16 Hotjar Alternatives for CROs in 2025

Hotjar is one of the most popular tools for user experience research and behavioral analytics.
Alongside tools like GA4 and Convert, it’s a linchpin in many conversion optimization tech stacks.
However, it’s not for everyone. Hotjar was acquired by Contentsquare, an enterprise customer experience platform, leaving question marks as to the future of Hotjar as a standalone platform.
There are, fortunately, many Hotjar alternatives on the market, one for every context and use case. This list outlines and reviews the top Hotjar alternatives, helping you pick the right one for your team and needs.
Hotjar Alternatives Comparison Chart
Product | Starting Price | Free Trial? |
Key Features | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Glassbox | Contact sales | No | Interaction and heatmaps, funnel analysis, revenue impact analysis, struggle detection |
||||||||||||||||||||
Chartbeat | Contact sales | No | Real-time analytics, multi-variant testing, AI-powered headline generator |
||||||||||||||||||||
VWO | $199/month | Yes, 30 days | A/B and multivariate testing, smart statistics, cross-device testing |
||||||||||||||||||||
Survicate | $89/month | Yes, 10 days and offers a free plan | Targeted survey deployment, AI-powered analysis, multi-platform integration |
||||||||||||||||||||
Microsoft Clarity | Free | N/A | Session recordings, heatmaps, dead click detection, custom tags and filters |
||||||||||||||||||||
Contentsquare | $40/month | No, but offers a free plan | Advanced journey analysis, AI-powered session replay, segmentation and comparison |
||||||||||||||||||||
Inspectlet | $33/month | No, but offers a free plan | Session recordings, dynamic heatmaps, conversion funnel analysis |
||||||||||||||||||||
Smartlook | $55/month | Yes, 30 days and offers a free plan | Always-on session recordings, event-based funnels, interactive heatmaps |
||||||||||||||||||||
FullStory | Contact sales | No | Session replay, custom funnel analysis, behavioral heatmaps |
||||||||||||||||||||
Plerdy | $21/month | No, but offers a free plan | Advanced heatmap analytics, conversion funnel analysis, A/B testing |
||||||||||||||||||||
Lucky Orange | $32/month | Yes, 7 days and offers a free plan | Dynamic heatmaps, session recordings, live chat |
||||||||||||||||||||
Crazy Egg | $29/month | Yes, 30 days | Advanced heatmapping, A/B testing platform, confetti report segmentation |
||||||||||||||||||||
Mouseflow | $31/month | Yes, 14 days and offers a free plan | Session replay, dynamic heatmaps, A/B test integration |
||||||||||||||||||||
Browsee | $19/month | No, but offers a free plan | Session recording, dynamic heatmap analysis, visual funnel analysis |
||||||||||||||||||||
UXtweak | $113/month | No, but offers a free plan | Session recording, interactive heatmaps, comprehensive user analytics |
||||||||||||||||||||
Matomo | $26/month | Yes, 30 days and offers a free plan | GA4 alternative, advanced goal tracking, complete visitor journey tracking |
16 Best Hotjar Alternatives in 2025
- Glassbox
- Chartbeat
- VWO
- Survicate
- Microsoft Clarity
- Contentsquare
- Inspectlet
- Smartlook
- FullStory
- Plerdy
- Lucky Orange
- Crazy Egg
- Mouseflow
- Browsee
- UXtweak
- Matomo
1. Glassbox
Best For: Best for mid-size and enterprise customer experience (CX), product, and digital analytics teams, particularly in industries like finance, e-commerce, travel, and telecom
Glassbox captures 100% of your website and app interactions without tagging, giving you a complete view of conversion opportunities through session replay, heatmaps, and AI-powered journey analytics.
You can quickly identify friction points and optimize experiences by analyzing actual customer behavior: see exactly how users navigate, where they struggle, and what drives conversions—all through an intuitive platform that surfaces actionable insights in real-time.
Key Features:
- Advanced session replay with AI analysis: Captures and replays 100% of user interactions with AI-powered insights, helping you quickly identify conversion barriers and opportunities through features like struggle detection and instant sharing capabilities.
- Dynamic funnel analysis: Offers drag-and-drop funnel creation with retroactive analysis capabilities.
- Interactive heatmaps with revenue impact: Provides detailed interaction maps showing click rates, focus time, and revenue impact for each page element.
Pros:
- The session replay feature provides nearly perfect reproductions of user sessions.
- The automatic struggle detection system flags problematic sessions with indicators like rage clicks.
