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PinConsole vs Cobrowse.io: Open Source Alternative

Cobrowse.io is the leading co-browsing SDK, but it's proprietary and SaaS-only. PinConsole gives you the same co-browsing capabilities — plus session replay and visitor monitoring — all self-hosted under AGPL-3.0.

PinConsole Competitor
Hosting model Self-hosted (your infrastructure) SaaS cloud + on-prem (enterprise)
License AGPL-3.0 (open source) Proprietary SDK
Data sovereignty Data never leaves your servers Data via cloud relay (unless on-prem plan)
Co-browsing Full two-way (click/scroll/fill/navigate) Full two-way co-browsing
Session replay Included (rrweb-based) Not included (separate tool needed)
Visitor monitoring Real-time DOM + 1fps screenshot Not included
Popups & chat Push notifications + two-way chat Not included
Anti-bot Rate limit + UA + behavior + fingerprint Not included
Pricing Free (AGPL-3.0). Commercial license available. Per-agent per-month or enterprise annual
Deployment Docker compose, 5 minutes SaaS SDK snippet or on-prem setup

Why switch from Cobrowse.io to PinConsole?

Cobrowse.io is a polished co-browsing SDK, but its SaaS model means your customers' screen data routes through their cloud. If your compliance framework (GDPR, SOC 2, HIPAA, or China's Personal Information Protection Law) requires data to stay in-region or on-premise, Cobrowse.io's on-prem plan can help — but it comes with enterprise pricing. PinConsole is free and open-source, with the same co-browsing capabilities plus session replay and visitor monitoring included at no extra cost.

More than co-browsing — a complete customer-ops platform

Cobrowse.io focuses on co-browsing only. PinConsole is a full customer operations platform: real-time visitor monitoring (see what every visitor does on your site), session replay (record and replay any session), popup chat (proactive messaging), and anti-bot protection. All in a single self-hosted binary.

Open source means no vendor lock-in

With Cobrowse.io, you're tied to their pricing, their feature roadmap, and their compliance certifications. With PinConsole, the AGPL-3.0 license guarantees you can always self-host, audit the code, and fork if needed. Commercial licenses are available for proprietary embedding.

Facts & Evidence

“Cobrowse.io pricing: Agent plan at $30/agent/month (billed annually). Enterprise plan with on-premise hosting requires a custom quote — typically 5-figure annual contracts. No free tier for commercial use.”

“Cobrowse.io's on-premise plan routes data through your infrastructure, but session replay, visitor monitoring, and anti-bot features require separate tools — increasing total cost and integration complexity.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Does PinConsole support the same integration methods as Cobrowse.io?

PinConsole uses a visitor SDK snippet (similar to Cobrowse.io's snippet) that you add to your website. It works with any framework and does not require native mobile SDKs in v1.

Can I use both PinConsole and Cobrowse.io simultaneously?

Technically yes, but there's no need — PinConsole covers co-browsing, session replay, monitoring, and chat in one self-hosted stack. Running both would add complexity with no benefit.

Is PinConsole's co-browsing as reliable as Cobrowse.io?

PinConsole uses rrweb for DOM capture, the same technology used by many production co-browsing tools. The two-way co-browsing (cursor sync, click forwarding, form filling, page navigation) has been end-to-end tested with 65+ e2e tests passing.

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