RealEye

RealEye is a cloud-based webcam eye-tracking research platform for building online studies, tracking participants, and analyzing results. Studies can use images, videos, or live websites, with display settings, instructions, and follow-up questions. Its dashboard includes heatmaps, gaze and fixation analysis, statistics for Areas of Interest, survey answers, and raw or processed data exports. A facial coding feature analyzes neutral, happy, and surprised expressions. External survey connections can redirect participants to services such as Qualtrics, Google Forms, and SurveyMonkey, passing participant identifiers through URL parameters. RealEye says webcam image and sound processing occurs in the browser and that it stores gaze-point predictions rather than webcam images or sound. It states that it is GDPR compliant and runs on AWS data centers in the United States. Participants using a researcher's own link need a laptop or PC with a webcam; smartphone tests are also offered. Plans start at $325 a month billed annually, with a 7-day trial and no free plan.

RealEye combines webcam-based tracking with study setup, analysis, and survey integrations. Consider the participant device requirements and plan limits alongside the paid starting price.

RealEye suits researchers running remote eye-tracking studies with visual or web-based stimuli. It may fit teams that need gaze analysis, survey connections, and exports.

RealEye is a browser-based webcam eye-tracking service for online research, advertising studies, and visual-response experiments. It is best suited to researchers, insight teams, and marketers who need gaze measures linked with survey responses rather than dedicated laboratory hardware. The platform is capable and broad, but its study-duration caps, participant rules, and relatively high starting price make careful plan selection essential.

Overview

You can build studies around images, videos, live websites, static or dynamic ads, billboards, and social-media mockups. Display settings, instructions, and follow-up questions support structured experiments, while A/B studies and advanced creative reporting are aimed at comparing campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Amazon. That combination makes RealEye more versatile than a simple attention-heatmap tool.

Webcam image and sound processing occurs in the browser, according to RealEye, and the service stores gaze-point predictions rather than webcam images or sound. It describes the platform as GDPR compliant and runs data on AWS centers in the United States. The pricing FAQ cites accuracy of around 110 pixels and gaze prediction frequency up to 60 Hz. Those specifications can support directional visual research, but teams needing tightly controlled, instrument-grade measurements should account for webcam and participant-device variability.

Key features

Study design and analysis

The dashboard combines heatmaps, gaze and fixation analysis, Areas of Interest statistics, and survey answers. Raw and processed exports let analysts continue work elsewhere; CSV export is included with Standard. Facial coding classifies neutral, happy, and surprised expressions, adding a limited emotional signal to gaze data rather than replacing dedicated emotion research.

Integrations and data handling

External survey integrations can send participants to Qualtrics, Google Forms, or SurveyMonkey and pass participant identifiers through URL parameters. Custom customers get beta API access for exporting pre-filtered study results as JSON over HTTPS. That is useful for teams with established survey or data pipelines, although API access is not part of the lower tiers.

Participant and browser requirements

Participants recruited through your own link need a laptop or PC with a webcam; smartphone tests are also offered. RealEye says Chrome provides the best experience and that old, pre-Chromium Edge versions do not work. Its own panelists cannot join embedded-website or screen-recording studies and are limited to studies of 10 minutes or less, so recruitment source affects what you can run.

Pricing

There is no free plan. A seven-day trial provides a short evaluation window, while paid subscriptions start at $325 a month on annual billing.

• Basic (annual): $325 a month, billed $3,900 annually. It includes unlimited studies, 20 own participants per month, studies up to three minutes, and the online analytics dashboard. This is suitable for short pilots or small internal samples; the participant quota and three-minute ceiling quickly constrain substantive studies.
• Basic (monthly): $390 a month with the same features and limits, billed monthly. It costs more than the annual commitment but reduces the risk for teams still validating demand.
• Standard (annual): $825 a month, billed $9,900 annually. The allowance rises to 300 own participants per month and 10-minute studies, with three team collaborators, CSV export, and one hour of training. This is the practical tier for recurring research and shared analysis, provided the annual outlay fits your budget.
• Standard (monthly): $990 a month, with the same 300-participant, 10-minute, collaboration, export, and training provisions. Choose it when flexibility matters more than the annual discount.
• Custom: custom pricing with more than 300 own participants per month, studies up to 60 minutes, a custom license period, API data export, smartphone tests, white-labeling, and custom feature requests. Larger programs and integrations belong here, but budgeting requires a quote.

Platforms

RealEye supports Android, iOS, and the web. In practice, participant hardware and browser compatibility matter as much as the nominal platform list: own-link studies require a webcam-equipped laptop or PC, Chrome is preferred, and smartphone testing is an offered capability rather than a feature of every plan.

Who it's for

RealEye fits academic and commercial researchers, UX and insight teams, and advertisers comparing visual creatives who want gaze, fixation, survey, and basic facial-expression data in one online workflow. Standard is the sensible starting point for teams running studies beyond three minutes or involving more than a small monthly sample. Basic suits limited pilots. It is a poor fit for panel-based studies involving embedded websites or screen recording, and for projects that demand tightly controlled hardware or very long sessions unless Custom is justified.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Supports varied stimuli, A/B creative work, heatmaps, fixation and Areas of Interest analysis, survey answers, exports, facial coding, and external survey handoffs in one service.
• Pros: Browser processing and storage of gaze predictions instead of webcam images or sound address an important privacy concern.
• Cons: Basic limits studies to three minutes and 20 own participants per month, making the $325 annual plan unsuitable for most substantial samples.
• Cons: Standard and Custom are expensive commitments, while API access and smartphone tests are reserved for Custom.
• Cons: Webcam accuracy, device requirements, Chrome preference, and panel restrictions can reduce consistency across participants.

Alternatives

For a broader list, see Ad Creative Testing Tools and Eye Tracking Software.

• Lumen Research is worth considering if you want its Attention Technology Suite across a wider range of desktop and mobile platforms; pricing requires a demo.
• AdTest.AI is the lower-cost choice for credit-based ad testing, with plans from $30 a month and a free trial.
• Predis.ai suits teams seeking paid social-content and publishing workflows, with a free trial and a Core plan at $24 a month when billed yearly.
• AdCreative.ai is an alternative for AI creative generation and scoring, starting at $20 a month billed yearly.
• Vidmob offers a broader creative platform with custom, impression-based pricing.
• Motion is aimed at ad-account analysis, with monthly plans starting at $$750.
• Marpipe provides freemium catalog and feed-management options for teams that need a free entry tier.
• SaliencyLab offers a free plan with 10 analyses per month and benchmark-oriented attention diagnostics.

Verdict

Choose RealEye when you need online webcam gaze tracking tied to rich stimuli, survey integrations, and exportable analysis, and can support Standard or Custom pricing for meaningful sample sizes and longer studies. Look elsewhere if you need inexpensive ad scoring, a genuinely free starting tier, unrestricted panel scenarios, or laboratory-level control over participant hardware.