- The comprehensive analytics suite integrates heatmaps, funnel analysis, and form analytics in one platform.
- Tagless interaction tracking, including both user behaviors and technical events.
Cons:
- The pricing structure is not publicly available on the website, making it difficult for CRO teams to evaluate ROI and budget fit.
- The platform has a limited set of native integrations compared to other Hotjar alternatives.
- The wealth of data and features available could lead to analysis paralysis.
Pricing: Contact Glassbox for pricing.
2. Chartbeat
Best For: Newsroom editors optimizing homepage content
Chartbeat’s real-time analytics platform helps you optimize content performance with precision and speed. You get instant insights through AI-powered features, visitor analytics, easy-to-implement headline testing, and comprehensive conversion tracking—all designed to maximize engagement and drive results for publishers.
The platform’s robust testing tools and automated content recommendations help publishers make data-driven decisions that boost conversions, drive engagement, and strengthen audience loyalty.
Key Features:
- Real-time A/B testing engine: Automatically optimizes headline and image performance using bandit algorithms (Thompson Sampling methodology) to serve winning variants more frequently.
- Quality click analytics: Goes beyond basic CTR by measuring “Quality Clicks” and tracking when users spend 15+ seconds engaging with content after clicking.
- Multi-variant testing capabilities: Allows simultaneous testing of headlines, images, and headline/image combinations across multiple aspect ratios.
Pros:
- Real-time analytics update every second.
- Built-in headline and image A/B testing tools provide quick, conclusive results.
- Dynamic performance testing through automated bandit algorithms to deliver the highest engagement titles and content elements.
- Comprehensive engagement metrics include scroll depth and recirculation data.
Cons:
- Platform focuses primarily on publishing and content metrics.
- Testing capabilities are mainly content-focused (headlines, images).
- Dashboard emphasizes real-time data over historical trends, making it harder to analyze long-term conversion patterns.
Pricing: Contact Chartbeat for a demo.
3. VWO Insights
Best For: Enterprise e-commerce optimization managers scaling experimentation across global sites
VWO is a conversion rate optimization tool designed to optimize digital experiences with comprehensive A/B, split URL, and multivariate testing capabilities. Through an intuitive visual editor and sophisticated code editor, you can swiftly deploy tests while maintaining optimal site performance—all backed by Bayesian statistics.
The platform’s SmartCode technology eliminates common testing pitfalls like slow page loads and flash of original content (FOOC), while qualitative behavioral tools like surveys, heatmaps, and session replays, as well as seamless web analytics integrations, help you make data-driven decisions faster.
Just note that VWO’s A/B testing features are bundled in its VWO Testing package, which is separate from the VWO Insights package where you’ll find its heatmaps and session recording features.
Key Features:
- A/B and multivariate testing: Enables experimentation across web, mobile, and server-side environments to optimize user experiences and boost conversion rates.
- SmartStats Bayesian statistics engine: Delivers intuitive and trustworthy test results using Bayesian statistics to help teams make data-driven decisions with confidence.
- Cross-device and cross-domain testing: Maintains visitor consistency across different devices and domains, allowing for seamless experimentation throughout the entire customer journey.
- Integrated customer data platform: Collects, unifies, and activates customer data across channels, enabling precise audience targeting and personalization based on behavioral attributes and custom segments.
Pros:
- VWO’s comprehensive testing capabilities—including A/B, multivariate, and split URL testing—enable you to run diverse experiment types from a single platform.
- The platform’s advanced targeting features let optimization specialists create highly specific audience segments based on behavior, traffic source, and custom events.
- VWO’s asynchronous SmartCode and built-in widget library help implement tests quickly without compromising page load times.
Cons:
- The platform’s learning curve can be steep for new users.
- VWO’s pricing is considered high relative to available features.
- The visual editor occasionally experiences bugs and technical limitations.
Pricing: Offers a 30-day free trial. VWO Testing and VWO Insights are free for up to 5,000 monthly tracked users (MTU). Paid VWO Testing plans start at $393 per month, while paid VWO Insight plans start at $199 per month when paid annually.
Callout box: Love VWO’s features but not the price? See why Convert is the ideal VWO alternative.
4. Survicate
Best For: Product teams comparing visitor feedback across experiment variations
Survicate helps you complement quantitative experimentation data and generate hypotheses through targeted feedback collection that generates higher response rates. You can deploy multichannel surveys across web, email, mobile, and in-product touchpoints to capture user insights at critical moments.
