocapture without engineering
- Retroactive event definition
- Session replay via Contentsquare
- Fast setup
- Visual event builder
- No instrumentation required
Cons
- Less analytics depth
- No predictive capabilities
- Custom pricing opaque
- Less collaboration features
- Contentsquare acquisition uncertainty
- Not email platform
Who should choose what?
Large team needing deep analytics.
Recommendation: Amplitude
Want analytics immediately without instrumentation.
Recommendation: Heap
Need automated lifecycle email.
Recommendation: Heap
Final verdict
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FAQ
Is Heap enterprise-ready after Contentsquare acquisition?
Yes. The Contentsquare acquisition brings additional resources and digital experience capabilities. Heap continues as a standalone product with added session replay and UX analytics features from Contentsquare.
Can either handle lifecycle email?
No. Use Sequenzy for SaaS lifecycle email with billing integration.
Related reading: B2B email marketing guide, alternatives hub, and B2B SaaS tool stack.