# whoisbrowsing

> whoisbrowsing shows who is on your website right now: every current visitor's cursor drawn live on your real page, plus the page they are on, where they came from (Google, ChatGPT and others), an approximate city and their device. One small script tag, free, no cookies on visitors, and nothing about visitors stored.

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/

# See who's on your website, right now.

whoisbrowsing shows every current visitor's cursor drawn live on your real page, plus the page they're on, where they came from (Google, ChatGPT and others), an approximate city and their device. One small script tag (under 4 KB gzipped). Free, no cookies on visitors, and nothing about visitors stored.

- **Try it with no signup:** the live demo at [whoisbrowsing.com](https://whoisbrowsing.com/#demo) shows your own cursor appear live.
- **Add it to your site:** [whoisbrowsing.com/try](https://whoisbrowsing.com/try) creates a site with no sign-in. Sign in with Google later to keep it.

Free · Under 4 KB · No cookies on visitors · Nothing stored

## How it works

1. **Add one tag.** Paste one script tag into your site, or ask your AI agent to do it. Under 4 KB gzipped, loaded with `defer`, and it never changes how your page looks.
2. **Open your site.** Click Watch once in your dashboard (in Chrome, being signed in is enough). From then on, just open your own site: the live view is drawn on it, and your own browser is never counted.
3. **Watch.** Every current visitor appears live: their cursor, their clicks, the page they're on and where they came from. To see it work, open your site in a private window and watch yourself arrive.

The tag:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Or give your AI coding agent this prompt:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

More: [How it works](https://whoisbrowsing.com/how-it-works.md).

## What you see

- **Cursors with trails:** each visitor's cursor in its own colour, with a fading trail, drawn on your real page. Arrows at the edge point to visitors scrolled out of view.
- **Clicks as ripples:** every click and tap shows as a ripple, right where it happened.
- **Phones and tablets:** a see-through band over the part of the page a phone or tablet visitor is looking at, moving as they scroll.
- **Where they came from:** Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct. Labelled per visitor, live.
- **Arrival alerts:** with your dashboard open, a browser notification when someone new arrives, naming the page they landed on.
- **Live counts per page:** a side panel with live counts per page, busiest first, and one line per person.
- **Approximate city:** "near Austin, TX", never an identity. Plus device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit.
- **Every website separate:** localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Built for AI coding agents

Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and other agents can add whoisbrowsing to a project with no one signing up first. The agent creates a site, puts the tag in, and hands you a watch link and a link to claim the site.

- [SKILL.md](https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md): one Markdown file with everything an agent needs.
- MCP server: `https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp`, remote over streamable HTTP, no auth. Tools: `create_site`, `get_install_instructions`, `check_live`.
- Agent API: `POST https://whoisbrowsing.com/api/agent/sites` with `{"domains":["localhost:3000"]}` returns a site id, the snippet, a watch link and a claim link. Spec: [openapi.json](https://whoisbrowsing.com/openapi.json).
- [llms.txt](https://whoisbrowsing.com/llms.txt) and [For AI agents](https://whoisbrowsing.com/for-agents.md).

## Install in your stack

The same one tag everywhere, with your site ID in `data-site`:

| Stack | Where the tag goes | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Next.js | `app/layout.tsx`, with `next/script` and `strategy="afterInteractive"` | [Next.js](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/nextjs.md) |
| React | Your `index.html`, inside `<head>` | [React](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/react.md) |
| WordPress | Any header and footer plugin, or a `wp_footer` hook in your child theme's `functions.php` | [WordPress](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/wordpress.md) |
| Shopify | `layout/theme.liquid`, just above `</body>` | [Shopify](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/shopify.md) |
| HTML | Before `</body>` on every page | [HTML](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/html.md) |
| AI agent | Paste the prompt above into your agent | [AI agent](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/ai-agent.md) |

Every platform: [Install whoisbrowsing](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install.md).

## Privacy, plainly

- 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.
- No cookies on your visitors.
- Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

Query strings and #fragments never leave the browser, and long ID-like codes in a path are sent as `:id`. Details: [Privacy](https://whoisbrowsing.com/privacy.md).

## An honest comparison

Microsoft Clarity is free and has live views too. Here is how the tools differ, each fact linked to the vendor's own page (checked on October 21, 2026).

| | whoisbrowsing | GA4 Realtime | Microsoft Clarity | Lucky Orange | Hotjar (now part of Contentsquare) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you see live | Every current visitor's cursor, clicks and scroll, drawn on your real page | Counts of active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, by source, page and event ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | A live user count, and live recordings of mouse movements, clicks and scrolls ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | Live View: where current visitors click, scroll and engage, in real time ([Lucky Orange](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)) | Recordings are built after a session ends ([Hotjar](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)); Contentsquare lists live browsing on its paid plans ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) |
| What is kept | Nothing about your visitors. Live only | Reports; user-level data for 2 or 14 months, per your setting ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196)) | Session recordings and heatmaps ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | Session recordings; storage starts at 60 days ([Lucky Orange](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Replays and heatmaps; 1 month of data on the free plan ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) |
| Cookies on visitors | None | First-party `_ga` and `_ga_<container-id>` ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11397207)) | First-party `_clck` and `_clsk`, plus third-party cookies ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)) | `_lo_uid` (a visitor ID, 2 years) and `_lo_rid`, per a 2020 help page ([Lucky Orange](https://help.luckyorange.com/article/173-what-cookies-does-lucky-orange-set)) | Not stated on the vendor pages we checked ([our notes](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative.md)) |
| Price | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now | Free of charge ([Google](https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/)) | Free: "a free service forever" ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | No free plan listed; a 7-day trial ([Lucky Orange](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Hotjar takes no new sign-ups; Contentsquare has a free plan ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/), [pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) |

Every comparison, in depth: [Compare](https://whoisbrowsing.com/compare.md).

## Frequently asked questions

### Is whoisbrowsing free?

Yes. It is free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now.

### Do I need an account to try it?

No. The demo on this page needs no account, and the Add to your site page creates a site for your own domain with no sign-in. Sign in with Google later to keep it.

### What can I see about each visitor?

The page they are on and where they came from (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), an approximate city such as "near Austin, TX", their device, browser and operating system, and their time on site and pages this visit. Never who they are.

### Does it record sessions or keep history?

No. It is live only: no recordings, no replays, no heatmaps and no history. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers.

### Does it use cookies, and who is never shown?

No cookies on your visitors. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

### Will it slow down my site?

The script is under 4 KB gzipped and loads with defer, after your page. It never changes how your page looks.

### Can my AI coding agent install it?

Yes. Give it this prompt: "Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly." Agents can also use the API or the MCP server at https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp, and hand you a link to claim the site.

### How do I test it on my own site?

Your own browser is never counted. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window and you appear as a normal visitor.

## Who we are

whoisbrowsing is made by Sandeep Arneja LLC. Questions? Email [sandeep.arneja.llc@gmail.com](mailto:sandeep.arneja.llc@gmail.com).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/how-it-works

# How whoisbrowsing works

One script tag sends a few live signals from each visitor's browser. Open your own site and every current visitor is drawn on it, for you only. Nothing is stored.

## In three steps

1. **Add one tag.** Paste one script tag into your site, or ask your AI agent to do it. Under 4 KB gzipped, loaded with `defer`, and it never changes how your page looks.
2. **Open your site.** Click Watch once in your dashboard (in Chrome, being signed in is enough). From then on, just open your own site: the live view is drawn on it, and your own browser is never counted.
3. **Watch.** Every current visitor appears live: their cursor, their clicks, the page they're on and where they came from. To see it work, open your site in a private window and watch yourself arrive.

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

You can start with no account at [whoisbrowsing.com/try](https://whoisbrowsing.com/try), and sign in with Google later to keep the site.

## What your visitors' browsers send

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.

| Signal | What it is |
|---|---|
| The page | Its address without the query string, #fragment or long ID-like codes |
| Pointer and clicks | Where the pointer is and what they click or tap, described by the page elements under it |
| Scroll | How far down the page they are |
| Device type | Desktop, tablet or phone |
| Source | Where they came from: Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct |
| Browser and operating system | For example Chrome on macOS |
| Time on site | How long they have been on the site, and how many pages this visit |

The script is one tag, under 4 KB gzipped, loaded with `defer` after your page. It never changes how your page looks. Query strings and #fragments never leave the browser, and long ID-like codes in a path are sent as `:id`.

whoisbrowsing adds a general place (city or region) from the connection. The IP address is never stored or shown.

## What you see

Open your own site and every current visitor is drawn on the real page, live:

- a coloured cursor with a fading trail, and clicks as ripples;
- phone and tablet visitors as a see-through band over the part of the page they're looking at;
- arrows at the edge for visitors scrolled out of view;
- a side panel with live counts per page, busiest first, and one line per person.

Each line says where someone is and how they got there, such as **near Austin, TX · Google · desktop · /**. You see an approximate city, never an identity, plus their device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit.

## Your view, and only yours

The live view is drawn only for you. Your own browser is never counted, and your visitors never see it.

- Click **Watch** once in your dashboard, or in Chrome just stay signed in. After that, open your site and the live view is there.
- To test, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. You appear as a normal visitor.
- With your dashboard open, a browser notification tells you when someone new arrives, naming their landing page.
- The panel folds into a small live count, and the same view works on a phone.

## Every website separate

One site in whoisbrowsing can cover several websites, such as `localhost:3000` while you build and `example.com` in production. Each one is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain. You watch each one on its own.

## Privacy, built in

A live view needs very little, so very little is sent, and none of it is kept.

- 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.
- No cookies on your visitors.
- Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

Details, and a paragraph for your own privacy policy: [Privacy](https://whoisbrowsing.com/privacy.md).

## Or let your AI agent set it up

A coding agent such as Claude Code, Cursor or Codex can do the whole setup with no one signing up first. Give it this prompt:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

1. It creates a site with `POST https://whoisbrowsing.com/api/agent/sites` and gets back a site id, the snippet, a watch link and a claim link.
2. It adds the tag where your stack expects it.
3. It hands you the watch link, so you can see yourself live, and the claim link, which keeps the site once you sign in.

Agents can also use the MCP server at `https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp`, with the tools `create_site`, `get_install_instructions` and `check_live`.

- [SKILL.md](https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md)
- [For AI agents](https://whoisbrowsing.com/for-agents.md)
- [Install with an AI agent](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/ai-agent.md)

Made by Sandeep Arneja LLC.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/privacy

# Privacy

whoisbrowsing shows site owners who is on their site right now, and keeps nothing about those visitors. This page says exactly what is sent, what is never sent, and who is never shown.

## The promise, word for word

- 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.
- No cookies on your visitors.
- Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

## What a visitor's browser sends

While someone is on a page with the script, their browser sends these signals, live, so the site's owner can see them.

| Signal | What it is |
|---|---|
| The page | Its address without the query string, #fragment or long ID-like codes |
| Pointer and clicks | Where the pointer is and what they click or tap, described by the page elements under it |
| Scroll | How far down the page they are |
| Device type | Desktop, tablet or phone |
| Source | Where they came from: Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct |
| Browser and operating system | For example Chrome on macOS |
| Time on site | How long they have been on the site, and how many pages this visit |

whoisbrowsing adds a general place (city or region) from the connection, shown as "near Austin, TX". The IP address is never stored or shown.

## What is never sent

- **Nothing typed:** never keystrokes, form values or page text.
- **No private parts of the address:** query strings and #fragments never leave the browser, and long ID-like codes in a path are sent as `:id`.
- **No identity:** an approximate city, never who someone is.

## Nothing stored

Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers. It is live only: no recordings, no replays, no heatmaps and no history.

No cookies on your visitors. In the visitor's browser, a per-tab note keeps one visit together and disappears when the tab closes. Nothing is written to cookies or localStorage.

What is sent is used only to show visitors to the site's owner: never for advertising, benchmarks or AI training, and never linked across sites.

## Who is never shown

Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

For them the script does nothing: their visit is not sent and not shown. Global Privacy Control is a browser signal that asks sites not to sell or share a visitor's data; whoisbrowsing honours it by not running at all.

## For site owners: a paragraph for your privacy policy

Site owners: paste this paragraph into your site's privacy policy. It lists exactly what the script sends.

> We use whoisbrowsing to show our team who is on this site right now. While you are on a page, your browser sends whoisbrowsing, which shows it to us live: the page you are on (its address without the query string, #fragment or long ID-like codes), where your mouse pointer is and what you click or tap (described by the page elements under it), your scroll position, your device type (desktop, tablet or phone), where you came from, your browser and operating system, how long you have been on the site and how many pages you have viewed this visit. whoisbrowsing adds a general place (city or region) from your connection; your IP address is never stored or shown. It never includes what you type, form values or page text. whoisbrowsing stores none of this on its servers: a per-tab note in your browser keeps the visit together and disappears when you close the tab, and no cookies are used. It is used only to show visitors to us, never for advertising, benchmarks or AI training, and never linked across sites. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers sending Global Privacy Control, are not shown: the script does nothing in their browsers.

This page says what whoisbrowsing does. It is not legal advice about your own obligations. Do not put the script on sensitive sites, such as health pages or sites for children; see the [terms](https://whoisbrowsing.com/terms).

## What whoisbrowsing.com keeps about its own users

Everything above is about your visitors. For you, as a whoisbrowsing.com user: if you add a site without an account, a wib_claim cookie keeps the sites you made for 400 days, and we store only its hash. To rate-limit site creation, we keep a salted hash of your IP address, not the address. Your site's page (on /try or in the dashboard) sets a wib_owner cookie for each of your sites, for 400 days, so your browser can open your own live view. The demo saves a key for its private demo page in your browser's local storage, and the live view and the dashboard keep a few settings there, such as the panel's position and whether alerts are muted. Signing in with Google stores your Google name, email and picture, and the sign-in tokens Google gives us; a sign-in cookie keeps you signed in, and your sign-in session also records the IP address and browser you signed in from. You can delete a site from its page, on /try or in the dashboard, and sign out from the dashboard.

Questions about privacy: [sandeep.arneja.llc@gmail.com](mailto:sandeep.arneja.llc@gmail.com). whoisbrowsing is made by Sandeep Arneja LLC.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/compare

# whoisbrowsing compared, honestly

whoisbrowsing does one thing: it shows who is on your website right now, drawn live on your own page, and keeps nothing about them. Other tools record sessions, keep history or count visitors in aggregate.

Microsoft Clarity is free and has live views too. Every fact below links the vendor's own page, so you can check it.

## At a glance

Four questions that separate a live view from the rest: what you see live, what is kept, cookies, and price. Checked on October 21, 2026 against each vendor's own pages. Vendors change their plans; the links show what they say today.

| | whoisbrowsing | GA4 Realtime | Microsoft Clarity | Lucky Orange | Hotjar (now part of Contentsquare) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you see live | Every current visitor's cursor, clicks and scroll, drawn on your real page ([how it works](https://whoisbrowsing.com/how-it-works.md)) | Counts of active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, by source, page and event ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | A live user count, and live recordings of mouse movements, clicks and scrolls ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | Live View: where current visitors click, scroll and engage, in real time ([Lucky Orange](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)) | Recordings are built after a session ends ([Hotjar](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)); Contentsquare lists live browsing on its paid plans ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) |
| What is kept | Nothing about your visitors. Live only ([privacy](https://whoisbrowsing.com/privacy.md)) | Reports; user-level data for 2 or 14 months, per your setting ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196)) | Session recordings and heatmaps ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | Session recordings; storage starts at 60 days ([Lucky Orange](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Replays and heatmaps; 1 month of data on the free plan ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) |
| Cookies on visitors | None ([privacy](https://whoisbrowsing.com/privacy.md)) | First-party `_ga` and `_ga_<container-id>` ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11397207)) | First-party `_clck` and `_clsk`, plus third-party cookies ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)) | `_lo_uid` (a visitor ID, 2 years) and `_lo_rid`, per a 2020 help page ([Lucky Orange](https://help.luckyorange.com/article/173-what-cookies-does-lucky-orange-set)) | Not stated on the vendor pages we checked ([our notes](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative.md)) |
| Price | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now ([start free](https://whoisbrowsing.com/try)) | Free of charge ([Google](https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/)) | Free: "a free service forever" ([Microsoft](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | No free plan listed; a 7-day trial ([Lucky Orange](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Hotjar takes no new sign-ups; Contentsquare has a free plan ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/), [pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) |

## In-depth comparisons

Each guide puts one tool next to whoisbrowsing, with its sources, and says when the other tool is the better pick.

- [Best Live Visitor Tools in 2026 (Honest List)](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/best-live-visitor-tools.md): Nine tools that show who is on your website right now, compared from their own docs: what live means in each, the free option, and what they keep.
- [GA4 Realtime vs a True Live Visitor View](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/ga4-realtime-vs-live-visitor-view.md): GA4 Realtime counts active users over the last 5 and 30 minutes. A live visitor view shows each person on your page right now. When to use which.
- [Hotjar Live View? What to Use Instead](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative.md): Hotjar is now Contentsquare, which lists live browsing on paid plans. Free ways to see who is on your site right now, compared with sources.
- [Inspectlet Live Alternative Without Keystroke Capture](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/inspectlet-live-alternative.md): Inspectlet Live streams visitors' cursor, scroll and typing. whoisbrowsing shows cursors and clicks live, but never keystrokes, form values or page text.
- [Lucky Orange Alternative: Free, Live, No Recordings](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/lucky-orange-alternative.md): Used Lucky Orange mainly for Live View? whoisbrowsing shows every current visitor live on your real page, free, with no cookies and nothing stored.
- [Clarity Live Users vs whoisbrowsing](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing.md): Microsoft Clarity is free and shows live users and live recordings. whoisbrowsing is free too. The real differences: cookies, recordings and setup.
- [Plausible or Fathom vs a Live View: Not Either/Or](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/plausible-fathom-vs-live-view.md): Plausible and Fathom keep cookieless traffic history and show a realtime count. A live view shows each visitor on your page now. Why you might run both.
- [Smartlook Is Shutting Down: Where to Go](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/smartlook-alternatives-2026.md): Smartlook stopped new sales on 31 May 2026 and says it switches off on 30 Sep 2027. The dates, what to export, and alternatives for recordings or live.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

If you need session recordings, heatmaps over time or reports on last month, use a recording or analytics tool such as Microsoft Clarity, GA4, or Contentsquare (which Hotjar is now part of). whoisbrowsing is live only: it shows the people on your site now, and nothing after they leave. Many sites run both.

New to the idea? Start with [live view vs session replay](https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/live-view-vs-session-replay.md).

Try it with no signup: [whoisbrowsing.com](https://whoisbrowsing.com/#demo). Made by Sandeep Arneja LLC.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/for-agents

# For AI agents

whoisbrowsing is built so a coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and others) can add it to a project with no one signing up first. The agent creates a site, puts one script tag in the right file, and hands you two links: one to watch your visitors live, and one to keep the site under your Google sign-in.

## The prompt

Give your agent this prompt:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

## SKILL.md

[SKILL.md](https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md) is one Markdown file with everything an agent needs: how to create the site, where the tag goes for each framework, a Content-Security-Policy note, how to verify, the two links for the human, one line for the project's AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, and the privacy promise. It is also an Agent Skill file, with name and description frontmatter.

## MCP server

`https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp` is a remote MCP server over streamable HTTP, with no auth, listed in the official MCP Registry as `com.whoisbrowsing/mcp`. Its tools, in the order an agent uses them:

- `create_site({domains, name?})`: creates a site with no sign-up; the same answer as the API: snippet, watch links, claim link.
- `get_install_instructions({platform})`: where the tag goes on one platform (the install guide's Markdown), or the list of platforms.
- `check_live({siteId, key})`: whether the script is connected right now: websites, visitors and whether the owner is watching. key is the owner key after #wib= in the watch link.