The platform’s advanced targeting capabilities and auto-enriched response data enable you to make data-driven optimization decisions: test different experiences, identify friction points, and validate changes with real user feedback.
Key Features:
- Targeted survey deployment: Captures feedback from specific user segments by deploying surveys based on user behavior, demographics, and interaction patterns.
- AI-powered analytics hub: Leverage automated sentiment analysis and AI-assisted interpretation of survey responses to quickly identify conversion bottlenecks and optimization opportunities.
- Multi-platform integration: Seamlessly connects with major analytics platforms like Google Analytics, Amplitude, and Optimizely to blend qualitative feedback with quantitative data.
- Advanced data export and API access: Uses JavaScript API, Responses Export API, and webhooks to integrate feedback data directly into your testing workflow and analytics stack.
Pros:
- Advanced targeting capabilities enable precise audience segmentation for more accurate A/B testing results and higher response rates.
- Integration with A/B testing tools streamlines the process of collecting feedback during A/B tests and conversion optimization experiments.
- AI-powered analysis automatically processes feedback data.
Cons:
- Limited customization options for survey aesthetics may restrict alignment with brand guidelines during A/B testing scenarios.
- No native heat mapping or session recording features means you’ll need additional tools for comprehensive user behavior analysis.
Pricing: Offers a 10-day free trial and a free plan for up to 25 responses per month. Paid plans start at $89 per month when paid annually.
5. Microsoft Clarity
Best For: Budget-conscious e-commerce optimizers gathering user feedback
Microsoft Clarity gives you powerful, free analytics to understand your website’s performance through session recordings and heatmaps. You can identify user frustrations with precision tracking of dead clicks and rage clicks, while the unlimited traffic analysis and Google Analytics integration provide comprehensive behavioral data. The platform’s real-time insights and segmentation capabilities help pinpoint optimization opportunities without impacting site performance.
Key Features:
- Interactive heatmaps with purchase conversion data: Shows exactly where users click, scroll, and engage, with specific data on which elements lead to conversions.
- Dead click detection: Automatically identifies where users are clicking but getting no response, helping pinpoint technical issues or UX problems that could hamper conversion rates.
- Rage click analytics: Identifies areas where users show signs of frustration through repeated rapid clicking.
Pros:
- The free-forever model with unlimited traffic enables teams to analyze user behavior at scale without budget constraints.
- AI-powered Copilot automatically analyzes hundreds of session recordings.
- Custom tags and segmentation features allow A/B test tracking across different user segments, enabling more precise optimization decisions.
Cons:
- Strict privacy settings can block recording of certain pages.
- The simplified interface may lack advanced features found in premium tools.
- No built-in A/B testing functionality means you must integrate with separate testing tools to implement variations.
Pricing: Free.
6. Contentsquare
Best For: Enterprise UX teams validating redesigns with real customer behavioral data
Contentsquare, which acquired Hotjar in 2021, is an AI-powered customer experience analytics platform that helps you optimize digital experiences by revealing exactly how users interact with your websites and apps. You can visualize user journeys through intuitive heatmaps and session replays, while getting deep behavioral insights that show why visitors convert or bounce.
The platform combines experience analytics, journey analysis, and voice of customer data to take the guesswork out of A/B testing and give you a complete view of the user experience.
Key Features:
- Advanced journey analysis: Visualize and analyze complete customer paths with color-coded mapping that reveals entry points, navigation patterns, and drop-offs.
- AI-powered session replay: Watch filtered recordings of user sessions with automated detection of friction points like rage clicks and U-turns.
- Interactive heatmaps: Access visual representations of user engagement patterns showing exactly where users click, tap, and scroll.
- Segmentation and comparison: Compare journey patterns and behaviors across different user segments, channels, and campaigns to identify highest-converting paths and opportunities for optimization.
Pros:
- The comprehensive heatmap and session replay features enable teams to visualize exactly how users interact with different test variations.
- The side-by-side comparison functionality for customer journeys and in-page behavior allows A/B test analysts to quickly identify which variation performs better and why.
- The integration capabilities with major analytics platforms and A/B testing tools let teams seamlessly incorporate Contentsquare data into their existing testing workflow.
Cons:
- The platform’s extensive feature set can create a steep learning curve.
- The enterprise-level pricing model may be cost-prohibitive for smaller optimization teams or agencies working with limited budgets.
Pricing: Offers a free forever plan for up to 20,000 monthly sessions. Paid plans start at $40 per month when paid annually.
