I used Hotjar for my early SaaS product to watch how users clicked and scrolled. It was magical for seeing friction points. But as we scaled—adding more complex flows, mobile screens, multi-step funnels—I felt Hotjar’s limits bite me. Data got stale, cross-device views were weak, and integrating feedback with behavior was messy.
So if you’re sitting there, Googling Hotjar Alternatives , you’re not alone. Many founders hit the same wall. You want session replays, heatmaps, click tracking, funnel insights maybe even AI-driven insights but you don’t want to rebuild from scratch.
Here’s the deal: every alternative has trade-offs. What works best depends on your product, team, and scale. In this article, I’ll walk you through the top Hotjar alternatives for 2025, compare their strengths/weaknesses, and help you pick the one that fits your SaaS startup’s growth stage.
Also Read: Best Fathom Alternatives for SaaS Startups
What to Look for in a Hotjar Alternative Before I jump into the tools, here’s a mini checklist I use when evaluating behavior analytics and session-replay products. Keep this list in your back pocket as you compare options.
Core features Essential capabilities that most teams rely on to understand behavior.
1 Session replay / recordings2 Heatmaps (click, move, scroll)3 Scroll maps & click maps4 Form analytics (drop-offs & errors)Event-level & funnel tracking Make sure you can measure flows, conversion funnels, and where users drop off.
5 Custom events and funnels6 Path analysis & conversion cohortsMobile / cross-device support Unified behavior across screens is crucial if you have web + mobile users.
7 Mobile SDKs for native apps8 Cross-device session stitchingFeedback & surveys Link qualitative feedback with quantitative behavior to know the “why”.
9 In-page surveys & microsurveys10 Feedback widgets and NPSScalability & data storage Understand session limits, sampling behavior, and export options.
11 Session retention & export12 Server-side ingestion & large-scale pipelinesPrivacy & compliance Key for GDPR, CCPA, and enterprise customers who demand stricter controls.
13 IP anonymization & PII masking14 Self-hosting or EU-only storageIntegration & extensibility How well the tool plugs into your analytics stack and workflows.
15 APIs & webhooks16 Data export to warehouse or analytics toolsUsability & learning curve Will your team adopt it quickly, or will it add friction?
17 Clear UI & searchable recordings18 Good docs, SDK guides, and onboarding
Quick tip: before committing, test with a real funnel for a week — capture recordings + funnels + a short in-page survey. That combo answers both what users did and why they did it.
Top Hotjar Alternatives for SaaS in 2025 Below are the standout tools I’ve tested, read about, or recommended. Each fills a gap Hotjar has, with pros and trade-offs.
Comparison Table: Hotjar Alternatives Tool Best Use Case / Ideal For Strengths Weakness / Consideration FullStory Enterprise UX & behavior insight AI insights, replay + segmentation Cost, learning curve Mouseflow Conversion / funnel analysis Form analytics, drop-offs, heatmaps Feature gating, heavier UI Smartlook Cross-platform / mobile + web Mobile support, retro analytics Limits on free tiers Matomo Privacy, self-host, data ownership Full control, GDPR-first design Maintenance overhead, UX polish Crazy Egg Visual analytics for pages / marketing Heatmaps, scroll maps Less session detail, lighter depth Lucky Orange Small teams needing all-in-one Chat + live sessions + analytics Less depth for enterprise contexts UXtweak UX & usability testing + behavior Usability add-ons, affordable May lack deep product analytics PostHog Combine UX + product analytics Unified tool, extensibility Need to configure UX modules
Real-World Mini Case: SaaS Founder Anna
Meet Anna , the founder of a fast-growing productivity SaaS. She began with Hotjar because it was dead simple — she could watch recordings, view heatmaps, and fix obvious UX issues quickly.
But as her startup expanded to a mobile version with multiple onboarding flows, she started noticing blind spots. Heatmaps and recordings weren’t giving her the full picture anymore.
That’s when she switched to FullStory — gaining unified web + mobile session replay and segmentation. The turning point came when she correlated a session replay with a drop-off in a funnel metric inside her analytics dashboard — her “aha” moment .
Interestingly, Anna didn’t ditch Hotjar-style insights completely — she kept Crazy Egg for quick landing-page heatmap snapshots. That lightweight mix gave her clarity without overcomplicating her workflow.
If I were in her shoes, I’d probably start with Smartlook + Matomo (for privacy) or PostHog from Day 1 — so I wouldn’t run into analytics ceilings later on.
How to Choose the Right Alternative (for Your SaaS) Define your priority:
UX & session playback focus → FullStory, Smartlook, Lucky OrangeConversion / funnel optimization → Mouseflow, Crazy EggPrivacy & control → MatomoUnified product + UX → PostHogScale vs cost trade-off:
Team & infrastructure readiness:
Integration needs:
Pilot test two tools in parallel:
Conclusion Hotjar is a stellar tool, especially early on but it isn’t the end game. As your SaaS scales, you’ll want deeper funnels, session correlation, cross-platform analysis, and more data control. That’s where Hotjar alternatives like FullStory, Mouseflow, Smartlook, Matomo, Crazy Egg, Lucky Orange, UXtweak, or PostHog step in.
Pick a tool that matches your growth stage and team capacity. Start small with a pilot, then commit. If you like, I can help you build a migration plan from Hotjar to your chosen tool (step by step). Just tell me which one you’re leaning toward.
FAQ (Common Questions About Hotjar Alternatives) What are good Hotjar alternatives? Tools like FullStory , Mouseflow , Smartlook , Matomo , Crazy Egg , and PostHog are among the top choices.
Can I get heatmaps + session replays for free? Yes — Microsoft Clarity is a free option that includes both session replay and heatmaps.
Do these tools support mobile app analytics? Yes. Smartlook , FullStory , and PostHog all support mobile and cross-device tracking.
Is switching from Hotjar hard? Not really. Run your new tool in parallel with Hotjar, map key events, and migrate gradually to ensure consistent tracking.
Which alternative is best for privacy / GDPR? Matomo (self-hosted) is the best option if you need full data control and strict privacy compliance.
