Yes. Hotjar's free Basic plan includes 35 daily sessions (recordings and heatmaps combined), unlimited heatmaps, and basic surveys. This is enough for personal projects or low-traffic sites. Growing teams need Plus ($32/month) for 100 daily sessions or Business ($80/month) for 500 sessions.

Hotjar vs Google Analytics: what's the difference?

Google Analytics tracks aggregate numbers (page views, bounce rate, conversion funnels). Hotjar shows individual behavior (where specific users click, how they scroll, recordings of actual sessions). Analytics answers 'how many', Hotjar answers 'why'. Use both together.

Does Hotjar slow down my website?

Minimal impact. Hotjar's tracking script is under 40KB and loads asynchronously, so it won't block page rendering. Most sites see no noticeable performance hit. For high-traffic sites, you can sample recordings (record 10% of sessions) to reduce overhead.

Is Hotjar GDPR compliant?

Yes, but you need to configure it correctly. Enable the privacy features that suppress sensitive data (credit cards, passwords), add Hotjar to your cookie consent banner, and set up IP anonymization if needed. Hotjar provides tools, but compliance is your responsibility.

Hotjar vs FullStory: which should I use?

**Choose Hotjar** if you're a designer who wants simple heatmaps and session replays without learning complex analytics interfaces. It's more affordable and easier to get value quickly. **Choose FullStory** if you need advanced search (find all sessions where a user clicked X then Y), or if product managers need detailed funnels.

Can Hotjar record single-page apps (React, Vue)?

Yes. Hotjar supports SPAs out of the box. It listens for URL changes via the History API and automatically tracks virtual page views. For complex routing, you can manually trigger page changes using hapi.virtualPageView() to ensure accurate recording.

Hotjar vs Mixpanel: what's the difference?

Mixpanel is an event-based product analytics tool for tracking user actions (button clicks, feature usage) and building cohorts. Hotjar records visual behavior (heatmaps, session replays). Mixpanel tells you what users did; Hotjar shows you how they did it. Different tools for different questions.

Hotjar for Designers: User Behavior Analytics and Session Recordings

Hotjar shows how users interact with your website through heatmaps, session recordings, and surveys. Instead of guessing why users aren’t converting or where they get confused, you watch actual sessions and see click patterns. Designers use it to validate design decisions with real behavior data, catch usability issues before they become problems, and build a case for design changes backed by evidence.

Key Specs


Price	Free tier (35 sessions/day); $32/month Plus
Platform	Web-based dashboard; works on any site
Best for	Heatmaps, session recordings, user feedback
Learning curve	30 minutes to set up; 1-2 hours to analyze first insights

How Designers Use Hotjar

Hotjar adapts to different stages of the design process, from initial research to post-launch validation.

For Heatmap Analysis

See where users click, move, and scroll aggregated across thousands of sessions. Heatmaps reveal patterns: buttons nobody finds, rage clicks on non-clickable elements, or content users never scroll to. Use click maps to validate navigation hierarchy, scroll maps to determine fold placement, and move maps to see attention patterns. Most designers screenshot heatmaps and annotate them in design review meetings.

For Session Recordings

Watch real users navigate your site. See where they hesitate, what confuses them, and where they give up. Session recordings show the context analytics miss: users clicking back and forth between pages, zooming in to read small text, or filling out a form three times because the error message wasn’t clear. Filter recordings by frustration signals (rage clicks, u-turns) to find the worst pain points first.

For Feedback Surveys and Polls

Ask users direct questions at key moments. Use exit-intent surveys to learn why users leave without converting, on-page feedback widgets to collect bug reports, or poll widgets to validate design decisions before building. The feedback is qualitative but comes from real users in context, not a detached survey days later.

For Usability Testing and Validation

Run lightweight usability tests without a formal lab. Share a prototype or live site, ask users to complete tasks, and watch the recordings. You won’t get the facilitated insights of moderated testing, but you’ll catch obvious issues for free. Combine with surveys asking “Did you complete your task?” to measure success rates.

Hotjar vs. Alternatives

How does Hotjar compare to other behavior analytics tools?