7. Inspectlet
Best For: Product managers troubleshooting abandoned shopping carts
Inspectlet combines powerful session recording with dynamic heatmaps to reveal exactly how visitors interact with your website. You can watch every mouse movement, scroll, and click while using advanced filtering to focus on the most valuable visitor segments. The platform’s comprehensive toolset—including eye-tracking heatmaps, conversion funnels, and form analytics—helps pinpoint where potential conversions are being lost and what specific elements need optimization.
Key Features:
- Session recording and playback: Captures detailed visitor behavior recordings showing every mouse movement, scroll, click, and keypress.
- Dynamic heatmaps with segmentation: Provides comprehensive heatmap visualizations including eye-tracking, click patterns, and scroll depth.
- Advanced filtering and tagging: Offers powerful filtering capabilities to analyze specific visitor segments, traffic sources, and user behaviors.
- Form analytics and error logging: Monitors form interactions and captures technical errors in real-time.
Pros:
- Session replay with advanced filtering enables you to quickly identify and analyze specific user behavior patterns that impact conversion rates.
- Comprehensive heatmap suite—including eye-tracking, click, and scroll maps—helps visualize user engagement across different page variations.
- Built-in JavaScript error logging automatically flags technical issues that could skew A/B test results or hurt conversion rates.
Cons:
- Session recording instability can compromise data collection.
- Limited native integration options restrict the ability to connect with popular CRO and testing tools in your tech stack.
- Email-only support for lower-tier plans means slower problem resolution.
Pricing: Offers a free plan for up to 2,500 recorded sessions per month. Paid plans start at $33 per month when paid annually.
8. Smartlook
Best For: E-commerce optimization managers uncovering user experience bottlenecks with session replays
Smartlook (now part of Cisco) helps you unlock critical user behavior insights through session recordings, heatmaps, and funnel analysis—revealing exactly why users drop off and what prevents them from converting. You can watch real visitors interact with your website or app, identify UX issues through visual engagement data, and combine event tracking with session replays to validate your A/B test results with more granular user experience data.
Key Features:
- Always-on session recordings: Capture 100% of user interactions with your website or app, providing complete visibility into how users navigate, where they get stuck, and why they abandon.
- Event-based conversion funnels: Analyze complex user paths beyond simple URL-based tracking, with retroactive data analysis and automatic anomaly detection to quickly identify conversion blockers and opportunities for optimization.
- Interactive heatmaps: Generate instant visualizations of user engagement patterns directly within session recordings, showing exactly where users click, move, and scroll to inform design decisions and A/B test hypotheses.
- Integrated revenue tracking: Connect user behavior directly to revenue impact by seeing exactly how much money is lost at each conversion funnel drop-off point.
Pros:
- Always-on session recordings enable you to capture every user interaction.
- Integrated heatmaps with session recordings allow you to instantly visualize user engagement patterns without waiting for data generation.
- The platform combines quantitative and qualitative analytics in one tool.
Cons:
- The platform lacks built-in A/B testing capabilities, requiring integration with external tools to run experiments.
Pricing: Offers a 30-day free trial and a free plan with up to 3,000 monthly sessions. Paid plans start at $55 per month.
9. FullStory
Best For: Enterprise product managers and UX specialists looking for granular funnel analysis and user behavior insights while investigating funnel friction points
FullStory is a comprehensive user experience platform that unlocks insights through custom funnel mapping, heatmap visualizations, and automated analysis of session replay data across your site and product experiences.
You can automatically identify conversion blockers through session replay, heatmaps, and friction signals—then validate your A/B test hypotheses with quantifiable user data. The platform reveals exactly how users navigate your site, highlights where they abandon your funnels, and surfaces revenue-impacting issues through AI-powered analytics. Surface anomalous sessions with signs of user frustration to fast track qualitative research analysis and speed up time to insights.
Key Features:
- Session replay with dev tools: Helps identify and fix conversion-blocking technical issues by showing exactly how users interact with your site.
- Automatic funnel analysis: Automatically captures every user step and quantifies revenue impact of conversion barriers.
- Frustration signal detection: Detects user frustration signals like rage clicks and error states so you can quickly identify and resolve conversion-blocking UX issues.
Pros:
- FullStory’s AI-generated session summaries enable you to quickly understand user behavior patterns without manually watching hours of recordings.
- The platform’s tagless autocapture eliminates the need for manual implementation of events.
- Integration with major A/B testing tools lets you seamlessly analyze user interactions with test variations in real-time.
Cons:
- Session replay storage limitations require teams to strategically choose which user sessions to save for long-term analysis.
