Top 10 Hotjar Alternatives

Hotjar is a popular choice for people just starting with user behavior analysis. But skilled marketers, product managers, and user experience (UX) experts use Hotjar to understand why users leave their sites. Because they encounter some significant limitations with Hotjar and Hotjar heatmap:

  • It no longer has funnel analysis features. You must pay for a second tool or set up a manual integration with Google Analytics to know where users leave a funnel.
  • Defining and tracking events requires programming and a paid plan. JavaScript code must be written, and the Hotjar Event API must be used to track simple events like button clicks. JavaScript code must be written to track simple events like button clicks, and the Hotjar Event API must be used. You must use JavaScript code and Hotjar's Event API to track simple events like button clicks. Furthermore, you can not use events to build funnels, a crucial application for event tracking.
  • It’s got very limited quantitative analysis capabilities, especially compared to most tools listed below. Its quantitative analysis capabilities are extremely limited, especially compared to most of the tools below.
Hotjar Alternatives; Source: Crazyegg


Many professionals look for Hotjar alternatives because of these drawbacks and the inability to examine user behavior on mobile apps, i.e., the lack of Hotjar Mobile. In this article, we have listed the top 10 Hotjar alternatives that address these drawbacks in one way or another:

Hotjar vs Browsee

Browsee stands out as a robust alternative to Hotjar, offering comprehensive analytics and a wealth of user-centered features based on valuable user data With a 4.9 G2 rating, Browsee surpasses Hotjar's 4.4 rating, underscoring the growing confidence in the market. Starting at just $24, Browsee’s pricing is more budget-friendly compared to Hotjar pricing of $39.

Browsee


Browsee's session recordings, funnels, and powerful heatmaps provide unparalleled insight into user behavior, while dynamic heatmaps and segmentation allow for deeper analysis. By prioritizing recording and tracking by sub-areas, Browsee ensures a seamless user experience. Its customizable dashboard, engagement analysis, and insightful graphs help monitor important metrics effortlessly.

The Chrome extension simplifies web browsing on the go, offering URL and element search. Browsee’s user-friendly approach, advanced features, and affordable pricing make it a solid choice for increasing website conversions. Start your free trial to experience Browsee functionality and proactively display web content.

Hotjar vs Smartlook

Among all the other options on this list, Smartlook is probably the most comparable to Hotjar regarding features. Session recordings, heatmaps, events, and funnels are just a few of the essential features. And they are all compatible with a variety of devices.

SmartLook; Source: Smartlook 


With the session recording feature, you are provided with a few helpful filters right out of the gate to assist you in finding the most crucial sessions. These include the visited URL, the length of the session, the device, and the operating system.

There are three different types of heatmaps, and they all function similarly to the Hotjar heatmap:

  • Click heatmaps
  • Movement heatmaps
  • Scroll heatmaps

By combining this with the aforementioned filters, you can effectively gather only the required feedback without any extraneous information that might obstruct your efforts. However, Smartlook does not have Hotjar's survey feature.

Although the product offers a free trial, you will not get much data because there are only 1,500 sessions available. Additionally, since the retention period is only one month, the data you do obtain will not be kept for very long. Paid plans start at $39 per month, providing access to 10 heatmaps and 5,000 sessions stored for one month. Overall, Smartlook has a competitive offer, but to benefit from this app, you must spend more ($111 per month for the Business plan).

Hotjar vs FullStory

FullStory might be identical to Hotjar on paper, but it is superior. It has many of the same features, such as session replays, heatmaps, funnels, and conversions. Privacy is an important component of FullStory's offer. The company emphasizes that you are not capturing any passwords or other sensitive information and that all the data you gather through the app is 100 percent legal. One method for doing this is using a tagless auto-capture tool, which records every interaction a visitor has with your website or mobile app.

Fullstory; Source: Fullstory


Although the color scheme is slightly different from Hotjar's, the heatmap function functions reasonably well, and the basic idea of the Hotjar heatmap is the same. Even though you can gain comprehensive insights from heatmaps alone, FullStory advises using the session replay tool in addition to heatmaps to identify particular issues. The price of FullStory is not listed on the website. However, a 14-day free trial is offered. Overall, it is a very strong tool; the only significant drawback we can identify is the absence of clear pricing.

Hotjar vs UXCam

Its intended use is the primary distinction between Hotjar and UXCam. UXCam primarily focuses on mobile apps, while Hotjar can be used for websites and mobile apps (Hotjar Mobile). UXCam claims that over 37,000 mobile apps currently use its software.

UXCam; Source: UXCam


The feature set appears to be fairly comparable as well. You can access session replays, which let you look back at an entire user session or focus on particular areas of the user flow. You can perform event analytics to determine which funnel events are causing problems.

You can easily identify where users are losing interest in your app by using screen flow analytics to see how they move around different sections. Importantly, UXCam also offers a heatmap feature like Hotjar heatmap.

The tool provides information on gestures like unresponsive taps, rage gestures, and the first and last touch on a screen. The app supports a variety of micro gestures, such as single and double taps, swipes, long presses, and more.

10,000 monthly sessions are included in the free trial, along with tools like tagless auto-capture, event analytics, and user analytics. You must request a quote for the paid plans because there is no publicly available pricing information.

Hotjar vs Inspectlet

Inspectlet is a website analytics tool with CRO and debugging features such as A/B testing and error logging. The current feature of Inspectlet is quite similar to what Hotjar provides. Both of them have feedback forms, heat maps, and session recordings. This implies that their event and funnel capabilities are also constrained in a similar way.

