Software · head to head
FullStory vs Hotjar
The short version
- Each has a real cost: FullStory free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites; Hotjar website performance impact - Hotjar tracking code can cause noticeable slowdowns affecting site speed and Google rankings
- They diverge on capability: FullStory covers Session replay, Hotjar covers Session recordings.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which FullStory and Hotjar actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2014).
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 FullStory
- Session replay
- User journey mapping
- Error tracking
- Frustration signals
- Search functionality
- Custom events
- Jira
- Salesforce
Only in Hotjar
- Session recordings
- Feedback widgets
- Surveys
- User interviews
- Form analytics
- Rage click detection
- Microsoft Teams
- HubSpot
Both cover
- Heatmaps
- Conversion funnels
- Slack
- Google Analytics
- Segment
- Zapier
- SOC2
- GDPR
- CCPA
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
FullStory
- User experience analysisnot Hotjar
- Bug reproductionnot Hotjar
- Conversion optimization
- Customer supportnot Hotjar
- Product developmentnot Hotjar
Hotjar
- User behavior analysisnot FullStory
- Conversion optimization
- UX researchnot FullStory
- Customer feedbacknot FullStory
- Usability testingnot FullStory
Both are used for conversion optimization, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
FullStory
- Free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites
- Personal email addresses cannot be used for signup; business email domain required
- Paid plan pricing not publicly listed, requires sales contact for quotes
- Free plan has no email support, only community-based assistance
- Mobile app analytics requires a separate add-on purchase
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
FullStory
Free- FreeFree
- 1,000 sessions/month
- 14-day data retention
- Basic analytics
- Business$undefined/month
- Custom sessions
- 3-month retention
- Advanced analytics
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited sessions
- Custom retention
- Advanced privacy controls
Hotjar
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Hotjar review.
Which should you pick?
Choose FullStory if
- You need session replay.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Mobile.
- You also want user journey mapping.
Choose Hotjar if
- You need session recordings.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want feedback widgets.
Questions people ask
- Is FullStory or Hotjar better?
- Neither clearly leads. FullStory starts at Free and Hotjar at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, FullStory or Hotjar?
- FullStory starts at Free and Hotjar at Free.
- Does FullStory or Hotjar run on more platforms?
- FullStory runs on Web, Mobile. Hotjar runs on Web.
- Can I use FullStory for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is FullStory best used for?
- FullStory is most often used for user experience analysis, bug reproduction, conversion optimization, customer support. Of those, user experience analysis and bug reproduction are not what Hotjar is typically brought in for.
- What can FullStory do that Hotjar cannot?
- FullStory covers Session replay, User journey mapping, Error tracking, Frustration signals. Hotjar covers Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys, User interviews. Both handle Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, Slack, Google Analytics.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
FullStory: What does FullStory's free tier include?
30,000 sessions per month, 10 user seats, 5,000 server-side events per month, 1 year of session replay retention, and 1 year of product analytics retention. Session capture pauses when you exceed the monthly limit, though existing sessions remain accessible.
SourceHotjar: 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.
SourceFullStory: What features are excluded from the free plan?
Dashboards, configurable form privacy, Go-Live functionality, Streams, client-side rate hooks, mobile app analytics, and StoryAI are not available on the free tier. Email support is also unavailable; only community-based help is provided.
SourceHotjar: 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.
SourceFullStory: Can I use a personal email to sign up for FullStory's free plan?
No. FullStory requires a business email domain for signup; personal email services like Gmail cannot be used for free plan registration.
SourceHotjar: 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.
SourceFullStory: How does FullStory integrate with Slack?
FullStory's Slack integration allows individual users to send noteworthy sessions to Slack channels. Advanced and Enterprise plans can configure Alerts to receive notifications in Slack when user metrics exceed defined thresholds.
SourceHotjar: 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.
SourceFullStory: What analytics platforms does FullStory integrate with?
FullStory integrates with Segment, Mixpanel, Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, Salesforce, HubSpot, and others. These integrations allow you to attach FullStory session URLs to events in your analytics platform for cross-platform correlation.
Source