Clarity Live Users vs whoisbrowsing
Updated
TL;DR
Yes, Microsoft Clarity shows live users, and it is free: once its tracking code is installed you get a live user count, live recordings that recreate mouse movements, clicks and scrolls, a Go Live button, and a notification when a live user appears (Clarity docs). whoisbrowsing is also free and live. The differences are cookies (whoisbrowsing sets none on visitors), recordings (whoisbrowsing keeps none) and setup (one script tag, no account needed to start).
What Clarity's live view does
Clarity's real-time page describes it plainly. After you install the code, "you can view a list of live users", and the number of live users is shown in the left panel of Recordings. Live recordings "recreate user interactions with your website", including "mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, navigation, and more". While watching, a Live label marks current activity, and Go Live streams the most recent activity. If nobody is online you see "No users online now", and "you're notified as soon as there's a live user" (Clarity docs).
You can filter live recordings by browser, campaign, channel, country or region, device, medium, operating system, referring site, source and user ID. The same page lists current limits: you cannot label, tag, download, favourite, share or sort a live recording, or view heatmaps from recordings (Clarity docs).
Beyond live, Clarity is a full behavioural analytics product: session recordings, heatmaps, funnels, dashboard insights and Copilot summaries, and Microsoft says it is "a free service forever" (Clarity overview). That is a lot for free, and it is the first tool to try if you want recordings without paying.
Clarity vs whoisbrowsing, side by side
| Microsoft Clarity | whoisbrowsing | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | "A free service forever" (overview) | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now |
| Live user count | Yes, in Recordings and the dashboard (docs) | Yes, live counts per page, busiest first |
| How you watch live | Live recordings; Go Live streams the latest activity (docs) | Every current visitor drawn together on your real page: cursor and trail, click ripples, a band for phones, arrows for visitors out of view |
| Afterwards | Recordings, heatmaps, funnels, insights (overview) | Nothing. Live only, no history |
| Cookies on visitors | First-party _clck, _clsk; third-party CLID, ANONCHK, MR, MUID, SM (cookies) |
None |
| EEA, UK, Switzerland | Since October 31, 2025, a valid consent signal is required for full functionality (cookies) | Never shown |
| Page content | Input boxes always masked; default Balanced mode masks numbers and emails (masking) | Never sends keystrokes, form values or page text |
| Arrival alert | Notification when a live user appears (docs) | Browser notification naming the landing page |
| Traffic source | Live filters for channel, source, referring site, campaign (docs) | Each visitor labelled: Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, a link, or direct |
| Setup | Sign up, install the tracking code, verify (overview) | One script tag; start on /try with no sign-in |
Difference 1: cookies
Clarity's own docs say "Clarity's typical usage requires that non-essential cookies are set on your visitor's browser", and that these cookies store "a unique pseudonymous ID" used to connect page views (Clarity cookies). The same page notes that if a user has disabled cookies, Clarity does not set them, and that from October 31, 2025 Clarity enforces consent signal requirements for visits from the EEA, UK and Switzerland.
whoisbrowsing sets no cookies on your visitors. It also takes a different route on Europe: visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown at all. That keeps the tool simple, and it means European visitors are invisible to you. This is a description of what we do, not legal advice; see privacy and real-time analytics without cookies.
Difference 2: recordings
Clarity's live view is part of a recording product, so what you watch live can also be watched later. That is its strength.
whoisbrowsing keeps nothing: "Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers." 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." The cost is real: if you were not watching, there is nothing to replay. The live view vs session replay guide covers when that trade is worth it.
Difference 3: setup
Clarity's getting-started steps are to sign up, install the tracking code and verify it (Clarity overview). Clarity also offers an interactive demo before you install.
whoisbrowsing is one tag:
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
It is under 4 KB gzipped and never changes how the page looks. You can start on /try with no sign-in and claim the site later with Google. An AI coding agent can also do it from this prompt: Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly. Platform steps are in the install guides.
When to pick Clarity instead
Choose Microsoft Clarity when:
- you want recordings, heatmaps and funnels, and you want them free;
- you need to look back at sessions from yesterday or last week;
- a large share of your visitors is in Europe and you run a consent banner, since whoisbrowsing never shows those visitors;
- you want to filter and segment sessions, or get AI summaries of them.
Choose whoisbrowsing when you only want the live part, on your real page, with no cookies on visitors and nothing kept. Nothing stops you from running both: Clarity for history, whoisbrowsing for right now.
Related comparisons
- Hotjar live view: what to use instead
- Lucky Orange alternative
- Best live visitor tools in 2026
- Every comparison: /compare. See the product: home and how it works
Frequently asked questions
- Does Microsoft Clarity show live users?
- Yes. Clarity's docs describe a live user count, a list of live recordings that recreate mouse movements, clicks and scrolls, a Go Live button to stream the most recent activity, and a notification as soon as a live user appears.
- Is Microsoft Clarity really free?
- Clarity's docs say it is 'a free service forever' with 'no obligation to upgrade to a paid version'. whoisbrowsing is also free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now.
- Does Clarity use cookies?
- Yes. Clarity's cookie page lists first-party cookies _clck and _clsk and third-party cookies CLID, ANONCHK, MR, MUID and SM, and says its typical usage requires non-essential cookies. whoisbrowsing sets no cookies on your visitors.
- Should I use Clarity or whoisbrowsing?
- Use Clarity if you want recordings, heatmaps and history for free. Use whoisbrowsing if you only want to see who is on your site right now, with no cookies on visitors and nothing stored. Many sites can run both.