Inspectlet; Source: Inspectlet


A/B testing, form analytics, and error logging are the three areas where Inspectlet excels. In comparison to Hotjar pricing options, it also provides more recorded sessions. Inspectlet, however, only keeps data for between 1 and 6 months for their more affordable pricing plans.

Finally, there is an odd difference in how Inspectlet collects data. The tool staggers session recordings by design, which means it can pause users' recordings to prevent you from exceeding your monthly allotment. While it is not always bad, it can result in the loss of crucial recordings.

Hotjar vs Plerdy

Plerdy provides solutions for various use cases, including user behavior analysis, quantitative website analytics (events and funnel capabilities), SEO, and more. Plerdy includes most of Hotjar's key features, such as Hotjar heatmaps, screen recordings, and surveys. However, Plerdy is restricted to Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys only, whereas Hotjar enables you to create more complex ones.

Plerdy; Source: Capterra 


Depending on what you want to use, Plerdy's pricing plans vary because of their much wider scope. Their pricing for the behavior analytics tools is more expensive than Hotjar's. For example, the $47/month Plerdy plan only captures 2,000 recordings, whereas the $39/month Hotjar pricing plan captures 3,000 recordings in much less time.

Hotjar vs Clarity

Microsoft's Clarity is a free tool for behavior analytics that includes session recordings, heatmaps, automated insights, and a Google Analytics integration.  When it comes to heatmaps and session recordings, Clarity is a good alternative to Hotjar. Every time a user accesses your website, Clarity records the session, but it cautions that not all sessions may have recordings.

Clarity; Source: Clarity 


More than 25 filter options are also available, and they can be applied to both recordings and heatmaps. It also offers an infinite number of heatmaps. Its insights dashboard automatically displays sessions, such as rage clicks, rapid scrolling, and JavaScript errors, that may point to friction points on your website.   Clarity does not provide surveys, funnel analysis, and other methods of getting customer feedback.

Hotjar vs LiveSession

Quite similar in terms of features and use cases to Hotjar, but with a different twist. LiveSession was created to assist two distinct audiences: SaaS companies seeking to enhance customer acquisition and retention and owners of e-commerce businesses seeking to lower cart abandonment and increase revenue.

LiveSession; Source: Software Advice 


LiveSession stands out from the other entries on this list for SaaS audiences thanks to a few tricks it has up its sleeve. Alerts are the ones that stand out the most. Custom event alerts can be configured during the SaaS subscription process. For instance, LiveSession will send you a notification on Slack if it detects that a customer is about to make a purchase and gets stuck at the checkout.

You can also design a complete user journey within the app, which you can visualize on your dashboard. You can assign customers an engagement score based on their actions. It will give you a precise understanding of who your customers are and how to serve them when combined with, for instance, survey data from an NPS survey. Although there is a free plan, it is not very generous because you can only use it for 1,000 monthly sessions. Paid plans begin at $65 per month and include 5,000 sessions.

Hotjar vs Refiner

In addition to micro surveys, which are incredibly useful, Hotjar's feature set includes Hotjar heatmaps. The same applies to Refiner. It targets a specific audience, and that is the only explanation. Refiner provides micro surveys for SaaS products, assisting product teams in posing the appropriate queries at the appropriate time. Additionally, it functions just as well with web-based, iOS, and Android mobile apps.

Refiner; Source: Refiner



Refiner's editor is fairly simple to use, making it simple to modify the surveys to match the design of your website and app. Many templates, such as NPS, CSAT, CES, and product-market fit, are also available for the typical survey types.

Even Refiner's most affordable plan, which costs $79 per month for 5,000 users compared to Hotjar, is still pricey.

If you are looking for this kind of product, this seems like a good deal, but remember that this plan does not include tracking user events. The monthly cost of the package that does include this feature is $199. Refiner was made for a very specific audience, but it is comparable to Hotjar in some ways. Hotjar is a bit expensive for the average user but an excellent tool for SaaS product teams.

Hotjar vs CrazyEgg

There are two critical things you need to understand about CrazyEgg. It is the oldest tool on this list and was cofounded in 2006 by marketing tycoon Neil Patel. This business developed the original heatmap technology and coined the term "heatmap."

Crazyegg; Source: TechnologyAdvice


The heatmap is the most fundamental component of this tool. You start with it and then move on to the scroll map report, which identifies where visitors start and stop scrolling and is the best place for a CTA. The "confetti report" performs the same function but with individual clicks, allowing you to determine who clicks on what based on their location, device, previous website activity, and other factors.

The overlay report, which separates clicks and actions based on page elements, is another option. The list report also provides a list of page elements that are clicked on and scrolled through. You can look at the session recording to go beyond the heatmap, which CrazyEgg does a great job implementing.

This tool is available for a free trial, and if you choose to upgrade, the monthly cost starts at $29 and includes up to 30,000 tracked pageviews, 25 snapshots (heatmaps), and 3,000 session recordings. This one likely offers the best value for your money from Hotjar's direct rivals.

Conclusion

Hotjar for apps may be the most popular session recording and heatmap app available, but it is by no means the only or even the best. It is up to you to decide which tool, given your unique requirements and financial constraints, works best for you out of the tools mentioned in the list to claim the kingship of the heatmap throne.

Do not forget to give Browsee a free trial while thinking about it. We provide heatmaps and a staggering variety of surveys that make it simple for you to gather customer feedback, which makes the comparison of Hotjar vs Browsee easier to make.



How much is a great User Experience worth to you?


Browsee helps you understand your user's behaviour on your site. It's the next best thing to talking to them.

Browsee Product