Hotjar Pricing: Complete Breakdown [2026]
Hotjar's pricing can be confusing. They offer multiple products, each with their own pricing tiers, and the costs can add up quickly if you're not careful about what you actually need.
This guide breaks down exactly what Hotjar costs in 2026, what you get at each tier, hidden limitations to watch out for, and whether the investment makes sense for your situation.
Hotjar Pricing Overview
Hotjar now operates as three separate products that can be purchased individually or bundled:
- Observe — Heatmaps and session recordings
- Ask — Surveys and feedback widgets
- Engage — User interviews and recruiting
Each product has four pricing tiers: Basic (free), Plus, Business, and Scale.
Quick Pricing Summary
| Product | Basic (Free) | Plus | Business | Scale | |---------|--------------|------|----------|-------| | Observe | 35 sessions/day | $32/mo | $80/mo | $171/mo | | Ask | 3 surveys | $48/mo | $64/mo | $128/mo | | Engage | Limited | $280/mo | $440/mo | Custom |
Prices shown are monthly with annual billing (20% discount). Monthly billing costs more.
Observe Product Pricing (Heatmaps & Recordings)
Observe is Hotjar's core product—the heatmaps and session recordings most people think of when they hear "Hotjar."
Basic (Free) — $0/month
What's included:
- Unlimited heatmaps
- 35 session recordings per day
- Automatic data capture
- Basic filters and segments
- 30-day data retention (recordings)
- Integrations with Google Analytics, Slack, etc.
Limitations:
- 35 daily sessions is very restrictive for any real analysis
- Limited filtering options
- No API access
- Hotjar branding on widgets
Who it's for: Testing Hotjar before committing, very low-traffic sites, or personal projects.
Plus — $32/month (annual) or $39/month (monthly)
What's included:
- Everything in Basic
- 100 daily sessions
- Filter by user attributes
- Unlimited storage
- Remove Hotjar branding
What changes from Basic:
- 3x more daily sessions (100 vs 35)
- User attribute filtering
- No branding on widgets
Limitations:
- 100 sessions/day still limiting for medium-traffic sites
- No rage click or error click filters
- No trends and comparisons
- 30-day retention unchanged
Who it's for: Small teams and sites with light traffic who need more than the free tier but don't need advanced features.
Business — $80/month (annual) or $99/month (monthly)
What's included:
- Everything in Plus
- 500 daily sessions
- Rage click and frustration signals
- U-turn and bounce detection
- Trends and comparisons
- Custom integrations
- Shareable recordings links
What changes from Plus:
- 5x more sessions (500 vs 100)
- Frustration detection features
- Trend analysis over time
- API access
Limitations:
- 500 sessions may not be enough for high-traffic sites
- No priority support
- Same 30-day recording retention
Who it's for: Growing businesses that need frustration detection and trend analysis to identify patterns.
Scale — $171/month (annual) or $213/month (monthly)
What's included:
- Everything in Business
- Unlimited daily sessions
- Priority support
- Custom data retention (up to 365 days)
- Advanced integrations
- SSO/SAML (enterprise add-on)
- Dedicated success manager (higher tiers)
What changes from Business:
- Unlimited sessions
- Much longer data retention
- Priority support access
Who it's for: High-traffic sites and teams that need unlimited recordings with extended data retention.
Ask Product Pricing (Surveys & Feedback)
The Ask product covers surveys, feedback widgets, and NPS tracking—Hotjar's biggest differentiator from free alternatives like Microsoft Clarity.
Basic (Free) — $0/month
What's included:
- 3 surveys and feedback widgets
- 20 monthly responses
- Basic survey templates
- NPS tracking
Limitations:
- Only 3 active surveys total
- 20 responses is extremely limited
- No targeting or segmentation
- Limited templates
Who it's for: Testing survey functionality or very basic feedback collection.
Plus — $48/month (annual) or $59/month (monthly)
What's included:
- Everything in Basic
- Unlimited surveys
- 250 monthly responses
- Advanced targeting
- Remove Hotjar branding
- Response notifications
What changes from Basic:
- Unlimited active surveys
- 12x more responses (250 vs 20)
- Targeting by URL, device, etc.
Limitations:
- 250 responses may not be enough for busy sites
- No advanced analytics
- No response exports on some features
Who it's for: Teams starting to use surveys seriously who need targeting and more responses.
Business — $64/month (annual) or $79/month (monthly)
What's included:
- Everything in Plus
- 500 monthly responses
- Advanced analytics
- Custom redirect on completion
- Response exports
- AI-generated survey suggestions
What changes from Plus:
- 2x responses (500 vs 250)
- Full analytics and exports
- AI-powered features
Who it's for: Teams running multiple surveys who need full analytics and export capabilities.