- The platform is powerful, but can be somewhat confusing for teams to navigate and understand where to find page-level reports.
- The tool focuses primarily on qualitative insights, requiring integration with additional tools for comprehensive quantitative A/B testing analysis.
Pricing: Contact FullStory for a demo.
10. Plerdy
Best For: E-commerce managers looking for an all-in-one optimization platform
Plerdy is an AI-enhanced conversion optimization platform that helps you transform visitor behavior data into actionable insights. With its comprehensive suite of tools—including heatmaps, session recordings, and A/B testing—you can identify conversion bottlenecks and optimize your website through both qualitative and quantitative insights and experimentation.
It’s a simple-to-use platform without a ton of frills, though unlikely other conversion tools, this one also offers SEO insights as well as the ability to deploy pop-up lead capture forms. The platform boasts high data accuracy, integrates seamlessly with other services, and creates instant CRO reports to help drive data-driven decisions.
Key Features:
- Heatmap analytics: Captures click patterns, scroll depth, and mouse movements across devices.
- Multi-dimensional segmentation: Allows analysis of user behavior by device type, country, traffic source, and bounce rate.
- Event-based tracking integration: Integrates with Google Analytics for event tracking, helping teams monitor specific user interactions and validate optimization hypotheses.
- A/B testing with traffic channel segmentation: Enables teams to test hypotheses and optimize conversion rates based on data-driven insights.
Pros:
- The comprehensive heatmap and session replay tools provide detailed visitor behavior insights that help identify conversion bottlenecks.
- The AI-powered reporting system automatically generates insights about user behavior patterns.
- Insights go beyond web conversion and showcase traffic channel data and SEO analysis like site health and rank tracking.
Cons:
- The strict usage limits on heatmaps and session recordings per pricing tier may constrain testing capabilities for those working with high-traffic websites.
- The storage duration of one, three, or six months limits long-term trend analysis and historical comparison capabilities.
- Plerdy lacks robust anomaly detection and AI filtering for session replays, requiring you to manually uncover UX issues.
Pricing: Offers a free plan for up to 100 heatmaps or up to 500 session recordings. Paid plans start at $21 per month when paid annually.
11. Lucky Orange
Best For: E-commerce optimization specialists looking for a full-stack qualitative data platform
Lucky Orange is an all-in-one user research platform that equips e-commerce marketers and managers with dynamic heatmaps, form analytics, visitor polls, and session recordings to visualize exactly how visitors interact with your website.
It offers visitor profiles that summarize data across sessions and interactions to give you a complete view of a unified customer journey. It also offers a live chat tool, which is an effective way to deliver customer support in real time, but also to collect qualitative feedback through interactions.
Key Features:
- Dynamic heatmaps: Reveals visitor behavior patterns by showing where users click, move, and scroll across your website.
- Session recordings: Watch real visitor interactions with your website to identify pain points, user flow issues, and opportunities for optimization that support your A/B testing hypotheses.
- Live chat: In addition to user behavior analytics, Lucky Orange offers engagement and support tools like live chat to improve the customer experience.
- Real-time visitor feedback: Gather direct user input through customizable surveys and announcements to validate testing hypotheses and understand user preferences before running A/B tests.
Pros:
- Dynamic heatmaps provide real-time visual data of user behavior patterns.
- The Discovery feature uses AI to automatically surface valuable insights.
- Session recordings with click tracking enable detailed user journey analysis.
Cons:
- The user interface has a steeper learning curve.
- Limited native A/B testing capabilities require integration with additional testing tools for comprehensive optimization programs.
- Data storage focuses only on behavioral metrics.
Pricing: Offers a 7-day free trial and a free plan for up to 100 monthly sessions. Paid plans start at $32 per month when paid annually.
12. Crazy Egg
Best For: Small e-commerce teams seeking easy-to-implement A/B tests without developer support
Crazy Egg is a long standing conversion optimization tool famous for its heatmaps. It combines powerful visualization tools with simple A/B testing capabilities to help you uncover conversion bottlenecks and fix them through experimentation.
Track user behavior with heatmaps and session recordings, then validate your optimization ideas through A/B testing that’s easy to set up and analyze without a ton of additional resources. From identifying stuck points with error tracking to measuring success with conversion goals, Crazy Egg delivers actionable insights through an intuitive interface that eliminates complex setups.
Key Features:
- Advanced heatmapping technology: Visualizes user behavior through click tracking and attention mapping.
- Session recording with smart filtering: Captures detailed user interactions including clicks, movements, and scrolling behavior with a color-coded timeline.
