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Software · head to head

Hotjar vs FullStory

H

Hotjar

Software

Understand how users behave on your site

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
FullStory logo

FullStory

Software

Digital experience intelligence platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Hotjar website performance impact - Hotjar tracking code can cause noticeable slowdowns affecting site speed and Google rankings; FullStory free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites
  • They diverge on capability: Hotjar covers Session recordings, FullStory covers Session replay.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hotjar and FullStory actually diverge.

Attributes where Hotjar and FullStory differ
AttributeHotjarFullStory
Pricing modelUnknownquote
PlatformsWebWeb, Mobile

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 Hotjar

  • Session recordings
  • Feedback widgets
  • Surveys
  • User interviews
  • Form analytics
  • Rage click detection
  • Microsoft Teams
  • HubSpot

Only in FullStory

  • Session replay
  • User journey mapping
  • Error tracking
  • Frustration signals
  • Search functionality
  • Custom events
  • Jira
  • Salesforce

Both cover

  • Heatmaps
  • Conversion funnels
  • Google Analytics
  • Segment
  • Zapier
  • Slack
  • GDPR
  • CCPA
  • SOC2

What people use each for

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

Hotjar

  • User behavior analysisnot FullStory
  • Conversion optimization
  • UX researchnot FullStory
  • Customer feedbacknot FullStory
  • Usability testingnot FullStory

FullStory

  • User experience analysisnot Hotjar
  • Bug reproductionnot Hotjar
  • Conversion optimization
  • Customer supportnot Hotjar
  • Product developmentnot Hotjar

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.

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

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

Pricing, plan by plan

Hotjar

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Hotjar review.

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Hotjar if

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

Choose FullStory if

  • You need session replay.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want user journey mapping.
FullStory review

Questions people ask

Is Hotjar or FullStory better?
Neither clearly leads. Hotjar starts at Free and FullStory at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hotjar or FullStory?
Hotjar starts at Free and FullStory at Free.
Does Hotjar or FullStory run on more platforms?
Hotjar runs on Web. FullStory runs on Web, Mobile.
Can I use Hotjar for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Hotjar best used for?
Hotjar is most often used for user behavior analysis, conversion optimization, ux research, customer feedback. Of those, user behavior analysis and ux research are not what FullStory is typically brought in for.
What can Hotjar do that FullStory cannot?
Hotjar covers Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys, User interviews. FullStory covers Session replay, User journey mapping, Error tracking, Frustration signals. Both handle Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, Google Analytics, Segment.

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
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.

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
FullStory: 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.

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
FullStory: 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.

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
FullStory: 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.

Source
FullStory: 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
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