### Claude Code

In your terminal ([Claude Code MCP docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp)):

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http whoisbrowsing https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp
```

### Cursor

In `.cursor/mcp.json` in the project, or `~/.cursor/mcp.json` for every project ([Cursor MCP docs](https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp)):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whoisbrowsing": {
      "url": "https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

In your terminal ([Codex MCP docs](https://developers.openai.com/codex/mcp)):

```bash
codex mcp add whoisbrowsing --url https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp
```

Or in `~/.codex/config.toml`:

```toml
[mcp_servers.whoisbrowsing]
url = "https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp"
```

## Agent API

`POST https://whoisbrowsing.com/api/agent/sites` creates a site with no sign-up and no auth:

```bash
curl -sS -X POST https://whoisbrowsing.com/api/agent/sites \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"domains":["localhost:3000","example.com"]}'
```

| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| `siteId` | The site ID in the tag's `data-site`. Public |
| `snippet` | The script tag for every page |
| `watchUrls` | One watch link per website. Private: it holds an owner key |
| `claimUrl` | A one-time link to keep the site in your account. Expires after 30 days |
| `installDocs` | Where the tag goes on each platform |
| `next` | The remaining steps, in plain words |

Errors are JSON with a `hint`: `400` for a bad body, `429` past the limits (10 sites per network per hour, 5 unclaimed sites per browser). The spec: [openapi.json](https://whoisbrowsing.com/openapi.json), OpenAPI 3.1.

## The two links are for you, not the code

The watch link opens your own site with the live view on. It holds a private owner key, so treat it like a password. The claim link keeps the site in your account once you sign in with Google; it works once and expires after 30 days. A good agent hands you both in its reply and never writes them into the repository. Only the tag goes in the code.

## llms.txt and Markdown twins

- [llms.txt](https://whoisbrowsing.com/llms.txt): an index of every page and guide, as Markdown links.
- [llms-full.txt](https://whoisbrowsing.com/llms-full.txt): every guide in one file.
- Markdown twins: add `.md` to any article, install guide or main page for its Markdown source, for example https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/nextjs.md, https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn.md or https://whoisbrowsing.com/for-agents.md.

## Privacy, word for word

- 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.
- No cookies on your visitors.
- Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

More: [Install with an AI agent](https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/ai-agent.md), [How it works](https://whoisbrowsing.com/how-it-works.md), [Privacy](https://whoisbrowsing.com/privacy).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/react

# Add whoisbrowsing to a React App

To add whoisbrowsing to a React app built with Vite, paste one script tag into the `<head>` of `index.html` in your project root. The script is not part of your bundle, so you add no package and no component.

## Add the tag to index.html

Vite treats `index.html` as the entry point of your app and keeps it at the project root, not in `public` ([Vite guide](https://vite.dev/guide/#index-html-and-project-root)). Whatever you put in it is served on every route of a single-page app:

```html
<!-- index.html -->
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>My app</title>
    <script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="root"></div>
    <script type="module" src="/src/main.tsx"></script>
  </body>
</html>
```

The `defer` attribute keeps the tag from blocking rendering, and the script is under 4 KB gzipped.

## Create React App or other setups

Other React setups also have a single HTML file that wraps the app, such as `public/index.html` in older Create React App projects. Put the same tag in its `<head>`. If you use a framework with its own server-rendered layout, use its guide instead: [Next.js](/install/nextjs) or [Remix](/install/remix).

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

React apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for React and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [Next.js](/install/nextjs) and [Vue](/install/vue). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/angular

# Add whoisbrowsing to Angular

To add whoisbrowsing to Angular, paste one script tag into the `<head>` of `src/index.html`. That file is the base HTML document that loads your application, so the tag is present on every route.

## Add the tag to src/index.html

The Angular workspace configuration describes the `index` option as the base HTML document which loads the application ([Angular workspace config](https://angular.dev/reference/configs/workspace-config)). In a default project that file is `src/index.html`; check the `index` setting in `angular.json` if yours lives elsewhere.

```html
<!-- src/index.html -->
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>MyApp</title>
    <base href="/" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="favicon.ico" />
    <script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <app-root></app-root>
  </body>
</html>
```

You do not need to add the script to the `scripts` array in `angular.json`. That array bundles local files into your build, and this script is loaded from `live.whoisbrowsing.com` at run time. The Angular router changes pages without a reload, and the script follows them.

## Server-side rendering

If you render on the server, `index.html` is still the template, so the tag is in the HTML your server sends.

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

Angular apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for Angular and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [Next.js](/install/nextjs) and [React](/install/react). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/astro

# Add whoisbrowsing to Astro

To add whoisbrowsing to Astro, put one script tag in the `<head>` of the layout component that your pages share, usually `src/layouts/Layout.astro`. Every page that uses the layout then loads it.

## Add the tag to your layout

Astro layouts are components that provide the page shell, including `<head>`, with a `<slot />` for each page's content ([Astro layouts](https://docs.astro.build/en/basics/layouts/)). Add the tag there:

```astro
---
// src/layouts/Layout.astro
const { title } = Astro.props;
---
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
    <title>{title}</title>
    <script is:inline src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <slot />
  </body>
</html>
```

Outside Astro, it is the same plain tag every guide uses:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

`is:inline` tells Astro to leave the tag exactly as written instead of bundling it. Astro applies it automatically when a script has extra attributes, but writing it out makes the intent clear.

## View transitions

If you use Astro's view transitions (the client router), pages change without a full reload. Per the [Astro view transitions docs](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/view-transitions/), some scripts re-run after a navigation and bundled module scripts run only once. Leave `data-astro-rerun` off this tag. You want it to load once and keep running, and it follows each page change on its own.

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

Astro apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for Astro and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [Next.js](/install/nextjs) and [React](/install/react). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/framer

# Add whoisbrowsing to Framer

To see live visitors on a Framer site, paste one script tag into Site Settings, Custom Code, at the end of the body tag, then publish. Framer's guide does not say which plans include custom code, so check your plan.

## Your snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## Steps

1. Open your project, then Site Settings, then Custom Code.
2. Paste the snippet into the End of body tag field.
3. Publish. [Framer's custom code guide](https://www.framer.com/learn/custom-code/) says Site Settings code loads across the whole site, page settings hold code for one page, and "Framer does not load Custom Code in the canvas preview", so test the published site.

## Not a cursor widget

Framer's marketplace has components that add cursor effects for your visitors, such as [Cursor Crowd](https://www.framer.com/marketplace/components/cursor-crowd/). whoisbrowsing is different: your visitors see nothing at all. Only you, the owner, see their cursors, drawn on your real page when you open your own site.

| | Cursor widget | whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees cursors | Visitors | Only you |
| Changes the page | Yes | No |

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most Framer sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing on Framer

- **Did you publish?** Custom code does not load in the canvas preview.
- **Is it in Site Settings?** Code in one page's settings loads on that page only.
- **Which address did you open?** Framer's free address and your custom domain are different websites in whoisbrowsing, so watch the one you opened.
- **Is the tag in the page source?** Search the source in the private window for `live.whoisbrowsing.com`.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

This prompt works when your site's code lives in a project an agent can edit. On Framer, where you edit the site in the browser, paste the tag yourself as shown above; an agent can still create the site for you and hand you the tag. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [WordPress](/install/wordpress), [Shopify](/install/shopify), [Webflow](/install/webflow).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/ghost

# Add whoisbrowsing to Ghost

To see live visitors on a Ghost site, paste one script tag into Settings, Advanced, Code injection, in the Site footer box. It applies to every page, with no theme editing.

## Your snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## Steps

1. Open Ghost Admin, then Settings, then Advanced, then Code injection.
2. Paste the snippet into the Site footer box.
3. Save.

Ghost's help puts code injection under Settings, Advanced, Code Injection, with a Site Header box (output inside `<head>`) and a Site Footer box (placed before the closing `</body>` tag), and you can also inject code per post from the editor ([Ghost help](https://ghost.org/help/code-injection-styles)). That page does not mention a plan requirement, so check your plan if you use Ghost(Pro). Self-hosted Ghost has the feature built in.

## Header or footer

| Box | Use for whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|
| Site footer | Yes, recommended |
| Site header | Works too, keep `defer` |
| Per-post injection | Only if you want one post |

Code injection depends on your theme: Ghost's docs say the `{{ghost_foot}}` helper, placed just before `</body>` in `default.hbs`, outputs anything added in Code Injection ([Ghost docs](https://docs.ghost.org/themes/helpers/utility/ghost_head_foot)). If a custom theme leaves it out, the tag will not appear.

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most Ghost sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing on Ghost

- **Did you save?** Code injection applies after you click Save.
- **Is the tag in the page source?** Open a post in a private window, view the source and search for `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. If it is missing, check that your theme prints `{{ghost_foot}}`.
- **Is it one post only?** Per-post injection runs on that post alone; use the site-wide box for every page.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

This prompt works when your Ghost theme lives in a project an agent can edit. For the Code Injection box, which you fill in Ghost Admin, paste the tag yourself; an agent can still create the site for you and hand you the tag. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [WordPress](/install/wordpress), [Shopify](/install/shopify), [Webflow](/install/webflow).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/nextjs

# Add whoisbrowsing to Next.js (App Router)

To add whoisbrowsing to a Next.js App Router site, put one `next/script` tag in your root layout, `app/layout.tsx`, with `strategy="afterInteractive"` and your site ID in a `data-site` attribute. It is one tag, it loads after your page, and it never changes how your pages look.

## Add the script to app/layout.tsx

Next.js documents `next/script` as the way to load third-party scripts, and `afterInteractive` (the default) loads the script after some hydration, which is the documented fit for analytics-style scripts. See the [Next.js Script component reference](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/components/script). Put it in the root layout so it loads on every page:

```tsx
// app/layout.tsx
import Script from "next/script";

export default function RootLayout({
  children,
}: {
  children: React.ReactNode;
}) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>
        {children}
        <Script
          src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js"
          data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID"
          strategy="afterInteractive"
        />
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}
```

You can pass `data-site` straight to `<Script>`: the Next.js reference says extra attributes such as custom data attributes are forwarded to the final `<script>` element. If your root layout lives at `app/[locale]/layout.tsx`, put the tag there instead. The Next.js docs note that a script in a root layout runs once per document load, and a client-side navigation does not run it again, which is what you want here because the script keeps running as visitors move between pages.

Outside Next.js, the same script is this plain tag, which is what every other guide uses:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## Pages Router

If you still use the Pages Router, put the same `<Script>` in `pages/_app.tsx`. The rest of this guide is the same.

## Hosting on Vercel

Nothing special is needed on Vercel. Add the tag, deploy, and use the site ID you made for your production address. Keep a separate site for `localhost:3000` while you develop.

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

Next.js apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for Next.js and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [React](/install/react) and [Vue](/install/vue). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/nuxt

# Add whoisbrowsing to Nuxt

To add whoisbrowsing to Nuxt, add a `script` entry to `app.head` in `nuxt.config.ts`. Nuxt puts it in the `<head>` of every page it renders.

## Add the tag to nuxt.config.ts

The Nuxt configuration reference lists a `script` array under `app.head`, with entries such as `{ src: 'https://awesome-lib.js' }` that become script tags on every page ([Nuxt config: app.head](https://nuxt.com/docs/4.x/api/nuxt-config)). Add the tag with its site ID and `defer`:

```ts
// nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  app: {
    head: {
      script: [
        {
          src: "https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js",
          "data-site": "YOUR_SITE_ID",
          defer: true,
        },
      ],
    },
  },
});
```

Nuxt's head handling is built on Unhead, which writes extra keys onto the tag as attributes. After a build, view the page source and confirm the rendered tag matches the one on the [install page](/install). The Nuxt docs also describe `useHead()` for setting head tags from `app.vue`, which works if you prefer to keep it next to your app code ([Nuxt SEO and meta](https://nuxt.com/docs/4.x/getting-started/seo-meta)).

## Static versus reactive

`app.head` is static, which suits a tag that never changes. If you build for production, deploy and test with the site ID made for that address.

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

Nuxt apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for Nuxt and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [Next.js](/install/nextjs) and [React](/install/react). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/html

# Add whoisbrowsing to plain HTML

To see live visitors on any hand-written HTML site, put one script tag just before `</body>`, or in `<head>` with `defer`. It is under 4 KB gzipped and never changes how the page looks.

## The canonical snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` with your site's ID. [Create one with no sign-in](/try) if you need it.

## Where it goes

```html
<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>My site</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- your page -->
    <script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
  </body>
</html>
```

Both placements work. The `defer` attribute makes the browser load the script without blocking the page and run it after parsing. Put it on every page you want to watch, ideally in a shared layout or include. A static site generator or template engine lets you add it once.

## Static hosts

Netlify, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Vercel and similar hosts just serve your files, so editing the HTML and redeploying is all it takes. Remember that localhost and production are separate websites in whoisbrowsing.

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most plain HTML sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing

- **Is the tag on the page you opened?** Without a shared layout or include, every HTML file needs its own copy.
- **Did you open it through a web address?** A page opened straight from disk (`file://`) has no website address to match. Serve it locally or deploy it, and use the site made for that address.
- **Is an old copy cached?** After deploying, reload in a fresh private window; a CDN or host cache can serve the old HTML for a while.
- **Is it in the page source?** Search the source for `live.whoisbrowsing.com` and check the `data-site` value.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

Use this when your HTML lives in a project folder an agent can edit: it creates the site, adds the tag to each page or your shared include, and gives you a watch link. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [WordPress](/install/wordpress), [Shopify](/install/shopify), [Webflow](/install/webflow).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/remix

# Add whoisbrowsing to Remix

To add whoisbrowsing to Remix, put one script tag in the `<head>` of the `Layout` component in `app/root.tsx`. The root route wraps every page, so the tag loads everywhere.

## Add the tag to app/root.tsx

The Remix docs show the root's `Layout` export rendering `<html>`, with `<Meta />` and `<Links />` in the `<head>` and `<Scripts />` after the children ([Remix root route](https://v2.remix.run/docs/file-conventions/root)). Add the tag in the head:

```tsx
// app/root.tsx
import { Links, Meta, Outlet, Scripts, ScrollRestoration } from "@remix-run/react";

export function Layout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        <meta charSet="utf-8" />
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
        <Meta />
        <Links />
        <script
          src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js"
          data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID"
          defer
        />
      </head>
      <body>
        {children}
        <ScrollRestoration />
        <Scripts />
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

export default function App() {
  return <Outlet />;
}
```

In JSX the tag closes itself, but it is the same plain tag every guide uses:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

React Router v7 in framework mode (Remix's successor) uses the same file, with imports from `react-router` instead of `@remix-run/react`. Check the import for your version.

## Older Remix without a Layout export

Older Remix apps put `<html>` in the default export of `app/root.tsx`. Put the same `<script>` in that `<head>`.

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

Remix apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for Remix and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [Next.js](/install/nextjs) and [React](/install/react). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/squarespace

# Add whoisbrowsing to Squarespace

To see live visitors on a Squarespace site, paste one script tag into Code Injection, in the Footer box, and save. Squarespace lists Code Injection on its Core, Plus and Advanced plans.

## Your snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## Steps

1. Go to Website, then Pages, then Website Tools, then Code Injection.
2. Paste the snippet into the Footer box. Squarespace places footer code before the closing `</body>` tag on every page.
3. Click Save, then open your live site.

## Plans and limits

Per [Squarespace's code injection help](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205815908-Using-code-injection), Code Injection is available on the Core, Plus and Advanced plans plus some legacy plans, so check your plan if you are on another one. The same page says checkout pages do not support custom code, so the live view will not cover them. Squarespace support cannot troubleshoot custom code.

| Where | Effect |
|---|---|
| Header box | Inside `<head>` on every page |
| Footer box | Before `</body>` on every page (use this one) |

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most Squarespace sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing on Squarespace

- **Is Code Injection there?** If the menu item is missing or locked, check your plan; Squarespace lists it on Core, Plus, Advanced and some legacy plans.
- **Did you save and reload?** Open the live site in a private window after saving, not the editor preview.
- **Which address did you open?** Your built-in Squarespace address and your custom domain are different websites in whoisbrowsing, so watch the one you opened.
- **Looking at checkout?** Squarespace says checkout pages do not support custom code, so shoppers there will not appear.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

This prompt works when your site's code lives in a project an agent can edit. On Squarespace, where you edit the site in the browser, paste the tag yourself as shown above; an agent can still create the site for you and hand you the tag. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [WordPress](/install/wordpress), [Shopify](/install/shopify), [Webflow](/install/webflow).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/svelte

# Add whoisbrowsing to SvelteKit

To add whoisbrowsing to SvelteKit, paste one script tag into `src/app.html`, the page template every route is rendered into. No package, hook or component is needed.

## Add the tag to src/app.html

The SvelteKit docs describe `src/app.html` as your page template, an HTML document with placeholders such as `%sveltekit.head%` and `%sveltekit.body%` that SvelteKit fills in for each page ([SvelteKit project structure](https://svelte.dev/docs/kit/project-structure)). Add the tag inside `<head>`, next to the placeholder:

```html
<!-- src/app.html -->
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <link rel="icon" href="%sveltekit.assets%/favicon.png" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
    %sveltekit.head%
  </head>
  <body data-sveltekit-preload-data="hover">
    <div style="display: contents">%sveltekit.body%</div>
  </body>
</html>
```

Because the tag sits in the template, it is in the server-rendered HTML of every page, and client-side navigation does not remove it.

## If you set a CSP nonce

SvelteKit can add a nonce to scripts through `%sveltekit.nonce%`. If you use a nonce-based policy, add `nonce="%sveltekit.nonce%"` to the tag. If your policy lists hosts instead, use the lines in the CSP section below.

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

SvelteKit apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for SvelteKit and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [Next.js](/install/nextjs) and [React](/install/react). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/vue

# Add whoisbrowsing to Vue

To add whoisbrowsing to a Vue app, paste one script tag into the `<head>` of `index.html` in your project root. Vue's official scaffolding tool, create-vue, builds on Vite, and Vite serves that file for every route.

## Add the tag to index.html

The [Vue quick start](https://vuejs.org/guide/quick-start.html) creates a Vite-based project, and [Vite](https://vite.dev/guide/#index-html-and-project-root) keeps `index.html` at the project root as the app's entry point. Add the tag inside `<head>`:

```html
<!-- index.html -->
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>My Vue app</title>
    <script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="app"></div>
    <script type="module" src="/src/main.ts"></script>
  </body>
</html>
```

You do not need a Vue plugin or a change to `main.ts`. Vue Router, if you use it, changes the URL without reloading the page, and the script follows those changes.

## Using Nuxt?

Nuxt builds the HTML for you, so there is no `index.html` to edit. Use the [Nuxt guide](/install/nuxt) instead.

## Where to get your site ID

Open [/try](/try) to create a site with no sign-in (you can claim it later), or sign in with Google. You get a site ID to replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` in the code above. Each website is separate: localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

## Navigation between pages

Vue apps change pages in the browser without a full reload. You do not need extra code: the script follows client-side route changes on its own, so each page a visitor moves to shows up in your live view.

## Content-Security-Policy

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection:

```
script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com;
```

Add these to your existing `script-src` and `connect-src` lists instead of replacing them. If you have no CSP, skip this step.

## Verify

1. Deploy, or run your site locally. Use the site ID made for that address, because localhost and production are separate websites.
2. Open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and click Watch.
3. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito window or a Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test as a visitor.
4. You should appear as a coloured cursor on your real page, with a line for you in the side panel.

If nothing shows up, check that the tag is in the page source, that the site ID matches the address you opened, and that a CSP or ad blocker is not stopping `live.whoisbrowsing.com`. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for what is sent, and the [privacy page](/privacy) for what is never sent or stored.

## Let your AI agent do it

Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex:

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

The agent reads the instructions, creates a site, puts the tag in the right file for Vue and gives you a watch link. The full walkthrough is in [Install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## More install guides

See every platform on the [install page](/install), or jump to [Next.js](/install/nextjs) and [React](/install/react). Prefer to try first? Open [/try](/try). To see what the tag does, go to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/webflow

# Add whoisbrowsing to Webflow

To see live visitors on a Webflow site, paste one script tag into Site settings, Custom code, in the Footer code section, then publish. Webflow's help lists site-wide custom code as a paid-plan feature, so check your plan.

## Your snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## Steps

1. Open your project, then Site settings, then Custom code.
2. Paste the snippet into the Footer code box (before the closing body tag).
3. Save, then publish the site. Custom code goes live only when you publish, so test on the published site.

## Plan requirements

Webflow's help says site-wide custom code in head and body tags is available on paid plans, meaning a Workspace plan or an active Site plan. Read the details on [Webflow's custom code page](https://help.webflow.com/hc/en-us/articles/33961357265299-Custom-code-in-head-and-body-tags), and check your plan if the Custom code section is locked. Webflow also notes its support cannot troubleshoot custom code.

## Page-level alternative

Webflow also has custom code in Page settings. Use it only if you want the live view on one page. For every page, use the site-wide box.

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most Webflow sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing on Webflow

- **Did you publish?** Saving custom code is not enough; it reaches visitors after you publish.
- **Is it in Site settings?** Code in one page's settings runs on that page only.
- **Which address did you open?** Your `webflow.io` staging address and your custom domain are different websites in whoisbrowsing. Watch the one you opened, or create a site for the other.
- **Is the tag in the page source?** Open the source in the private window and search for `live.whoisbrowsing.com`.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

This prompt works when your site's code lives in a project an agent can edit. On Webflow, where you edit the site in the browser, paste the tag yourself as shown above; an agent can still create the site for you and hand you the tag. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [WordPress](/install/wordpress), [Shopify](/install/shopify), [Squarespace](/install/squarespace).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/wix

# Add whoisbrowsing to Wix

To see live visitors on a Wix site, add the script tag under Settings, Custom Code, apply it to all pages, and place it at the end of the body. Wix says the site must be published and have a connected domain.

## Your snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## Steps

1. In your Wix dashboard, go to Settings, then Custom Code (under Development and integrations).
2. Click Add Custom Code and paste the snippet. Name it "whoisbrowsing".
3. Under Add Code to Pages, choose All pages, and set it to load on each new page.
4. Under Place Code in, choose Body - end.
5. Click Apply.

Wix's own guide ([embedding custom code](https://support.wix.com/en/article/embedding-custom-code-on-your-site)) says your site must be published with a connected domain, and it does not mention a premium plan requirement for this step. Connecting a domain may need a paid plan, so check your plan.

## Notes

A free Wix subdomain is not enough per that guide. Test on your connected domain, in a private window.

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most Wix sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing on Wix

- **Is the site published, on a connected domain?** Wix's guide requires both before custom code runs.
- **Is the snippet applied to all pages?** Open it under Custom Code and check All pages and Body - end.
- **Are you testing the live site?** Open your connected domain in a private window, not the Wix editor or its preview.
- **Is the tag in the page source?** Search the source for `live.whoisbrowsing.com`.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

This prompt works when your site's code lives in a project an agent can edit. On Wix, where you edit the site in the browser, paste the tag yourself as shown above; an agent can still create the site for you and hand you the tag. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [WordPress](/install/wordpress), [Shopify](/install/shopify), [Webflow](/install/webflow).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/ai-agent

# Install whoisbrowsing With Claude Code, Cursor or Codex

To install whoisbrowsing with an AI coding agent, paste `Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.` into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex. The agent creates a site with no sign-in, adds one script tag in the right file for your framework, and gives you a watch link and a claim link.

## The prompt

```
Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.
```

No account is needed to start. The site is created without sign-in and you claim it later with the claim link.

## What the agent does

1. Reads `https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md`, a single file with the steps, the tag and the checks.
2. Calls the API to create a site: `POST https://whoisbrowsing.com/api/agent/sites` with a body like `{"domains":["localhost:3000"]}`. The reply holds a site ID, the snippet, a watch link and a claim link.
3. Looks at your project to find the framework, then inserts the tag where that framework expects it. See the guides for [Next.js](/install/nextjs), [React](/install/react), [Vue](/install/vue), [SvelteKit](/install/svelte), [Astro](/install/astro), [Remix](/install/remix), [Nuxt](/install/nuxt) and [Angular](/install/angular).
4. Gives you the watch link (to see visitors live) and the claim link (to keep the site under your Google sign-in).

The result is the same one tag you would paste yourself:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## The MCP server

If you would rather give your agent tools than a prompt, whoisbrowsing runs an MCP server at `https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp`. It offers three tools: `create_site`, `get_install_instructions` and `check_live`.

### Claude Code

Run this in your terminal. The syntax comes from the [Claude Code MCP docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp):

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http whoisbrowsing https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp
```

Then run `/mcp` inside Claude Code to confirm the connection.

