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E-commerce · head to head

Hotjar vs PayPal

H

Hotjar

E-commerce

Understand how users behave on your site

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PayPal logo

PayPal

Personal Finance

The simpler, safer way to pay and get paid

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Hotjar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hotjar website performance impact - Hotjar tracking code can cause noticeable slowdowns affecting site speed and Google rankings; PayPal currency conversion on international purchases and sends carries a 4.00 percent fee, and 3.00 percent in other conversion scenarios
  • They diverge on capability: Hotjar covers Heatmaps, PayPal covers Payment processing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hotjar and PayPal actually diverge.

Attributes where Hotjar and PayPal differ
AttributeHotjarPayPal
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelUnknownusage-based
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryE-commercePersonal Finance
Founded20141998

Identical on both: 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 Hotjar

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

Only in PayPal

  • Payment processing
  • PayPal Checkout
  • Invoicing
  • Business debit card
  • Working capital loans
  • Shopify
  • WooCommerce
  • BigCommerce

What people use each for

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

Hotjar

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

PayPal

  • Paying online merchants without sharing card detailsnot Hotjar
  • Sending money to friends and family domestically and internationallynot Hotjar
  • Holding balances in multiple currencies for cross border purchasesnot Hotjar

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

PayPal

  • Currency conversion on international purchases and sends carries a 4.00 percent fee, and 3.00 percent in other conversion scenarios
  • Instant transfer to a bank or debit card costs 1.75 percent of the amount, with a minimum of 0.25 USD and a maximum of 25.00 USD
  • International personal transactions carry a 5.00 percent fee regardless of payment method, with a minimum of 0.99 USD and a maximum of 4.99 USD
  • Sending domestic personal payments funded by a credit card costs 2.90 percent plus a fixed fee of 0.49 USD
  • Instant transfers are capped at 25,000.00 USD per transaction

Pricing, plan by plan

Hotjar

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Hotjar review.

PayPal

$29/month
  • Standard$2.99/transaction
    • Card payments
    • PayPal checkout
    • Invoice payments

Which should you pick?

Choose Hotjar if

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

Choose PayPal if

  • You need payment processing.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want paypal checkout.
PayPal review

Questions people ask

Is Hotjar or PayPal better?
Neither clearly leads. Hotjar starts at Free and PayPal at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hotjar or PayPal?
Hotjar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hotjar and $29/month for PayPal.
Does Hotjar or PayPal run on more platforms?
Hotjar runs on Web. PayPal runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Hotjar for free?
Yes. Hotjar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PayPal starts at $29/month.
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 conversion optimization are not what PayPal is typically brought in for.
What can Hotjar do that PayPal cannot?
Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys. PayPal covers Payment processing, PayPal Checkout, Invoicing, Business debit card.

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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Related pages

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