What is the best free alternative to Hotjar?

Microsoft Clarity is the standout, offering unlimited heatmaps and session recordings for free with no sampling or session caps. Mouseflow and PostHog also have free tiers.

Which Hotjar alternative includes A/B testing?

Crazy Egg has built-in A/B testing alongside its heatmaps and recordings, and PostHog includes experiments as part of its product analytics platform.

Do these alternatives also provide traffic analytics?

Some do. Matomo, GA4, and PostHog combine behavior tools with quantitative analytics, whereas Clarity, Crazy Egg, and Mouseflow focus mainly on heatmaps and recordings.

Why do teams switch away from Hotjar?

The common reasons are rising costs at higher session volumes, data sampling and session caps on lower tiers, the lack of traffic analytics, and roadmap uncertainty after the Contentsquare acquisition.

Hotjar Alternatives (2026): 8 Additional Options for Heatmaps and Session Recording

Hotjar popularized heatmaps, session recordings, and on-site surveys, and it remains a go-to for UX and CRO teams. But as sites grow, its limits show: pricing climbs with session volume, lower tiers sample data and cap sessions, it does not give you traditional traffic or conversion analytics, and now that it is part of Contentsquare some users worry about the roadmap. The script weight and session limits push many teams to look around.

Whether you want free unlimited recordings, deeper digital-experience analytics, or heatmaps bundled with product analytics, there are strong Hotjar alternatives. Below are eight options that beat Hotjar on price, depth, or data limits.

TL;DR

Microsoft Clarity offers free, unlimited heatmaps and session recordings, the strongest free alternative to Hotjar.
FullStory and PostHog add deeper digital-experience and product analytics alongside replay.
Crazy Egg and Mouseflow are close feature-for-feature heatmap and recording competitors.
Pick based on whether you want free recordings, product analytics, or dedicated CRO tooling.

Why look for a Hotjar alternative?

Hotjar's pricing rises steeply as your monthly session volume grows.
Lower tiers sample sessions and cap how many recordings you can capture.
It provides behavior tools but no traditional traffic, pageview, or conversion analytics.
The tracking script can add noticeable weight to page load.
Its acquisition by Contentsquare has left some users uncertain about the long-term roadmap.

Hotjar alternatives at a glance

Tool	Starting price	Rating	Best for
Microsoft Clarity	Free	★ 4.8	Budget-conscious teams wanting unlimited recordings and heatmaps for free.
FullStory	Free	★ 4.5	UX and product teams needing searchable, quantified experience data.
PostHog	Free	★ 4.5	Engineering-led teams wanting replay alongside product analytics.
Google Analytics 4	Free	★ 4.7	Teams needing free traffic and conversion metrics to pair with behavior tools.
Matomo	$29/mo	★ 4.7	Privacy-focused teams wanting analytics and heatmaps in one owned platform.
Amplitude	$49/mo	★ 4.5	Product and growth teams needing rigorous behavioral analytics.
Crazy Egg	From $29/mo (billed annually), including 30,000 tracked pageviews on the entry plan.	—	CRO teams wanting heatmaps plus native A/B testing.
Mouseflow	Free plan (500 sessions/mo); paid plans from about $31/mo billed annually.	—	Teams wanting a near-identical heatmap and recording tool, including a free tier.

1. Microsoft Clarity

Best for free, unlimited heatmaps and recordings

★ 4.8· CapterraFree

What it does better than Hotjar

Microsoft Clarity offers heatmaps and session recordings completely free with unlimited traffic and no session caps or sampling, which directly solves Hotjar's biggest pain points. It also adds useful signals like rage clicks and dead clicks at no cost.

Where Hotjar still wins

Hotjar has more mature survey and feedback tools and a more polished CRO-focused workflow than the free Clarity.

Best for: Budget-conscious teams wanting unlimited recordings and heatmaps for free.

Visit Microsoft Clarity Full review

2. FullStory

Best for deep digital-experience analytics

★ 4.5· G2Free

What it does better than Hotjar

FullStory autocaptures every interaction and combines session replay with quantitative behavioral analytics, so you can search and quantify friction rather than just watch recordings. Its analysis depth goes well beyond Hotjar's.

Where Hotjar still wins

FullStory is more expensive and complex than Hotjar, and it is more analyst-oriented than a quick CRO heatmap tool.

Best for: UX and product teams needing searchable, quantified experience data.

Visit FullStory Full review

3. PostHog

Best for replay plus product analytics

★ 4.5· G2Free

What it does better than Hotjar

PostHog bundles session replay with full product analytics, funnels, feature flags, and experiments in one open-source platform, so you get behavior recordings and hard metrics together, unlike Hotjar. It has a generous free tier.

Where Hotjar still wins

PostHog is more technical and lacks Hotjar's dedicated heatmap and survey polish for non-technical CRO teams.