- Confetti report segmentation: Breaks down user clicks by referral sources, search terms, and other variables, providing granular insights for targeting specific audience segments and optimizing marketing channels.
Pros:
- Comprehensive heatmapping capabilities with full visitor tracking enable you to capture detailed user behavior data for thorough analysis.
- Advanced List Report feature tracks clicks on both visible and hidden elements.
Cons:
- Limited advanced segmentation options compared to enterprise analytics tools may constrain deep audience analysis capabilities.
- A/B testing functionality is constrained to client-side deployment, simple UI element interventions, and limited native reporting and analysis
Pricing: Offers a 30-day free trial. Paid plans start at $29 per month.
13. Mouseflow
Best For: E-commerce optimization teams running high-volume session recording analysis
Mouseflow enables you to optimize conversions through comprehensive user behavior tracking and analysis. The platform records every visitor session and provides detailed conversion funnel insights—showing exactly where users drop off and letting you watch recordings of both converted and abandoned sessions.
With Mouseflow, you can analyze up to 12 months of data, compare different funnel variations, and filter results by key segments like traffic source or device type to identify your most profitable user paths.
Key Features:
- Session replay with advanced filtering: Capture and analyze complete user sessions with sophisticated filtering capabilities to understand user behavior patterns, pain points, and successful conversion paths.
- Dynamic heatmaps with A/B test integration: Visualize user interactions through click, scroll, and attention heatmaps that can be segmented by test variations to compare behavioral differences between control and variant groups.
- Conversion funnel analysis: Track user journeys through your conversion paths with detailed drop-off analysis and the ability to watch session recordings of both converted and abandoned sessions at each funnel stage.
Pros:
- Session replay captures 100% of user interactions by default.
- The built-in friction score automatically highlights frustrated users.
- Mouseflow includes both form analytics and user feedback tools at no additional cost.
Cons:
- The platform only works on browser-based interactions—mobile app testing isn’t supported.
- Session recordings automatically anonymize certain data for privacy compliance, which may restrict the depth of user behavior analysis for some testing scenarios.
- Mouseflow serves primarily as a data collection tool rather than an A/B testing platform.
Pricing: Offers a 14-day free trial and free plan for up to 500 sessions. Paid plans start at $31 per month when paid annually.
14. Browsee
Best For: E-commerce UX researchers optimizing product page conversion funnels
Browsee delivers deep visual insights into user behavior through session recordings and dynamic heatmaps, helping you identify conversion blockers and UX issues instantly. You can track user confusion, rage clicks, and lost moments while protecting sensitive data with GDPR-compliant features.
Key Features:
- Session recording with behavior tags: Automatically identifies and tags user behaviors like confusion, rage clicks, and lost navigation.
- Dynamic heatmap analysis: Captures user interactions on dynamic elements and modal popups across thousands of pages.
- Visual funnel analysis: Visual representation of user journeys through conversion funnels helps optimization teams identify exact drop-off points and understand user behavior at each conversion stage.
Pros:
- Session recording quality clearly shows every user interaction and technical glitch.
- The heatmap feature provides instant visual feedback on user engagement patterns across different page versions.
- Real-time analytics allow immediate monitoring of test performance.
Cons:
- Limited integration options may require manual data correlation with A/B testing tools.
- The learning curve for advanced features can slow down implementation.
- Pricing scales with traffic volume, which could become costly for high-traffic websites running multiple concurrent tests.
Pricing: Offers a free plan for up to 1,500 recordings per month. Paid plans start at $19 per month when paid annually.
15. UXtweak
Best For: Mid-sized e-commerce teams testing prototype variants pre-deployment
UXtweak’s all-in-one platform helps you optimize conversion rates through comprehensive user behavior analysis and testing tools. You can leverage session recordings, heatmaps, and various testing methods—from A/B tests to usability studies—while accessing a quality-assured user panel spanning 130+ countries. The platform combines enterprise-grade security with intuitive analysis tools, making it easy to gather insights, share findings, and implement data-driven optimizations quickly.
Key Features:
- Advanced session recording: Captures and analyzes every user interaction, providing deep insights into user behavior patterns and conversion obstacles.
- Interactive heatmaps: Visualizes user engagement through click, scroll, and movement maps, helping identify which elements drive or hinder conversions.
- Targeted website surveys: Deploys customizable surveys with skip logic and multiple question types to gather direct feedback about conversion barriers and opportunities.
