Microsoft Clarity is completely free. Hotjar starts at $32/month. Both tools show heatmaps and session recordings to help you understand how visitors interact with your website. This comparison breaks down what each tool offers and whether Hotjar’s paid features justify the cost over Clarity’s free offering.
Pricing Comparison
| Plan | Microsoft Clarity | Hotjar |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Yes — unlimited, forever | Yes — 35 daily sessions |
| Entry paid | Not applicable | $39/mo (Growth) |
| Mid tier | Not applicable | Custom (Pro) |
| Scale | Not applicable | Custom (Enterprise) |
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Microsoft Clarity | Hotjar |
|---|---|---|
| Heatmaps | Yes — free, unlimited | Yes — paid plans |
| Session recordings | Yes — free, unlimited | Yes — limited on free |
| Click maps | Yes | Yes |
| Scroll maps | Yes | Yes |
| User surveys | No | Yes |
| Feedback widgets | No | Yes |
| Rage click detection | Yes — automatic | Yes — paid plans |
| Dead click detection | Yes — automatic | Yes — paid plans |
| Google Analytics integration | Yes | Yes |
| Data storage | 13 months | 365 days (paid) |
| GDPR compliance | Yes | Yes |
Microsoft Clarity Advantages
- Completely free with no session or pageview limits
- Automatic rage click and dead click detection — no configuration needed
- 13 months of data storage
- AI-powered insights that summarise session recordings automatically
- Native Microsoft Advertising and Google Analytics integration
- No data sampling — all sessions recorded
Hotjar Advantages
- User surveys and feedback widgets — not available in Clarity
- More advanced filtering and segmentation of recordings
- Funnel analysis to identify drop-off points in conversion flows
- User interviews feature (Scale plan)
- Longer track record and more integrations
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Microsoft Clarity better than Hotjar?
For heatmaps and session recordings, Microsoft Clarity provides comparable functionality to Hotjar at no cost. Hotjar is better if you need user surveys, feedback widgets, or advanced funnel analysis. For most websites that just need to understand user behaviour through recordings and heatmaps, Clarity is the better starting point.
Is Microsoft Clarity really free?
Yes. Microsoft Clarity is completely free with no limits on sessions, pageviews, or data storage (13 months retention). There are no paid plans — Clarity is Microsoft’s free offering with no premium tier.
Can I use both Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity together?
Yes. Many site owners use both — Clarity for unlimited free session recordings and heatmaps, Hotjar for its survey and feedback tools. Running both simultaneously does not significantly affect page performance.
Does Microsoft Clarity affect page speed?
Microsoft Clarity loads asynchronously and has minimal impact on page speed. It scores well in Core Web Vitals tests. Hotjar can have a slightly larger performance impact depending on which features are enabled.
Microsoft Clarity vs Hotjar: Which Should You Install First?
If you are starting from scratch, install Microsoft Clarity first — it is free, takes 5 minutes to set up, and starts recording sessions immediately with no usage limits. Once you understand your users’ behaviour through Clarity’s recordings and heatmaps, you will have a much clearer idea of whether Hotjar’s additional features (surveys, feedback widgets) would add value for your specific situation.
Microsoft Clarity Features in Detail
Session Recordings: Clarity records every user session by default with no sampling — meaning you see 100% of sessions, not a random sample. Sessions are stored for 13 months. The AI-powered summary feature automatically highlights unusual sessions (rage clicks, dead clicks, excessive scrolling) so you do not have to watch hours of recordings manually.
Heatmaps: Clarity generates click maps, scroll maps, and area maps for any page on your site. Heatmaps update in real time and can be filtered by device type, country, or traffic source. There is no limit on the number of pages or the volume of data collected.
Rage Click and Dead Click Detection: Clarity automatically flags sessions where users click repeatedly in frustration (rage clicks) or click on elements that are not interactive (dead clicks). These are surfaced in the dashboard without any configuration.
Google Analytics Integration: Clarity integrates directly with Google Analytics 4, allowing you to jump from a GA4 segment directly into Clarity session recordings for that segment. This is one of Clarity’s most powerful features for diagnosing traffic behaviour.
Hotjar Features in Detail
Surveys: Hotjar’s on-site surveys allow you to ask users specific questions at defined trigger points — after a page view, after a certain time on page, or on exit intent. Survey responses are tied to session recordings, allowing you to watch the session of a user who responded negatively.
Feedback Widgets: The feedback widget lets users rate pages and leave comments directly on your site. This qualitative feedback complements the quantitative data from heatmaps and recordings.
Funnels: Hotjar’s funnel analysis shows drop-off rates at each step of a defined conversion flow. You can click into the recordings of users who dropped off at a specific step to understand why.
User Interviews: Available on Hotjar’s Scale plan, this feature allows you to recruit and conduct moderated user interviews directly through the platform.
Privacy and GDPR Compliance
Both Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar are GDPR compliant and provide tools to manage user consent. Clarity automatically masks sensitive form fields and allows you to configure additional masking rules. Hotjar provides a suppress recording feature and consent mode integration. Both tools process data in compliance with GDPR requirements for EU users. If operating in the EU, both require proper cookie consent implementation before recording sessions.
Performance Impact on Page Speed
Microsoft Clarity loads asynchronously and adds approximately 5-10ms of additional page load time in most configurations. It does not significantly impact Core Web Vitals scores. Hotjar’s performance impact varies by features enabled — session recording alone has minimal impact, but enabling multiple features simultaneously can add 15-30ms. Both tools should be loaded after your critical page resources using async or defer attributes.
