Independent pricing guide. Not affiliated with Hotjar or Contentsquare.
Hotjar Pricing: Two Separate Products Now, and the Free Plan Captures Only 35 Sessions Per Day
Updated 30 March 2026
Observe (heatmaps + recordings) and Ask (surveys + feedback) are priced separately. At 500+ daily visitors, the free plan gives you a 7% sample. Here is what each tier captures and what you actually need to spend.
Observe Pricing (Heatmaps, Recordings, Funnels)
Observe is Hotjar's visual analytics product. It shows you how users interact with your pages through heatmaps, session recordings, and conversion funnels.
Basic
Free
35 daily sessions
- ✓Heatmaps
- ✓Recordings
- ✓Automatic data capture
- ✓35 sessions/day limit
Plus
$39/mo
100 daily sessions
- ✓Everything in Basic
- ✓100 sessions/day
- ✓Filter and segment
- ✓Page view stats
- ✓Events API
Business
$99/mo
500 daily sessions
- ✓Everything in Plus
- ✓500 sessions/day
- ✓Funnels
- ✓Trends
- ✓Console tracking
- ✓Custom integrations
Scale
$213/mo
1,500+ daily sessions
- ✓Everything in Business
- ✓1,500+ sessions/day
- ✓Custom session limits
- ✓Priority support
- ✓Single sign-on
Ask Pricing (Surveys, Feedback, Interviews)
Ask is Hotjar's user feedback product. It collects qualitative data through on-site surveys, feedback widgets, and user interviews. Priced separately from Observe.
Basic
Free
20 responses/mo
- ✓Surveys
- ✓Feedback widget
- ✓3 surveys active
- ✓20 responses/month
Plus
$59/mo
250 responses/mo
- ✓Everything in Basic
- ✓250 responses/month
- ✓Unlimited surveys
- ✓Redirect on completion
- ✓Remove branding
Business
$79/mo
500 responses/mo
- ✓Everything in Plus
- ✓500 responses/month
- ✓Logic branching
- ✓Integrations
- ✓Events API
Scale
$159/mo
Unlimited
- ✓Everything in Business
- ✓Unlimited responses
- ✓Custom branding
- ✓Priority support
- ✓Single sign-on
Combined Cost: What Teams Actually Pay
Most product teams need both Observe and Ask. Here is what common combinations cost and how they compare to alternatives.
| Team Type | Observe Plan | Ask Plan | Total/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Startup (low traffic) | Basic (Free) | Basic (Free) | $0 |
| Growing SaaS | Plus ($39) | Plus ($59) | $98 |
| Mid-market product team | Business ($99) | Plus ($59) | $158 |
| E-commerce (high traffic) | Business ($99) | Business ($79) | $178 |
| Enterprise | Scale ($213) | Scale ($159) | $372 |
Session Sampling and Data Quality
The most misunderstood aspect of Hotjar pricing is session sampling. Your plan determines how many sessions are recorded each day, not how many visitors you can have. Here is what sampling rates look like at different traffic levels.
| Daily Visitors | Basic (35/day) | Plus (100/day) | Business (500/day) | Scale (1,500/day) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 35% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 500 | 7% | 20% | 100% | 100% |
| 1,000 | 3.5% | 10% | 50% | 100% |
| 2,500 | 1.4% | 4% | 20% | 60% |
| 5,000 | 0.7% | 2% | 10% | 30% |
| 10,000 | 0.35% | 1% | 5% | 15% |
Rule of thumb: You need at least 100 recorded sessions of a specific page to draw reliable qualitative conclusions. For a checkout page visited by 10% of your traffic (50 out of 500 daily visitors), the Basic plan at 35 sessions per day gives you roughly 3 to 4 checkout recordings per day. That is barely enough for pattern recognition. The Plus plan at 100 sessions per day gives you about 10 checkout recordings per day, which is workable for identifying UX issues.
Hotjar vs FullStory vs Microsoft Clarity
| Feature | Hotjar | FullStory | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $199/mo | Free |
| Session recordings | 35 to 1,500+/day | Unlimited (paid) | Unlimited |
| Heatmaps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surveys | Yes (Ask product) | No | No |
| Funnels | Business+ only | Yes | No |
| Frustration detection | Basic | Advanced (rage clicks) | Rage clicks, dead clicks |
| Quantitative analytics | Limited | Comprehensive | Limited |
| Best for | Qualitative UX insights | Product analytics teams | Basic heatmaps (free) |
Read the full Hotjar vs FullStory comparison for a detailed breakdown of features, pricing, and ideal use cases.
See the Hotjar vs Amplitude comparison for when you need product analytics instead of behavior analytics.
The Microsoft Clarity Elephant in the Room
Microsoft Clarity is completely free with unlimited sessions, heatmaps, and recordings. No daily caps. No session sampling. It also includes rage click and dead click detection, scroll depth maps, and Google Analytics integration. This raises an honest question: why pay for Hotjar?
Pay for Hotjar if you need:
- ✓Surveys and user feedback (Hotjar Ask)
- ✓Conversion funnels (Business plan)
- ✓Polished UX with advanced filtering
- ✓Event-based triggers for recordings
- ✓Team collaboration features
Use Clarity (free) if you need:
- ✓Basic heatmaps and session recordings
- ✓Rage click and dead click detection
- ✓Unlimited sessions with no sampling
- ✓Google Analytics 4 integration
- ✓Budget is zero for behavior analytics
Hotjar Plan Calculator
See your session sampling rate on each tier and find the right plan for your traffic level.
Session sampling rate by tier
Recommended Observe plan
Plus
$39/mo for 100 daily sessions
Total Hotjar cost
$39/mo
Microsoft Clarity alternative
$0/mo
Clarity is free for heatmaps
Annual cost comparison