Best for: Engineering-led teams wanting replay alongside product analytics.

Visit PostHog Full review

4. Google Analytics 4

Best for free traffic and conversion analytics

★ 4.7· CapterraFree

What it does better than Hotjar

GA4 is free and provides the traffic, event, and conversion analytics Hotjar entirely lacks, so it fills the quantitative gap behind the behavior data. Many teams run it alongside a recording tool.

Where Hotjar still wins

GA4 has no heatmaps or session recordings, so it is complementary rather than a direct replacement for Hotjar's core features.

Best for: Teams needing free traffic and conversion metrics to pair with behavior tools.

Visit Google Analytics 4 Full review

5. Matomo

Best for privacy-first analytics with heatmaps

★ 4.7· Capterra$29/mo

What it does better than Hotjar

Matomo combines full web analytics with optional heatmaps and session recordings while giving you data ownership through self-hosting, so you get both quantitative and behavioral views privately. It avoids the sampling and caps of Hotjar's lower tiers.

Where Hotjar still wins

Matomo's heatmaps are add-ons, and it is heavier to set up and run than Hotjar's plug-and-play script.

Best for: Privacy-focused teams wanting analytics and heatmaps in one owned platform.

Visit Matomo Full review

6. Amplitude

Best for product behavior and experimentation

★ 4.5· G2$49/mo

What it does better than Hotjar

Amplitude offers deep product behavior analysis, cohorting, and experimentation that explain the why behind on-page behavior far more rigorously than Hotjar's qualitative tools. It scales to enterprise growth analysis.

Where Hotjar still wins

Amplitude has no native heatmaps or session recordings and starts at $49/mo, so it is complementary to a recording tool rather than a replacement.

Best for: Product and growth teams needing rigorous behavioral analytics.

Visit Amplitude Full review

7. Crazy Egg

Best for CRO-focused heatmaps and A/B testing

From $29/mo (billed annually), including 30,000 tracked pageviews on the entry plan.

What it does better than Hotjar

Crazy Egg is a direct heatmap and recording competitor that adds built-in A/B testing and page-level CRO tooling Hotjar's core plan does not include. Its Snapshots and confetti reports are well suited to conversion optimization.

Where Hotjar still wins

Crazy Egg requires annual billing on all plans and has a smaller feedback/survey toolkit than Hotjar.

Best for: CRO teams wanting heatmaps plus native A/B testing.

8. Mouseflow

Best for a close feature-for-feature swap

Free plan (500 sessions/mo); paid plans from about $31/mo billed annually.

What it does better than Hotjar

Mouseflow mirrors Hotjar's core with session recording, heatmaps, click tracking, scroll maps, and funnels, and it offers a free forever plan for small sites. Its funnel and form analytics are a practical CRO strength.

Where Hotjar still wins

Mouseflow's free plan caps you at 500 sessions/month, and its brand and integrations are less extensive than Hotjar's.

Best for: Teams wanting a near-identical heatmap and recording tool, including a free tier.

How to choose the right Hotjar alternative

Choose Microsoft Clarity if you want unlimited heatmaps and recordings for free.
Choose FullStory if you need searchable, quantified digital-experience analytics.
Choose PostHog if you want session replay bundled with product analytics and flags.
Choose Google Analytics 4 if you need free traffic and conversion metrics to pair with behavior tools.
Choose Matomo if you want analytics plus heatmaps in one privacy-first, owned platform.
Choose Amplitude if you need rigorous product behavior analysis and experimentation.
Choose Crazy Egg if you want CRO heatmaps with built-in A/B testing.
Choose Mouseflow if you want a near-identical Hotjar swap, including a free tier.

How we evaluated

Feature mapping — we compare each alternative's capabilities against the tool it's replacing, job for job.
Real pricing — starting prices come from each vendor's public pricing page, labeled by tier.
User sentiment — ratings and review counts are aggregated from third-party platforms (Capterra, G2) and shown with their source.
Right-sizing — we weigh which team size, budget, and technical comfort each option actually fits.
Independence — we don't sell a competing product, and affiliate relationships never change our picks.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free alternative to Hotjar?: Microsoft Clarity is the standout, offering unlimited heatmaps and session recordings for free with no sampling or session caps. Mouseflow and PostHog also have free tiers.
Which Hotjar alternative includes A/B testing?: Crazy Egg has built-in A/B testing alongside its heatmaps and recordings, and PostHog includes experiments as part of its product analytics platform.
Do these alternatives also provide traffic analytics?: Some do. Matomo, GA4, and PostHog combine behavior tools with quantitative analytics, whereas Clarity, Crazy Egg, and Mouseflow focus mainly on heatmaps and recordings.
Why do teams switch away from Hotjar?: The common reasons are rising costs at higher session volumes, data sampling and session caps on lower tiers, the lack of traffic analytics, and roadmap uncertainty after the Contentsquare acquisition.

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