Hotjar vs Microsoft Clarity
Both give you session recordings, heatmaps and funnels for free. Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, so signing up means a Contentsquare account with surveys and paid plans above the free one. Clarity is Microsoft's, free with no paid tier.
Written by the people who make Moxel, which is neither of these.
SHORT ANSWER
Which one?
Pick Hotjar (Contentsquare) if you want surveys and room to grow into paid features. Pick Clarity if you want recordings and heatmaps for free, with no plan to outgrow.
HOTJAR
Pick Hotjar if
- You want on-page surveys next to your recordings.
- You expect to need paid features later, like form analysis or zone-based heatmaps.
- You already have Hotjar data. Existing Hotjar logins work on Contentsquare.
- You want AI summaries of heatmaps and recordings.
MICROSOFT CLARITY
Pick Microsoft Clarity if
- You want it free with no plan to outgrow. Microsoft says Clarity is free forever.
- You have a lot of traffic. Microsoft says Clarity has no limits on traffic, and Contentsquare's free plan records 5% of sessions, up to 10,000 a month.
- You want one script tag and nothing else to sign up for.
SIDE BY SIDE
The same questions, both answers.
| Question | Hotjar | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|
| Price | HotjarFree plan through Contentsquare, with paid plans above it | Microsoft ClarityFree |
| Session recordings | HotjarYes. The free plan captures 5% of sessions, up to 10,000 a month. | Microsoft ClarityYes |
| Heatmaps | HotjarYes | Microsoft ClarityYes |
| Forms | HotjarForm analysis is not on the free plan | Microsoft ClaritySeen in recordings, one visitor at a time |
| Funnels | HotjarYes, on the free plan | Microsoft ClarityYes |
| Cookies | HotjarYes, its own first-party cookies | Microsoft ClarityYes. A consent signal is needed in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. |
| What is captured | HotjarA replay of the page | Microsoft ClarityA replay of the page, with sensitive text masked |
| Setup | HotjarOne tracking tag. You sign up through Contentsquare, since new Hotjar accounts are closed. | Microsoft ClarityOne script tag |
Checked against each tool's own site in October 2026. Tools change, so see Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity for today's details and prices.
Work at Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity and see something wrong or out of date here? Email moxelmail@gmail.com and we will fix it. Every page that mentions your tool updates at once.
NEITHER
If you do not have time to watch.
Both tools show you one visitor at a time. If you would rather have the count, like 18 people gave up on the phone field, Moxel adds up every visitor, field by field, and writes the fix next to it. No recordings, no cookies. It costs $27 a month after a 30-day trial.
VISITOR
1 of 5
- Waiting for the first event.
Five visitors, three different fields. That is the pattern you would never see in a conversion rate.
QUESTIONS
Asked a lot.
- What happened to Hotjar?
- Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare. hotjar.com sends you to Contentsquare, and new Hotjar accounts can no longer be made. Existing users log in with the same details.
- Is Microsoft Clarity really free?
- Microsoft says Clarity is free forever, with no limits on traffic. It sets cookies, and for visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland it needs a consent signal first.
- Can I use both?
- You can, but they do the same main job, so most people pick one. Running two recorders adds weight to every page.