In a very short period, Hotjar has become a favorite of website owners for their web analytics needs. What gives it a clear edge over other web analytics platforms is the versatility that not only offers more flexibility but also makes analyzing the online behavior of users hassle-free. That all being said, the website analytics tool does have some shortcomings like the inability to provide in-depth analytics and less organized video recordings. Not to mention, it also seems to add plenty of load time to websites – which is nothing but a nightmare, to say the least. If these downsides have forced you to look beyond, let’s jump right in to explore the best Hotjar alternatives of 2022!
1. Smartlook
When it comes to providing accurate analytics for websites and mobile apps, “Smartlook” has long been a trusted name. But unlike many other website analytics platforms, it’s more cost-effective despite being feature-rich. So, if you find Hotjar a bit too expensive for your budget, do not fail to try it out.
- SmartlookMouseflowMicrosoft ClarityFullStoryCrazy EggContentsquareBrowseeMatomoVWOWalkMeZoho PageSenseFreshmarketerMopinionLucky OrangePtengine
Better yet, Smartlook has a powerful event tracking feature that enables you to keep track of all the events on your websites automatically. Save this feature for the times when you wish to keep a close watch on every important event. In terms of event tracking, Smartlook has a clear edge over Hotjar – both in terms of simplicity and precision.
Taking everything into account, Smartlook is a highly-rated cost-effective, and free alternative to Hotjar in the market right now.
Cons:
Pricing: Free, premium plan starts at $39/month Visit: Website
Mouseflow is one of the very few website analytic tools that offer the best of both worlds: impressive analysis and competitive price. So, if you are looking for an affordable yet highly effective Hotjar alternative, it can fit into your billing with fairly good results.
In terms of features, Mouseflow is very similar to Hotjar’s noted offerings like form analytics, session replay, heatmaps, and funnels. Though they can’t compete with the latter’s offerings as far as efficiency is concerned, they can prove to be more than a handful. Besides, it also offers integrations with several popular platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, Google Analytics, Hubspot, and Shopify which provide more flexibility.
If Hotjar claims to have many filtering options, Mouseflow doesn’t look too far behind. For instance, you use filters and segments to quickly segment your visitors by the operating system, traffic source, location, and more. Even better, it also lets you save a separate filter to analyze later.
Cons:
- Lacks powerful analytics tools
Pricing: Free, starts at $24/month Visit: Website
Microsoft Clarity is a Hotjar alternative for free. Yes, that’s right. Microsoft offers access to Clarity to users for free. As you might have guessed already, there is a catch. Microsoft will process anonymous data of Clarity users to understand user behavior-related insights and to improve its machine learning models. Honestly, for what you’re getting here, it’s a fair trade-off if you ask me.
As far as the features are concerned, you get instant heatmaps with click regions to reveal areas of high engagement, scroll heatmaps to know how far your users scrolled, and area heatmaps to view the total clicks within an area. You also get session recordings to view how users interact with your site, insights with over 25 filters, and Google Analytics integration. If you are a beginner who wants to get started with web analytics, Clarity has got you covered.
- Processes your anonymized data
Pricing: FreeVisit: Website
Though there is a lot to like in FullStory, I would talk about the notable features that make it an excellent alternative to Hotjar. First and foremost, the web analytics platform is designed for multitasking. So, it doesn’t matter whether you are trying to keep a close watch on user trends or get the session replays, it comes with all the tools to keep you in the loop.
Even better, this web analytics platform also offers a freemium variant with basic features like 1, 000 sessions/month, user trends, event funnels, and heatmaps. However, its premium version starts at a staggering price of $849. If you are looking for a basic tool without spending any bucks, the free version could be a fine alternative.
Pros:
Pricing: 2 weeks trial, enterprise and business plans availableVisit: Website
Should you think of getting a website analytics tool that can offer plenty of customization, look no further than “Crazy Egg”. Apart from providing more customization than Hotjar, it also comes with many notable features that can give its more popular rival a run for its money. And that too, without costing an arm and a leg!
Moreover, its recordings look a bit more organized than those of Hotjar’s. Another area where this cost-effective alternative looks pretty good is the ability to create and modify content thanks to the handy editor that’s quite easy to use. So, even if you aren’t a pro developer, you can modify some basic things without any hiccups.
Pricing: 30-day free trial, starts at $29/month Visit: Website
6. Contentsquare
Contentsquare is the elder sibling of Hotjar. In September of 2021, Contentsquare acquired Hotjar to streamline its operations. While Hotjar is aimed at entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), and mid-market companies, Contentsquare caters to enterprises.
Contentsquare offers a variety of features including customer journey analysis, zone-based heatmaps, session replays, form analysis, and even merchandising analysis. Ideal for enterprises, Contentsquare’s features are beneficial for digital marketing, analytics, e-commerce, design & UX, operations & IT, and product teams.
Pricing: Enterprise plans are availableVisit: Website
7. Browsee
Browsee is another Hotjar alternative you could consider. Like other services listed here, Browsee offers heatmaps and session recordings. Notably, you get the option to prioritize specific sessions to suit your needs. Browsee also lets you block pages and patterns for session recordings. With sentiment tags, you get to differentiate rage clicks from valuable high-engagement clicks.
Browsee’s heatmaps let you filter traffic based on the source, country, and click type. You can also compare heatmaps to track the changes in user behavior after you have modified an important page like the landing page. As far as the integrations are concerned, you can use Browsee with Intercom chat, Tawk chat, Shopify, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and more.