Pros:
- The all-in-one platform combines session recordings, heatmaps, and A/B testing tools, enabling you to analyze user behavior from multiple angles without switching between tools.
- The platform offers robust participant recruitment across 130+ countries.
- The free plan includes access to all tools with basic limitations.
Cons:
- The Basic plan limits users to only one concurrent active study.
- The session recording response limits (50 per month on the Basic plan) may be too restrictive for teams needing to analyze large numbers of user sessions.
Pricing: Offers a free plan with up to 15 responses per month. Paid plans start at $113 per month when paid annually.
16. Matomo
Best For: Privacy-conscious enterprise testers and analysts who need full data ownership
Matomo came to prominence as a major Google Analytics alternative that offered substantial privacy and data ownership advantages. It’s a comprehensive suite of analytical tools that includes classics like page and session tracking, event analytics, and conversion tracking.
Additionally, it includes qualitative and behavioral insights like session replays and heatmaps, making it a powerful Hotjar alternative. You own all your web data while gaining deep insights into visitor behavior, revenue impact, and complete user journeys. The platform combines analytics with conversion optimization, letting you define custom success metrics and make data-driven decisions that boost ROI.
Key Features:
- Multi-variant Testing: Conduct unlimited A/B/C/D tests on landing pages, CTAs, layouts, and content elements.
- Advanced Goal Tracking: Monitor specific conversion goals, sales, revenue, and user behavior metrics to measure the precise impact of optimization efforts across your entire website.
- Heatmaps and User Behavior Analysis: Visualize exactly how users interact with your website through click, scroll, and movement heatmaps.
Pros:
- Matomo offers both on-premise and cloud hosting.
- Full data ownership and privacy controls allow optimization teams to maintain complete control over sensitive testing and user behavior data.
- The platform integrates A/B testing with detailed visitor profiles.
Cons:
- Setup and maintenance of the On-Premise version requires technical expertise.
- The platform lacks some advanced features found in dedicated A/B testing tools.
- Heatmaps come as an add-on to the On-Premise version, and upgrading to unlimited users require a significant investment.
Pricing: Offers a free 30-day trial for certain add-ons and a free basic On-Premise plan. Cloud plans start at $26 per month, and heatmap, session recording, and A/B testing add-ons start at $259 per year.
How to Choose a Hotjar Alternative
Buying an A/B testing tool or user behavior analysis platform shouldn’t feel risky, though it can be confusing given the endless options and variety of tools on the market. Ensure you end up with the right Hotjar alternative for the right price by considering these key factors:
1. Must-have features
Create a checklist of essential features based on your specific use cases. Consider input from key stakeholders:
- UX research team: Evaluate the depth and quality of user behavior analytics tools, including heatmap accuracy and session recording capabilities.
- Analytics team: Assess the platform’s ability to segment data, create custom events, and integrate with other analytics tools.
- Development team: Consider the implementation requirements and potential performance impact on your website.
2. Data retention and limits
Look for platforms that offer appropriate data storage periods and session recording limits that match your analysis needs without requiring constant upgrades.
3. Performance optimization
Evaluate how each alternative handles website performance, particularly for mobile users and complex web applications. Look for tools that offer efficient data collection methods and minimal impact on page load times.
4. Integration capabilities
Ensure the tool can integrate seamlessly with your existing tech stack, including analytics platforms, A/B testing tools, and customer feedback systems.
5. Pricing scalability
Choose a platform with a pricing structure that scales reasonably with your usage, avoiding tools with steep jumps between tiers that could strain your budget as you grow.
Callout box: See how other heatmapping and session replay tools compare when it comes to ease-of-use, pricing, and features.
Overview of Hotjar
Hotjar is a comprehensive user behavior analytics and feedback platform that helps teams understand how visitors interact with their websites. Since its launch in 2014, Hotjar has become a leading solution for qualitative analytics and user feedback collection. The platform combines multiple tools for understanding user behavior and gathering feedback under one roof.
