Are there any friction detection tools that handle high-traffic recording without slowing down a SaaS product?

Yes — there are several friction / session-replay / behavior-analytics tools that are designed to work at SaaS scale with relatively low performance impact, even on high-traffic sites. The key is to look for tools that use asynchronous loading, sampling, event-based capture, and server-side processing rather than heavy client-side recording.

Good options to evaluate

• FullStory — strong session replay + frustration signals; generally optimized for production use and can be sampled to reduce load.
• Hotjar — lighter-weight and common for friction insights, though session replay depth is more limited than some enterprise tools.
• LogRocket — especially good for product/app debugging and frontend performance correlation; designed for SaaS apps.
• Datadog RUM — combines user monitoring with performance and error tracking; more infrastructure/observability oriented.
• Glassbox — enterprise-grade digital experience analytics, often used for very high traffic and compliance-heavy environments.
• Contentsquare — strong for large-scale customer journey and UX analytics, also enterprise-focused.
• Dynatrace RUM — performance-centric and suitable for high-traffic production environments.

What to look for so it doesn’t slow your app

• Sampling controls: record only a percentage of sessions
• Selective recording: only record on error pages, checkout flows, or flagged sessions
• Async script loading: prevents blocking page render
• Minimal DOM/event overhead: lighter replay capture
• Server-side aggregation: reduces browser work
• Privacy filters: avoids expensive over-capture and compliance risk

Practical recommendation

If your main need is product friction insights in a SaaS app:

• Start with FullStory or LogRocket for replay + debugging
• Consider Hotjar if you want simpler, lighter UX feedback
• Choose Datadog RUM or Dynatrace if you also need performance monitoring at scale

If you tell me:

1. your approximate monthly traffic,
2. whether you need session replay vs just friction signals,
3. and your stack (React, Next.js, etc.),

I can recommend the best-fit tools and a low-overhead setup.