# Live View vs Session Replay: What You Actually Need Session replay records what visitors do so you can watch it later; a live view shows what visitors are doing right now and keeps nothing afterward. If your question is "who is here and what are they doing at this moment", a live view is enough. If it is "why did people drop off last week", you need recordings. ## The core difference | | Session replay | Live view (whoisbrowsing) | |---|---|---| | When you watch | After the session | While it happens | | What is kept | A recording per session | Nothing about visitors on our servers | | Best for | Debugging, UX research, support tickets | Launch days, quick checks, curiosity about right now | | History | Yes | None | | Privacy surface | Larger: stored data about each visit | Smaller: live only, no cookies on visitors | Hotjar's recordings show the classic replay design: its help center says live user actions are compiled into a playback recording after the session ends ([Hotjar help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)), and a session ends after 30 minutes away or idle ([Hotjar help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36819991204881-What-Is-a-Session)). That is a sensible design for review. Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, which lists "Live browsing heatmaps and replays" on its paid plans ([Contentsquare pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)), so ask Contentsquare what that shows today if live viewing matters to you. ## Blurring the line: some replay tools have live modes Replay and live are not strict opposites. Microsoft Clarity, which is free, offers live recordings with mouse movements, clicks and scrolls, a "Go Live" button, and a notification for new live users ([Clarity docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)). It also keeps recordings and heatmaps, and its documentation lists first-party and third-party cookies, noting that typical usage requires non-essential cookies ([Clarity cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)). Lucky Orange has a Live View too, which its help center says "lets you see what people are experiencing on your website in real time" ([Lucky Orange help](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)); its pricing page lists no free plan ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)). So the real choice is not "live or replay". It is how much you want kept, and what you want to give your visitors. ## What whoisbrowsing deliberately does not do whoisbrowsing is built around a short list of things it will not do: - no recordings or replays; - no history, reports or heatmaps over time; - no keystrokes, form values or page text; - no cookies on your visitors; - no identifying visitors: you see an approximate city, not a name. Your visitors' browsers send the page, pointer position, clicks, scroll, device type, source, browser and operating system, and time on site. Never keystrokes, form values or page text. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. See [privacy](/privacy), which describes what we do and is not legal advice. ## Questions to ask before you add a replay tool If you do need recordings, check four things on the vendor's own pages: - **What is captured?** Hotjar's docs list "clicks, mouse movements, scroll behavior, and keystrokes" among the actions it captures, with some personal data suppressed automatically ([Hotjar help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)). - **What is masked by default?** Clarity masks input boxes in all modes, and its default Balanced mode also masks numbers and emails ([Clarity masking](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-masking)). - **How long is it kept?** Lucky Orange's base storage starts at 60 days ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)); Contentsquare's Free plan keeps 1 month of data ([pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)). - **Does it set cookies?** Clarity lists first- and third-party cookies ([Clarity cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)). ## How to decide Ask what you will do with the answer: 1. **"I want to see the launch as it happens."** Live view. 2. **"A customer said checkout broke; I need to see it."** Session replay, because you need the past session. 3. **"I want to know if the new page is getting noticed today."** Live view. 4. **"I want to find friction across hundreds of visits."** Replay and heatmaps. 5. **"I want both, with minimal data kept."** Use a live view for the present and an analytics or replay tool configured to your own privacy needs for the past. ## They work together Nothing stops you running both. Add whoisbrowsing with one tag for the live view: ```html ``` and keep your replay or analytics tool for review. The live script is under 4 KB gzipped and does not change how your page looks. ## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool If you need recordings, funnels, retention or heatmaps over time, whoisbrowsing is not it, and we would point you to Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of). Compare options on the [comparison page](/compare). ## Next - [How it works](/how-it-works) - [Live visitor tracking explained](/learn/live-visitor-tracking) - [Live cursor tracking for your own website](/learn/live-cursor-tracking-website) - [Try it with no signup](/try) ## Common questions **Is a live view a privacy-friendlier replacement for session replay?** It can be for the "right now" job, because nothing is kept. It is not a substitute when you need to study a past session. We describe what we do; whether a particular setup suits your legal situation is a question for you and your adviser, and this is not legal advice. **Can I see a visitor typing?** No. Keystrokes, form values and page text are never sent. **Does it need cookies?** No cookies are set on your visitors. **What does it cost?** Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now.