RealEye vs Pupil Core

RealEye8.5Visit Pupil Core8.3Visit

Higher score RealEye #6 in Eye Tracking Software 8.5/10 7-day trial Free trial Visit RealEye

vs

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

• RealEye fits best

  Browser research with surveys and facial coding

• Pupil Core fits best

  Open-source wearable eye tracking

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Side by side

Feature	RealEye 8.5/10 Visit ↗	Pupil Core 8.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.5	8.3
Ranking	#6 in Eye Tracking Software	#8 in Eye Tracking Software
Best for	Browser research with surveys and facial coding	Open-source wearable eye tracking
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	$325/mo	€2,995 one-time
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	7 days	—
Deployment	Cloud	Desktop
Platforms	Web	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email, Live chat, Phone, Docs	Email, Live chat, Community, Docs
Compliance	GDPR	GDPR
Integrations	3 integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Specs
Input method	Not checked yet	Hardware
Study mode	Not checked yet	Live
Participant limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Gaze visualizations	Not checked yet	gaze circles, gaze crosses, gaze polylines, light points, fixation overlays, surface heatmaps
Export formats	Not checked yet	MP4, CSV, NumPy, PNG, TLV
Supported platforms	Not checked yet	Windows, macOS, Linux
Our review
Pros	Tests images, videos, websites, mockups, and social-media-style feeds Combines eye tracking, facial coding, surveys, and interaction tracking Offers heatmaps, fixation analysis, exports, APIs, and participant recruitment	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	No free plan, with Basic starting at $325 per month on annual billing Basic studies are limited to 3 minutes and 20 own participants monthly Advertising workflows test mockups or HTML copies, not live third-party platforms	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	RealEye is a web-based research platform for universities, research teams, agencies, enterprises, and digital product teams. It uses webcam-based eye tracking in the browser to study attention and behavior across images, videos, live… 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

• RealEye — where it wins

  • Tests images, videos, websites, mockups, and social-media-style feeds
  • Combines eye tracking, facial coding, surveys, and interaction tracking
  • Offers heatmaps, fixation analysis, exports, APIs, and participant recruitment

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan, with Basic starting at $325 per month on annual billing
  • Basic studies are limited to 3 minutes and 20 own participants monthly
  • Advertising workflows test mockups or HTML copies, not live third-party platforms

• 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

• RealEye8.5/10 · 7-day trial

  A broad browser research platform combining eye tracking, surveys, and facial coding.

  Visit RealEyeFull 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 →