The best Hotjar alternative for most stores is Microsoft Clarity, because it is free with no traffic limits and covers heatmaps and session recordings. If you want heatmaps tied to revenue, look at Heatmap.com. If you want a cheaper all-in-one Shopify tool with recordings, funnels and surveys, look at Lucky Orange, Crazy Egg or Mouseflow.
Hotjar itself is now part of Contentsquare. Its old pricing page redirects to Contentsquare's pricing page, which lists a free plan with 200k monthly sessions and a Growth plan at $39 a month billed yearly ($49 monthly), as of November 2026. So the reason to switch is less about Hotjar's free plan and more about fit: price at your traffic level, data retention, and whether the tool tells you what earns money.
Below, each tool gets a fair look, including who it is not for. We have not used these tools ourselves. What follows comes from vendor docs, pricing pages and public reviews, plus real A/B tests from our test database that started with heatmap or recording data.
Hotjar alternatives at a glance
Prices are entry-level paid plans as of November 2026, linked to each vendor's pricing page.
| Tool | Free option | Entry paid plan | Best for | Not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Clarity | Free, no traffic limits | None (free forever) | Any store on a budget | Teams needing long data history or revenue data |
| Heatmap.com | 14-day trial | $199/mo (up to $10M yearly revenue) | Shopify brands with real revenue | Small or early-stage stores |
| Lucky Orange | 7-day trial on site plans | $32/mo billed yearly, 3,500 sessions | Shopify stores wanting chat, surveys and recordings in one | High-traffic stores on a tight budget |
| Crazy Egg | Free trial | $29/mo billed yearly, 5,000 pageviews | Small sites wanting simple heatmaps | Stores that rely on many recordings |
| Mouseflow | Free, 500 sessions/mo | $25/mo, 5,000 sessions | Funnel and form analysis | Teams wanting the simplest interface |
For the full category, see our heatmap tools roundup.
Why heatmaps matter: what our tests show
A heatmap tool does not lift conversion by itself. It tells you what to test. Several winning tests in our database started with exactly that kind of data.
- Dave Diederen changed the above-the-fold USPs to the points heatmaps showed buyers engaging with and saw +6.23% CVR.
- Dave Diederen also moved the most-clicked category to the first homepage tab after a heatmap showed shoppers ignoring the tab placed first. Result: +14.17% CVR.
- Peter Christensen rearranged homepage sections based on scroll maps and saw +12.64% CVR.
- Oliver Kenyon's team redesigned a size selector after click data showed shoppers picking a gender before a size. The test brought +$38,699/month.
@oliverkenyon
@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen
@kasper_dolk
@peterac_Any tool below can surface patterns like these. The differences are cost, how much data you keep, and how easy it is to act on.
Microsoft Clarity: the free Hotjar alternative
Clarity is the obvious pick if you want a free Hotjar alternative. Microsoft describes it as "Free forever" with "No limits on traffic," and its FAQ says it does not sample traffic and has no limit on the number of sites.
It covers click and scroll heatmaps, session recordings, and AI summaries you can query in plain language. Recordings can be filtered by frustration signals such as rage clicks and dead clicks. Microsoft also says its Shopify integration tracks the full funnel, including checkout and thank-you pages.
Dead clicks are worth watching. Kasper Dolk made store benefits in the product hero expandable because shoppers kept clicking them, and the test added +€49,938/month at 93.45% confidence. Kasper's advice: if people keep clicking something that isn't clickable, treat it as an unmet expectation.
Downsides: Clarity's FAQ says data is kept for up to 30 days from recording, and each heatmap is limited to 100,000 page views. There is no revenue data per element and no built-in A/B testing. In consent-required regions, Clarity limits collection without valid consent.
Not for: teams that need months of history, revenue attribution, or vendor support. For a head-to-head, read Hotjar vs Microsoft Clarity.
Heatmap.com: revenue heatmaps for Shopify
Heatmap.com takes a different angle. Instead of counting clicks, it attaches revenue to page elements. Its homepage puts it plainly: "Every element on every page carries a number: what it earned, not how many times it was touched." It runs inside the Shopify admin and says it records every session with no sampling.