Hotjar’s capabilities are organized into three main products: Observe, Ask, and Engage. When combined, these tools provide:
Behavior Analytics (Observe):
- Heatmaps: Visualize user clicks, moves, and scroll patterns across your website
- Session recordings: Watch real visitor recordings to understand user journeys and pain points
- Conversion funnels: Track user paths and identify where visitors drop off
User Feedback (Ask and Engage):
- Feedback widgets: Collect real-time feedback from users on specific pages
- Surveys: Create and distribute both on-site and external surveys
- Incoming feedback: Gather continuous user sentiment and comments
- Interviews and user tests: Get one-on-one insights or scale your feedback gathering
The Pros and Cons of Hotjar
Looking at recent reviews from Capterra, G2, TrustRadius, and Gartner Peer Insights, here’s how users rate Hotjar:
- Capterra score: 4.7 out of 5 stars (532 reviews)
- G2 score: 4.3 out of 5 stars (307 reviews)
- TrustRadius score: 8.4 out of 10 stars (346 reviews)
- Gartner Peer Insights score: 4.5 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)
Hotjar Pros
Here’s what users consistently praise about Hotjar:
Intuitive Interface
Users frequently highlight Hotjar’s clean, user-friendly interface. The platform organizes its tools logically, making it easy for both beginners and experienced analysts to navigate and use its features. The session recording player and heatmap visualization tools are particularly praised for their simplicity and effectiveness.
Comprehensive Behavior Analytics
Hotjar excels at providing multiple ways to understand user behavior. The combination of heatmaps, session recordings, and feedback tools gives teams a holistic view of how users interact with their websites. Users appreciate being able to switch between different analysis methods within the same platform.
Quick Implementation
Teams consistently mention how easy it is to get started with Hotjar. The platform offers a simple JavaScript snippet for installation and most features work immediately after implementation. This makes it accessible for teams without extensive technical resources.
Quality of Insights
Users praise the depth and actionability of insights they can gather through Hotjar. The ability to combine quantitative data (like click patterns) with qualitative feedback helps teams make more informed decisions about website optimization.
Hotjar Cons (Why Shop Around for Hotjar Alternatives?)
Here are the most common drawbacks users mention:
Storage Limitations
Many users point out restrictions on session recording storage and replay limits, especially on lower-tier plans. One G2 reviewer, Shubham K., noted, “Hotjar retains data for a limited period, depending on your plan. If you require long-term data analysis or historical insights, you may need to consider alternative data storage options or upgrade to a plan with extended data retention.”
Pricing Structure
As teams scale their usage, costs can increase significantly—and the acquisition by Contentsquare also signaled pricing changes. A senior product manager on Capterra mentioned, “After the product was acquired the price was instantly increased while the pricing tiers became extremely hard to follow which added additional friction and made me move to other tools and services.”
In terms of market competition, products like Microsoft Clarity are offering scalable free versions of several core Hotjar features, making it an easier starting point for many UX and product teams.
Liam F., a technical SEO, mentioned this in a Capterra review, saying, “Microsoft Clarity came along, offering the same features, for free. I wanted to stay with Hotjar as they’d always worked to improve their tool and the team were brilliant if I ever needed anything or had any questions but ultimately there wasn’t much to differentiate Hotjar and Clarity so I decided the cost wasn’t worth it for me.”
Limited Analytics Depth
While Hotjar excels at behavior analytics, some users note limitations in quantitative analysis capabilities. A support engineer on G2 commented, “There are points that could be improved, such as the analysis of the conversion funnel and forms, which… do not have the level of detail of other tools (some of them free, as is the case of Google Analytics for conversion funnels).”
Performance Impact
Some users report that Hotjar’s script can impact website performance, particularly on pages with complex interactions or heavy content. G2 reviewer Vishnu N. noted, “It does take a toll on the website’s performance. I have noticed that the website loading speed is affected after we installed the tracking code. Its a bit heavy compared to other tools.”
Acquisition
Hotjar was acquired by enterprise customer experience solution, Contentsquare, making the future of the dedicated Hotjar platform uncertain. It is unclear how feature roadmaps will be altered and how and if pricing changes will occur, causing existing Hotjar users to consider alternatives like those mentioned on this list.
Conclusion
Each of the 16 alternatives we’ve reviewed offers unique strengths in areas like heatmapping, session recording, survey capabilities, and data analysis. While Hotjar remains a popular choice for basic behavior analytics, many teams find they need more robust capabilities as their optimization programs mature.
For teams looking to expand beyond basic behavior analysis into comprehensive experimentation, Convert emerges as a particularly compelling alternative. While Hotjar excels at showing you how users interact with your website, Convert takes this a step further by enabling you to act on those insights through sophisticated A/B testing and experimentation.
With its enterprise-grade features at mid-market pricing, flicker-free testing technology, and extensive integration ecosystem of 90+ tools (including popular analytics platforms), Convert helps teams bridge the gap between understanding user behavior and implementing data-driven improvements.
Book a demo or start a free trial today to see how Convert can help you boost conversions with less hassle and greater precision.