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UserExplorer

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Smartlook alternative for web teams that have to move before the shutdown

Smartlook stopped selling paid plans on May 31, 2026, stopped renewals on August 31, 2026 and will be switched off on September 30, 2027. UserExplorer is a Smartlook alternative for websites and web apps. It gives you session replay, heatmaps, funnels and form analytics from $49 a month billed yearly, with published prices and an AI researcher that reads the recordings for you.

See a sample report
  • Session replay, heatmaps and funnels on every plan
  • Published prices and online checkout, no sales call
  • AI researcher that explains drop-offs with evidence replays
  • Runs next to the Smartlook script while you compare
Product manager reading a research summary with charts on a laptop
app.userexplorer.com/sessions
Mobile visitors from paid search who rage clicked at checkout
Device is mobile Source is Google Ads Rage click on /checkout Last 7 days

412 sessions of 15,862 match, sorted by frustration

  1. Visitor 8F21, iPhone /pricing > /checkoutRage x6Error 04:12
  2. Visitor 2C77, Android /product > /checkoutRage x4 02:48
  3. Visitor A913, iPhone /checkoutDead clickU-turn 01:35
  4. Visitor 51D0, iPad /cart > /checkoutRage x3 03:02

Sample data

The timeline

Smartlook end of life dates and what each one means for you

Cisco published the schedule in March 2026. Two of the four dates have already passed.

  • May 31, 2026

    What happens
    End of sale. No new paid Smartlook plans can be bought.
    What to do
    New projects need another tool today.

  • August 31, 2026

    What happens
    End of renewals. Existing accounts cannot renew or expand, and paid plans end at their current term.
    What to do
    Find your term end date in billing. That is your real deadline.

  • August 31, 2027

    What happens
    Last day of support. Every remaining paid subscription ends no later than this date.
    What to do
    Export reports and API data before your paid plan ends.

  • September 30, 2027

    What happens
    Platform switched off. Remaining customer data is deleted.
    What to do
    Have a replacement recording at least one full quarter before this.

Dates from the Cisco end-of-sale and end-of-life notice for Smartlook and the notice on smartlook.com, read in October 2026.

Why not wait

Your deadline is the end of your current term, and history does not come with you

UX researcher mapping a user journey on a whiteboard with sticky notes

Most teams read the notice and remember September 2027. That date is the final switch off. A monthly plan that could not renew after August 2026 has already dropped to the free tier, and a yearly plan ends on its anniversary. Once the paid term is over you are working inside free plan limits until the platform closes.

The second problem is history. The official successor is Digital Experience Analytics inside Splunk Observability Cloud, sold together with real user monitoring. Smartlook says subscriptions do not move over automatically and that no historical data will be migrated. Whatever you pick, your recordings start from zero on the day the new snippet goes live. Every week you run the two tools side by side is a week of baseline you will want when someone asks whether checkout got better or worse after the switch.

So the practical move is to install a replacement now, let it collect data in parallel, and take the Smartlook script out when the new funnels and heatmaps cover your key pages.

Side by side

UserExplorer, Smartlook and the Splunk successor compared

A fair view of the three options, including the cases where UserExplorer is the wrong pick.

  • Can you buy it today

    UserExplorer
    Yes, online checkout on every plan
    Smartlook
    No, sales ended May 31, 2026
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Through Splunk sales, sold with real user monitoring

  • Published prices

    UserExplorer
    Yes, $99 to $3,999 a month, half price yearly
    Smartlook
    No longer sold
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Not published

  • Session replay for websites and web apps

    UserExplorer
    Yes, with rage, dead and error clicks on the timeline
    Smartlook
    Yes, until the shutdown
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Yes

  • Heatmaps

    UserExplorer
    Click and scroll, by device, source and behavior
    Smartlook
    Yes
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Yes

  • Funnels

    UserExplorer
    Yes, every step opens the replays of people who left
    Smartlook
    Yes
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Yes

  • Form analytics

    UserExplorer
    Drop-off, hesitation and refills per field
    Smartlook
    Not a core feature
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Not listed

  • Native mobile app recording

    UserExplorer
    No, websites and web apps only
    Smartlook
    Yes, mobile SDKs
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Yes, web and mobile

  • AI analysis

    UserExplorer
    AI researcher answers questions across all sessions with evidence replays
    Smartlook
    Not a headline feature
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Trend and anomaly detection

  • Surveys and NPS

    UserExplorer
    Yes, with AI follow up interviews, from Growth
    Smartlook
    No
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Not listed

  • Historical Smartlook data

    UserExplorer
    Starts fresh
    Smartlook
    Deleted September 30, 2027
    Splunk Digital Experience Analytics
    Starts fresh, no migration

Based on the public notices and product pages of each vendor in October 2026. Check each vendor for current features and availability.

What you keep

The Smartlook workflows you rebuild on day one

Recordings with the trouble marked

Session replay starts with the first visit after install. Rage clicks, dead clicks and JavaScript errors sit on the timeline, so you jump to the second that matters.

Heatmaps per device and segment

Open a website heatmap for any page and split it by device, traffic source or behavior such as visitors who reached checkout and left.

Funnels that open the sessions

Define signup or checkout steps once. Each step in a funnel analysis opens the recordings of the people who dropped there.

