What is Hotjar?
Hotjar is a website behavior analytics and feedback tool known for heatmaps, session recordings and on-site surveys that show what visitors do and why. It became popular with marketers and small teams because it was quick to set up and easy to read. In July 2025, Hotjar became part of the Contentsquare Group, and its tools are now offered inside the Contentsquare platform.
Today, visiting hotjar.com leads to Contentsquare, and new users sign up for a Contentsquare plan instead of a separate Hotjar plan. The familiar Hotjar features remain: click, hover and scroll heatmaps, session replay, surveys and user interviews. They now sit next to Contentsquare tools such as funnels, error monitoring and Sense AI, and the free plan is much larger than the old Hotjar free tier. Free survey responses rose from 20 a month on Hotjar to 100 on Contentsquare.
Hotjar at a glance
How does Hotjar work?
- Create a free account
Sign up for the Contentsquare free plan, which now includes the Hotjar toolset.
- Install the tracking code
Add the tag to your site directly or through a tag manager or site builder integration.
- Review heatmaps and replays
See where visitors click, hover and scroll, and watch recordings of real sessions.
- Ask visitors directly
Launch surveys or book user interviews to learn the reasons behind behavior.
- Share and fix
Send findings to Slack or Jira and prioritize changes with your team.
Hotjar key features
Heatmaps
Click, hover and scroll maps, plus attention maps that measure engagement on each part of a page.
Session recordings
Replays of real user visits that show navigation, hesitation and errors.
Surveys
On-site surveys, with 100 responses a month on the free plan.
User interviews
Recruit and run interviews with users, with five a month on the free plan.
Funnels and error monitoring
Contentsquare tools added to the Hotjar experience to track drop-offs and site errors.
Sense AI
AI summaries of replays and heatmaps and answers to questions about your data.
LLM Connect
An MCP connection that brings your behavior data into ChatGPT or Claude.
Why use Hotjar?
- Hotjar's tools remain simple to read, which helps non-analysts spot problems fast.
- The Contentsquare free plan includes 200,000 sessions a month, far above the old Hotjar free limit of 35 sessions a day.
- Surveys and interviews explain the reasons behind what heatmaps show.
- Integrations with Slack and Jira help teams act on findings.
- Moving into Contentsquare adds funnels, monitoring and AI without a separate tool.
Who is Hotjar best for?
A good fit for
- Marketers and founders who want quick visual insight into page behavior
- UX designers and researchers collecting feedback
- Small agencies reviewing client websites
- Existing Hotjar users continuing on Contentsquare
Less suited to
- Teams that want Hotjar as a separate standalone product
- People who need built-in A/B testing on entry plans
- Users who dislike platform changes after an acquisition
Hotjar pricing
| Pricing model | Freemium |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free trial | 15 days (Contentsquare Growth) |
| Starting price | $49/month (Contentsquare Growth), or $39/month billed annually |
New users get Contentsquare plans: Free with 200K sessions a month, Growth priced by session tier, and custom Pro and Enterprise. Existing Hotjar customers should check Contentsquare's billing guidance. New users can test the paid Growth features with a 15-day trial that needs no credit card.
Prices checked October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on the official Hotjar pricing page before you buy.
Hotjar pros and cons
Pros
- Easy-to-read heatmaps and recordings
- Surveys and interviews alongside behavior data
- Much larger free allowance under Contentsquare
- AI summaries through Sense AI
Cons
- No longer sold as a standalone Hotjar product to new users
- Existing users face account and billing changes
- Advanced features sit on custom-priced Contentsquare tiers
Hotjar integrations and platforms
Works with
Available on
Hotjar alternatives
See the full shortlist in Best Heatmap Tools.
Hotjar FAQ
Is Hotjar still available?
Hotjar's tools are still available, but as part of Contentsquare. Hotjar joined the Contentsquare Group on 1 July 2025, and hotjar.com now redirects to Contentsquare. New users sign up for Contentsquare's free plan, which includes heatmaps, recordings and surveys, rather than a standalone Hotjar plan. Existing Hotjar customers should follow Contentsquare's help center guidance on billing and account changes.
Is Hotjar free?
New users now get Contentsquare's free plan, which includes heatmaps, session replay, funnels and surveys. It allows 200,000 sessions a month, 100 survey responses and five user interviews. The paid Growth plan is listed at $49 a month, or $39 a month with annual billing, and includes a 15-day trial.
What is Hotjar used for?
Hotjar is used to see how visitors behave on a website and why. Teams use heatmaps to find ignored or confusing areas, watch recordings to follow real sessions, and run surveys and interviews to hear from users. These insights guide design changes and conversion improvements. Contentsquare tools such as funnels and error monitoring are now available alongside them.
Hotjar vs Crazy Egg: what's the difference?
Both offer heatmaps, recordings and surveys. Crazy Egg also includes A/B testing and popup CTAs and prices plans by tracked pageviews. Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, which offers a large free plan, AI summaries and user interviews, with A/B testing features only on higher tiers.
Is Hotjar good for beginners?
Yes. Hotjar has long been one of the easiest behavior analytics tools for beginners because its heatmaps and recordings need little training to read. Inside Contentsquare, the core tools stay simple, though the wider platform adds more options that new users can explore over time. Sense AI summaries also help beginners make sense of many recordings quickly.
Sources
This overview is based on Hotjar's official website and documentation, checked October 2026.