Best Gazerecorder Altrnative

Andrzej Morawski
April 17, 2024

GazeRecorder is an eye tracking software designed to conduct eye-tracking experiments. It tracks eye movement using your webcam and creates video recordings based on that data. With GazeRecorder, you can analyze user behavior, generate heatmaps, and get some statistics for AOIs.

GazeRecorder may be used in 3 versions:

  • GazeRecorder - a PC software/program (a Windows app), last updated in 2019.
  • GazeInsight - an online platform with limited functionality
  • GazeCloud API - SDK that may be used on your website/platform.

Regardless of what version you’re using you might face some of the problems mentioned below: 

  • Poor documentation
  • Poor customer service
  • Poor accuracy with head movements
  • No possibility of linking images and video studies
  • No possibility of getting aggregated eye-tracking data from a website
  • No translations for your language 
  • No survey module
  • No keyboard tracking, 
  • No facial coding
  • No fixations
  • Poor study creator
  • GDPR compliance - video of the panelists is streamed to GazeRecorder servers to do real-time gaze calculations
  • Internet requirements
  • No fixation filter

While GazeRecorder is quite popular among academics due to its fairly low price, its capabilities require technical/IT knowledge, which may be insufficient without the right documentation and support. As a consequence, the situations when GazeRecorder may be used are finite for most users.

Considering alternatives to GazeRecorder? Or maybe you’re having trouble using it?

While preparing the best fitting solutions, I’ve focused on features rather than pricing of alternatives and competitors.

Take a look at these best GazeRecorder alternatives and competitors that we’ve found for you.
Top alternatives to GazeRecorder:webca

  1. RealEye
  2. Tobii
  3. GP3 Eye Tracker
  4. Crazy Egg

1. RealEye

RealEye is an innovative online research platform that leverages online webcam eye tracking to provide valuable insights into user behavior. The platform utilizes the computing power of regular PCs and laptops to run eye-tracking experiments and studies captured by a webcam. It’s worth mentioning that RealEye uses the same algorithms for smartphone eye tracking technology. By detecting a panelist’s face RealEye predicts their gaze points, allowing researchers to understand where users focus their attention during various tasks. RealEye is GDPR compliant and offers an intuitive interface for study setup, data collection, and analysis—all within a web browser.

Here are the most common use cases for RealEye:

1. Shopper Research

Understanding consumer behavior in retail environments is crucial. RealEye enables researchers to study how shoppers navigate both online and offline stores, how customers interact with products and make choices during their customer journey. By tracking eye movements, RealEye provides valuable insights for optimizing product placement and enhancing the shopping experience.

2. Advertisement Research:

RealEye plays a pivotal role in evaluating the effectiveness of advertisements. Unlike relying solely on click-through rates (CTRs), eye-tracking captures attention and engagement. Brands can assess ad placement, ensuring they not only attract but also hold viewers’ attention. Deeper insights into audience interaction lead to more compelling and resonant brand campaigns.

3. User Experience (UX) Testing for Websites & Mockups:

UX testing involves observing real users as they interact with websites and user interfaces, apps, or other digital products. RealEye’s advanced eye-tracking technology allows researchers to gauge human responses to different design elements. Whether it’s analyzing human behaviors at scale when looking at an online display, evaluating a new concept, or assessing virtual shelf placement, RealEye provides insightful data on where users focus their attention.

4. Education and Non-Commercial Research:

RealEye is a powerful biometric eye tracking platform that goes beyond recording eye movements, offering insights into visual and emotional impact (facial coding is used in both qual and quant research and emotion recognition). Students and academics can conduct research using static images, videos, or live websites. Whether testing hypotheses or analyzing results, RealEye’s webcam-based eye-tracking empowers researchers to explore various scenarios and gain behavioral insights.

RealEye’s simplicity, remote capabilities, and ability to provide rapid results make it a trusted tool for understanding how people perceive products and content.

RealEye vs GazeRecorder

Both companies offer webcam-based eye-tracking (movements of our eyes are tracked with simple webcam). Even though GazeRecorder has been around for longer, RealEye has developed a more complex tool that allows for user-friendly study creation, fielding in 30+ languages (compared to 12 from GazeRecorder), and user-friendly data analysis with more statistics. RealEye even gives your users a smooth testing experience with user-friendly software and gaze analytics tools without compromising on accuracy. You can focus on your research.