Feature	Hotjar	FullStory	Mouseflow	Mixpanel
Price	✅ Affordable	⚠️ Expensive	✅ Mid-range	⚠️ Expensive
Heatmaps	✅ Built-in	❌ No	✅ Built-in	❌ No
Session recordings	✅ Simple	✅ Advanced	✅ Good	❌ No
User feedback	✅ Surveys	⚠️ Limited	✅ Forms	❌ No
Advanced search	⚠️ Basic	✅ Powerful	⚠️ Basic	✅ Event-based
Learning curve	✅ Easy	⚠️ Steep	✅ Easy	⚠️ Steep
Designer-friendly	✅ Yes	⚠️ PM-focused	✅ Yes	❌ Technical

Choose Hotjar if: You’re a designer who needs quick visual insights without learning complex analytics interfaces. The free tier and simplicity make it ideal for startups and small teams.

Choose FullStory if: You need advanced search capabilities (find all sessions where users clicked X, scrolled to Y, then left) or if your product team wants developer-level event tracking.

Choose Mouseflow if: You want Hotjar’s features plus form analytics (field completion rates, drop-off points) and funnel analysis without FullStory’s price tag.

Choose Mixpanel if: You’re tracking product usage events (feature adoption, retention cohorts) rather than visual behavior. Mixpanel complements Hotjar; they solve different problems.

Getting Started with Hotjar

A 30-minute quick start to your first insights:

Step 1: Install the tracking script

Sign up at hotjar.com, create a site, and copy the tracking code. Add it to your site’s <head> tag (or use Google Tag Manager if your site already has it). Wait 10 minutes for data to start flowing. You’ll know it’s working when the Hotjar dashboard shows active recordings.

Step 2: Create your first heatmap

Go to Heatmaps in the left sidebar, click “New Heatmap”, and enter the URL you want to analyze. Hotjar will aggregate data from that page. Check back after 50-100 page views to see statistically relevant patterns. Look for rage clicks (rapid clicking in frustration) and dead zones (areas users never interact with).

Step 3: Watch your first session recording

Go to Recordings, filter by “Rage clicked” or “Error occurred”, and watch 5-10 sessions. Don’t watch randomly. Filter by the pages or user actions you care about. Take notes on recurring patterns: if three users get confused in the same place, that’s a design problem to fix.

Hotjar in Your Design Workflow

Hotjar rarely works alone. Here’s how it connects to the tools designers use for research, design, and testing.

Before Hotjar: User interviews in Dovetail, wireframes in Figma, hypothesis in Notion
During analysis: Hotjar for behavior data, Google Analytics for aggregate metrics, Datadog for performance monitoring
After Hotjar: Design changes in Figma, A/B tests in Optimizely, documentation in Notion

Common tool pairings:

Hotjar + Google Analytics to combine quantitative metrics with qualitative behavior insights
Hotjar + Figma to annotate designs with heatmap screenshots showing real user behavior
Hotjar + Notion to document research findings and share session recordings with the team
Hotjar + Maze to combine unmoderated usability tests with post-launch behavior tracking

Common Problems (and How to Fix Them)

These issues come up regularly. Here’s how to solve them.

“I’m seeing too many recordings to review”

Don’t watch every session. Use filters aggressively: filter by frustration signals (rage clicks, error messages), by specific pages (checkout, signup), or by user segments (mobile vs desktop). Watch 10-15 filtered sessions to find patterns, not 100 random ones. Set up alerts for critical pages so Hotjar emails you when users rage click.

“Heatmaps don’t have enough data”

Heatmaps need 100+ page views to show meaningful patterns. If your page has low traffic, wait longer or combine multiple similar pages (all blog posts, all product pages) into one heatmap. Use the “Similar pages” feature to aggregate data across dynamic URLs with the same layout.

“Session recordings are missing key interactions”

Hotjar might not be capturing clicks on dynamic elements (dropdowns, modals, SPAs). Make sure the tracking script is installed correctly and loads before users interact. For React/Vue apps, manually trigger hapi.virtualPageView() after route changes. Check the browser console for JavaScript errors that might block tracking.

“Hotjar is recording sensitive customer data”

Enable content masking in Settings > Privacy. This suppresses text inputs, credit cards, and passwords from recordings and heatmaps. You can also suppress entire elements by adding the data-hj-suppress class to sensitive containers. Always check recordings manually after enabling masking to confirm it works.

“The data contradicts what stakeholders believe”

Good. Hotjar’s value is challenging assumptions with evidence. Screenshot the heatmaps, trim session recordings to the confusing moments (Hotjar lets you clip recordings), and present the patterns, not individual anecdotes. Show 3-5 examples of users struggling in the same place. Stakeholders argue with opinions; they can’t argue with recordings.