Field level form analytics

See which field makes people hesitate, retype or quit. Smartlook users usually built this from custom events.

An AI researcher on top

Ask why trial users never finish onboarding and get the causes ranked by how many sessions they hurt, each with replays as proof.

Masking on by default

Inputs are masked in the browser before anything is sent. Recording can wait for the signal from your own consent banner.

Budget

What the replacement costs at your traffic

Four plans with fixed session allowances. Recording pauses at the limit, so there are no overage invoices.

  • Up to 10,000

    Plan
    Startup
    Monthly billing
    $99
    Yearly billing, per month
    $49
    Included
    Replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, 50 AI analyses, 3 seats

  • Up to 100,000

    Plan
    Growth
    Monthly billing
    $499
    Yearly billing, per month
    $249
    Included
    Adds surveys, NPS, AI interviews, cohorts and user profiles, 400 AI analyses, 10 seats

  • Up to 500,000

    Plan
    Scale
    Monthly billing
    $1,499
    Yearly billing, per month
    $749
    Included
    Adds EU or US hosting choice, roles, API and webhooks, unlimited seats

  • Up to 2,000,000

    Plan
    Enterprise
    Monthly billing
    $3,999
    Yearly billing, per month
    $1,999
    Included
    Adds SSO, SCIM, SLA and a signed DPA, 24 months of retention

There is no free plan. A one time demo of 500 sessions or 7 days after signup lets you confirm the install before you pay.

Honest fit

When another Smartlook replacement fits better

Security lead reading a printout with personal data blacked out

If most of your Smartlook usage was native iOS, Android, React Native or Flutter apps, UserExplorer is not your replacement. We record websites and web apps, including single page apps and mobile browsers, and we do not ship a mobile SDK. A mobile first team should look at a tool built around app recording, or at the Splunk product if the company already runs Splunk.

The Splunk route also makes sense when engineering owns the budget and wants replay next to performance monitoring and synthetic tests in one observability contract. Expect a sales process and a quote.

UserExplorer fits when the people who used Smartlook were product managers, marketers, UX designers and growth teams working on a website or a web app, and when the bottleneck was never the recordings themselves but the hours it took to watch them. That is what our AI user research is for. If privacy review is part of your procurement, the details are on the GDPR session replay page.

Migration

How to migrate from Smartlook without a gap in your data

Most web teams finish in one afternoon and then run both scripts for two to four weeks.

  1. Step 1

    Export what you need from Smartlook

    Download saved reports and pull event and session data through the Smartlook REST API while your paid plan is active. Recordings themselves will not transfer to any vendor.

  2. Step 2

    Install the UserExplorer snippet

    Create an account, check out online and paste one script into your site or tag manager next to the Smartlook code. Inputs are masked by default.

  3. Step 3

    Rebuild funnels and saved segments

    Recreate your signup, checkout and onboarding funnels, then open heatmaps for the top landing and product pages.

  4. Step 4

    Compare, then remove Smartlook

    After two to four weeks of parallel data, ask the AI researcher where users struggle most, check it against what you knew, and take the old script out.

FAQ

Questions teams ask when they replace Smartlook

Is Smartlook shutting down?

Yes. Cisco, which owns Smartlook, announced the end of life in March 2026. Sales of paid plans ended on May 31, 2026, renewals ended on August 31, 2026, support ends on August 31, 2027 and the platform is switched off on September 30, 2027, when remaining customer data is deleted.

What is replacing Smartlook?

Cisco points Smartlook customers to Digital Experience Analytics in Splunk Observability Cloud, which is sold together with real user monitoring. Subscriptions are not moved over automatically and prices are not published, so many web teams choose an independent session replay tool instead.

What is the best alternative to Smartlook?

It depends on what you recorded. For websites and web apps, UserExplorer covers session replay, heatmaps, funnels and form analytics with published prices from $49 a month billed yearly, plus an AI researcher. For native mobile apps, choose a tool with mobile SDKs. For a no cost web recorder, Microsoft Clarity works.

Can I migrate my Smartlook recordings to another tool?

No. Recordings are stored in a vendor specific format, and Smartlook has said it will not migrate historical data even to its own successor. You can export reports and pull data through the Smartlook REST API before your paid plan ends. A new tool starts recording from the day its snippet is installed.

When should I switch from Smartlook?

Switch before your current paid term ends, not before September 2027. Renewals stopped on August 31, 2026, so monthly plans have already ended and yearly plans end on their anniversary. Install the replacement two to four weeks earlier so you have overlapping data to compare.

Does UserExplorer record mobile apps like Smartlook did?

No. UserExplorer records websites and web apps, including single page apps and visits from mobile browsers. It does not offer a native iOS or Android SDK, so teams whose main product is a mobile app should pick a mobile focused replacement.

How much does a Smartlook replacement cost?

UserExplorer costs $99 a month, or $49 a month billed yearly, for 10,000 recorded sessions with replay, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics and 50 AI analyses. Growth covers 100,000 sessions for $499 a month or $249 billed yearly. All prices are public on the pricing page.

Start recording before your Smartlook term runs out

Install one snippet next to the Smartlook script today, collect a few weeks of overlapping data, and switch over with your funnels already rebuilt.

See pricing