Is Hotjar or Shopkeep better?

Neither clearly leads. Hotjar starts at Free and Shopkeep at $89/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Hotjar or Shopkeep?

Hotjar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hotjar and $89/month for Shopkeep.

Does Hotjar or Shopkeep run on more platforms?

Hotjar runs on Web. Shopkeep runs on iPad, Web.

Can I use Hotjar for free?

Yes. Hotjar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Shopkeep starts at $89/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 Shopkeep is typically brought in for.

What can Hotjar do that Shopkeep cannot?

Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys. Shopkeep covers Point of sale, Payment processing, Inventory management, Customer profiles.

E-Commerce · head to head

Hotjar vs Shopkeep

Hotjar

E-Commerce

Understand how users behave on your site

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Shopkeep

E-Commerce

Cloud-based POS for small businesses

From: $89/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; Shopkeep all plans require 24/7 phone and chat support; no tiered support options
They diverge on capability: Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Shopkeep covers Point of sale.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hotjar and Shopkeep actually diverge.

Attributes where Hotjar and Shopkeep differ
Attribute	Hotjar	Shopkeep
Starting price	Free	$89/month
Pricing model	Unknown	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web	iPad, Web
Founded	2014	2008

Identical on both: 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 Shopkeep

Point of sale
Payment processing
Inventory management
Customer profiles
Sales analytics
Employee management
Mobile POS
Reporting

What people use each for

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

Hotjar

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

Shopkeep

No use cases recorded yet. See the Shopkeep review.

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

Shopkeep

All plans require 24/7 phone and chat support; no tiered support options
Prices vary by business type and industry with additional service fees possible
Extra locations and registers incur additional charges beyond base plan cost

Pricing, plan by plan

Hotjar

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Hotjar review.

Shopkeep

$89/month

Basic$89/month
- Retail POS platform
- 1 register included
- Integrated Payments 1.5%
Core$149/month
- All Basic features
- Advanced management tools
- Business growth support
Plus$289/month
- All Core features
- Advanced customization
- Established retail operations support

Which should you pick?

Choose Hotjar if

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

Hotjar review

Choose Shopkeep if

You need point of sale.
You work on iPad, Web.
You also want payment processing.

Shopkeep review

Questions people ask

Is Hotjar or Shopkeep better?: Neither clearly leads. Hotjar starts at Free and Shopkeep at $89/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hotjar or Shopkeep?: Hotjar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hotjar and $89/month for Shopkeep.
Does Hotjar or Shopkeep run on more platforms?: Hotjar runs on Web. Shopkeep runs on iPad, Web.
Can I use Hotjar for free?: Yes. Hotjar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Shopkeep starts at $89/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 Shopkeep is typically brought in for.
What can Hotjar do that Shopkeep cannot?: Hotjar covers Heatmaps, Session recordings, Feedback widgets, Surveys. Shopkeep covers Point of sale, Payment processing, Inventory management, Customer profiles.

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

Shopkeep: What is included in the Lightspeed Retail Basic plan at $89 per month?

The Basic plan includes 1 register, retail POS platform, integrated payments at 1.5% card-present rate, inventory management, Lightspeed Wholesale access, NuORDER Catalog with 5 million+ products, built-in eCommerce, loyalty programs, and 24/7 support.

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

Shopkeep: How much can I save by paying annually instead of monthly?

Shopkeep (Lightspeed Retail) offers up to 18% discount when paying annually instead of month-to-month. All three plans (Basic, Core, Plus) qualify for this annual discount.

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

Shopkeep: What additional costs should I budget beyond the monthly subscription?

Beyond the monthly plan cost, extra locations require additional charges, extra registers incur per-register fees, and hardware (terminals, scanners, iPad devices) have separate costs. Integrated payment processing charges 1.5% per transaction.

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

Hotjar vs Shopkeep

Hotjar

Shopkeep

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Hotjar

Only in Shopkeep

What people use each for

Hotjar

Shopkeep

Where each one falls short

Hotjar

Shopkeep

Pricing, plan by plan

Hotjar

Shopkeep

Which should you pick?

Choose Hotjar if

Choose Shopkeep if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Hotjar

More on Shopkeep

Keep looking

Other head to heads