That matters because the most-clicked element is not always the one that sells. Oliver Kenyon's team switched a collection page to a 2x2 grid and reordered products by revenue per session, gaining +$49,040/month, and recommended Heatmap.com in the write-up for tracking revenue per session per product. The same team reordered a mobile menu by revenue per session for +$48,607/month.
Pricing scales by annual store revenue, not sessions. As of November 2026, Heatmap.com's pricing page lists Launch at $199/mo (up to $10M yearly revenue), Growth at $349/mo and Scale at $699/mo, each with a 14-day free trial. All plans include unlimited heatmaps, scroll maps, funnels, revenue-tracked recordings and surveys.
Downsides: it costs far more than the other tools here at the low end, and its paid add-ons (such as a Revenue Intelligence Pack) raise the bill further. Its focus is Shopify.
Not for: new stores with little revenue, or non-Shopify sites. Clarity will show you click patterns for free until revenue data is worth paying for.
Lucky Orange: recordings, chat and surveys in one
Lucky Orange bundles session recordings, dynamic heatmaps, conversion funnels, form analytics, live chat, surveys and announcements. Its pricing page lists unlimited team members on every plan and a 7-day free trial.
As of November 2026, plans billed yearly start at Build ($32/mo, 3,500 sessions), then Grow ($72/mo, 10,000 sessions), Expand ($199/mo) and Scale ($839/mo). Base data storage starts at 60 days, with paid upgrades. The Shopify app listing shows separate in-app pricing, including a free plan, and a 4.6-star rating from 904 reviews.
A tool like this suits the work behind tests such as Dave Diederen's clickable countdown banner placed where heatmaps showed attention, which brought +$161K in revenue. Dave's process: check where people already click and stare, then put the change there.
Downsides: session caps are low on entry plans, so busy stores move up tiers fast. One merchant review on the Shopify listing complains about the optional "Keep Me Tracking" setting adding charges beyond the base fee, so check that setting when you install.
Not for: high-traffic stores that want low cost per session. See our Lucky Orange review for more detail.
Crazy Egg: simple heatmaps for smaller sites
Crazy Egg is one of the older heatmap tools. Every plan includes heatmaps, session recordings, surveys, A/B testing, error tracking and traffic analysis, according to its pricing page.
As of November 2026, plans billed yearly are Starter ($29/mo, 5,000 pageviews, 50 recordings), Plus ($99/mo, 150,000 pageviews, 1,000 recordings), Pro ($249/mo) and Enterprise ($599/mo). Storage runs from 6 months on Starter to 2 years on higher plans, which is longer than most tools here.
Downsides: 50 recordings a month on Starter is thin if you rely on watching sessions. Public reviews describe the A/B testing as basic compared to dedicated testing tools, so treat it as a bonus, not a replacement. If you plan to test seriously, see our A/B testing tools guide.
Not for: stores that watch a lot of recordings or need advanced test targeting. Compare it directly in Crazy Egg vs Hotjar.
Mouseflow: funnels, forms and friction
Mouseflow pairs session replay and heatmaps with friction detection, conversion funnels, journey analytics, form analytics and surveys. Its pricing page lists unlimited team seats on all plans.
As of November 2026, the free plan gives 500 sessions a month with one month of retention. Paid plans are Essential ($25/mo, 5,000 sessions, 3 months retention), Advanced ($109/mo, 25,000 sessions) and Premium ($319/mo, 100,000 sessions, 12 months retention), with up to 35% off on annual billing. There is a 14-day trial.
Form analytics shows which fields cause drop-off, which is useful on checkout and signup steps.
Downsides: a CPO Club review notes that features like the Friction Score can be confusing, and that some users find the tool slow and its search filters hard to use. The free plan's 500 sessions will not cover much of a real store.
Not for: owners who want the simplest possible setup. Clarity or Crazy Egg will feel lighter.
How to choose
- No budget: start with Microsoft Clarity.
- Shopify brand with steady revenue: trial Heatmap.com and see if revenue-per-element data changes what you test.
- Want chat and surveys too: Lucky Orange.
- Small site, long data history: Crazy Egg.
- Form and funnel problems: Mouseflow.
Whichever you pick, the tool only pays off when its findings turn into tests. Read how to run an A/B test and plan your first test from what the data shows.