Hotjar vs Microsoft Clarity: Which Should You Use in 2026?
Pricing verified 2026-07-08
Last verified: July 2026. Prices are read off each vendor's official page and stamped with the date we checked them.
Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity are the two most popular ways to see what visitors do on your site — and the two most commonly compared. The short version: Clarity is free, Hotjar is paid but adds surveys, and neither runs A/B tests. Which one fits depends on whether "free" or "feedback" matters more to you. Here's the head-to-head, with an honest note on where both fall short.
The 30-second answer
- Choose Microsoft Clarity if budget is the priority. It's genuinely free with no traffic cap, covering heatmaps, session replay, and funnels.
- Choose Hotjar if you need built-in surveys and richer qualitative replay, and you're willing to pay for it — noting Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare.
- Choose neither if you need to act on what you see with A/B testing — see the third option below.
Side by side
Prices verified against each vendor's official page on July 8, 2026. HeatMapX is included as a third option.
| Microsoft Clarity | Hotjar | HeatMapX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0/mo | $39/mo | $12/mo |
| Free tier | Entirely free | Free plan | Free plan |
| Session replay | Yes | Yes | No |
| A/B test (client) | No | No | Yes |
| A/B test (server) | No | No | Yes |
| Surveys | No | Yes | No |
| AI analysis | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API openness score | 3 / 5 | 1 / 5 | 5 / 5 |
| CLI | No | Partial | Yes |
| MCP | Yes | Yes | Yes |
✓ = yes · ✗ = no · △ = partial · “—” = not yet verified by our team (not necessarily absent).
Starting price is the lowest published paid tier; some tiers assume annual billing — see each tool’s review for month-to-month rates, free trials, and details.
Sources: clarity.microsoft.com (checked 2026-07-07) · heatmapx.com/en/blog/heatmap-abtest-data-portability (checked 2026-07-04) · contentsquare.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-07-07) · heatmapx.com/en/pricing (checked 2026-07-07) · heatmapx.com (checked 2026-07-07)
Where they differ
Price. Clarity is free, forever, with no traffic cap. Hotjar has a free plan too, but its useful tiers are paid — Growth from $39/mo billed annually ($49 month-to-month, verified Jul 2026). If cost is the deciding factor, Clarity wins outright.
Surveys and feedback. This is Hotjar's clearest advantage: built-in surveys and feedback widgets let you ask users why, not just watch what. Clarity has no native surveys.
Data depth and retention. Hotjar offers richer qualitative tooling and longer retention on paid plans. Clarity is more aggregate-focused with roughly 30-day retention — excellent dashboards, less depth.
Data portability. Both score low here: Clarity is aggregate-first with limited raw export, and Hotjar rates a 1/5 on our API-openness scale. If exporting your raw data matters, neither is strong.
AI. Both include AI-assisted insights, and both now offer an MCP server for AI-agent access.
What neither one does: A/B testing
Here's the shared blind spot: neither Hotjar nor Clarity can run an A/B test. They show you where users struggle, but not whether a proposed fix actually works — for that you'd bolt on a separate experimentation tool.
That's the gap HeatMapX is built to close: heatmaps plus built-in A/B testing (client and server) and AI, at flat pricing (Free / $12 / $29 / $99, verified Jul 2026), with 5/5 API openness and a CLI and MCP server. The honest trade-off is that HeatMapX doesn't offer session replay or surveys — so if replay or feedback is your priority, Hotjar or Clarity is the better fit. But if you want to test what your heatmaps reveal, without wiring in a second tool, it's the third option worth weighing.
Which should you choose?
- Free observation, small budget: Microsoft Clarity.
- Surveys and richer replay, paid: Hotjar (now Contentsquare).
- Heatmaps plus A/B testing in one tool: HeatMapX.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hotjar or Clarity better?
Neither is universally better. Clarity wins on price (free). Hotjar wins on surveys and qualitative depth. If you need A/B testing, neither has it — consider a tool that does.
Is Microsoft Clarity really free, and how does it make money?
Clarity is genuinely free with no traffic cap; it's a Microsoft product that feeds its broader analytics ecosystem. There's no paid tier to upgrade to.
Can I use Hotjar and Clarity together?
Technically yes, and some teams run Clarity free alongside Hotjar's surveys. The cost is extra script weight and split data — fine for a trial, less ideal long-term.
Does either one do A/B testing?
No — neither Hotjar nor Clarity runs native A/B tests. For that, look at a tool like HeatMapX or a dedicated experimentation platform.
Bottom line
Clarity for free observation, Hotjar for paid surveys and depth — that's the honest split, and for many teams it's the whole decision. But if the reason you're comparing them is to improve conversions, remember that seeing isn't testing: neither runs experiments, and a tool that combines heatmaps with A/B testing may serve that goal better than either.