Is Hotjar or SamCart better?

Neither clearly leads. Hotjar starts at Free and SamCart at $79/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Hotjar or SamCart?

Hotjar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hotjar and $79/month for SamCart.

Does Hotjar or SamCart 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. SamCart starts at $79/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 SamCart is typically brought in for.

What can Hotjar do that SamCart cannot?

Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys.

E-Commerce · head to head

Hotjar vs SamCart

Hotjar

E-Commerce

Understand how users behave on your site

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

SamCart

E-Commerce

The number one checkout platform

From: $79/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

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; SamCart no feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hotjar and SamCart actually diverge.

Attributes where Hotjar and SamCart differ
Attribute	Hotjar	SamCart
Starting price	Free	$79/month
Pricing model	Unknown	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Founded	2014	Unknown

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

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 SamCart

Nothing recorded that Hotjar does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Hotjar

User behavior analysisnot SamCart
Conversion optimizationnot SamCart
UX researchnot SamCart
Customer feedbacknot SamCart
Usability testingnot SamCart

SamCart

Increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsellsnot Hotjar
Recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning managementnot Hotjar
Generating sales pages, emails, and ads with AI from product descriptionsnot Hotjar
Sending cart abandonment recovery emails without customer re-entrynot Hotjar
Migrating existing customer bases from competing platforms without data lossnot 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

SamCart

No feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only
Transaction fees of 2.9% plus $0.30 apply to all plans

Pricing, plan by plan

Hotjar

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Hotjar review.

SamCart

$79/month

CORE$79/month
- All features included
PRO$199/month
- All features included

Which should you pick?

Choose Hotjar if

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

Hotjar review

Choose SamCart if

Nothing in the data separates SamCart from Hotjar on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

SamCart review

Questions people ask

Is Hotjar or SamCart better?: Neither clearly leads. Hotjar starts at Free and SamCart at $79/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hotjar or SamCart?: Hotjar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hotjar and $79/month for SamCart.
Does Hotjar or SamCart 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. SamCart starts at $79/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 SamCart is typically brought in for.
What can Hotjar do that SamCart cannot?: Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys.

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

SamCart: How much does SamCart cost?

SamCart offers two subscription tiers: CORE at $79/month and PRO at $199/month. Both plans include all features with no restrictions between tiers.

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

SamCart: What are SamCart's transaction fees?

SamCart charges a transaction fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on all payments processed through the 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

SamCart: Does SamCart offer a free trial?

Yes, SamCart offers a 7-day free trial available for both the CORE and PRO plans, allowing customers to test the platform before committing to a subscription.

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

SamCart: Does SamCart offer migration services from other platforms?

Yes, SamCart offers done-for-you migration services for customers switching from Kajabi, ThriveCart, ClickFunnels, Shopify, and Teachable. Specific pricing for migration services is not listed on the main page.

Source

Hotjar vs SamCart

Hotjar

SamCart

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Hotjar

Only in SamCart

What people use each for

Hotjar

SamCart

Where each one falls short

Hotjar

SamCart

Pricing, plan by plan

Hotjar

SamCart

Which should you pick?

Choose Hotjar if

Choose SamCart if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Hotjar

More on SamCart

Keep looking

Other head to heads