Scale — $128/month (annual) or $159/month (monthly)
What's included:
- Everything in Business
- Unlimited responses
- Priority support
- API access
- Advanced integrations
Who it's for: High-volume sites needing unlimited survey responses with full API access.
Engage Product Pricing (User Interviews)
Engage is Hotjar's newest product, focused on recruiting participants for user interviews and research sessions.
Basic (Free) — $0/month
What's included:
- Limited interview scheduling
- Basic participant management
- Calendar integration
Limitations:
- Very limited functionality
- No participant recruiting
- Manual scheduling only
Plus — $280/month (annual) or $350/month (monthly)
What's included:
- 5 interviews per month
- Participant recruiting from your site
- Scheduling automation
- Recording integration
- Basic incentive management
Business — $440/month (annual) or $550/month (monthly)
What's included:
- 15 interviews per month
- Advanced participant screening
- Incentive payments built-in
- Team collaboration features
Scale — Custom pricing
What's included:
- Unlimited interviews
- Custom participant pools
- Enterprise features
- Dedicated support
Note: Engage is significantly more expensive than Observe and Ask. Most teams don't need it unless user interviews are a regular part of their research process.
Bundle Pricing and Discounts
20% Bundle Discount
When you subscribe to multiple Hotjar products, you receive 20% off all bundled paid plans. This discount applies automatically when you add multiple products to your subscription.
Annual vs Monthly Billing
All prices above reflect annual billing. Monthly billing costs approximately 20% more:
| Plan | Annual (per month) | Monthly | Annual Savings | |------|-------------------|---------|----------------| | Observe Plus | $32 | $39 | $84/year | | Observe Business | $80 | $99 | $228/year | | Observe Scale | $171 | $213 | $504/year | | Ask Plus | $48 | $59 | $132/year | | Ask Business | $64 | $79 | $180/year |
Recommendation: If you're committing to Hotjar, annual billing saves significant money. But start with monthly if you're still evaluating.
Common Pricing Scenarios
Let's look at what Hotjar actually costs for typical use cases:
Scenario 1: Small Business (Heatmaps Only)
Need: Basic heatmaps and recordings, ~200 sessions/day
Recommended: Observe Business at $80/month
Annual cost: $960/year
Scenario 2: E-commerce Site (Heatmaps + Surveys)
Need: Session recordings, surveys for cart abandonment feedback, 500+ daily sessions
Recommended:
- Observe Business: $80/month
- Ask Business: $64/month
- Bundle discount: -20%
Monthly cost: ~$115/month Annual cost: ~$1,380/year
Scenario 3: SaaS Product Team (Full Suite)
Need: Unlimited recordings, surveys, user interviews
Recommended:
- Observe Scale: $171/month
- Ask Scale: $128/month
- Engage Plus: $280/month
- Bundle discount: -20%
Monthly cost: ~$463/month Annual cost: ~$5,556/year
Scenario 4: Enterprise (High Traffic)
Need: Unlimited everything, SSO, dedicated support
Recommended: Contact sales for custom Scale pricing
Expected cost: $10,000-$50,000+/year depending on traffic and features
Hidden Costs and Limitations
Session Limits Are Restrictive
The daily session limits on lower tiers are the biggest gotcha:
- Basic: 35 sessions/day = ~1,050/month
- Plus: 100 sessions/day = ~3,000/month
- Business: 500 sessions/day = ~15,000/month
For context, a site with 10,000 monthly visitors recording 50% of sessions needs 5,000 recordings/month. Only Business tier (at $80/month) would handle this.
Data Retention Differences
Recording retention varies significantly:
- Basic/Plus/Business: 30 days (recordings)
- Scale: Up to 365 days
If you need to reference user behavior from months ago, you need Scale tier or higher.
Per-Product Pricing Adds Up
Needing both heatmaps AND surveys doubles your cost:
- Observe Plus + Ask Plus = $80/month (bundled)
- Observe Business + Ask Business = ~$115/month (bundled)
This is significantly more expensive than alternatives that include surveys in their base pricing.
No Mobile App Support
Hotjar only works on websites and web apps. If you have native iOS or Android apps, you'll need an additional tool (like Smartlook or FullStory) for mobile analytics—adding to your total analytics spend.
Response Limits on Surveys
Survey response limits can catch you off guard:
- Plus: 250 responses/month
- Business: 500 responses/month
- Scale: Unlimited
A single successful survey campaign could burn through your monthly allocation quickly.
Is Hotjar Worth the Price?
Hotjar Is Worth It If:
You need surveys and feedback tools
Hotjar's Ask product is its strongest differentiator. If you want to collect qualitative feedback—NPS scores, exit surveys, on-page feedback—no free tool matches it. Microsoft Clarity has zero survey capabilities.