### Cursor

Add the server to `.cursor/mcp.json` in your project, or to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` for all projects, as described in the [Cursor MCP docs](https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whoisbrowsing": {
      "url": "https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

Use the CLI, per the [Codex MCP docs](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/extend/mcp?surface=cli):

```bash
codex mcp add whoisbrowsing --url https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp
```

Or add it to `~/.codex/config.toml`:

```toml
[mcp_servers.whoisbrowsing]
url = "https://whoisbrowsing.com/mcp"
```

Run `codex mcp list` to see it.

## Verify

Do not take the agent's word for it. Check three things:

1. The diff shows one `<script>` tag with your site ID, in the layout or HTML file for your framework, and nothing else changed.
2. The site ID belongs to the address you will open. Localhost and production are separate websites, so a site made for `localhost:3000` will not show your live domain.
3. Open the watch link, then open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. You should appear as a visitor on your real page. Your normal browser is never counted once you've opened the watch link in it. The `check_live` tool can confirm the same thing from the agent side.

If you use a Content-Security-Policy, allow `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`.

## If the agent gets stuck

| What happens | What to do |
|---|---|
| The agent says it cannot open web pages | Turn on its web access, or connect the MCP server above, which serves the same instructions as a tool |
| It picked the wrong file | Point it at your root layout or main HTML file, or follow your framework's guide by hand |
| It made a site for `localhost:3000` but you are watching production | Ask it to create a site for your production domain too; each website is separate |
| You see nothing in the private window | Check the page source for the tag, the site ID, and any CSP or ad blocker in the way |

## When an agent is not the right route

For a hosted site builder you edit in the browser, such as [WordPress](/install/wordpress) or [Shopify](/install/shopify), the agent has no project to edit. It can still create the site and hand you the tag, but you paste the tag yourself; the [install page](/install) lists every platform. You can also start from [/try](/try). To see what you are installing, read [how it works](/how-it-works) and the [privacy page](/privacy), or go back to the [home page](/).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/wordpress

# See Live Visitors on WordPress With One Script Tag

To see live visitors on WordPress, add one script tag (under 4 KB gzipped) to every page, either in your theme with no plugin or through any "insert headers and footers" plugin, then open your site to watch each visitor's cursor live. It never changes how your pages look.

## Your snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Replace `YOUR_SITE_ID` with the ID whoisbrowsing shows for your site. [Create one with no sign-in](/try) if you do not have it yet.

## Option 1: a plugin (easiest)

Any plugin that inserts code into your site header or footer works. Paste the snippet into the footer box and save. The plugin you pick does not matter to whoisbrowsing, it only has to print the tag on every page.

## Option 2: no plugin, in your theme

WordPress's own guidance is to load scripts through `wp_enqueue_script()` hooked to `wp_enqueue_scripts`, and since WordPress 6.3 you can pass `in_footer` and a `defer` strategy ([WordPress theme handbook](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/including-css-javascript/)). The enqueue function does not add custom attributes like `data-site` by itself, so the simplest no-plugin route is to print the tag from a hook in a child theme's `functions.php`:

```php
add_action( 'wp_footer', function () {
  echo '<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>';
} );
```

Alternatively, paste the tag in your theme's `footer.php` just before `</body>`. Use a child theme, or a theme update will erase your change. A code-snippets plugin also works for the PHP version.

On managed WordPress.com, theme file editing depends on your plan: check your plan.

## When to use which

| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| You do not touch code | A header and footer plugin |
| You have a child theme | `wp_footer` hook |
| You edit theme files directly | `footer.php` before `</body>` |

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most WordPress sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing on WordPress

- **Clear your page cache.** A caching plugin or host cache can keep serving pages saved before you added the tag. Purge it, then reload in the private window.
- **Check optimisation settings.** Plugins that combine, minify or delay JavaScript can hold a script back until the visitor interacts, or change how it loads. Exclude `live.whoisbrowsing.com` from those features, and view the page source to confirm the tag still has `data-site`.
- **Check the right theme.** If you edited a parent theme, an update may have replaced your change; use a child theme or a plugin.
- **Running a WooCommerce store?** The same tag covers your shop pages. See [live visitors for e-commerce stores](/learn/ecommerce-live-visitors) for what to watch.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

This prompt works when your theme or site code lives in a project an agent can edit, where it can add the `wp_footer` hook for you. If you manage the site only in wp-admin, paste the tag with a plugin as above; an agent can still create the site for you and hand you the tag. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [Shopify](/install/shopify), [Webflow](/install/webflow), [Squarespace](/install/squarespace).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/install/shopify

# Watch Shopify Store Visitors Live (One Script Tag)

To see live visitors on your Shopify store, paste one script tag into `layout/theme.liquid` just before `</body>`, then open your store to watch each shopper's cursor, source and approximate city. It runs on your storefront pages, not on checkout, and does not change how they look.

## Your snippet

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## Steps

1. In Shopify admin, go to Online Store, click the three-dot menu on your theme, then Edit code ([Shopify: edit theme code](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/theme-structure/extend/edit-theme-code)).
2. Open `layout/theme.liquid`. Press Cmd/Ctrl + P and type the file name if you cannot find it.
3. Paste the snippet just above `</body>`.
4. Save.

Shopify recommends duplicating your theme first as a backup. Shopify also says you can edit theme code only after you have purchased the theme, so a trial of a paid theme must be bought first. Shopify's page states no other plan requirement: check your plan if the Edit code option is missing.

## What it covers

| Page type | Covered? |
|---|---|
| Home, collection, product, cart, blog | Yes, they use `theme.liquid` |
| Checkout | Controlled by Shopify, not by your theme file |

The script runs on your storefront pages; checkout pages are controlled by Shopify, not by your theme file, so a theme edit does not reach them. Shopify's current rules for custom scripts in checkout are not covered here, so treat checkout as not covered.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

It shows people on your site right now. If you need order reports or history, use Shopify's own analytics. What a live view is good for on a store, and what it never captures, is in [live visitors for e-commerce stores](/learn/ecommerce-live-visitors).

## Content-Security-Policy note

If your site sends a Content-Security-Policy header, allow the script and its live connection: `script-src https://live.whoisbrowsing.com` and `connect-src wss://live.whoisbrowsing.com`. Most Shopify sites send no such header, so you can usually skip this.

## Verify

1. In whoisbrowsing, click Watch for your site.
2. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. Your own normal browser is never counted, so a private window is how you test.
3. You should see yourself as a coloured cursor on your real page, and one line for you in the side panel.

Each website is separate: `www.` and the bare domain count as the same website, but localhost and production never mix. If you see nothing, check that the site ID matches the one shown for this site.

## If you see nothing on Shopify

- **Did you edit the published theme?** Changes to a theme that is not published do not reach your live store until you publish it.
- **Are you testing the live store?** Open your store's own domain in a private window, not the theme editor's preview.
- **Is the tag above `</body>`?** Open the page source in the private window and search for `live.whoisbrowsing.com`.
- **Does the address match?** Your `myshopify.com` address and your custom domain are different websites in whoisbrowsing, so make sure the site you are watching matches the address you opened.

## Let your AI agent do it

> Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.

This prompt works when your site's code lives in a project an agent can edit. On Shopify, where you edit the site in the browser, paste the tag yourself as shown above; an agent can still create the site for you and hand you the tag. See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## Related

[How it works](/how-it-works), [privacy](/privacy), all [install guides](/install), or [try it with no sign-in](/try). Other platforms: [WordPress](/install/wordpress), [Webflow](/install/webflow), [Squarespace](/install/squarespace).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/live-cursor-tracking-website

# Live Cursor Tracking for Your Own Website

Live cursor tracking for your own website means that when you open your site, you see each current visitor's cursor moving on the page in real time, with a fading trail behind it and a ripple wherever they click. whoisbrowsing does this with one script tag under 4 KB gzipped, draws it on your real page, and stores nothing about your visitors.

## Two things people mean by "live cursors"

The search results mix two very different products.

| | Visitors see each other | The owner sees visitors |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Visitors, as a fun feature | You, the site owner |
| Example | Cursor widgets in the Framer marketplace, such as [Cursor Crowd](https://www.framer.com/marketplace/components/cursor-crowd/) | whoisbrowsing |
| Purpose | Make a page feel populated | Understand who is on your site now |

If you want a social cursor effect for visitors, a component like that is the right fit. If you want to know what real visitors are doing on your site, read on.

## Tools that show visitors' cursors live

| Tool | What you watch live | Kept afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Inspectlet Live | One visitor's screen at a time: "their cursor, their scroll, their typing" ([Inspectlet](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)) | Recordings ([plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans)) |
| Microsoft Clarity | Live recordings of "mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, navigation, and more" ([Clarity docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | Recordings and heatmaps ([overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) |
| Lucky Orange Live View | Where visitors "click, scroll and engage", in real time ([help](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)) | Recordings and heatmaps ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) |
| whoisbrowsing | Every current visitor drawn together on your real page | Nothing about your visitors |

The first three are recording products with a live mode. whoisbrowsing is only the live part, which is why it can keep nothing. For a fuller list, see [best live visitor tools](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools).

## What you see

Open your own site while watching and every current visitor is drawn on the live page:

- **Cursor and trail.** A coloured cursor with a fading trail, so you see where they came from as well as where they are.
- **Click ripples.** Each click appears as a ripple at the exact spot.
- **Scroll arrows.** Visitors scrolled out of your view get an arrow at the edge pointing toward them.
- **Phone and tablet bands.** Touch devices have no pointer to track, so they appear as a see-through band over the part of the page they are looking at. See [watching phone visitors live](/learn/watch-mobile-visitors-live).
- **A side panel.** Live counts per page (busiest first) and one line per person: page, source, approximate city, device, browser and operating system, time on site, pages this visit.

## Install

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

The script is under 4 KB gzipped and never changes how your page looks. To see it working, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window (your own regular browser is not counted), then move your mouse and click. Start with no sign-in at [/try](/try).

## What is sent, and what is not

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. No cookies on your visitors. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. Read the full [privacy page](/privacy); this describes what we do and is not legal advice.

That is the main difference from tools built around recording. Inspectlet's live feature, for example, lets you "see their cursor, their scroll, their typing" ([Inspectlet](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)). whoisbrowsing never captures typing.

## Why watch cursors at all

- **See what draws attention.** Does the cursor go to your pricing, or hover over text that is not a link?
- **Spot confusion.** A cursor circling or hovering over something that is not clickable tells you something is unclear.
- **Check a launch.** Watching the first visitors use a new page is faster than waiting for a report.

A cursor is a hint, not proof of attention. People read without moving the mouse, so treat what you see as a prompt for questions rather than a conclusion.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

whoisbrowsing is live only: no recordings, no replays, no history, no heatmaps over time. If you want to review a session after it ends or aggregate where everyone clicked, use a session-replay or heatmap tool such as Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of). The [live view vs session replay](/learn/live-view-vs-session-replay) article explains when to pick which.

## Next

- [How it works](/how-it-works)
- [Try it with no signup](/try)
- [See who is on your website right now](/learn/see-who-is-on-your-website-right-now)

## Common questions

**Will visitors notice anything?** The script is under 4 KB gzipped, loads with `defer` and does not change how your page looks. Visitors see no overlay; only you, in your own live view, see the cursors.

**Do I see what people type?** No. Keystrokes, form values and page text are never sent. You can see that a cursor reached a form, not what went into it.

**Can I test it alone?** Yes. Your regular browser is never counted, so open the site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window and move the mouse. You will see your own cursor, trail and click ripples.

**Does localhost work?** Each website is separate, so localhost and production never mix. Create a site for each, or use [/try](/try) to start quickly.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/live-view-vs-session-replay

# 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
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

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.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/live-visitor-tracking

# Live Visitor Tracking: What It Is and When It Helps

Live visitor tracking shows you the people who are on your website at this moment, not a report of people who were there earlier. A good live view tells you how many visitors there are, which pages they are on, and where they came from, while it is happening.

## Three kinds of visitor tools

Most confusion comes from three different jobs being sold under one name.

| | Analytics | Session replay | Live visitor view |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question it answers | What happened over time? | How did one person use the page? | Who is here right now? |
| Time frame | History | After the session | Now |
| Stores data about visitors | Yes | Yes (recordings) | Depends on the tool |
| Typical use | Reports, trends, funnels | Debugging, UX review | Launch day, support, curiosity |

Analytics tools like Google Analytics have a Realtime report, but it shows counts: active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, by source and page ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)). Session-replay tools build recordings you watch later: Hotjar's help, for example, 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)). Some replay tools add live modes too: Microsoft Clarity has live recordings ([Clarity docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)), and Contentsquare, which Hotjar is now part of, lists "Live browsing heatmaps and replays" on its paid plans ([Contentsquare pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)). A live visitor view sits between analytics and replay: people, not counts, and now, not later.

## What whoisbrowsing's live view shows

whoisbrowsing draws each current visitor on your real page when you open your own site:

- a coloured cursor with a fading trail, and ripples for clicks;
- phone and tablet visitors as a see-through band over the part of the page they are looking at;
- arrows at the edge for visitors scrolled out of view;
- a side panel with live counts per page, busiest first, and one line per person.

Each line tells you the page, the source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site, or direct), an approximate city, device, browser and operating system, and time on site. It never identifies a person.

## When live tracking helps

- **Launch days.** Watch a post or announcement land, page by page.
- **Checking a change.** Ship a new page and see who finds it and where they go.
- **Understanding a source.** See what a visitor from a search result or an AI assistant does on arrival. See [where visitors come from, live](/learn/see-where-visitors-come-from-live).
- **Quiet sites.** On a small site, one real person arriving is worth noticing; a [browser notification](/learn/get-notified-when-someone-visits) can tell you.

## What to look for in a live tool

1. **Does it store data?** Some tools keep recordings or visitor history. In whoisbrowsing, nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers.
2. **Does it set cookies?** Microsoft Clarity documents first-party and third-party cookies and says typical usage requires non-essential cookies ([Clarity cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)). whoisbrowsing sets no cookies on visitors.
3. **How heavy is the script?** Ours is under 4 KB gzipped and loads with `defer`.
4. **Who does it show?** In whoisbrowsing, visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

## What a live view looks like in practice

Say you run a small site and send a newsletter with a link to a new post. You open the post yourself and watch. A few lines appear in the side panel as people click through: one reader is on a phone, so a see-through band moves slowly down the post as they scroll; another is on a desktop, and their cursor drifts toward the sign-up button and clicks, leaving a ripple. Each line shows where that person came from and an approximate city, such as "near Austin, TX". When someone moves to your pricing page, the per-page counts change. Nothing here is a report. It is the room as it is now, and when the readers leave, the view is empty again.

## Install in one line

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Then open your site and watch. Test yourself by opening the site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window; your own regular browser is never counted. [Try it with no signup](/try).

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

If you need history, funnels, retention, heatmaps over time or recordings of sessions, a live view is the wrong shape. Pair a live view with an analytics product for reporting. See [live view vs session replay](/learn/live-view-vs-session-replay) for how to decide, and the [comparison page](/compare) for specific products.

## Related

- [How it works](/how-it-works)
- [Privacy, plainly](/privacy)
- [See who is on your website right now](/learn/see-who-is-on-your-website-right-now)

## Common questions

**Is live visitor tracking the same as analytics?** No. Analytics aggregates over time. A live view is about the present moment and, in whoisbrowsing's case, keeps nothing afterward.

**Do I need an account?** Not to start. [/try](/try) creates a site with no sign-in, and you can claim it later. Sign-in is by Google.

**Does it cost anything?** It is free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now.

**Can an AI coding agent install it?** Yes. Paste: `Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.` See [install](/install).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/see-who-is-on-your-website-right-now

# See Who Is on Your Website Right Now (Free)

To see who is on your website right now, add one small script tag to your pages and open your own site: whoisbrowsing draws every current visitor live on the real page, with their cursor, the page they are on, where they came from and an approximate city. It is free, sets no cookies on your visitors and stores nothing about them.

## The short version

1. Add the tag below to your site (or [ask your AI coding agent to do it](/install)).
2. Click Watch once in your dashboard (in Chrome, when you are signed in, this happens automatically), then open your own website.
3. Every person currently on the site appears on the page, live.

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

The script is under 4 KB gzipped and loads with `defer`, so it never changes how your page looks. You do not need an account to start: [/try](/try) creates a site with no sign-in, and you claim it later.

## What you actually see

When you open your own site, the live view is drawn over your real page:

- **A coloured cursor with a fading trail** for each desktop visitor, and **ripples** where they click.
- **A see-through band** over the part of the page a phone or tablet visitor is looking at.
- **Arrows at the screen edge** for visitors who are scrolled out of your view.
- **A side panel** with live counts per page (busiest first) and one line per person.

For each person you also know the page they are on, where they came from (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), an approximate city such as "near Austin, TX", their device, browser and operating system, how long they have been on the site and how many pages they have seen this visit.

You never learn who someone is. There is a city, not a name.

## Test it on yourself first

Your own browser is never counted, so to see yourself, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window. You appear as a normal visitor, and you can move the cursor and click to watch the trail and ripples in your other window.

Each website is separate in whoisbrowsing: `localhost` and your production domain never mix, and `www.` is treated as the same website as the bare domain.

## How this differs from the tools you already have

| You want to know | GA4 Realtime | Microsoft Clarity (live) | whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|---|---|
| How many people are active | Yes, for the last 5 and 30 minutes | Yes, a live user count | Yes, per page, live |
| What each person is doing | Aggregate counts, plus a snapshot of one user | A live recording per session | Everyone drawn together on your real page |
| Where the cursor is | No | Yes, inside the recording | Yes, with a fading trail and click ripples |
| History afterwards | Yes, reports | Yes, recordings and heatmaps | No, live only |
| Cookies on visitors | Yes, first-party `_ga` cookies | Yes, first- and third-party | None |

GA4's Realtime report shows aggregate active users by source and page, with no cursor ([Google's documentation](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)), and it uses first-party `_ga` cookies ([Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11397207)). That is the right tool for reporting. Microsoft Clarity is free and live too: it shows a live user count and live recordings of mouse movements, clicks and scrolls ([Clarity docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)), keeps recordings and heatmaps, and sets first- and third-party cookies ([Clarity cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)). whoisbrowsing answers one narrower question: who is here at this moment, and what are they doing on the page. See [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing) and [live visitor tracking](/learn/live-visitor-tracking) for the full breakdown.

