Softwr

Marketing · head to head

Hootsuite vs Hotjar

Hootsuite logo

Hootsuite

Marketing

Save time and grow on social media

From
$99/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Hotjar logo

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: Hootsuite no free tier available; minimum cost is $99/user/year annually; Hotjar website performance impact - Hotjar tracking code can cause noticeable slowdowns affecting site speed and Google rankings
  • They diverge on capability: Hootsuite covers Content scheduling, Hotjar covers Heatmaps.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hootsuite and Hotjar actually diverge.

Attributes where Hootsuite and Hotjar differ
AttributeHootsuiteHotjar
Starting price$99/yearFree
Free tierNoYes
CategoryMarketingE-Commerce
Founded20082014

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), 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 Hootsuite

  • Content scheduling
  • Social inbox
  • Content calendar
  • Analytics & reporting
  • Social listening
  • Team collaboration
  • Approval workflows
  • Bulk scheduling

Only in Hotjar

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

Both cover

  • SOC2
  • ISO27001
  • GDPR

What people use each for

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

Hootsuite

  • Social media schedulingnot Hotjar
  • Community managementnot Hotjar
  • Social advertisingnot Hotjar
  • Analytics & reportingnot Hotjar
  • Team collaborationnot Hotjar

Hotjar

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

Where each one falls short

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

Hootsuite

  • No free tier available; minimum cost is $99/user/year annually
  • Monthly billing significantly more expensive than annual (20-30% premium)
  • Advanced data export via SFTP available only to Enterprise tier customers

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

Hootsuite

$99/year

No published plan breakdown. See the Hootsuite review.

Hotjar

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Hotjar review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Hootsuite if

  • You need content scheduling.
  • You also want social inbox.
Hootsuite review

Choose Hotjar if

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

Questions people ask

Is Hootsuite or Hotjar better?
Neither clearly leads. Hootsuite starts at $99/year and Hotjar at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hootsuite or Hotjar?
Hotjar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $99/year for Hootsuite and Free for Hotjar.
Does Hootsuite 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. Hootsuite starts at $99/year.
What is Hootsuite best used for?
Hootsuite is most often used for social media scheduling, community management, social advertising, analytics & reporting. Of those, social media scheduling and community management are not what Hotjar is typically brought in for.
What can Hootsuite do that Hotjar cannot?
Hootsuite covers Content scheduling, Social inbox, Content calendar, Analytics & reporting. Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys. Both handle SOC2, ISO27001, GDPR.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hootsuite: What is Hootsuite's pricing structure?

Hootsuite offers four annual plans: Standard at $99/user/year, Professional at $199/user/year, Advanced at $399/user/year, and Enterprise with custom pricing. Monthly billing is available at 20-30% higher cost.

Source
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
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer a free tier?

No. Hootsuite does not offer a free tier or freemium plan. A 30-day trial is available, and skipping the trial provides 25% off annual plans.

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
Hootsuite: How many integrations does Hootsuite support?

Hootsuite advertises support for over 100 integrations, claiming more than any other social media management platform.

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
Hootsuite: Can users export their data from Hootsuite?

Yes. Hootsuite offers Advanced Analytics data export as CSV files to SFTP folders for Enterprise users, with daily exports and 90-day retention. Standard and Professional plans have more limited export capabilities.

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
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer API access?

Yes. Hootsuite provides a REST API for building custom applications and integrations, though API capabilities vary by plan level.

Source
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer self-hosted or on-premise deployment?

No. Hootsuite is a cloud-based SaaS platform only. There is no self-hosted or on-premise deployment option available.

Source
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