Grain logomark
Honest comparison · Updated April 2026

Grain vs FullStory

FullStory is for enterprise teams who want the richest replay and will pay for it. Grain is for teams who want replay plus an AI analyst that turns it into an answer.

The 30-second honest answer
Pick FullStory if you want

The richest session replay and autocapture available, with deep frustration signals and a mature enterprise platform. If replay fidelity is the whole game and budget isn't the constraint, it's excellent.

Pick Grain if you want

Replay plus Kai — an AI analyst that reviews the sessions and names the cause — with cookieless tracking, EU hosting, and transparent, published pricing instead of a quote.

They overlap on: Session replay, heatmaps, autocapture, funnels, custom dashboards, mobile analytics.

Feature matrix

What each tool ships today. No roadmap wishes.

Capability
FullStory
Grain
Open source
Self-hosted on enterprise
Self-hostable
Enterprise only
Cloud SaaS
Cookieless tracking
Cookies required
Recall
GDPR out of the box
US-hosted
EU-hosted
AI analyst built-in
Basic anomaly
Kai (3 tiers)
Deep Investigation
Six-phase audit
Heatmaps
Session Replay
Mobile SDK
iOS + Android
Funnels / journeys
Tracks + attribution + p-values
Custom dashboards
WordPress / WooCommerce
Native, server-side
BYOK AI
n/a
OpenAI, Gemini
Pricing
Quote-based, enterprise
$29 → $299 · LTD via AppSumo

When FullStory is the better choice

  • Replay fidelity and autocapture depth are the whole point for you.
  • You're an enterprise comfortable with a sales-led motion and a quote.
  • You need FullStory's mature frustration signals and rich session search.
  • US data hosting and cookie-based tracking are fine for your compliance posture.
  • You have the team to review sessions and draw the conclusions yourself.

When Grain is the better choice

  • You want Kai to review the sessions and name the cause, not just record them.
  • You need cookieless tracking that survives consent rejections.
  • You need EU-hosted data, not US-centric processing.
  • You want published, predictable pricing instead of an enterprise quote.
  • You're on WordPress or WooCommerce and want native server-side tracking.

Run both, no commitment

FullStory and Grain coexist. Some teams keep FullStory for its deep replay search and add Grain for the AI analysis, cookieless tracking, and EU hosting FullStory doesn't offer. Email eray@grainql.com for a 90-day Growth-tier trial.

FAQ

Is Grain open source?

No, not in the next 12 months. Self-hosting is available on enterprise tier.

Does Grain track users across sites?

No. No cross-site tracking, no fingerprinting, no third-party cookies.

Can I export my data?

Yes. CSV from every view, plus the Grain Connector (in development).

FullStory already has great replay — what does Grain add?

The analysis on top of the replay. Kai reviews the sessions, names the cause of the drop-off, and writes the report — plus Grain is cookieless, EU-hosted, and transparently priced instead of quote-based.