## Get a nudge when someone arrives

The dashboard can send a browser notification when a new visitor arrives, naming the landing page. Alerts come from the open dashboard tab, which holds the live connection, so keep that tab open to get them (it can stay in the background). On launch day you can work in another window and look up only when something happens. More in [get notified when someone visits](/learn/get-notified-when-someone-visits).

## What is sent, and what is not

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. No cookies on your visitors. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. Query strings never leave the browser, and URL tokens in a path (UUIDs, long hex strings and long random tokens) are sent as `:id`. Details are on the [privacy page](/privacy); this is a description of what we do, not legal advice.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

whoisbrowsing is live only. It keeps no recordings, no history and no heatmaps over time. If you need to review last week's sessions, funnels or reports, use an analytics or session-replay product such as Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of), and use whoisbrowsing alongside it for the "right now" view. Microsoft Clarity is also free and has live views, so compare before you choose: see [real-time website visitors, free options compared](/learn/real-time-website-visitors-free).

## Next steps

- [Try it with no signup](/try)
- [See how it works](/how-it-works)
- [Install on your stack](/install)

## Common questions

**Do I need to sign up?** Not to start. [/try](/try) creates a site with no sign-in, and you can claim it later.

**Does it cost anything?** It is free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now.

**Can my AI coding agent install it?** Yes. Paste: `Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.`

**Will it slow my site?** The script is under 4 KB gzipped and loads with `defer`.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/get-notified-when-someone-visits

# Get Notified the Moment a Visitor Arrives

To get notified when someone visits your website, open the whoisbrowsing dashboard and allow browser notifications: each time a new visitor arrives, your browser shows an alert naming the page they landed on. There is no email service to configure and no extra script beyond the one tag that powers the live view.

## What the alert tells you

A notification fires when someone new arrives and names the landing page, so you know straight away whether it is your homepage, a pricing page or a blog post. Click the alert to open that page with the live view on it, and you see the visitor there: their cursor, source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site, or direct), approximate city, device and time on site.

It is an arrival alert, not an identity alert. You will never be told who someone is.

## Set it up

1. Add the tag to your site:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

2. Sign in with Google (or start at [/try](/try) with no account and claim the site later).
3. Open the dashboard and allow browser notifications when your browser asks.
4. Keep the dashboard tab open. Alerts come from that tab, which holds the live connection; it can stay in the background.

Your own browser is never counted as a visitor, so you will not notify yourself. To test, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window and watch the alert arrive.

## When this is useful

- **Launch day.** Post your announcement, leave the tab open, and look up only when someone lands.
- **A quiet new site.** The first real visitor is an event worth knowing about.
- **After outreach.** Sent an email or a message with your link? An arrival alert tells you when someone follows the link.
- **AI mentions.** If you are hoping an assistant recommends you, see [how to spot ChatGPT and Perplexity visitors](/learn/track-chatgpt-visitors-live).

## Notification limits to know about

Browser notifications depend on the browser, so allow them for the dashboard. Alerts come from the open dashboard tab, which holds the live connection, so keep that tab open to get them. Close the tab or quit the browser and the alerts stop. If you need alerts when nothing is open, or by email or chat, whoisbrowsing does not do that today, so a monitoring or analytics product with email alerts is the better tool.

## Busy sites

On a busy site, an alert for every visitor is noise. The live view is a better fit there: the side panel shows counts per page, busiest first, so you can watch a flow of visitors rather than react to each one. Click **Mute alerts** in the dashboard when you do not need them.

## What is collected

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. No cookies on your visitors. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. So you will not get alerts for them either. See [privacy](/privacy); this describes what we do and is not legal advice.

## No alert arrived? Check these

1. **Are alerts allowed?** If the dashboard shows an **Enable alerts** button, click it and allow notifications. If it says alerts are blocked in your browser settings, allow notifications for the dashboard in your browser's site settings.
2. **Are they muted?** If the button reads **Unmute alerts**, click it.
3. **Is the dashboard tab still open?** The alerts come from that tab.
4. **Were you testing from your own browser?** It is never counted. Use a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window.
5. **Is your computer silencing them?** A focus or do-not-disturb mode in your operating system can hide browser notifications.
6. **Is the visitor one who is never shown?** Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. So they never trigger an alert.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

whoisbrowsing keeps no history, so it cannot send daily summaries or show who arrived while you were away. For reports and scheduled digests, use an analytics tool and keep whoisbrowsing for the moment itself. Start with [how it works](/how-it-works) or [see who is on your website right now](/learn/see-who-is-on-your-website-right-now).

## Common questions

**Do I get an email?** No. The alert is a browser notification from the dashboard.

**Will I be notified about my own visits?** No. Your own browser is never counted. Use a private window to test.

**Does it cost anything?** It is free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now.

**Can I pause it?** Yes. Click **Mute alerts** in the dashboard, and **Unmute alerts** to turn them back on. Closing the dashboard tab also stops them.

**What if I want to watch rather than be alerted?** Leave notifications off and keep the live view open. You get the cursors, the per-page counts and the one-line-per-person panel without any pop-ups. One way to use them: alerts on launch day, and the quiet view the rest of the time. Either way, the same single script tag does the work, and nothing about your visitors is stored.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/real-time-website-visitors-free

# Real-Time Website Visitors: Free Options Compared

The free ways to see real-time website visitors are Google Analytics 4 Realtime (aggregate counts), Microsoft Clarity (live users and live recordings), Crazy Egg's free Web Analytics with its Astro Map, and whoisbrowsing (every visitor's cursor live on your real page, nothing stored). Which one fits depends on whether you want counts, recordings or a live view of people; Plausible, Fathom and Lucky Orange also show live data, but none of them lists a free plan.

## The comparison

| Tool | What the live view shows | Free? | Keeps recordings? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 Realtime | Active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, by source, page title and event; no cursor | Free | No | [Google](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392) |
| Microsoft Clarity | Live user count and live recordings with mouse movements, clicks and scrolls; "Go Live" button; new-live-user notification | "Free service forever" | Yes (recordings and heatmaps) | [Live docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time), [About](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity) |
| Crazy Egg Web Analytics (Astro Map) | A live map of visitors as figures grouped by page, with referrers and click bubbles; panel shows country, device and referrer | "100% free for everyone" per Crazy Egg | Not stated | [Crazy Egg](https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/web-analytics-astro-map/) |
| whoisbrowsing | Each current visitor's cursor and trail on your real page, page, source, approximate city, device | Free, no credit card | No: live only | [How it works](/how-it-works) |

Prices and limits change, so check each vendor's page before you rely on a row.

### Live options that are not free (for reference)

| Tool | What the live view shows | Price, per the vendor | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plausible | Current visitors from the last 5 minutes, refreshed every 30 seconds | No free plan; 30-day trial, from $9 a month | [Realtime docs](https://plausible.io/docs/realtime-dashboard), [homepage](https://plausible.io) |
| Fathom | How many people are viewing now, with their pages and referrers, in 5-minute intervals | No free plan; 7-day trial with a card, from $15 a month | [Dashboard docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard), [pricing](https://usefathom.com/pricing) |
| Lucky Orange | Live View: where visitors click, scroll and engage, in real time | No free plan listed; 7-day trial, from $32 a month paid annually | [Help](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view), [pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing) |
| Clicky | Spy, "a real time stream of people on your website" | Free plan exists, but Spy is a premium feature; Pro is $9.99 a month | [Pricing](https://clicky.com/help/pricing) |
| Inspectlet | A running count, top pages, and one visitor's live screen | Free plan of 2,500 recorded sessions a month; the plans page does not say which plans include Live | [Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live), [plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans) |

## Notes on each option

**GA4 Realtime** is the default because many sites already have it. It tells you how many people are active and which pages and sources they come from. It does not show individuals or behaviour on the page. More in [GA4 Realtime vs a live visitor view](/learn/ga4-realtime-vs-live-visitor-view).

**Microsoft Clarity** is the strongest free competitor and worth taking seriously. It shows live users, can show live sessions, and is free. The trade-offs are that it keeps recordings and heatmaps and, per its documentation, sets first-party cookies (`_clck`, `_clsk`) and third-party cookies, with "typical usage" requiring non-essential cookies, and a consent signal enforced for the EEA, UK and Switzerland since 2025-10-31 ([Clarity cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)). See [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing) for a side-by-side.

**Crazy Egg's Astro Map** is a live map of visitor figures per page. It is a free product, but it is a map of where visitors are rather than their cursors on your page.

**Plausible and Fathom** are privacy-first: Plausible says it does not use cookies or generate persistent visitor identifiers ([data policy](https://plausible.io/data-policy)), and Fathom says it "doesn't use cookies" ([features](https://usefathom.com/features)). Both are paid after a trial, so neither is a free option. See [Plausible or Fathom vs a live view](/learn/plausible-fathom-vs-live-view).

**whoisbrowsing** draws each current visitor on your real page: a coloured cursor with a fading trail, click ripples, phones as a see-through band, arrows for visitors out of view, and a side panel with counts per page. It adds the source (Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity and others), approximate city, device and time on site. It is free with no card and no usage limits for now. No cookies on your visitors. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers.

## Which to pick

- **Only need a count and top pages:** GA4 Realtime, if you already have it.
- **Want to review sessions later, free:** Clarity.
- **Want a live map by page, free:** Crazy Egg.
- **Want to see people on your real page, now, with nothing kept:** whoisbrowsing.
- **Want privacy-friendly history and are willing to pay:** Plausible, alongside a live view. See [live visitor tracking](/learn/live-visitor-tracking).

You can combine them. whoisbrowsing is one line:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

whoisbrowsing keeps no recordings, history or heatmaps. If you want those, use Clarity or a similar tool. For every tool with a live mode, free or paid, see [best live visitor tools](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools) and the [comparison hub](/compare), and when you are ready, [install in your stack](/install) or [try it with no signup](/try).

## Common questions

**Are there other free live views?** Yes. Microsoft Clarity is free and has live views, and Crazy Egg's Web Analytics is free too. The difference is what each one keeps and shows: whoisbrowsing draws live cursors on your real page and stores nothing.

**Do I need to choose one?** No. Many sites run GA4 for reporting and add a live view for the present.

**How long does setup take?** Seconds: paste one script tag, or ask your AI agent. Start at [/try](/try) with no sign-in.

**Are there usage limits?** None for now, and no credit card. If that changes, this page will say so.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/see-where-visitors-come-from-live

# See Where Each Visitor Came From, Live

To see where your website visitors come from right now, use a live view that labels each person's source. whoisbrowsing shows, for every current visitor, whether they arrived from Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, a link on another site, or directly, next to the page they are on and an approximate city.

## The source list

| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Google, Bing | A visit that arrived from that search engine |
| ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude | A visit that arrived from that AI assistant |
| Another site's name, such as `news.ycombinator.com` | A click on a link from that site |
| Your own tag, such as `newsletter` | The link carried `utm_source=newsletter` |
| Direct | No source reported: typed address, bookmark, some apps, or a visit that sent no referrer |

The label comes from what the visitor's browser reports when they arrive. "Direct" is therefore a catch-all, not proof that someone typed your address. Referrer information is sometimes missing or stripped, which is one reason analytics tools show an "unassigned" bucket too.

The label is worked out in the visitor's browser from two things: the referrer, and a `utm_source` tag on the landing address if there is one. A tag wins over the referrer, and a tag that names a known domain gets its friendly name, so `utm_source=chatgpt.com` reads ChatGPT. Only the label is sent; the query string itself never leaves the browser.

## Where it appears

Open your own site while watching. In the side panel, each person has one line with:

- the page they are on, with live counts per page (busiest first);
- their source;
- an approximate city, such as "near Austin, TX";
- device (desktop, tablet or phone), browser and operating system;
- time on site and pages this visit.

On the page itself you see their cursor with a fading trail, click ripples, or a see-through band for phones. You can match a source to behaviour: do visitors from search read, and do visitors from a link bounce?

## Why live source labels help

- **Immediate feedback on a post or campaign.** Add `?utm_source=newsletter` to the link you send, and the people who click it show up labelled "newsletter", so you can tell them apart from your other traffic while they are still on the page.
- **Spot a new channel.** Seeing "Perplexity" or "ChatGPT" appear is a signal worth acting on. Standard GA4 reports can bury these under Referral or Unassigned, as [Ahrefs](https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-traffic-research/) and [Abmatic](https://abmatic.ai/blog/track-ai-referral-traffic-ga4) describe. See [seeing ChatGPT visitors live](/learn/track-chatgpt-visitors-live).
- **Understand intent.** A visitor from a search result usually arrived with a question; a direct visitor often already knows you.

## How to turn it on

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

The tag is under 4 KB gzipped and does not change how your page looks. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window to appear as a visitor and check your own source label, then try opening it from a search result or a link to see different labels. Start at [/try](/try) without signing in.

## Privacy

Query strings never leave the browser, and URL tokens in a path (UUIDs, long hex strings and long random tokens) are sent as `:id`. So the source label does not expose private links. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers. No cookies on your visitors. You see a city, not an identity. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. See [privacy](/privacy); this is not legal advice.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

It shows the sources of the people on your site now, not a ranked history of sources over months. For channel reports, attribution and campaign tracking, use an analytics tool. Learn how the pieces fit in [how it works](/how-it-works), or read [live visitor tracking](/learn/live-visitor-tracking).

## Common questions

**Why do some visitors show as direct?** Direct covers visitors whose browser reported no source. That includes typed addresses and bookmarks, and also visits where the referrer was stripped.

**Can it show the search term someone used?** No. It shows the source, not the query.

**Do the labels include AI assistants?** Yes: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude are labelled separately.

**Do I need to tag my links?** No. The source is read from where the visitor came from. If a link does carry a `utm_source` tag, that tag becomes the label; it is read in the visitor's browser, and only the label is sent.

**Does it work for pages other than the homepage?** Yes. Every page with the tag reports its visitors. The side panel groups people by page, busiest first, so you can see which page each source lands on. A visitor who arrives from a search engine on a blog post and then moves to pricing is one person, with the page and pages-this-visit count updating as they go.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/track-chatgpt-visitors-live

# See Which Visitors Come From ChatGPT or Perplexity

To see ChatGPT traffic, you need a tool that labels each visit's source, because standard analytics often lumps AI visits into Referral or Unassigned. whoisbrowsing labels every live visitor who arrives from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot or Claude, so you can watch an AI-referred visitor land on your page as it happens.

## Why AI traffic is hard to see

Studies of AI referral traffic report the same problem: visits from AI assistants are grouped under Referral or Unassigned in GA4, and some arrive with no referrer at all. See [Ahrefs' AI traffic research](https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-traffic-research/) and [Abmatic's guide to tracking AI referral traffic in GA4](https://abmatic.ai/blog/track-ai-referral-traffic-ga4). The fixes they describe are mostly custom channel groups and filters in GA4, set up after the fact. ChatGPT itself helps a little: [OpenAI's publisher FAQ](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12627856-publishers-and-developers-faq) says ChatGPT adds `utm_source=chatgpt.com` to referral URLs from ChatGPT search, which gives tools a tag to read even when the referrer is missing.

The volume is small but real. Statcounter figures reported by MediaPost put ChatGPT at about 78% of chatbot referrals in March 2026, with Gemini passing Perplexity ([MediaPost](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/414030/google-ai-overtakes-perplexity-becomes-no-2-refe.html)). Small numbers are exactly where a per-visitor live view helps: you can see each one.

## Two ways to see it

| Approach | What you get | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Custom channel group in GA4 | Reports of AI visits over time | Setup, then reading reports |
| whoisbrowsing live view | Each AI-referred visitor, live, with page and city | One script tag |

They are complementary. GA4 gives you history; a live view gives you the moment.

## How to see AI visitors live with whoisbrowsing

1. Add the tag:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

2. Open your own site (after one Watch click, or automatically in Chrome when signed in).
3. In the side panel, each person has a source. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude are labelled, alongside Google, Bing, other sites and direct.
4. Turn on browser notifications to be told when someone new arrives, with the landing page and the source. Alerts come from the open dashboard tab, which holds the live connection, so keep that tab open to get them. See [get notified when someone visits](/learn/get-notified-when-someone-visits).

## What you can learn

- **Which pages AI assistants send people to.** The landing page is on each visitor's line.
- **What they do next.** Watch the cursor or scroll band to see whether they read, scroll or leave.
- **How a recommendation lands.** If you wrote content to be cited, this is the first place you see a person actually arrive.

## A caution on labels

whoisbrowsing reads two things in the visitor's browser: the referrer, and a `utm_source` tag on the landing address. A tag that names an assistant's domain, such as `utm_source=chatgpt.com`, is labelled ChatGPT even when no referrer arrived. Only the label leaves the browser; the query string itself never does. If an assistant sends neither, the visitor shows as "direct", and we cannot invent a source that was never sent. Use the label as a strong hint, not a count of everything AI sends you. For a full tally, combine it with your analytics, and read [referrers, direct traffic and AI assistants](/learn/referrer-vs-ai-referrer) for the details.

## Privacy

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. No cookies on your visitors. You see an approximate city, never an identity. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. See [privacy](/privacy); this is not legal advice.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

whoisbrowsing is live only, so it cannot give you last month's AI traffic. For history, use GA4 with the custom setup the sources above describe. Read more about [where visitors come from](/learn/see-where-visitors-come-from-live), see [how it works](/how-it-works), or [try it free](/try).

## Common questions

**Can I see what the visitor asked ChatGPT?** No. You see the source, the page, an approximate city and device. The prompt that led them there is not visible to you or to us.

**Will it catch every AI visit?** No. Only visits whose browser reports an AI assistant as the source can be labelled. Some arrive with no referrer and look direct.

**Does this replace GA4?** No. Use GA4 for history and this for the live moment.

**How do I add it?** Paste the tag above, or give your coding agent this prompt: `Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.` See the [install guides](/install).

**Which assistants are labelled?** ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude, next to Google, Bing, other sites and direct. The labels follow what the browser reports, so they are as good as the referrer information each assistant sends. Open your site from an assistant's answer to see how your own visit is labelled, using a private window so you are counted as a visitor.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/watch-mobile-visitors-live

# Watching Phone Visitors Live: The Scroll Band

You can see mobile visitors live in whoisbrowsing as a see-through band drawn over the part of your page they are looking at. Phones and tablets have no mouse pointer to follow, so instead of a cursor you see which slice of the page is on their screen, and it moves as they scroll.

## Why a band and not a cursor

On a desktop, the pointer is a good clue to attention, so desktop visitors get a coloured cursor with a fading trail and click ripples. A touchscreen has no pointer. What a phone visitor does have is a viewport: the portion of the page currently on screen. The band is that viewport drawn on your real page.

| Visitor | What you see | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop | Coloured cursor, fading trail, click ripples | Pointer movement tells you where they are looking |
| Phone or tablet | See-through band over the visible part of the page | Touch has no hover; the viewport is the signal |
| Scrolled out of your view | An arrow at the edge | Points toward where they are |

## How to read the band

- **Where the band sits** is what that person can see right now.
- **A band that moves down steadily** is someone scrolling through the page.
- **A band that stays put** is someone reading, or someone who has stopped.
- **Several bands on the same area** show a section many people reach.
- **No band near a section you care about** suggests few phone visitors scroll that far.

Treat this as a prompt for questions, not a verdict. A still band might be reading or might be a phone on a desk.

## What else you know about a phone visitor

The side panel gives each person a line: the page, the source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site or direct), approximate city, device (phone or tablet), browser and operating system, time on site and pages this visit. See [where visitors come from](/learn/see-where-visitors-come-from-live).

## Set it up and test on your own phone

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

1. Add the tag and open your site on a desktop with the live view.
2. On your phone, open your site in a private window (Safari private or Chrome Incognito), because your regular browser is not counted.
3. Scroll on the phone and watch the band move on your desktop.

Each website is separate, so use the same domain on both devices; `www.` and the bare domain are one website, but `localhost` is a different one. No account needed to try: [/try](/try).

## If the band does not appear

- **Same website on both devices?** Open the same domain on the phone that you are watching on the desktop. `www.` and the bare domain count as one website; `localhost` does not, and a phone usually cannot reach your computer's localhost anyway.
- **Private window on the phone?** Your regular browser is never counted, so use Safari private or Chrome Incognito.
- **Global Privacy Control on the phone?** Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.
- **Is the phone's part of the page in your view?** If not, look for the arrow at the edge of your screen and scroll toward it.

