Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar are two popular behavior analytics tools for heatmaps, session recordings, and UX research. Microsoft Clarity is a strong free option with heatmaps, session recordings, AI insights, and no traffic limits. Hotjar, now part of Contentsquare, is stronger when a team needs surveys, feedback, interviews, funnels, and collaboration features. Plerdy fits a different use case: it combines UX analytics, heatmaps, session recordings, pop-up forms, event tracking, SEO tools, conversion funnels, and A/B testing in one platform.
Microsoft Clarity is the better choice if you need a free behavior analytics tool for heatmaps, session recordings, rage clicks, dead clicks, scroll data, and AI summaries. It is simple, fast to start, and useful for teams that mostly want to see what users do on a website or app.
Hotjar is better if you also need to understand why users behave that way. It includes heatmaps and session replay, but its bigger advantage is feedback collection: surveys, feedback widgets, interviews, funnels, dashboards, and stronger team collaboration.
Plerdy is better when you need behavior analytics plus CRO and SEO tools in one place. It adds pop-up forms, SEO audits, event tracking, funnel analysis, e-commerce sales performance, A/B testing, and Google Search Console insights.
Heatmaps
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Pop-up Forms
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Feedback & Surveys
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Session Recording
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Conversion Funnels
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
SEO Checker
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Google Search Console integration
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Event / Goals Tracking
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Sales Performance
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
A/B Testing tool
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Macro conversion
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Other settings
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Pricing
Hotjar
Microsoft Clarity
Plerdy
Pricing is one of the biggest reasons people compare Microsoft Clarity vs Hotjar. Microsoft Clarity is free forever and does not have traffic limits, so it is a strong option for teams that only need heatmaps, session recordings, and AI behavior insights.
Hotjar also has a free basic plan, but its paid setup now belongs to the broader Contentsquare ecosystem. That means pricing depends on the product package and plan level a business chooses. For a comparison page, it is better to avoid old fixed prices unless they are checked directly on the live pricing page for the target region.
Plerdy has a free forever plan and paid plans starting from $21/month yearly or $32/monthly for the Startup package. Unlike Clarity and Hotjar, Plerdy also includes SEO audit limits, pop-up forms, conversions, A/B testing, e-commerce tracking, and AI UX Assistant limits in its pricing structure.
Choose Microsoft Clarity if you need a free tool for heatmaps, session recordings, AI summaries, rage clicks, dead clicks, scroll behavior, and quick UX checks. It is a good first step when the budget is limited.
Choose Hotjar if you need surveys, feedback widgets, user interviews, funnels, team collaboration, and stronger qualitative research. Hotjar is better when you want to hear from users, not only watch their behavior.
Choose Plerdy if your goal is conversion optimization and website growth. Plerdy is better when you need heatmaps, session recordings, SEO analysis, pop-ups, event tracking, funnel analysis, e-commerce sales performance, A/B testing, and Google Search Console insights in one place.
Alice Wang, Lead UX Researcher at HelloFresh:
My verdict is that Hotjar is a great tool with its drawbacks. Hotjar removes assumptions by providing contextual insights. racks user sentiment over time. It is even possible to link up Hotjar recordings to a particular a/b experiment or event trigger for specific feedback.
Rachel Harrison, UX & CRO Analyst at Epiphany Search:
Hotjar is great because there are a lot of filtering capabilities within session recordings, allowing you to find videos/users who meet your needs. But the cons of Hotjar upset me. Hotjar should provide capabilities to do numerous session recordings on different site areas at once.
Alex Richards, Chief Information Officer & Co-Founder at EvaluAgent:
I recommend Hotjar to all my colleagues. But I don`t like that Hotjar doesn't provide the opportunity to customize the dashboard view. I also don't like that Hotjar doesn't have integrations with JIRA, Github, and Bugherd.
Ahmed Samy Elbasiouny, Founder and Digital Marketing Consultant at Capsulera:
Microsoft Clarity is easy to use. I incredibly like that with Microsoft Clarity, I can track website visitors' behaviors, including session video recording, heat maps, and scroll maps. I recommend Microsoft Clarity to anyone who wants to find an alternative to Google Analytics.
Rahul Ahuja, Senior Software Engineer at Globant:
Microsoft Clarity is a good attempt by Microsoft, but Google Analytics is better. Microsoft Clarity provides basic data. Microsoft Clarity lacks A/B testing tools for UX testing and design improvements.
Emile Mostert, Cloud Based Software Specialist at iVvy Pty Ltd:
The heatmap function in Microsoft Clarity is the best. All other functions of Microsoft Clarity are basic. I expect a few extra features to the Microsoft Clarity repertoire in the near future.
Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare and remains a well-known platform for understanding website and app experiences. Its core tools include heatmaps, session replay, surveys, feedback, funnels, user tests, and integrations. This makes Hotjar useful when a team wants to combine behavior analytics with direct user feedback.