You need long data retention
With Scale tier's 365-day retention, you can analyze seasonal patterns and year-over-year trends. Clarity only retains 30 days.
You're in a regulated industry
Hotjar's privacy controls, GDPR compliance, and audit trail are more robust than free alternatives. For healthcare, finance, or enterprise companies with compliance requirements, this matters.
You value support
Having a support team to contact when something breaks has real value. Free tools offer community support at best.
Hotjar May Not Be Worth It If:
Budget is constrained
Microsoft Clarity offers 80%+ of Observe functionality for free. If $960+/year for basic heatmaps is painful, Clarity is the obvious alternative.
You only need heatmaps
Paying $80-171/month purely for heatmaps and recordings is hard to justify when free alternatives exist. Hotjar's value is in the survey tools.
You have a mobile app
Hotjar doesn't support mobile apps. You'll need to buy a separate tool anyway, so evaluate whether Hotjar + mobile tool costs more than a single platform like Smartlook that handles both.
You're a small site
If you get under 1,000 visitors/month, even Hotjar's free tier might be sufficient. Don't pay for capacity you won't use.
Cheaper Alternatives Comparison
| Tool | Equivalent Features | Cost | Savings vs Hotjar | |------|-------------------|------|-------------------| | Microsoft Clarity | Observe Business | Free | $960+/year | | Lucky Orange | Observe + Ask | $32/mo | $600+/year | | Mouseflow | Observe | $31/mo | $588/year | | Smartlook | Observe (web+mobile) | $39/mo | $492/year | | PostHog | Observe + more | Free-$50/mo | $600+/year |
Microsoft Clarity (Free)
Best for replacing: Observe (heatmaps & recordings)
Clarity provides unlimited heatmaps and recordings for free. You lose surveys and 365-day retention, but save $960+/year minimum.
What you sacrifice: Surveys, long retention, dedicated support, some privacy controls
Lucky Orange ($32/month)
Best for replacing: Observe + Ask
Lucky Orange includes heatmaps, recordings, AND surveys at $32/month—less than Hotjar's Observe Plus alone. You get more features for less money.
What you sacrifice: Some interface polish, smaller community, fewer integrations
PostHog (Free tier + usage-based)
Best for replacing: Observe + product analytics
PostHog's free tier includes 5K recordings/month plus product analytics, feature flags, and surveys. Technical teams often prefer it to Hotjar.
What you sacrifice: Ease of use, less sophisticated recordings, more technical setup
FAQ
Does Hotjar offer a free trial?
Hotjar offers a free tier (Basic) that's permanent, not a trial. You can upgrade to paid plans and try them, but there's no free trial of paid features—you start paying immediately upon upgrade.
Can I downgrade my Hotjar plan?
Yes, you can downgrade at any time. The change takes effect at your next billing cycle. Be aware that downgrading may result in data loss if you exceed the lower tier's retention limits.
Does Hotjar charge for overages?
No, Hotjar doesn't charge overage fees. When you hit your daily session limit, recording simply stops for the day and resumes the next day. You won't get surprise charges, but you will miss data.
Is annual billing refundable?
Hotjar's refund policy is limited. You can cancel anytime, but annual subscriptions typically don't offer pro-rated refunds. Check their current terms before committing to annual billing.
How does Hotjar's pricing compare to FullStory?
FullStory starts around $300/month and typically costs $10K-$100K+/year for enterprise. Hotjar is significantly cheaper but also less powerful. FullStory is aimed at enterprise; Hotjar targets SMBs and growing businesses.
Can I use Hotjar on multiple websites?
Yes, all Hotjar plans allow multiple sites. Your session limits are shared across all sites, so adding more sites may require upgrading to a higher tier.
Conclusion
Hotjar's pricing is reasonable if you need both heatmaps AND surveys—no free tool matches that combination. However, if you only need heatmaps and session recordings, you're paying a premium for features you won't use.
Our recommendations:
- Just need heatmaps? Use Microsoft Clarity (free) and save $1,000+/year
- Need heatmaps + surveys? Hotjar Business bundle (~$115/month) or Lucky Orange ($32/month)
- High traffic site? Hotjar Scale or consider enterprise tools like FullStory
- Mobile app? Skip Hotjar entirely—it doesn't support mobile
For most small to medium businesses, starting with Clarity for heatmaps and adding Hotjar Ask (surveys only) is more cost-effective than Hotjar's full bundle.
Looking for simpler, more affordable heatmap analytics? UXHeat is launching soon with straightforward pricing and essential features. Join the waitlist to get early access and launch pricing.