## Why it is useful

Mobile layouts often differ from desktop ones. Watching phone visitors lets you check things like whether a call to action is reached before people leave, or whether a long section loses them. It is quick feedback on a layout change.

## Privacy

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. No cookies on your visitors. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. See [privacy](/privacy); this is not legal advice.

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right tool

It shows which part of the page a phone visitor is viewing, and it keeps no recordings or heatmaps over time. To review how phone users behaved last week, or see tap heatmaps, use a session-replay tool such as Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of). For how the live view is built, see [how it works](/how-it-works) and [live cursor tracking](/learn/live-cursor-tracking-website).

## Common questions

**Why can't I see a finger?** Touch has no hover, so there is no pointer to follow before a tap. The visible part of the page is the reliable signal.

**Does a tablet look the same as a phone?** Tablets are shown the same way, as a band over the part of the page in view.

**What if a mobile visitor scrolls past my screen?** An arrow at the edge of your view points toward them.

**Does it slow my mobile pages?** The script is under 4 KB gzipped and loads with `defer`, so it stays small and out of the way.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/best-live-visitor-tools

# Best Live Visitor Tools in 2026 (Honest List)

The best live visitor tool depends on what "live" means to you: Microsoft Clarity (free) and Lucky Orange (paid) let you watch individual visitors live, Inspectlet Live opens a visitor's screen with cursor, scroll and typing, Crazy Egg's Astro Map and Clicky's Spy show a live map or stream, GA4, Plausible and Fathom show live counts, and whoisbrowsing draws every current visitor's cursor on your real page with nothing stored. Below is each one, described from its own pages, with links.

whoisbrowsing is our product. We put it on the list, and we list other tools' strengths as they state them. Where a vendor's page did not say something, the table says "not stated by vendor".

## The list at a glance

| Tool | What "live" means there | Free option | What it keeps | Cookies on visitors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Clarity | Live user count and live recordings of mouse movements, clicks and scrolls ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | "A free service forever" ([overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | Recordings, heatmaps, funnels ([overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | First- and third-party cookies ([cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)) |
| Lucky Orange | Live View: where visitors click, scroll and engage, in real time ([help](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)) | No free plan listed; 7-day trial ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Recordings and heatmaps; storage starts at 60 days ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Lists cookies such as `_lo_uid` (visitor ID, 2 years), per a 2020 help article ([help](https://help.luckyorange.com/article/173-what-cookies-does-lucky-orange-set)) |
| Inspectlet Live | Running count, most-viewed pages, and a visitor's screen: cursor, scroll, typing ([Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)) | Free plan: 2,500 recorded sessions a month, 3 sites ([plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans)) | Recordings; 1 month on free, up to 24 on Enterprise ([plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans)) | Not stated by vendor |
| Crazy Egg Astro Map | Visitors as figures grouped by page, referrer rockets, action bubbles ([post](https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/web-analytics-astro-map/)) | "Web Analytics is 100% free for everyone, no matter your plan" ([post](https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/web-analytics-astro-map/)) | Not stated by vendor | Not stated by vendor |
| Clicky Spy | "A real time stream of people on your website" ([pricing](https://clicky.com/help/pricing)) | Free plan exists, but Spy is a premium feature ([pricing](https://clicky.com/help/pricing)) | 30 days of history on free; indefinite on paid, with limits ([pricing](https://clicky.com/help/pricing)) | Not stated by vendor |
| GA4 Realtime | Active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, by source, page and event; one-user snapshot ([help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | Not stated by vendor | Standard reports; user-level data 2 or 14 months ([retention](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196)) | First-party `_ga` cookies ([cookie usage](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11397207)) |
| Plausible | Current visitors in the last 5 minutes, dashboard updates every 30 seconds ([docs](https://plausible.io/docs/realtime-dashboard)) | No; 30-day trial, no card ([homepage](https://plausible.io/)) | Aggregate stats dashboard ([homepage](https://plausible.io/)) | "We don't use cookies" ([data policy](https://plausible.io/data-policy)) |
| Fathom | Realtime count, with pages and referrers; 5-minute intervals ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | No; 7-day trial, card required ([pricing](https://usefathom.com/pricing)) | Aggregate dashboard with date ranges ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | "Doesn't use cookies" ([features](https://usefathom.com/features)) |
| whoisbrowsing | Every current visitor drawn on your real page: cursor, trail, clicks, phone scroll band | Free, no card, no usage limits for now | Nothing about visitors | None |

## Watch live sessions: Clarity, Lucky Orange, Inspectlet

**Microsoft Clarity.** After install you get a list of live users, live recordings that "recreate user interactions with your website", a Go Live button for the latest activity, and a notification when a live user appears ([Clarity docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)). It is free and keeps recordings and heatmaps too. *Best for:* anyone who wants recordings and a live view in one free tool. *Keep in mind:* Clarity says its typical usage requires non-essential cookies, and since October 31, 2025 it needs a consent signal for full functionality on EEA, UK and Swiss visits ([Clarity cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)).

**Lucky Orange.** Live View lets you "see what people are experiencing on your website in real time" ([help](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)), alongside recordings, heatmaps, live chat, surveys and funnels, with "all features available on all plan levels" ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)). *Best for:* teams that want live viewing plus chat to talk to visitors. *Keep in mind:* plans start at $32 a month paid annually, and no free plan is listed.

**Inspectlet Live.** A running count "updated every few seconds", a live-sorted list of top pages, and visitor cards that open a visitor's screen with "their cursor, their scroll, their typing" at sub-second latency ([Inspectlet Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)). *Best for:* watching one visitor closely, including form behaviour. *Keep in mind:* typed input is captured unless masked; passwords are always excluded ([privacy guide](https://www.inspectlet.com/guides/visitor-recording-privacy)).

## Live maps and streams: Crazy Egg, Clicky

**Crazy Egg Astro Map.** With the date range set to Today, Web Analytics shows visitors "in real time" as figures on planets (pages), with rockets for referrers and speech bubbles for actions such as Visit, Scroll, Click, Conversion Goal or Error. Clicking a visitor shows "country, device type, referrer, and their recent activity log" ([Crazy Egg](https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/web-analytics-astro-map/)). *Best for:* a free, playful overview of traffic as it happens.

**Clicky Spy.** "View a real time stream of people on your website - no refreshing required!" Spy is a premium feature; Pro is $9.99 a month, and new accounts get a 21-day premium trial ([Clicky pricing](https://clicky.com/help/pricing)). *Best for:* a low-cost live feed inside a classic analytics tool.

## Live counts: GA4, Plausible, Fathom

**GA4 Realtime** shows active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, by source, audience, page title and event, plus a snapshot of one user. Google calls it "a best effort service" and notes that the first-user-source card shows established users only ([GA4 help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)). *Best for:* checking that tags and campaigns are working. More in [GA4 Realtime vs a live visitor view](/learn/ga4-realtime-vs-live-visitor-view).

**Plausible** counts as current visitors those "that visited your site in the last 5 minutes" and refreshes every 30 seconds ([Plausible docs](https://plausible.io/docs/realtime-dashboard)). **Fathom**'s Realtime "shows how many people are actively viewing your site right now", with their pages and referrers ([Fathom docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)). *Best for:* cookieless analytics with history, plus a live number. See [Plausible or Fathom vs a live view](/learn/plausible-fathom-vs-live-view).

## Live cursors on your own page: whoisbrowsing

whoisbrowsing does one thing. You open your own site and every current visitor is drawn on it: a cursor with a fading trail, clicks as ripples, a see-through band for phones and tablets, and arrows for visitors scrolled out of view. The side panel lists each person's page, source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), approximate city, device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit. It never identifies anyone.

*Best for:* seeing who is here right now, with no cookies on visitors and "nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers." *Keep in mind:* no recordings, heatmaps or history, and visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. Details on [how it works](/how-it-works) and [privacy](/privacy).

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

## How to choose

- **You want to replay sessions later:** Clarity (free), Lucky Orange or Inspectlet.
- **You want to talk to visitors:** Lucky Orange, which includes live chat.
- **You want reports and history without cookies:** Plausible or Fathom.
- **You want live, on the page, with nothing kept:** whoisbrowsing. Start on [/try](/try) with no account.

Many sites can run two: one tool for history, one for right now. For the free options only, see [real-time website visitors: free options compared](/learn/real-time-website-visitors-free).

## Not on this list, and why

Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare and takes no new sign-ups ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/)). Hotjar's help center says its recordings are compiled "after the user session ends" ([Hotjar help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)), and Contentsquare lists "Live browsing heatmaps and replays" on its paid plans without explaining what they show ([Contentsquare pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)), so we could not describe its live view fairly; see [Hotjar live view](/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative). Smartlook says its platform will be deactivated on 30 September 2027 ([Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/)); see [Smartlook alternatives](/learn/smartlook-alternatives-2026). Other tools, such as FullStory and Mouseflow, are left out because we could not confirm a live feature on their official pages. All comparisons are on [/compare](/compare), and the product is on the [home page](/).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best free live visitor tool?

It depends on what you want to see. Microsoft Clarity is free, has live recordings and keeps recordings and heatmaps. Crazy Egg says 'Web Analytics is 100% free for everyone, no matter your plan', and that includes its live Astro Map. GA4 Realtime shows live counts. whoisbrowsing is free and draws every current visitor's cursor on your real page with no cookies and nothing stored.

### Which tools let me watch a visitor's screen live?

Per their own docs: Microsoft Clarity (live recordings with a Go Live button), Lucky Orange (Live View), and Inspectlet Live (opens a visitor's screen, including cursor, scroll and typing). whoisbrowsing shows all current visitors together on your page instead of one screen at a time.

### Which live visitor tools do not use cookies?

Of the tools on this list, Plausible and Fathom say they do not use cookies, and whoisbrowsing sets no cookies on visitors. Microsoft Clarity and GA4 document the cookies they set.

### Why isn't Hotjar on this list?

Hotjar's help center says its recordings are compiled after a session ends, as a retrospective view. Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, whose pricing lists 'Live browsing heatmaps and replays' on paid plans without explaining it, so we could not confirm what it shows live.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing

# Clarity Live Users vs whoisbrowsing

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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)). 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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)).

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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)).

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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)). 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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now |
| Live user count | Yes, in Recordings and the dashboard ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | Yes, live counts per page, busiest first |
| How you watch live | Live recordings; Go Live streams the latest activity ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | 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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | Nothing. Live only, no history |
| Cookies on visitors | First-party `_clck`, `_clsk`; third-party `CLID`, `ANONCHK`, `MR`, `MUID`, `SM` ([cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)) | None |
| EEA, UK, Switzerland | Since October 31, 2025, a valid consent signal is required for full functionality ([cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)) | Never shown |
| Page content | Input boxes always masked; default Balanced mode masks numbers and emails ([masking](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-masking)) | Never sends keystrokes, form values or page text |
| Arrival alert | Notification when a live user appears ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | Browser notification naming the landing page |
| Traffic source | Live filters for channel, source, referring site, campaign ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | Each visitor labelled: Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, a link, or direct |
| Setup | Sign up, install the tracking code, verify ([overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | 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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/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](/privacy) and [real-time analytics without cookies](/learn/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](/learn/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](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)). Clarity also offers an interactive demo before you install.