See the detailed comparison of RealEye and GazeRecorder

2. Tobii

Tobii, a prominent player in the hardware eye-tracking industry, offers a diverse range of models tailored to various requirements. These eye trackers fall into two primary categories: screen-based and stand-alone (including advanced eye tracking glasses). Screen-based trackers seamlessly integrate with monitors or laptops—models like the Tobii Eye Tracker 5 attach directly to existing displays. In research contexts, stand-alone Tobii eye trackers offer greater flexibility. These independent units can be strategically positioned for precise data collection in controlled environments. Regardless of the specific model, Tobii eye-trackers are renowned for their precision, capturing users’ gaze data with exceptional detail. As a result, they serve as invaluable tools for researchers and developers seeking insights into how people engage with digital content.

GazeRecorder vs Tobii eye-trackers

Gazerecorder is a webcam-based eye-tracker, whereas Tobii gathers data with hardware devices. You should expect Tobii eye-trackers to be more accurate. However it’s good to keep in mind that Tobii devices are quite expensive to buy, and in both cases, you might need an additional software license to analyze the results from GazeRecorder and Tobii eye-tracker. For sure GazeRecorder remote research would be less expensive compared to in-lab testing. Even though GazeRecorder offers heatmaps and some data analysis it might me not enough for your needs.

3. GP3 

The GP3 eye tracker, developed by Gazepoint, is a research-grade hardware module that utilizes a 60Hz machine-vision camera. Here are the key features and details about the GP3. The GP3 offers precise eye tracking at an accessible cost. With 0.5 – 1 degree of visual angle accuracy. The GP3 is ultra-portable, measuring 235 x 45 x 40 mm and weighing just 115g. Its compact design allows for easy setup and movement. It can be installed on displays with a diagonal size of 24 inches or smaller.

Researchers can take advantage of the open standard API provided by the GP3. This allows for seamless integration into various research setups.

GazeRecorder vs GP3

GP3, like Tobii eye trackers, is a hardware device that offers better accuracy. The cost associated with it is inviting panelists to the Lab. So the process is more lengthy 


4. Crazy Egg

CrazyEgg is an analytics platform that tracks and optimizes website visitor behavior, empowering businesses to enhance user experiences, increase conversion rates, and improve their bottom line. While Crazy Egg is renowned for its heatmap reports, thease are heatmaps generated from clicks and scrolls - there is no eye-tracking so the bottom line is that Crazy Egg is an online attention prediction platform. This approach to consumer research is used more often by marketers rather than researchers.

Crazy Egg offer

  1. Heatmaps: Crazy Egg’s heatmap reports visually highlight where users focus their attention on a webpage. By analyzing click patterns, scroll behavior, and mouse movements, businesses gain insights into which elements are hotspots and which are being ignored.
  2. Recordings: Individual session recordings (a common qualitative research method) allow marketers to observe real users’ interactions with a website. These recordings reveal navigation paths, clicks, and areas where users encounter difficulties.
  3. Surveys: Direct feedback from customers and website visitors is invaluable. Crazy Egg enables businesses to ask targeted questions and receive real-time insights. Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys and ratings help measure the overall customer experience.
  4. A/B Testing: Crazy Egg facilitates A/B testing, allowing businesses to compare different versions of a webpage. As soon as a winning variant is detected, traffic is automatically directed to that version, maximizing conversions.
  5. Traffic Analysis: By comparing and analyzing traffic sources by channel, businesses gain a clearer picture of marketing performance. Based on specific traffic selections, heatmaps, and recordings can be viewed.
  6. Error Tracking: Crazy Egg identifies and records errors on a website, helping businesses troubleshoot issues promptly. Detailed information about errors impacting customers allows for quick resolution.

GazeRecorder vs. Crazy Egg: 

When to Choose Crazy Egg?

If you are a marketer or eye-tracking is not an essential part of your research, you can think of using Crazy Egg. It’s meant mainly for website testing but allows it to do it for a very affordable price. If on the other hand, you wish to do an in-depth study and you need an output eye-tracking you should consider using some of the previously mentioned tools.

The above list of best GazeRecorder competitors is subjective. We’ve selected those tools that fulfilled our criteria of competitors and alternatives and, in some areas, are similar to GazeRecorder.

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