Pricing: Free; Starts at $12/monthVisit: Website
8. Matomo
Matomo” may not be a popular name but when it comes to offering reliable web analytics, it’s at par with the best in the business. Moreover, it comes at a relatively low price of $20/month which makes it an excellent budget-friendly alternative to Hotjar.
But unlike Hotjar, Matomo goes a bit deeper into the detail providing several vital info like media analytics, content interactions, transitions, and row evolution. So, if the former isn’t able to offer the needed analytical data about visitors, it can prove to be very helpful in driving the growth rate and also diagnosing the Achilles heels.
Pricing: 21-day free trial, Essential plan comes at $19/month Visit: Website
For an in-depth analysis and much better insight into the behavior of visitors, you can’t go wrong with VWO (Visual Website Optimizer). In terms of accuracy and the ability to deliver detailed analysis, I put this platform a few notches above Hotjar. Combining heatmaps, on-page surveys, and session recordings, VWO enables you to easily spot the problematic areas.
Just like Hotjar, it also offers form analytics which allows you to figure out visitors’ interactions and the reasons why they drop off the form analytics. Furthermore, you can even find out the thing that caused the most confusion or took more time. If you want to go even further into the detail, you can also choose to watch the recordings of the visitors who either didn’t submit the form or got stuck.
Pricing: 30-day free trial, starts at $199/month Visit: Website
10. WalkMe
WalkMe has long been considered a highly rated web analytics platform. What makes this a great substitute for Hotjar is its ability to offer a comprehensive solution. So, whether you wish to get better insights or the advanced tools to keep an eye on every activity performed by a visitor, it can live up to your expectations with aplomb.
But unlike Hotjar, WalkMe goes well beyond just providing in-depth analysis. You can take advantage of the top-notch campaign designer to boost your campaign. With the advanced security to boot, your data remains safeguarded and away from the wicked eyes.
Pricing: Free, the premium version comes at around $9000/yearVisit: Website
If you have set your sight on enhancing conversion optimization, give a chance to Zoho PageSense to help you understand your visitors’ online behavior and offer them a fully personalized experience for much-improved conversions.
For a more personalized result, you can add specific goals to monitor clicks and create a conversion funnel to keep a track of the pages that need immediate attention. Another feature that makes PageSense a notable Hotjar competitor is the powerful heatmaps that enable you to figure out the parts of your website that catch the attention of your visitors instantly.
12. Freshmarketer
For the pro marketers who think that Hotjar isn’t able to help them get better leads and desperately wish to win more sales with smart conversion optimization, “Freshmarketer” appears to be an excellent bet. Using dynamic heatmaps, you can effortlessly analyze visitor behavior by monitoring several things like clicks and scrolls on your website.
As for conducting polls, it offers you plenty of flexibility to customize the poll widget using a nice color palette. Notably, Freshmarketer also offers a decent freemium plan with basic features like contact and list management, web form tracking, email builder, and limited conversion optimization feature. As for the premium variant, it starts at $19/month, which is a solid deal considering the wide range of tools it offers.
- Requires plenty of learning curve
Pricing: Free, starts at $19/month Visit: Website
Looking for a Hotjar alternative that can deliver the most helpful feedback analytics? “Mopinion” promises to be the right answer to your needs. What has caught my eye in this web analytics platform is the event-driven feedback system which enables you to fine-tune feedback forms for specific groups of online visitors. Thus, you have more chances of getting the desired response from visitors.
Another area where Mopinion seems to have an edge over Hotjar is the ability to provide comprehensive text analytics reports. And with the fully customizable dashboard, you can get rid of the clutter to make it show only the info that you need. Furthermore, it also provides email sharing and real-time alerts to keep the entire team in sync.
- Event-driven feedback systemProvides comprehensive text analytics reportsFully customizable dashboard
Pricing: 14-day free trial, $229/month Visit: Website
Last but not least, I have saved “Lucky Orange” specifically for the folks who want to get one of the cheapest Hotjar alternatives without compromising much on quality. This web analytics platform works pretty much like its more famed counterpart.
Just like Hotjar, Lucky Orange also creates an automatic recording of every visitor. Thanks to the segment recordings, you can conveniently find out why users are dropping off. On the heatmaps front, it’s just up to the mark (if not better), allowing you to check out how visitors read and interact with your website.
Overall, Lucky Orange is what you need to analyze the online behavior of users efficiently without spending much money. In a nutshell, it’s one of the best affordable Hotjar alternatives that tick off most essential boxes.
Pricing: 7-day free trial, $10/month Visit: Website
If you want to put more emphasis on website analytics and customer engagement, Ptengine could be a better substitute for Hotjar. In terms of offering in-depth marketing and analytics data, it has a clear edge over Hotjar.
Notably, Ptengine has a striking similarity with Google Analytics. With the ability to show data in real time, it keeps you in the loop about what’s happening. Thus, you can take the needed action before it gets too late.
One of my favorite features of Ptengine is the ability to visualize each user’s requirements, which plays a vital role in finding out what could be the ideal shape of your website. Hence, giving the desired shape to your website becomes a little straightforward.
- More efficient for website analytics and customer engagementOffer in-depth marketingComprehensive graphical representation of dataAbility to visualize each user’s requirements
Pricing: Starts at $39/monthVisit: Website