whoisbrowsing is one tag:

```html
<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](/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](/install).

## 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](/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative)
- [Lucky Orange alternative](/learn/lucky-orange-alternative)
- [Best live visitor tools in 2026](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools)
- Every comparison: [/compare](/compare). See the product: [home](/) and [how it works](/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.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/ga4-realtime-vs-live-visitor-view

# GA4 Realtime vs a True Live Visitor View

GA4's Realtime report shows counts: active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes, broken down by source, audience, page title and event, plus a snapshot of one user at a time ([Google Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)). A live visitor view such as whoisbrowsing shows each person on your site right now, drawn on the real page with their cursor, the page they are on, where they came from and an approximate city.

## What GA4 Realtime actually shows

Google describes Realtime as a way to "monitor activity on your website or app as it happens". Its cards are ([Google Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)):

- the number of active users during the last 5 and 30 minutes, per minute;
- active users by first user source, medium, source platform or campaign;
- active users or new users by audience;
- views by page title or screen name;
- event count by event name;
- a map, where clicking a city bubble compares those users with everyone else.

There is also a **user snapshot**: one user's device, app version, location, top events and user properties. Google's comparison table says the snapshot "displays data for a random user", and you click arrows to move to another.

The same page lists a few things to keep in mind:

- **It is best effort.** "This service could be characterized as a best effort service, prioritizing timely delivery but not guaranteeing it", with no formal service level objective.
- **New users are left out of the source card.** The "Active users by First user source" card "shows information only for established users". A brand-new visitor has no first user source yet, so you won't find them there.
- **App data is batched,** so delays "on the order of minutes" are typical for apps.

None of this is a flaw. GA4 is built for reporting, and Realtime is a quick check that your tags and campaigns are working.

## GA4 Realtime vs whoisbrowsing

| | GA4 Realtime | whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | Aggregate counts, plus a snapshot of one user ([help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | Every current visitor, one line per person |
| Time window | Last 5 and 30 minutes, per minute ([help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | Right now: every current visitor |
| On the page itself | Not described in the Realtime docs ([help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | Cursor with a fading trail, clicks as ripples, a scroll band for phones, drawn on your real page |
| Where they came from | By first user source, medium, platform or campaign; established users only ([help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | Each visitor labelled: Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct |
| Location | Map by city; snapshot shows location ([help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | Approximate city, such as "near Austin, TX", never an identity |
| Cookies on visitors | First-party `_ga` and `_ga_<container-id>`, 2-year default expiry ([cookie usage](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11397207)) | None |
| History | Standard reports keep history; user-level data is kept 2 or 14 months, per your setting ([retention](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196)) | None. Nothing about visitors is stored |

## Counts vs people

The difference shows up the moment something happens. Say a newsletter goes out and traffic jumps.

- **In GA4 Realtime** you see the active-user count rise, the top pages by title, and the sources of users GA4 has already processed.
- **In whoisbrowsing** you open the page the newsletter links to and watch the visitors arrive on it: where each one scrolls, what they click, whether they reach the button. The side panel shows how many people are on each page, busiest first, and where each came from.

Neither replaces the other. GA4 tells you the shape of the traffic; a live view lets you see the people in it. If you want to know whether ChatGPT or Perplexity is sending anyone today, whoisbrowsing labels each live visitor's source as they arrive; see [see which visitors come from ChatGPT](/learn/track-chatgpt-visitors-live) and [see where each visitor came from](/learn/see-where-visitors-come-from-live).

## When to pick GA4 instead

GA4 is the right tool when you need:

- **history and trends:** last month vs this month, conversions, campaigns over time;
- **reports to share** with a team or a client;
- **events, goals and funnels** tied to your marketing;
- **data on European visitors.** whoisbrowsing never shows visitors from the EU/EEA, UK or Switzerland, or browsers with Global Privacy Control.

whoisbrowsing does not do any of that, and it is not trying to. It is a live view, not an analytics product.

## When a live view is the better tool

A live view earns its place when the question is about right now: a launch, an ad that just went live, a pricing page you changed this morning, or simply "is anyone here?". It also has a smaller privacy footprint: no cookies on your visitors, and in our own words, "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." Read more on [privacy](/privacy).

## Run both

Keep your GA4 tag and add one line:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

It is under 4 KB gzipped, loads with `defer`, and never changes how the page looks. Start on [/try](/try) without signing in, or follow the [Next.js guide](/install/nextjs) or any other [install guide](/install). Your own browser is never counted, so to test, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window while you watch.

## Related reading

- [Plausible or Fathom vs a live view](/learn/plausible-fathom-vs-live-view)
- [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing)
- All comparisons on [/compare](/compare), and the product on the [home page](/) and [how it works](/how-it-works)

## Frequently asked questions

### How far back does the GA4 Realtime report look?

Google's help page says Realtime shows active users in the last 5 minutes and in the last 30 minutes, per minute, along with cards for source, audience, page title and events.

### Can GA4 Realtime show individual visitors?

Mostly no. Its cards are aggregate counts. The one exception is the user snapshot, which shows a single user's device, app version, location, top events and user properties, and Google's comparison table says it displays data for a random user.

### Why are new visitors missing from GA4's Realtime source card?

Google says the 'Active users by First user source' card shows only established users. A new user, or one not yet through normal batch processing, has no first user source yet, so they are not in that card.

### Do I have to choose between GA4 and whoisbrowsing?

No. GA4 keeps history and reports; whoisbrowsing shows who is on the page right now and stores nothing. whoisbrowsing is one deferred script tag under 4 KB gzipped, so it can sit next to your GA4 tag.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative

# Hotjar Live View? What to Use Instead

Hotjar's own recordings are built after a session ends, giving "a retrospective view" ([Hotjar help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)), and Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, where new users sign up instead and which lists "Live browsing heatmaps and replays" on its paid plans ([Contentsquare pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)). For a free view of who is on your site right now, add a live view such as whoisbrowsing (free, nothing stored) or Microsoft Clarity's live recordings (free, uses cookies).

## How Hotjar recordings work, from Hotjar's own docs

Hotjar explains its recordings in three steps: it captures data during the visit, reconstructs the session, then plays it back to you ([Hotjar help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)). In more detail:

1. **Capture.** When a visitor opens a page with Hotjar installed, a WebSocket connection opens and Hotjar captures the page and the visitor's actions, which its docs list as "clicks, mouse movements, scroll behavior, and keystrokes". Hotjar says it automatically suppresses some personally identifiable information, and you can suppress more in your site settings.
2. **Session end.** A session ends when the visitor leaves your site and does not return within 30 minutes, or does not interact for 30 minutes. The maximum session length is four hours ([Hotjar help: What is a session](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36819991204881-What-Is-a-Session)).
3. **Reconstruction.** "Once data is captured and the session has ended, Hotjar reconstructs the user session" into a recording you can replay ([Hotjar help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)).

That design is good for reviewing visits later. It also means the recording of someone reading your pricing page right now is built after their session is over.

## Hotjar is now Contentsquare

If you are choosing a tool today, this matters. Contentsquare's Hotjar page says "Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare", that "it's no longer possible to create a new account on Hotjar", and that "new users can sign up for free on Contentsquare" ([Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/)). The old hotjar.com pricing address now redirects to Contentsquare's pricing page.

That page lists a Free plan at $0 forever with up to 200k monthly sessions, 1 month of data access, and replays, heatmaps and funnels; replay capture on Free is "5% sessions captured (max. 10k)". Paid Growth starts "from $39 / month". Its feature table also lists "Live browsing heatmaps and replays" on Growth and above, but not on Free ([Contentsquare pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)). The pricing page does not explain what that feature does, so if live viewing is your main need, ask Contentsquare before you buy.

## Ways to watch visitors live

| | Hotjar (now Contentsquare) | Microsoft Clarity | whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you see live | Recordings are built after the session ends ([help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)); "Live browsing heatmaps and replays" listed on paid plans ([pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) | Live user count and live recordings of mouse movements, clicks and scrolls, with a Go Live button ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | Every current visitor drawn together on your real page: cursor, trail, click ripples, phone scroll band |
| What is kept | Replays, heatmaps and funnels; 1 month of data on Free ([pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) | Recordings and heatmaps ([overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | Nothing about visitors |
| Free option | Free plan, up to 200k monthly sessions ([pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/)) | "A free service forever" ([overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)) | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now |
| Cookies on visitors | Not stated by vendor | First-party `_clck` and `_clsk` plus third-party cookies ([cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)) | None |
| Typing | Lists keystrokes among captured actions; suppresses some personal data automatically, with settings to suppress more ([help](https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/36820006445585-How-do-Recordings-Work-Advanced-Explanation)) | Input boxes masked in all modes ([masking](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-masking)) | Never keystrokes, form values or page text |

## What whoisbrowsing shows instead

whoisbrowsing is a live-only view. You open your own site and see every current visitor on the page itself:

- a coloured cursor with a fading trail for desktop visitors, and clicks as ripples;
- a see-through band for phone and tablet visitors, over the part of the page they are looking at;
- arrows at the edge for anyone scrolled out of view;
- a side panel with live counts per page, busiest first, and one line per person.

Each line tells you the page, where the visitor came from (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), an approximate city such as "near Austin, TX", device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit. It never identifies anyone. A browser notification can tell you when someone new arrives, naming the landing page, from the dashboard tab you keep open. See [how it works](/how-it-works).

## When to keep Hotjar (or pick Contentsquare) instead

whoisbrowsing is not the right tool when:

- **You need to look back.** Replays, heatmaps, funnels and surveys answer "what happened and why". whoisbrowsing keeps no history, so if you were not watching, it is gone.
- **You need to see what visitors typed or which fields they struggled with.** whoisbrowsing never sends keystrokes or form values.
- **Much of your traffic is from Europe.** Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown in whoisbrowsing.
- **You run UX research,** where kept sessions are the raw material.

If you want recordings and a live view in one free product, Microsoft Clarity is the honest answer; see [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing).

## Using both: "what happened" and "what is happening"

Many sites can run both. Keep Hotjar or Contentsquare for after-the-fact analysis, and add whoisbrowsing for the moments you care about now: a launch, a newsletter going out, an ad going live, or checking whether ChatGPT is sending you anyone today. The tag is one line:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

It is under 4 KB gzipped, loads with `defer`, sets no cookies on your visitors, and "nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers." Start without an account on [/try](/try), or see the [install guides](/install). Your own browser is never counted, so to test, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window.

## Related reading

- [Live view vs session replay: what you actually need](/learn/live-view-vs-session-replay)
- [Lucky Orange alternative: free, live, no recordings](/learn/lucky-orange-alternative)
- [Best live visitor tools in 2026](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools)
- How we handle visitor data: [privacy](/privacy). All comparisons: [/compare](/compare). Home: [whoisbrowsing](/)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Hotjar have a live view?

Hotjar's help center describes its recordings as compiled into a playback recording after the session ends, giving a retrospective view. Contentsquare, which Hotjar is now part of, lists 'Live browsing heatmaps and replays' on its paid plans without explaining that feature on the pricing page, so ask Contentsquare what it covers today.

### When does a Hotjar session end?

Per Hotjar's help center, a session ends when the visitor leaves and does not return within 30 minutes, or does not interact for 30 minutes. The maximum session length is four hours. Hotjar then starts reconstructing the session into a recording.

### Can I still sign up for Hotjar?

Contentsquare's Hotjar page says it is no longer possible to create a new account on Hotjar, and that new users can sign up for free on Contentsquare.

### Can I use whoisbrowsing and Hotjar together?

Yes. They answer different questions: Hotjar or Contentsquare for what happened, whoisbrowsing for who is here now. whoisbrowsing is one deferred script tag under 4 KB gzipped and never changes how the page looks.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/inspectlet-live-alternative

# Inspectlet Live Alternative Without Keystroke Capture

If you want Inspectlet Live's "who is on my site right now" view without streaming what visitors type, whoisbrowsing is a free alternative: it draws every current visitor's cursor, trail and clicks on your real page, and never sends keystrokes, form values or page text. If you need to see typing, form behaviour or recordings, Inspectlet does those and whoisbrowsing does not.

## What Inspectlet Live does

Inspectlet's Live page is specific about what you get ([Inspectlet Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)):

- "A running count of every active visitor on your site, updated every few seconds."
- "A live-sorted list of the pages being viewed most."
- Live visitor cards you can filter by URL path. "Click any live visitor card to open their screen in a new window."
- "See their cursor, their scroll, their typing", streamed "straight from their browser to yours with sub-second latency."

The page frames it well: "Session replay is great for after the fact. Live is for right now." Inspectlet is also a session recording product. Its plans page says the free plan gives "2,500 recorded sessions per month across up to 3 websites", with no credit card and no time limit, and data retention "from 1 month on the free plan up to 24 months on Enterprise". The plans page lists Live View ("See who's on your site right now") as a feature, but does not say which plans include it ([Inspectlet plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans)).

## Inspectlet's privacy controls, to be fair

Seeing "their typing" does not mean Inspectlet sees everything. Its privacy guide says ([Inspectlet privacy guide](https://www.inspectlet.com/guides/visitor-recording-privacy)):

- "Password fields are automatically excluded by Inspectlet's tracking script and can never be captured."
- The `inspectlet-sensitive` class replaces an element's content with `X` characters, and `inspectletIgnore` excludes an element entirely.
- The dashboard has a **Censor All Inputs** toggle for each site.
- Form interactions are captured, including "which fields were focused, typed into, or submitted (content can be masked)".

So with Inspectlet, typing outside password fields is captured unless you mask it or censor all inputs. With whoisbrowsing, there is nothing to mask, because typing is never sent.

## Inspectlet Live vs whoisbrowsing

| | Inspectlet Live | whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|---|
| Active visitor count | Running count, updated every few seconds ([Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)) | Live counts per page, busiest first |
| Most-viewed pages | Live-sorted list ([Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)) | Side panel, busiest page first |
| How you watch | Open one visitor's screen in a new window ([Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)) | Every current visitor drawn together on your real page |
| Cursor and scroll | Yes, sub-second latency ([Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)) | Cursor with a fading trail and click ripples; phones and tablets as a scroll band |
| Typing | Streams "their typing" ([Live](https://www.inspectlet.com/feature/live)); passwords always excluded, other inputs maskable ([privacy guide](https://www.inspectlet.com/guides/visitor-recording-privacy)) | Never keystrokes, form values or page text |
| Recordings | Yes; free plan 2,500 recorded sessions a month ([plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans)) | None |
| Data kept | 1 month on free, up to 24 months on Enterprise ([plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans)) | "Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers." |
| Free option | Free plan, up to 3 websites, no card ([plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans)) | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now |
| Cookies on visitors | Not stated by vendor | None |

## What whoisbrowsing sends, word for word

This is the whole list, as it appears on our [privacy page](/privacy):

> "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."

Two more rules apply. Query strings never leave the browser, and URL tokens in a path (UUIDs, long hex strings and long random tokens) are sent as `:id`. And visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

## What you see instead of a single screen

Inspectlet opens one visitor at a time. whoisbrowsing puts everyone on the page you are looking at:

- desktop visitors as coloured cursors with fading trails, clicks as ripples;
- phone and tablet visitors as a see-through band over what they are reading;
- arrows at the edge for visitors scrolled out of view;
- one line per person with their page, source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), approximate city, device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit.

It never identifies a visitor. "Near Austin, TX" is as specific as it gets. More on the drawing in [live cursor tracking for your own website](/learn/live-cursor-tracking-website) and [how it works](/how-it-works).

## When to pick Inspectlet instead

Inspectlet is the better tool when:

- you need to **see how people fill in forms**: which fields they focus, skip or abandon;
- you want **recordings** to replay later, or **one visitor's full screen** while they browse;
- you are debugging a specific problem where **typed input matters**, in fields you have chosen not to mask;
- much of your traffic is from **Europe**, where whoisbrowsing shows nobody.

Pick whoisbrowsing when you only want to know who is here and what they are pointing at, with nothing typed sent and nothing kept.

## Try it in a minute

Add one tag to your pages:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

It is under 4 KB gzipped, loads with `defer`, and never changes how the page looks. Start on [/try](/try) with no account, or pick a platform from the [install guides](/install). Your own browser is never counted; to test, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window while you watch.

## Related comparisons

- [Lucky Orange alternative](/learn/lucky-orange-alternative)
- [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing)
- [Best live visitor tools in 2026](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools)
- All comparisons: [/compare](/compare). Home: [whoisbrowsing](/)

## Frequently asked questions

### What does Inspectlet Live show?

Inspectlet's Live page describes a running count of active visitors updated every few seconds, a live-sorted list of the most-viewed pages, and live visitor cards that open a visitor's screen, showing 'their cursor, their scroll, their typing' with sub-second latency.

### Does Inspectlet have a free plan?

Yes. Inspectlet's plans page says the free plan gives 2,500 recorded sessions per month across up to 3 websites, with no credit card and no time limit, and 1 month of data retention. The page does not say which plans include Live.

### Does whoisbrowsing capture what visitors type?

No. 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.

### When is Inspectlet the better choice?

When you need to see form behaviour, recordings or a single visitor's full screen, including typing in fields you have not masked. whoisbrowsing is live only and keeps nothing.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/lucky-orange-alternative

# Lucky Orange Alternative: Free, Live, No Recordings

If you mostly used Lucky Orange to watch visitors as they browse, whoisbrowsing is a free alternative: one script tag draws every current visitor's cursor on your real page, tells you where each one came from, and stores nothing. If you rely on Lucky Orange's recordings, heatmaps, surveys or chat, Lucky Orange is still the better fit, and whoisbrowsing does not try to replace those.

## What Lucky Orange is, in its own words

Lucky Orange is a full behaviour-analytics suite. Its pricing page lists dynamic heatmaps, session recordings, surveys and announcements, live chat, Live Visitor View, conversion funnels, and page and form analytics, and says it keeps "all features available on all plan levels" ([Lucky Orange pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)).

Live View is the part many people mean when they look for an alternative. Lucky Orange's help center says live view "lets you see what people are experiencing on your website in real time" and that "you can see where they click, scroll and engage with different parts of your website" ([Lucky Orange help](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)). You open it from Visitors, Visitor Profiles or the Dashboard. Its WordPress plugin page describes it as "every movement, scroll, and click in real time" ([WordPress.org listing](https://wordpress.org/plugins/lucky-orange/)).

On price, the pricing page shows plans from $32 a month (paid annually, up to 3,500 monthly sessions) to $839 a month (paid annually, starting with 300,000 monthly sessions), a custom Enterprise tier, $5 per additional website, and a 7-day free trial. It does not list a free plan ([Lucky Orange pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)).

## Lucky Orange vs whoisbrowsing at a glance

| | Lucky Orange | whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|---|
| See current visitors live | Yes, Live View: clicks, scrolls and engagement in real time ([help](https://help-preview.luckyorange.com/article/337-how-to-use-live-view)) | Yes: every visitor's cursor with a fading trail, clicks as ripples, drawn together on your real page |
| Session recordings | Yes ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | No |
| Heatmaps | Yes, dynamic heatmaps ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | No |
| Live chat, surveys, funnels | Yes ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | No |
| Data kept | Base storage starts at 60 days; 90, 180 or 365 days available ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | "Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers." |
| Price | From $32/mo paid annually; 7-day trial; no free plan listed ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now |
| Additional websites | $5 per site ([pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing)) | Each website is separate, all free |
| Cookies on visitors | Its help center lists cookies the tracking script may set, including `_lo_uid` (a unique visitor ID, 2 years) and `_lo_rid` (the current recording, 30 minutes); the page was last updated in 2020 ([help](https://help.luckyorange.com/article/173-what-cookies-does-lucky-orange-set)) | No cookies on your visitors |
| Install | Script snippet; a WordPress plugin exists ([WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/plugins/lucky-orange/)) | One script tag, under 4 KB gzipped |

## What you see in whoisbrowsing

You open your own website, and every current visitor is drawn live on top of the real page:

- **Desktop visitors** appear as a coloured cursor with a fading trail, and their clicks show as ripples.
- **Phone and tablet visitors** appear as a see-through band over the part of the page they are looking at.
- **Visitors scrolled out of view** show as arrows at the edge of the screen.
- **A side panel** lists live counts per page, busiest first, and one line per person.

For each visitor you see the page they are on and where they came from (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), an approximate city such as "near Austin, TX" (never an identity), their device, browser and operating system, and their time on site and pages this visit. The dashboard can also send a browser notification when someone new arrives, naming the landing page, from the dashboard tab you keep open. [How it works](/how-it-works) walks through each part.

## What you give up by switching

Be clear about this before you remove anything:

- **No recordings, replays or heatmaps.** If you were not watching when a visitor came by, there is nothing to look back at.
- **No reports or history.** whoisbrowsing shows right now, not last week.
- **No chat.** You can watch, but you cannot message a visitor.
- **Some visitors are never shown.** Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. That is on purpose, and the [privacy page](/privacy) explains why.
- **Phones show as a band, not a cursor,** because there is no pointer on a touch screen.

What you get in exchange is a smaller privacy footprint. In our own words: "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."

## When to pick Lucky Orange instead

Pick Lucky Orange, or keep it, if any of these are true:

- You need to **replay what happened** after a visitor left, for example to debug a broken checkout or answer a support ticket.
- You use **heatmaps, funnels, surveys or form analytics** to make design decisions.
- You want to **chat with visitors** while they are on the page.
- A large share of your audience is in **Europe**, where whoisbrowsing will show nobody.

If you want recordings and heatmaps but not the bill, Microsoft Clarity is worth a look: its docs call it "a free service forever" ([Clarity overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity)), and it has live recordings too. We compare it fairly in [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing).

## Switching takes one line

Add this tag to every page, then click Watch in your dashboard and open your site:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Your own browser is never counted. To check that it works, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window and you will appear as a normal visitor. You can start without an account on [/try](/try) and claim the site later with Google sign-in, or follow a platform guide such as [any HTML site](/install/html) or [WordPress](/install/wordpress). If you use Claude Code, Cursor or Codex, paste this prompt: `Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.`

## Related comparisons

- [Hotjar live view: what to use instead](/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative)
- [Best live visitor tools in 2026](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools)
- [Live view vs session replay](/learn/live-view-vs-session-replay)
- All comparisons on [/compare](/compare), or start from the [home page](/)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Lucky Orange have a free plan?

Lucky Orange's pricing page lists paid plans starting at $32 a month (paid annually, up to 3,500 monthly sessions) and a 7-day free trial. It does not list a free plan.

### Is whoisbrowsing a full Lucky Orange replacement?

No. whoisbrowsing replaces only the live part: seeing who is on your site right now. It has no recordings, heatmaps, surveys, chat or history. If you need those, keep Lucky Orange, or look at Microsoft Clarity, which is free and keeps recordings.

### Can I run whoisbrowsing next to Lucky Orange while I decide?

Yes. whoisbrowsing is one script tag under 4 KB gzipped, loaded with defer, and it never changes how the page looks, so you can add it beside your current snippet and compare the two.

### Why are some of my visitors missing from whoisbrowsing?

Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown, by design. Your own browser is never counted either. To see yourself, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/plausible-fathom-vs-live-view

# Plausible or Fathom vs a Live View: Not Either/Or

Plausible and Fathom are cookieless analytics tools that keep your traffic history and include a realtime count of current visitors; their docs describe realtime as counts with pages, sources and referrers, not individual people moving on your page. A live view like whoisbrowsing does that part and stores nothing, so it complements Plausible or Fathom rather than replacing them.

## What Plausible and Fathom do well

Both pitch themselves as lighter, cookieless alternatives to Google Analytics.

**Plausible** says "we don't use cookies or generate persistent visitor identifiers". To count unique visitors it hashes the daily salt, website domain, IP address and user agent, and "the salt is rotated and deleted every 24 hours". It stores country, region and city, and does "not store raw User-Agent strings or IP addresses" ([Plausible data policy](https://plausible.io/data-policy)). Its homepage says the script is "54 times smaller than Google Analytics", offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card, and lists plans at $9, $14 and $19 a month ([Plausible](https://plausible.io/)).

**Fathom** says "Fathom doesn't use cookies", that data "shows up in real time, not 24 to 48 hours later", and that its script loads asynchronously ([Fathom features](https://usefathom.com/features)). Its pricing page answers "Nope" to a free plan, offers a 7-day trial with a card required, starts at $15 a month for up to 100,000 monthly pageviews, and includes at least 50 sites on every plan ([Fathom pricing](https://usefathom.com/pricing)).

## What "realtime" means in each

| | Plausible | Fathom | whoisbrowsing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live unit | Current visitors: "those that visited your site in the last 5 minutes" ([docs](https://plausible.io/docs/realtime-dashboard)) | "How many people are actively viewing your site right now" ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | Every current visitor, one line per person |
| Refresh | Every 30 seconds ([docs](https://plausible.io/docs/realtime-dashboard)) | 5-minute intervals ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | Live, as visitors move |
| Breakdown | Sources, pages, locations, devices for the last 5 minutes; goals for 30 ([docs](https://plausible.io/docs/realtime-dashboard)) | Pages they are on and referrers ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | Page, source, approximate city, device, browser, OS, time on site, pages this visit |
| On the page itself | Not stated by vendor | Not stated by vendor | Cursor with a fading trail, click ripples, a scroll band for phones |
| History | Main dashboard of aggregate stats ([homepage](https://plausible.io/)) | Date picker and period comparisons ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | None. Nothing about visitors is stored |
| Cookies on visitors | None ([data policy](https://plausible.io/data-policy)) | None ([features](https://usefathom.com/features)) | None |
| Location | Stores country, region and city ([data policy](https://plausible.io/data-policy)) | Countries, regions and cities tabs ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | Approximate city shown live, never stored |
| Price | From $9/mo; 30-day trial, no card ([homepage](https://plausible.io/)) | From $15/mo; 7-day trial, card required ([pricing](https://usefathom.com/pricing)) | Free, no credit card, no usage limits for now |

One detail from Fathom's docs is worth knowing: "If someone stays on a page longer than 5 minutes, they'll drop out of the realtime count", and reappear when they move to another page ([Fathom docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)).

## Counts vs people

A realtime count answers "how many, and from where?". A live view answers "who, and what are they doing?".

Say a post of yours is shared and traffic jumps. In Plausible or Fathom you see the current-visitor number rise and the referrer appear in the list. In whoisbrowsing you open the page that was shared and watch the visitors on it: where each cursor goes, how far phone readers scroll, whether anyone clicks through to pricing. The side panel shows live counts per page, busiest first, and each visitor's source, including Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude. The dashboard can also send a browser notification when someone new arrives, naming the landing page, from the dashboard tab you keep open.

## Privacy: close cousins

All three set no cookies on visitors. The differences are in what is kept. Plausible and Fathom keep aggregate statistics so you can look back; that is their job. whoisbrowsing keeps nothing: "Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers." Our full statement is:

> "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."

whoisbrowsing also never shows visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, or browsers with Global Privacy Control. That is a description of what we do, not legal advice. See [privacy](/privacy) and [real-time analytics without cookies](/learn/real-time-analytics-without-cookies).

## When to pick Plausible or Fathom instead

If you can only add one tool, and you need any of the following, choose Plausible or Fathom:

- **history:** this month vs last, top pages over a year, trends;
- **goals and conversions** you can report on;
- **traffic from Europe,** which whoisbrowsing never shows;
- **a dashboard to share** with a client or team.

whoisbrowsing is not an analytics product and has no reports. It is a live view.

## Running both

Most sites that care about privacy can run a cookieless analytics tool and whoisbrowsing side by side. Keep your Plausible or Fathom script and add:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

It is under 4 KB gzipped, loads with `defer`, and never changes how the page looks. Start on [/try](/try) with no account, or follow an [install guide](/install). Your own browser is never counted; to test, open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window.

## Related reading

- [GA4 Realtime vs a true live visitor view](/learn/ga4-realtime-vs-live-visitor-view)
- [Best live visitor tools in 2026](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools)
- [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing)
- All comparisons on [/compare](/compare); see it working on the [home page](/) and in [how it works](/how-it-works)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Plausible show live visitors?

Yes, as a count. Plausible's realtime dashboard counts current visitors as those who visited in the last 5 minutes, shows sources, pages, locations and devices for that window, and updates every 30 seconds.

### Does Fathom show live visitors?

Yes, as a count. Fathom's docs say Realtime shows how many people are actively viewing your site right now, with the pages they are on and their referrers, updating in 5-minute intervals.

### Plausible or Fathom: which has a free plan?

Neither lists one. Plausible's homepage offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card, with plans from $9 a month. Fathom's pricing page says no to a free plan and offers a 7-day trial with a card, from $15 a month for up to 100,000 monthly pageviews.

### Why use whoisbrowsing if I already have Plausible or Fathom?

They answer different questions. Plausible and Fathom tell you how much traffic you had and where it came from, over time. whoisbrowsing shows each person on your page right now, with their cursor, source and approximate city, and stores nothing. Like them, it sets no cookies on visitors.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/smartlook-alternatives-2026

# Smartlook Is Shutting Down: Where to Go

Smartlook is being shut down: there have been no new subscriptions since 31 May 2026 and no renewals after 31 August 2026, and Smartlook's own page says the platform will be deactivated on 30 September 2027, with remaining data deleted ([Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/)). Its official successor is Splunk's Digital Experience Analytics; if you want recordings elsewhere, Microsoft Clarity, Contentsquare (which Hotjar is now part of), FullStory, Mouseflow, PostHog and Inspectlet all have free tiers, and if you mainly wanted to watch visitors as they arrive, whoisbrowsing is free and stores nothing.

## The Smartlook timeline

| Date | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2026 | End-of-life announced | [Cisco notice](https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/software/smartlook-com-eol.html) |
| 31 May 2026 | End of sale: "No new Smartlook subscriptions will be sold." | [Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/) |
| 31 August 2026 | End of renewals: "No further renewals or expansions will be sold." | [Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/) |
| 31 August 2027 | Last day of support; end of remaining paid subscriptions | [Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/), [Cisco notice](https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/software/smartlook-com-eol.html) |
| 30 September 2027 | "The Smartlook platform will be deactivated; all remaining customer data will be securely deleted" | [Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/) (this date is not in Cisco's notice) |

As of today (21 October 2026), the sale and renewal dates have passed. Smartlook says "any paid Smartlook subscription will terminate at the end of its current plan or its next renewal date", and once it ends "you will have access to the Smartlook Free plan until 30 September 2027" ([Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/)).

## Do this before your plan ends

1. **Export your data.** Smartlook says "we strongly recommend that you export your data before your paid subscription ends", and that you can copy data through the Smartlook APIs. It also says "Splunk will not be migrating any historical data from the Smartlook platform" ([Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/)).
2. **Decide what you actually used.** Recordings and heatmaps for UX research? Funnels? Or mostly glancing at who was on the site? The answer picks your replacement.
3. **Run the new tool alongside Smartlook** for a few weeks, so you are not blind on the day you remove the old snippet.

## The official successor

Smartlook's page names "Digital Experience Analytics, part of the Splunk Observability Cloud" and says session replay, heatmaps and funnel analysis continue there; your current subscription does not transfer automatically ([Smartlook](https://www.smartlook.com/pricing/)). Cisco's end-of-life notice lists "Splunk Observability Cloud - RUM+DXA" as the migration product ([Cisco notice](https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/software/smartlook-com-eol.html)). For teams already on Splunk, that is the path of least change.

## Alternatives if you need recordings

| Tool | Free option, per the vendor | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Clarity | "A free service forever"; recordings, heatmaps, funnels, plus live recordings | [Clarity overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/about-clarity), [live docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time) |
| Contentsquare (Hotjar is now part of it) | Free plan, up to 200k monthly sessions, 1 month of data; replays capture 5% of sessions (max 10k) | [Contentsquare pricing](https://contentsquare.com/pricing/), [Hotjar page](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) |
| FullStory | Free: 30,000 sessions a month, up to 10 users, 12 months of replay retention | [FullStory Free](https://www.fullstory.com/free) |
| Mouseflow | Free Forever: 500 sessions a month, 1 website, 1 month retention; tracking stops at the cap | [Mouseflow pricing](https://mouseflow.com/pricing) |
| PostHog | 5,000 web recordings free every month, no credit card | [PostHog replay pricing](https://posthog.com/session-replay/pricing) |
| Inspectlet | Free: 2,500 recorded sessions a month across up to 3 websites, 1 month retention | [Inspectlet plans](https://www.inspectlet.com/plans) |
| Lucky Orange | No free plan listed; 7-day trial, from $32 a month paid annually | [Lucky Orange pricing](https://www.luckyorange.com/pricing) |

Free tiers change, so check each page before you commit. Two notes from the vendors' own pages: Mouseflow says tracking stops at the cap until your next refill, and FullStory lists features its free plan does not include, such as Go-Live and dashboards ([FullStory Free](https://www.fullstory.com/free)).

## If you only needed the live part

Some teams open a session tool mostly to see who is on the site at the moment: during a launch, after a newsletter, or while an ad is running. If that was you, you may not need a recording archive at all.

whoisbrowsing is a live-only view. You open your own site and every current visitor is drawn on the real page: a coloured cursor with a fading trail, clicks as ripples, a see-through band for phone and tablet visitors, and arrows for anyone scrolled out of view. A side panel shows live counts per page and one line per person: page, source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), approximate city, device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit. The dashboard can send a browser notification when someone new arrives, from the dashboard tab you keep open. See [how it works](/how-it-works).

It is free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now. It sets no cookies on your visitors, and "nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers." The install is one tag:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Start on [/try](/try) without an account, or use the [install guides](/install).

## When whoisbrowsing is not the right replacement

Be honest with yourself about what Smartlook did for you. whoisbrowsing is the wrong pick if you need:

- **recordings, heatmaps or funnels** to review later; nothing is kept, so if you were not watching, it is gone;
- **visitors from Europe**: visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown;
- **reports for a team**, with history to compare week over week.

For those, pick from the recording tools above, or stay on the Splunk path. You can still add whoisbrowsing beside any of them for the live view; it is under 4 KB gzipped and loads with `defer`.

## Related reading

- [Clarity live users vs whoisbrowsing](/learn/microsoft-clarity-live-vs-whoisbrowsing)
- [Hotjar live view: what to use instead](/learn/hotjar-live-view-alternative)
- [Best live visitor tools in 2026](/learn/best-live-visitor-tools)
- All comparisons on [/compare](/compare), and what we collect on [privacy](/privacy). Home: [whoisbrowsing](/)

## Frequently asked questions

### When does Smartlook shut down?

Smartlook's own page says the platform will be deactivated on 30 September 2027, and that all remaining customer data will be securely deleted. New sales ended on 31 May 2026 and renewals on 31 August 2026.

### Can I keep using Smartlook for free until then?

Smartlook says that once a paid subscription ends, you will have access to the Smartlook Free plan until 30 September 2027.

### Will my Smartlook data move to the replacement?

No. Smartlook's page says Splunk will not migrate any historical data, and strongly recommends exporting your data, for example through the Smartlook APIs, before your paid subscription ends.

### What is the official Smartlook replacement?

Smartlook points to Digital Experience Analytics, part of the Splunk Observability Cloud. Cisco's end-of-life notice lists Splunk Observability Cloud RUM+DXA as the migration product.

### Is whoisbrowsing a Smartlook replacement?

Only for the live part. whoisbrowsing shows who is on your site right now and stores nothing, so it has no recordings, heatmaps, funnels or history. If you need those, use one of the recording tools in this guide.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/agencies-live-visitors

# Live Visitors for Agencies and Client Sites

For an agency, whoisbrowsing is one script tag per client site: each site gets its own live view, so you can show a client their visitors moving on their real pages during a call, with no recordings stored. It is free, and nothing about the client's visitors is kept on our servers.

## Why a live view helps on client calls

A launch call or a monthly check-in is easier when the client can see something happening. Reports describe last month. A live view shows a visitor from Google on the pricing page right now, and a phone user scrolling the landing page. In those few minutes, the client sees what their site does for real people.

Typical agency moments:

- **Handover.** After you ship a new site, install the script and show the first real visitors arriving.
- **A campaign goes live.** Show where visitors from the campaign land and what they do next.
- **A bug report.** "It breaks on phones": open the live view and watch a phone visitor's band instead of guessing.
- **A pitch.** Install on a prospect's staging site and show it working with a test visit from a private window.

## One tag per site

Each website is separate. A client with a marketing site and a shop uses two site entries. Localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain.

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Use each client site's own ID in place of `YOUR_SITE_ID`.

The script is under 4 KB gzipped, loads after the page and never changes how the page looks, so it is easy to explain to a client's developer. Platform-specific steps are in [install](/install): the exact placement depends on the CMS or framework, and some platforms restrict custom code by plan, so check the client's plan.

If you manage many sites, an AI coding agent can install it for each one. The prompt is `Add whoisbrowsing (live visitor view) to this project. Follow https://whoisbrowsing.com/SKILL.md exactly.` See [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent).

## What the client sees

| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Coloured cursor and fading trail | A desktop visitor's movement |
| Click ripples | Where visitors click |
| See-through band | Where a phone or tablet visitor is looking |
| Side panel | Live counts per page, busiest first, and one line per person |
| Per-visitor details | Source, approximate city, device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit |

Source includes Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link or direct, which opens a useful conversation about [AI visits](/learn/referrer-vs-ai-referrer).

## Privacy you can tell the client

Agencies carry the privacy conversation with the client. These are the facts, word for word:

- 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.
- No cookies on your visitors.
- Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

This is a description of what the tool does, not legal advice and not a guarantee of any legal status. Whether a given site needs a notice or a consent mechanism is a question for the client and their adviser. Read [Is live visitor tracking GDPR-safe?](/learn/live-visitor-tracking-gdpr) and the [privacy page](/privacy) before you present it.

## A launch call, step by step

1. The day before, add the tag to the client's site and confirm it with a private-window visit.
2. On the call, share your screen and open the client's site after clicking Watch.
3. Walk through the side panel first: the busiest pages, and where each visitor came from.
4. Then scroll to the page the campaign links to and let the client watch cursors and phone bands move on it.
5. End with what is not there: no recordings, no history and no names. Then hand over the privacy facts below.

## Testing before the call

Open the client's site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window while watching, and you appear as a visitor. The owner's own regular browser is never counted. Because EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland visitors are not shown, do the test from elsewhere, or you will see nothing.

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

It does not produce monthly reports, history or heatmaps, and it does not store sessions. For client reporting use an analytics tool, and for session replay use Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of). Treat whoisbrowsing as the live view next to them. Compare options on the [compare](/compare) page.

It is free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now. [Try it without an account](/try) and claim the site later.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/ecommerce-live-visitors

# Live Visitors for E-commerce Stores

To see live visitors on an e-commerce store, add the whoisbrowsing script to your storefront and open your shop: each shopper appears as a live cursor on the real product page, with their source, approximate city and device. It never captures what a shopper types, so checkout details are not collected.

## What a store owner can watch

A store has a few pages where the money is decided: product pages, the cart, shipping information and checkout. A live view lets you see those moments as they happen:

- **Which product is being looked at now.** The side panel lists live counts per page, busiest first, so a product that a post or an assistant just sent traffic to rises to the top.
- **Where shoppers hesitate.** A cursor that hovers over the size selector, or a phone band that stays over the reviews, is a hint about what people want to know.
- **Where they came from.** Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct. If an assistant is recommending your product, you see it per visitor, live.
- **Which device.** Desktop, tablet or phone, plus browser and operating system. Phone visitors are drawn as a see-through band over the part of the page they are viewing.

## No checkout capture

This is the part store owners ask about first, so it is worth being plain.

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. That means:

- Card numbers, names and addresses typed into a form are not sent, because form values are never sent.
- Product names and prices on the page are not sent as text. The owner sees the page itself in their own browser; the visitor's browser reports where the pointer is, not what the page says.
- Query strings never leave the browser, and URL tokens in a path (UUIDs, long hex strings and long random tokens) are sent as `:id`. A link such as `/orders/9b2f6c1e-4d3a-4f6b-8a2e-1c7d5e9f0a3b` is reported as `/orders/:id`. A short number in a path, such as an order number, is sent as it is, so keep anything private out of your page addresses.

Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers. No cookies on your visitors.

## What a shopper's visit looks like

Here is what you might see on an ordinary afternoon. A line appears in the side panel: a phone visitor from Google, near Austin, TX, on a product page. On the page, a see-through band sits over the photos, then moves down to the reviews and stays there a while. The band jumps back up to the size options, and a moment later the line's page changes to the cart, and the pages-this-visit count goes up by one. You did not learn who they are, and nothing they type is sent, but you saw that the reviews mattered to that shopper before they added to cart.

## Install on your store

The snippet is one tag, under 4 KB gzipped, loaded after the page:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Platform steps differ, so follow your guide in [install](/install). For Shopify, see [install on Shopify](/install/shopify). Check your plan for where custom code is allowed, especially on checkout pages: some platforms restrict scripts there, and we do not assume what yours allows.

Test as a shopper would: open your store in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window while watching, and you will see yourself.

## Who is and is not shown

Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. If a large part of your customers are in those regions, you will see fewer visitors than actually browse. That is the intended trade: it keeps the tool simple to defend, and you can read why in [Global Privacy Control explained](/learn/global-privacy-control-explained). The [privacy page](/privacy) lists everything.

## A few ways to use it

| Moment | What to look at |
|---|---|
| You send a promotional email | Live count on the product page; sources shifting to "another site's link" |
| A sale starts | Whether phone visitors scroll past the offer |
| Ads are running | Whether visitors from the ad land on the page you expected |
| A page is slow or broken | Cursors that stop moving and visitors who leave within seconds |

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

It shows the present only. There are no recordings, no heatmaps over time and no conversion reports. If you need to measure conversion rate, revenue per source or abandoned carts, use your store's analytics. If you want to replay a shopper's session after the fact, use a replay tool such as Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of), which keep sessions for later review.

It is free, with no credit card and no usage limits for now, and you can read more on the [home page](/) or [try it without signing in](/try).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/saas-onboarding-live

# Watch SaaS Signups Land and Get Stuck

To watch users onboard live, install whoisbrowsing on the pages people pass through before they become users: the landing page, pricing, sign-up and any public docs. You see each visitor's cursor move on your real page, where they came from, and when they stop, without storing a recording.

## What it can and cannot cover

Be clear about the boundary first. The whoisbrowsing script is a visitor view for a website. If your sign-up form and first-run screens are on the same website where you install the script, you can watch people move through those pages. Inside a logged-in app, the pages may carry user data, and you decide whether to install there. We suggest starting with public pages.

Two things to know before you add the tag to logged-in pages. First, page text is never sent, so you watch a visitor's cursor drawn over your own copy of the page, as your own browser shows it; on a screen that differs per user, you see your version, not theirs. Second, URL tokens in a path (UUIDs, long hex strings and long random tokens) are sent as `:id`, but a short number such as `/projects/42` is sent as it is.

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. So you will see that someone clicked into the email field of your sign-up form, but never what they typed.

## Where founders get stuck watching

Early on, watching a few real people closely can teach a founder more than a large report. A live view is built for that moment:

- **The landing page.** Does the cursor go to your call to action, or hover on a feature name?
- **The sign-up page.** Does a visitor arrive and leave in seconds, or move around the form and pause?
- **The first page after sign-up.** If it is on the same site and you have installed the script there, do new users find the next step?
- **Phones.** Phone and tablet visitors appear as a see-through band over the part of the page they are looking at, so you can tell whether the button is in view.

## A concrete routine

1. Install the script on the site that holds your marketing and sign-up pages:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

2. Turn on the arrival notification. When someone new lands, the notification names the landing page. Alerts come from the open dashboard tab, so keep that tab open ([how alerts work](/learn/get-notified-when-someone-visits)).
3. Open the live view and keep it beside your work.
4. When a visitor lands on sign-up, watch what the cursor does for the next minute.
5. Write down the one thing you would change, then change it after the session.

The alert plus the live view works well for the first weeks after a release, when a few visitors each hour matter.

## The side panel for onboarding

The panel keeps live counts per page, busiest first, and one line per person with source, approximate city, device, browser and operating system, time on site and pages this visit. Reading a few of these lines side by side will tell you which source brings visitors who browse more pages and which bounce. It is a hint, not a statistic: with a handful of people, treat every pattern as a question to test, not a result.

## Nothing replayed, nothing stored

Because nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers, there is nothing to replay later and nothing to leak. That is a deliberate choice. It also means that if a user hit a bug and left, you cannot go back and watch it. Pair the live view with error monitoring and your product analytics for that.

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

If you need to see what happened inside a logged-in session after the fact, find rage clicks, or build a funnel, use a product analytics or session replay tool such as PostHog, Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of). whoisbrowsing does not attach a visitor to an account or a person, and it cannot show what a user typed.

## Getting started quickly

You can start with no account: [`/try`](/try) creates a site, and you claim it later. If you build with an AI coding agent, one prompt installs it ([install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent)). For the pricing step of the journey, see [who is reading your pricing page](/learn/pricing-page-live-visitors). See [How it works](/how-it-works) and the [privacy page](/privacy) for the details. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown, so your own testing from those places will not appear as a visitor. It is free, with no credit card.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/launch-day-live-visitors

# Watch Your Launch Day Traffic Live

To watch launch day traffic, put the whoisbrowsing script on your site before you post, then open your own site while visitors arrive: each one appears as a live cursor on your real page, with the page they are on and where they came from. You can also turn on a browser notification that fires when someone new lands, as long as the dashboard tab is open.

## Why launch day is different

On a normal Tuesday, a handful of people are on your site and a daily report is enough. On launch day (a Product Hunt post, a Hacker News thread, a newsletter mention) far more people than usual can arrive at once, and the questions are immediate:

- Is the traffic landing where I expect, or are people bouncing off the front page?
- Which source is actually sending people right now: the launch site, Google, a tweet, an AI assistant?
- Is anyone reaching the pricing page or the sign-up page?
- Is something broken for a device type I did not test?

A report that updates tomorrow cannot answer these. A live view can.

## Set it up the day before

The script is under 4 KB gzipped, loads after your page and never changes how it looks. Add it once:

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Then test it yourself. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window: you appear as a normal visitor. Your own normal browser is never counted, which is why a private window is the way to check it.

Each website is separate. Localhost and production never mix, and `www.` is the same website as the bare domain, so one site entry covers both. See [How it works](/how-it-works) for the full picture or [install guides](/install) for your platform. If you use a coding agent, [install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent) takes one prompt.

## What you see during the launch

Open your site after you click Watch. Every current visitor is drawn on the real page:

| What you see | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| A coloured cursor with a fading trail | Where a desktop visitor is looking and moving |
| Click ripples | What people try to click, including things that are not links |
| A see-through band | Which part of the page a phone or tablet visitor is viewing |
| Edge arrows | Visitors who have scrolled out of your view |
| Side panel counts per page, busiest first | Which pages the launch traffic is hitting |
| One line per person | Source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct), approximate city, device, browser, operating system, time on site, pages this visit |

The source line is the useful one on launch day. If a thread is sending people, they show as "another site's link"; if an assistant recommends you, you see which one. More on that in [how AI visits get labelled](/learn/referrer-vs-ai-referrer).

## Turn on arrival alerts

The dashboard can send a browser notification when someone new arrives, naming the landing page. Alerts come from the open dashboard tab, which holds the live connection, so keep that tab open while you reply to comments. You will know when a visitor lands on your pricing page or sign-up page, rather than checking a graph later. On a very busy launch, an alert per visitor is noise: click **Mute alerts** and watch the side panel instead. More in [get notified when someone visits](/learn/get-notified-when-someone-visits).

## A simple launch-day routine

1. Add the script and verify yourself in a private window the day before.
2. Open the live view when you post. Keep it on a second screen.
3. Watch the side panel: if the busiest page is not the one you linked, check your link.
4. Watch phone visitors. If their bands sit at the top and never move, your hero may be too tall on a phone.
5. Note any page where several cursors stall, then fix it after the rush.

## What you will not get

whoisbrowsing shows the present. It does not keep history, so there are no reports, no heatmaps over time and no replays to review after the launch. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers. If you want to review sessions afterwards or measure the whole launch week, pair it with an analytics tool, or use a replay product such as Microsoft Clarity or [Contentsquare](https://contentsquare.com/hotjar/) (which Hotjar is now part of).

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

If your goal is a post-launch funnel analysis, retention numbers or a replay of one confusing session, you need a tool that stores data. Use whoisbrowsing for the hours when you are watching and acting in real time.

## Privacy on a busy day

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. No cookies on your visitors. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. Details are on the [privacy page](/privacy). It is free, with no credit card, so you can [try it now](/try) with no sign-in.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/pricing-page-live-visitors

# Who Is Reading Your Pricing Page Right Now

To see who is on your pricing page right now, open your site with whoisbrowsing installed: the side panel lists a live count per page, and each person on `/pricing` appears as a cursor on the real page with their source, approximate city, device and time on site. You see people arriving and reading, not a name or an email.

## Why the pricing page deserves a live look

The pricing page is where interest turns into a decision. Most of the time you only learn what happened later, in a funnel report. Live, you can notice things a report flattens:

- how long someone stays before moving;
- whether a cursor goes to the plan table, the FAQ or the cheapest plan;
- whether a visitor on a phone ever scrolls to the part of the page you care about;
- whether people reach the page from a search result, an AI assistant, a comparison article or a direct visit.

## What the live view shows for each visitor

| Detail | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Page | `/pricing` | Query strings never leave the browser; URL tokens in a path are sent as `:id` |
| Source | Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct | Labelled from where the visit came from |
| Approximate city | near Austin, TX | Never an identity; see [how the city is worked out](/learn/approximate-city-from-ip) |
| Device | desktop, tablet or phone | Plus browser and operating system |
| Time on site | 2 min | Plus pages this visit |

The side panel puts the busiest page first and keeps one line per person, so you can count the people on `/pricing` at a glance.

## What this does not tell you

It does not tell you who the visitor is. There is no name, email, company or account match, and we do not try to produce one. A visitor who is also a logged-in customer is still just a cursor and a city to you. If you want to know who they are, your own product or CRM is the right place.

It also does not keep history. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers, so you cannot ask "how many people read pricing last week". For that, use your analytics tool.

## Questions worth asking while you watch

A live count is only useful if you ask something of it. Three questions work well on a pricing page:

1. Do visitors from different sources behave differently? A visitor from a comparison article may go straight to the plan table, while a direct visitor may read the FAQ first.
2. Does the page work on a phone? Watch where the see-through band rests. If it never moves past the first plan, the table may be hard to scroll.
3. How long before someone leaves? Time on site is shown per person, so a pattern of very short visits tells you the page did not match what they expected when they clicked.

Write down what you notice, change one thing, and watch again. That is the whole loop.

## Set up in a minute