Compared with Microsoft Clarity, Hotjar is not only about watching what users do. It also helps teams ask users why they behave in a certain way. Surveys, feedback widgets, interviews, and collaboration features make Hotjar stronger for UX research, product teams, and companies that want qualitative insights together with recordings and heatmaps.
Microsoft Clarity is a free behavior analytics tool from Microsoft. It helps teams understand how users interact with websites and apps through session recordings, heatmaps, AI summaries, AI chat, and behavior insights. Clarity is useful when you need a quick and free way to see clicks, scroll depth, drop-offs, rage clicks, dead clicks, and user journeys.
The biggest advantage of Microsoft Clarity is cost. It is free forever and has no traffic limits, which makes it attractive for startups, small websites, content projects, and teams that do not want to pay for behavior analytics at the beginning. Still, Clarity does not replace tools for surveys, feedback widgets, SEO analysis, pop-ups, A/B testing, or deep CRO workflows.
Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar solve similar problems, but they are not the same type of product. Clarity is best when the main goal is to get free heatmaps, session recordings, rage clicks, dead clicks, scroll data, and AI-powered behavior insights. It is easy to start and does not force a team into a paid plan.
Hotjar is stronger when the team needs user feedback, surveys, interviews, funnels, collaboration, and deeper qualitative research. It helps connect what users do with what users say, which is important for UX research and product decisions.
Plerdy is a stronger fit when the goal is not only behavior analytics, but also conversion optimization. It brings heatmaps, session recordings, pop-up forms, event tracking, SEO analysis, Google Search Console insights, funnel analysis, e-commerce performance, and A/B testing into one toolset. For marketing teams, this is often more practical than using separate tools for UX, CRO, and SEO.
The main difference between Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar is the product focus. Microsoft Clarity is a free behavior analytics tool with heatmaps, session recordings, rage clicks, dead clicks, and AI insights. Hotjar is stronger for UX research because it also includes surveys, feedback widgets, funnels, interviews, and team collaboration features.
Microsoft Clarity can be better than Hotjar if you need a free tool for heatmaps, session recordings, scroll maps, rage clicks, dead clicks, and quick behavior analysis. Hotjar is usually better if your team also needs surveys, feedback, interviews, funnels, and more qualitative user research.
Hotjar is better than Microsoft Clarity when a team needs more than behavior analytics. Hotjar helps collect direct user feedback through surveys, feedback widgets, and interviews. Microsoft Clarity is stronger as a free tool for watching user behavior through heatmaps and session recordings.
Yes, Microsoft Clarity is free. It is a good choice for teams that want to start with heatmaps, session recordings, and basic website behavior analytics without paying for a monthly plan. This is one of the biggest reasons people compare Microsoft Clarity vs Hotjar.
Yes, Hotjar has a free basic plan, but advanced features and higher limits usually require a paid plan. This is important when comparing Hotjar vs Microsoft Clarity because Clarity is positioned as a free behavior analytics tool, while Hotjar has a broader paid product ecosystem.
Both Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar offer heatmaps. Microsoft Clarity is a strong option for free heatmaps, click maps, scroll maps, and behavior signals. Hotjar is better if heatmaps need to be combined with feedback, surveys, funnels, and deeper UX research workflows.
Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar both offer session recordings. Microsoft Clarity is useful for free session replay and quick behavior checks. Hotjar is more suitable when session recordings need to be connected with feedback, surveys, user interviews, funnels, and team collaboration.
Microsoft Clarity does not focus on surveys or feedback widgets. Its main value is behavior analytics, including heatmaps, session recordings, rage clicks, dead clicks, scroll data, and AI insights. If surveys and feedback are important, Hotjar or Plerdy may be a better fit.
Yes, Hotjar has stronger feedback features than Microsoft Clarity. Hotjar includes surveys, feedback widgets, and user research tools that help teams understand why users behave in a certain way. Microsoft Clarity is stronger for free behavior tracking, not direct user feedback.
A good Microsoft Clarity alternative depends on the goal. Hotjar is a strong alternative for surveys, feedback, user interviews, and UX research. Plerdy is a better alternative when a team needs heatmaps, session recordings, SEO analysis, pop-up forms, event tracking, conversion funnels, e-commerce analytics, and A/B testing in one platform.
Microsoft Clarity is a good Hotjar alternative if you mainly need a free heatmap and session recording tool. Plerdy is a better Hotjar alternative if you need a wider CRO and SEO platform with heatmaps, session recordings, pop-ups, event tracking, funnel analysis, sales performance analysis, and A/B testing.
Ecommerce websites can use Microsoft Clarity for free behavior analysis and Hotjar for feedback and UX research. Plerdy is often more practical for ecommerce teams that need to connect user behavior with conversion funnels, pop-up forms, product page analysis, event tracking, A/B testing, and sales performance data.
“We used Plerdy to figure out how to improve e-commerce UX. Videos session recordings helped us make many changes that improved conversion”
“Hotjar has less powerful filters than other tools”