GazePlotter vs Pupil Core

GazePlotter8.6Visit Pupil Core8.3Visit

Higher score GazePlotter #5 in Eye Tracking Software 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan Visit GazePlotter

vs

Pupil Core #8 in Eye Tracking Software 8.3/10 Paid Visit Pupil Core

• GazePlotter fits best

  Free multi-format gaze analysis

• Pupil Core fits best

  Open-source wearable eye tracking

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Side by side

Feature	GazePlotter 8.6/10 Visit ↗	Pupil Core 8.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.6	8.3
Ranking	#5 in Eye Tracking Software	#8 in Eye Tracking Software
Best for	Free multi-format gaze analysis	Open-source wearable eye tracking
Pricing model	Free	Paid
Starting price	Free plan	€2,995 one-time
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop, Mobile	Desktop
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Email, Live chat, Community, Docs
Integrations	7 integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Specs
Input method	Hardware	Hardware
Study mode	Not checked yet	Live
Participant limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Gaze visualizations	Scarf Plot; AOI Comparison; Transition Matrix; AOI Timeline; Recurrence Plot; Scanpath; Scanpath Similarity; Metric Timeline; Metric Correlation	gaze circles, gaze crosses, gaze polylines, light points, fixation overlays, surface heatmaps
Export formats	JSON; PNG; JPG; ZIP; CSV; ScanGraph	MP4, CSV, NumPy, PNG, TLV
Supported platforms	Web browser; Windows; macOS; Linux; Android; iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux
Our review
Pros	Advanced plots including scarf, scanpath, AOI, and transition views Imports major eye-tracking platforms plus custom CSV files Local browser processing with no registration or server uploads	Real-time gaze and pupil-data recording with fixation detection Surface tracking, heatmaps, visualizations, and post-hoc analysis Windows, macOS, and Linux support with APIs and Python plugins
Cons	Primarily analyzes imported data rather than recording gaze data Requires compatible hardware-generated eye-tracking files Feature depth may exceed the needs of simple visualization tasks	The standard one-time price is €3,615 Requires wearable eye-tracking hardware May be more than needed for simple gaze-recording projects
Our verdict	GazePlotter is a free, open-source browser application for researchers, students, and professionals analyzing eye-tracking data without writing code. It focuses on visualization and analysis rather than gaze recording, accepting files from… Read the review →	Pupil Core combines a wearable eye-tracking headset with an open-source desktop software suite for recording, reviewing, analyzing, and exporting gaze and pupil data. It is aimed at researchers and developers conducting eye-tracking… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• GazePlotter — where it wins

  • Advanced plots including scarf, scanpath, AOI, and transition views
  • Imports major eye-tracking platforms plus custom CSV files
  • Local browser processing with no registration or server uploads

  Where it doesn't

  • Primarily analyzes imported data rather than recording gaze data
  • Requires compatible hardware-generated eye-tracking files
  • Feature depth may exceed the needs of simple visualization tasks

• Pupil Core — where it wins

  • Real-time gaze and pupil-data recording with fixation detection
  • Surface tracking, heatmaps, visualizations, and post-hoc analysis
  • Windows, macOS, and Linux support with APIs and Python plugins

  Where it doesn't

  • The standard one-time price is €3,615
  • Requires wearable eye-tracking hardware
  • May be more than needed for simple gaze-recording projects

• GazePlotter8.6/10 · Free plan

  A capable free analysis workspace for imported eye-tracking data, not a recording platform.

  Visit GazePlotterFull verdict →
• Pupil Core8.3/10 · Paid

  A capable research toolkit with broad desktop support and a high one-time hardware price.

  Visit Pupil CoreFull verdict →