```html
<script src="https://live.whoisbrowsing.com/s.js" data-site="YOUR_SITE_ID" defer></script>
```

Add it to the site-wide layout so the pricing page is covered. Platform guides are listed in [install](/install), and a coding agent can do it for you ([install with an AI agent](/install/ai-agent)). Then open your site in a private window to confirm you appear as a visitor. Your own regular browser is never counted.

If you have separate staging and production sites, give each its own site entry: localhost and production never mix.

## Using the arrival alert

Turn on the dashboard's browser notification and it fires when someone new arrives, naming the landing page. Alerts come from the open dashboard tab, which holds the live connection, so keep that tab open to get them. If a notification says someone landed on pricing from ChatGPT, you can open the live view while they are still there. This is useful during a launch ([launch day](/learn/launch-day-live-visitors)) or after you publish a comparison page.

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

If you want to run pricing experiments, measure scroll depth across thousands of visits, or replay sessions, use a testing or replay product. whoisbrowsing is for watching the present, with nothing stored.

## Privacy

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. No cookies on your visitors. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. See [How it works](/how-it-works) and the [privacy page](/privacy). It is free, no credit card, and you can start with [no account](/try).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/global-privacy-control-explained

# Global Privacy Control and Live Visitor Tools

Global Privacy Control (GPC) is a browser signal that tells a website the visitor wants to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal data. whoisbrowsing treats it as a simple rule: browsers that send GPC are never shown in the live view. This page explains the signal and what we do with it. It is not legal advice.

## What GPC is

GPC is a setting in a browser, or in a browser extension, that a person turns on once. After that, the browser sends the preference to every site. The official site, [globalprivacycontrol.org](https://globalprivacycontrol.org/), says it lets people communicate their privacy preference "just by browsing", and it is intended to convey a Do Not Sell or Share request under laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and similar state laws. Its page also describes the intent under the GDPR as a general request that data controllers limit the sale or sharing of the user's personal data.

The technical rules are in the [Global Privacy Control specification](https://www.w3.org/TR/gpc/), published by the W3C. In short:

| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| `Sec-GPC: 1` header | Sent with HTTP requests when the setting is on |
| `navigator.globalPrivacyControl` | A property that scripts on the page can read |

## How a page can detect it

A script can read the browser property:

