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Chartbeat vs Hotjar

Chartbeat logo

Chartbeat

News & Media

Real-time analytics for publishers

From
$1000/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
H

Hotjar

E-commerce

Understand how users behave on your site

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Hotjar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Chartbeat pricing is customized by website and native app pageviews across four tiers, Essentials, Plus, Premium and Enterprise, and the pricing page publishes no figures, directing visitors to Talk to Sales or Get a Demo; Hotjar website performance impact - Hotjar tracking code can cause noticeable slowdowns affecting site speed and Google rankings
  • They diverge on capability: Chartbeat covers Real-time analytics, Hotjar covers Heatmaps.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chartbeat and Hotjar actually diverge.

Attributes where Chartbeat and Hotjar differ
AttributeChartbeatHotjar
Starting price$1000/monthFree
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
Free tierNoYes
CategoryNews & MediaE-commerce
Founded20092014

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Chartbeat

  • Real-time analytics
  • Audience insights
  • Content metrics
  • Traffic tracking
  • Web support
  • English language support

Only in Hotjar

  • Heatmaps
  • Session recordings
  • Feedback widgets
  • Surveys
  • User interviews
  • Conversion funnels
  • Form analytics
  • Rage click detection

Both cover

  • Google Analytics
  • GDPR
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Chartbeat

  • Publisher analyticsnot Hotjar

Hotjar

  • User behavior analysisnot Chartbeat
  • Conversion optimizationnot Chartbeat
  • UX researchnot Chartbeat
  • Customer feedbacknot Chartbeat
  • Usability testingnot Chartbeat

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Chartbeat

  • Pricing is customized by website and native app pageviews across four tiers, Essentials, Plus, Premium and Enterprise, and the pricing page publishes no figures, directing visitors to Talk to Sales or Get a Demo

Hotjar

  • Website performance impact - Hotjar tracking code can cause noticeable slowdowns affecting site speed and Google rankings
  • Session recording limits - free and lower-tier plans have monthly session recording caps that must be sampled above the limit
  • Inaccurate heatmaps on dynamic pages - heatmaps fail to display correctly on pages with modals, sticky navigation bars, and pop-up overlays
  • No mobile app - only web-based access available
  • Not real-time analytics - includes slight data processing delay

Pricing, plan by plan

Chartbeat

$1000/month
  • Professional$1000/month
    • Real-time analytics
    • Audience insights

Hotjar

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Hotjar review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Chartbeat if

  • You need real-time analytics.
  • You also want audience insights.
Chartbeat review

Choose Hotjar if

  • You need heatmaps.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want session recordings.
Hotjar review

Questions people ask

Is Chartbeat or Hotjar better?
Neither clearly leads. Chartbeat starts at $1000/month and Hotjar at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chartbeat or Hotjar?
Hotjar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1000/month for Chartbeat and Free for Hotjar.
Does Chartbeat or Hotjar run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Hotjar for free?
Yes. Hotjar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Chartbeat starts at $1000/month.
What is Chartbeat best used for?
Chartbeat is most often used for publisher analytics. Of those, publisher analytics is not what Hotjar is typically brought in for.
What can Chartbeat do that Hotjar cannot?
Chartbeat covers Real-time analytics, Audience insights, Content metrics, Traffic tracking. Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys. Both handle Google Analytics, GDPR, Cloud deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hotjar: Does Hotjar have a free tier?

Yes. Hotjar's free plan (now under Contentsquare) includes 200,000 monthly sessions, 10,000 session replays, and unlimited heatmaps, with no time limit on the free tier.

Source
Hotjar: Can I export my data from Hotjar?

Yes. Hotjar allows exporting heatmaps as JPG images, survey responses as CSV files, and session recording metadata. Advanced export options are available through the Hotjar API.

Source
Hotjar: Does Hotjar provide real-time analytics?

No. Hotjar has a slight delay in data processing and does not offer true real-time analytics compared to some competitors.

Source
Hotjar: What integrations does Hotjar support?

Hotjar integrates with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Linear, Microsoft Teams, Zapier, and hundreds of other tools through its API and partner integrations.

Source
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