```js
if (navigator.globalPrivacyControl) {
  // the visitor has asked not to have their data sold or shared
}
```

A server can read the `Sec-GPC` header. Check the specification above for exact details rather than relying on this summary.

## What whoisbrowsing does with it

Browsers with Global Privacy Control are never shown. If a visitor's browser sends the signal, they do not appear in the owner's live view: no cursor, no side panel line, no count.

The check happens in the visitor's own browser, before anything else. When `navigator.globalPrivacyControl` is true, the whoisbrowsing script stops before it opens a connection, so nothing from that visit is sent at all, not even the page they are on. There is no setting to turn this off.

Together with the other privacy rules, this is the whole picture of who is never shown:

- visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland;
- browsers with Global Privacy Control.

We do this because the signal expresses a preference and we would rather honour it than argue about it. We do not claim it is required for a tool like ours, and we do not claim it makes anyone compliant.

## What you will notice as a site owner

If you test your site with a browser that has GPC turned on, you will not appear as a visitor. This confuses people. When you test:

1. Use a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window with GPC off. Your own regular browser is never counted anyway.
2. If you do not appear, check whether the browser or an extension is sending GPC.
3. Remember that visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland are not shown either, so testing through a VPN endpoint there will show nothing.

Because GPC browsers are skipped, the live count is a lower bound, not a total. The GPC site lists the browsers and extensions that support the signal.

## Check the rule yourself

You can see the exclusion work yourself. Turn GPC on in a browser or extension that supports it, open your site in a private window while you watch, and you will not appear: no cursor, no line, no change in the count. Turn GPC off, reload, and you appear as a normal visitor. It is also a simple way to show a client or a colleague that the rule is real rather than a line on a policy page.

## What the browser still sends

For visitors who are shown, the rule is the same as everywhere: 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. No cookies on your visitors. See the [privacy page](/privacy) and [Is live visitor tracking GDPR-safe?](/learn/live-visitor-tracking-gdpr).

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

If you need a complete count of everyone on your site regardless of their privacy settings, use an analytics product and read its own policy on GPC. A live view that skips GPC browsers will always undercount.

## Related

GPC is one reason a live view can be quiet. Another is that [cookieless is not consent-free](/learn/real-time-analytics-without-cookies). For how the product works end to end, see [How it works](/how-it-works). It is free, no credit card, and you can [try it with no account](/try).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is Global Privacy Control?

A browser setting that tells websites the visitor wants to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal data. It is sent as a header on each request and exposed to scripts. The specification is at globalprivacycontrol.org.

### Does whoisbrowsing show visitors with GPC on?

No. Browsers with Global Privacy Control are never shown.

### Do I have to turn anything on?

No. The exclusion is built in: visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

### Does GPC make a site legally compliant?

No. Respecting a signal is one thing a site does; what the law requires of you is a question for a qualified adviser. This is not legal advice.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/live-visitor-tracking-gdpr

# Is Live Visitor Tracking GDPR-Safe?

Whether any tool is "GDPR-safe" depends on how you use it, so we make no GDPR compliance claim for whoisbrowsing; what we can tell you is exactly what it collects and what it never shows. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown, nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers, and no cookies are set on your visitors. This is not legal advice.

## What this page is, and is not

This is a plain description of what whoisbrowsing does. It is not legal advice, not a certification and not a statement about what the law requires of you. If you need to know whether your site needs a privacy notice, a consent banner or a data processing agreement, ask a qualified privacy adviser. The primary text is the [General Data Protection Regulation on EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj).

## What your visitors' browsers send

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.

| Sent | Not sent |
|---|---|
| The page (query strings never leave the browser; URL tokens in a path, meaning UUIDs, long hex strings and long random tokens, are sent as `:id`) | Anything typed, including passwords and card details |
| Pointer position, clicks, scroll | Form values |
| Device type, browser, operating system | Page text |
| Source (Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct) | A name, email or account |
| Time on site | A cookie or other identifier stored on the visitor's device |

The owner sees an approximate city, for example "near Austin, TX", never an identity. See [how the city is worked out](/learn/approximate-city-from-ip). We never store or show IP addresses.

## What is never stored

Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers. The view is live only. That means no recordings, no history and no heatmaps over time. When a visitor leaves, they are gone from the view and there is nothing to export, query or delete later.

## Who is never shown

Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown. So the people the GDPR is most often discussed for do not appear in the live view at all. In practice, a visitor whose connection comes from one of those countries is served an empty script, and a live connection from there is refused, so nothing from that visit reaches the live view.

Two things are worth being careful about:

- This is a choice we made about the product, not a legal conclusion about those regions. We exclude them so the owner never has to decide.
- Excluding them means you will see fewer visitors than actually visit. If most of your audience is in those regions, the live view will look quiet. That is the cost.

Global Privacy Control is a browser signal a visitor can turn on. We treat it as a request not to be shown. See [Global Privacy Control explained](/learn/global-privacy-control-explained).

## Three visitors, three outcomes

A short example makes the rules concrete. Say your site is in the US and three people open your pricing page at the same moment:

| Visitor | What the owner sees |
|---|---|
| Someone in Lyon, France | Nothing. Visitors from the EU/EEA are never shown |
| Someone in Ohio whose browser sends Global Privacy Control | Nothing. GPC browsers are never shown |
| Someone in Ohio with no GPC signal | A cursor on the page and one line, such as "near Columbus, OH", with the source and device |

Even for the third visitor, the owner never sees a name, an email, an IP address or anything they typed.

## No cookies is not the same as no rules

Setting no cookies on visitors removes one specific thing: our script does not store anything on their device. It does not by itself settle every question under privacy law, which also covers processing, notices and your own site's other tools. Read [real-time analytics without cookies](/learn/real-time-analytics-without-cookies) for the honest version.

## What you still own as the site owner

Even with a tool that stores nothing, you remain responsible for your own site: your privacy notice, your other scripts and the other services you use. A plain sentence in your privacy notice describing the live view is a reasonable step to discuss with your adviser. We do not provide template legal text.

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

If you need to see EU visitors, you need a different product, and you should weigh its consent and storage requirements. whoisbrowsing will not show them. Also, if you need history, a replay product or analytics tool is the right place, with its own privacy obligations.

## Read the primary statement

Our own words are on the [privacy page](/privacy), and the mechanism is explained in [How it works](/how-it-works). It is free, with no credit card.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does whoisbrowsing guarantee GDPR compliance?

No, we make no compliance claim. Compliance depends on how you use a tool, your legal basis and your notices, and it is a question for a qualified adviser. What we can say is what the tool does: no cookies on visitors, nothing stored on our servers, and visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

### Does whoisbrowsing show visitors from the EU?

No. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

### Does it collect names, emails or form input?

No. 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.

### Is anything stored about my visitors?

Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers. The view is live only: there are no recordings, history or heatmaps over time.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/real-time-analytics-without-cookies

# Real-Time Analytics Without Cookies

Yes, you can do real-time analytics without cookies: a live view needs only what the browser sends while the page is open, so nothing has to be stored on the visitor's device. But "cookieless" is not the same as "consent-free"; whoisbrowsing sets no cookies on visitors and stores nothing about them, and it never shows visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland or browsers with Global Privacy Control.

This page describes what tools do. It is not legal advice.

## What cookies were doing in analytics

Traditional analytics sets a cookie so it can recognise the same browser later. That is how it counts "returning visitors", stitches visits into a journey and builds history. The cookie is the memory.

A live view does not need memory. It needs to know who is on the page now. So it can work without a stored identifier, at the price of not knowing that today's visitor is last Tuesday's.

| | Cookie-based analytics | whoisbrowsing's live view |
|---|---|---|
| Stores an identifier on the visitor's device | Usually | No cookies on your visitors |
| Remembers visitors across visits | Yes | No |
| Keeps history | Yes | Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers |
| Answers "who is here now?" | Sometimes, as a count | Yes, per visitor, live |
| Answers "what happened last week?" | Yes | No |

## Why cookieless does not mean consent-free

Three separate questions are often blurred together:

1. **Is something stored or read on the device?** Cookie rules in Europe come from the ePrivacy Directive, whose Article 5(3) concerns storing information, or gaining access to information, already stored on a user's device. The text is on [EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2002/58/oj). A tool can avoid cookies and still read other things from the device, so "no cookies" is not the whole test.
2. **Is personal data processed?** Data protection rules, such as the [GDPR](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj), are about personal data, whether or not a cookie was used.
3. **Is there a legal basis and a notice?** That is about how a site owner uses a tool, not only what the tool does.

So a cookieless tool can still involve questions about notices or lawful basis. Whether yours does is for a qualified adviser. We do not claim that any tool, including ours, removes the need for consent or guarantees compliance with the GDPR.

## What whoisbrowsing does

We keep to what we can state exactly:

- **No cookies on your visitors.**
- **What is sent:** 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.** There are no recordings, no history and no heatmaps over time.
- **Paths are cleaned first.** Query strings never leave the browser, and URL tokens in a path (UUIDs, long hex strings and long random tokens) are sent as `:id`.
- **Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.**

The last point is the practical answer to the consent question: instead of asking those visitors for permission, the live view simply does not show them. It is a product decision, and the cost is visible: you see fewer people than visit. See [Global Privacy Control explained](/learn/global-privacy-control-explained) and [Is live visitor tracking GDPR-safe?](/learn/live-visitor-tracking-gdpr).

## Real-time tools with and without cookies

| Tool | Real-time view | Cookies on visitors | Keeps history |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plausible | Current visitors from the last 5 minutes ([docs](https://plausible.io/docs/realtime-dashboard)) | "We don't use cookies" ([data policy](https://plausible.io/data-policy)) | Yes, aggregate stats |
| Fathom | People viewing now, in 5-minute intervals ([docs](https://usefathom.com/docs/start/dashboard)) | "Doesn't use cookies" ([features](https://usefathom.com/features)) | Yes, aggregate dashboard |
| Microsoft Clarity | Live users and live recordings ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/session-recordings/clarity-real-time)) | First- and third-party cookies ([cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies)) | Yes, recordings and heatmaps |
| GA4 Realtime | Active users in the last 5 and 30 minutes ([help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392)) | First-party `_ga` cookies ([cookie usage](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11397207)) | Yes, reports |
| whoisbrowsing | Every current visitor, drawn on your real page | None | No |

The cookieless analytics tools keep aggregate history without a cookie. whoisbrowsing goes one step further and keeps nothing, which is why it can only show the present. More side by side on [/compare](/compare) and in [Plausible or Fathom vs a live view](/learn/plausible-fathom-vs-live-view).

## The trade-offs of going cookieless

- **No returning-visitor numbers.** Without a stored identifier you cannot say "this person came back".
- **No attribution over time.** You see where a visitor came from for this visit only.
- **No history.** A live view is the present. If you need weekly trends, use a separate analytics tool.

For many small sites these are fair trades, because the question they have is "what is happening now?", not "what is the cohort retention?".

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

If you need reports, funnels or recordings, use an analytics or replay product. The cookieless analytics tools in the table above provide reports; check their own pages for what they store. Microsoft documents that [Clarity sets cookies](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/setup-and-installation/clarity-cookies) and requires a consent signal for visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland. And if much of your traffic is from those regions, remember that whoisbrowsing will not show it at all.

## Start

Read the full [privacy page](/privacy), see the mechanism in [How it works](/how-it-works), or [try it with no account](/try). It is free, with no credit card.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can you do real-time analytics without cookies?

Yes. A live view can work from information the visitor's browser sends while the page is open, without storing anything on the device. whoisbrowsing sets no cookies on visitors and stores nothing about them on its servers.

### Does cookieless mean I do not need consent?

Not automatically. Cookie rules are one part of privacy law, and what applies depends on what is stored or read on the device and what personal data is processed. Ask a qualified adviser. We do not give legal advice.

### What is the trade-off of going cookieless?

Without a stored identifier you cannot recognise the same person across visits. That is why whoisbrowsing is a live view of the present, not a history.

### Does whoisbrowsing show EU visitors?

No. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown.

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/approximate-city-from-ip

# How "Near Austin, TX" Works (And Why It's Approximate)

IP geolocation estimates a visitor's location by matching their network address to a database of where that address range is used, so it gives a nearby city, not a street, and it is sometimes wrong. whoisbrowsing shows only an approximate city such as "near Austin, TX", never an identity, and we never store or show IP addresses.

## How the guess is made

Every request from a browser reaches a server from some network address. Address ranges are assigned to internet providers, companies and mobile carriers. Databases map ranges to places, built from registry data, network measurements and other signals. A lookup turns an address into "probably around this city".

This is a statistical guess about a network, not a measurement of a person. It does not know the visitor's name, device owner or home.

## Where it is accurate and where it is not

Accuracy varies a lot, and we will not give you a percentage, because the honest answer depends on the database and the network. The patterns are well understood:

| Situation | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Home broadband in a city | Often the right metro area, sometimes a neighbouring town |
| Mobile networks | Often the carrier's regional hub, which can be far from the phone |
| Office or campus network | The location of the network's exit, not the desk |
| VPN or privacy relay | The VPN's exit location, not the visitor's |
| Companies with several sites | One site stands in for all |
| New or reassigned address ranges | Can be out of date |

So "near Austin, TX" means "this connection appears to be routed near Austin". It might be a person in Round Rock, or someone on a VPN, or a phone using a hub in Austin.

## Why we say "near"

The word is deliberate. We show a nearby city and not a street, a postcode or coordinates, because the data cannot support more and a precise-looking answer would mislead you. The city exists to answer broad questions: is the launch traffic from the US or from India, is the local newspaper mention working, are my visitors in the time zone I think they are in.

## What whoisbrowsing shows and does not

- **Shown to the owner:** an approximate city, next to the page, source, device, browser, operating system, time on site and pages this visit.
- **Not shown:** a name, an email, an address, an IP address or any identity.
- **Not stored:** we never store or show IPs. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers.
- **Not captured:** 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.

Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown, so the city of such a visitor never appears either. See [Is live visitor tracking GDPR-safe?](/learn/live-visitor-tracking-gdpr) for the rules in plain language, and the [privacy page](/privacy).

## Using the city well

A few sensible habits:

1. Treat it as a hint. Do not act on a single visitor's city.
2. Look at patterns across several visitors, such as where the busiest page's visitors are.
3. Expect mobile and VPN visitors to be off.
4. Never try to work out who someone is from a city. There is no identity in the data, and a city is shared by many people.

## Try it on yourself

The quickest way to build intuition is to watch your own line. Open your site in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window while you watch, and note the city it shows for your connection. Then switch your phone to mobile data and open the site there: the city may jump to the carrier's regional hub. If you use a VPN, its exit location takes over. One caution: an exit in the EU/EEA, UK or Switzerland means you will not appear at all, because visitors from those regions are never shown.

## Can I turn it off or make it more precise?

We do not offer a more precise location, on purpose. If you need exact location for a feature on your own site, that is a separate permission your visitor grants in their own browser, and it has nothing to do with this live view.

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

If you need reliable location data for decisions, such as tax, delivery or compliance, IP geolocation is the wrong source and so is any live visitor tool built on it. Ask for the address from the person.

## Learn more

See how the live view fits together in [How it works](/how-it-works), and how a visit's source is labelled in [Referrers, direct traffic and AI assistants](/learn/referrer-vs-ai-referrer). It is free, and you can [try it without signing in](/try).

---

Source: https://whoisbrowsing.com/learn/referrer-vs-ai-referrer

# Referrers, Direct Traffic and AI Assistants

AI assistants often send visitors without a usable referrer, so analytics tools file them under "direct" or lump them into other buckets. Ahrefs reports that AI traffic is underrepresented because it is reported as "direct" in analytics tools. whoisbrowsing labels each live visitor's source when the browser tells us: Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, another site's link, or direct.

## What a referrer is

When you click a link, your browser can tell the destination page which page you came from. That hint is the referrer. Analytics tools use it to say "this visit came from Google" or "from a link on example.com". When there is no referrer, the visit is called direct, which really means "source unknown".

Direct is therefore a mix of:

- people who typed your address or used a bookmark;
- links in email apps and messaging apps that strip the referrer;
- links from documents and some mobile apps;
- visits where the browser or a privacy setting removed the referrer;
- some AI assistant clicks.

## Why AI visits go missing

An AI assistant answers in its own interface. When it links to you, the click may or may not carry a referrer, depending on the app, the browser and how the link opens. Ahrefs' [AI traffic research](https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-traffic-research/) states that AI traffic is underrepresented because analytics tools report it as "direct". The same research notes that AI-referred visits are a small share of traffic overall.

We do not claim exact figures beyond what that source says. For your own site, the only reliable measure is your own data, and the live view is a quick way to look at a few visits.

## How we label the source

The label is worked out in the visitor's browser from the referrer and, when the landing address has one, a `utm_source` tag. A tag wins over the referrer. When the domain is one we recognise, we use its name:

| Label | When you will see it |
|---|---|
| Google, Bing | A search result click |
| ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude | The visit's referrer identifies that assistant |
| Another site's name | A referrer from any other website, shown by its domain |
| A `utm_source` value, such as `newsletter` | The link carried that tag |
| Direct | Neither a referrer nor a tag was available |

Tags matter for AI visits. [OpenAI's publisher FAQ](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12627856-publishers-and-developers-faq) says ChatGPT adds `utm_source=chatgpt.com` to referral URLs from ChatGPT search, and a tag naming `chatgpt.com` is labelled ChatGPT even when the referrer is missing. Only the label leaves the browser; the query string itself never does.

This is a label for each live visitor, not a report: you see ChatGPT as the source on that visitor's line in the side panel, while they are still on your page. Nothing about your visitors is stored on our servers, so there is no history of sources.

## What the label cannot tell you

- **A "direct" visit may still be from an assistant.** If the assistant's click arrived with no referrer and no `utm_source` tag, we have no information to label it and it shows as direct. We do not guess.
- **A label is not an identity.** It says which kind of place the visit came from. It does not say who the person is. The owner also sees an approximate city ([how that works](/learn/approximate-city-from-ip)), never an identity.
- **Assistants change.** Apps update how they open links, so a label that worked last month may not tomorrow. Treat a rising share of "direct" with curiosity.

## Using it

1. Ask an assistant a question that leads to your site, and click its link in a Chrome Incognito or Safari private window, so you are counted as a visitor while you watch.
2. Notice whether your click was labelled with the assistant or fell to direct. That tells you how that app behaves.
3. During a launch or after publishing, watch the side panel for assistant labels. See [launch day](/learn/launch-day-live-visitors) and [track ChatGPT visitors live](/learn/track-chatgpt-visitors-live).

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. Visitors from the EU/EEA, UK and Switzerland, and browsers with Global Privacy Control, are never shown, so their sources never appear either.

## When whoisbrowsing is NOT the right tool

To measure AI referrals over weeks, build segments and see trends, use an analytics product that stores data and lets you define channels. A live label shows the present only.

## Next steps

Read [How it works](/how-it-works), the [privacy page](/privacy), or [try it without an account](/try). It is free, with no credit card.