3 Best Hotjar Alternatives & Competitors 2026
The best Hotjar alternatives in 2026 are PostHog (4.5/5), Plausible (4.7/5) and Mixpanel (4.5/5), as ranked on SAASAF.AI. We compare all 3 with Hotjar on pricing, free tiers, features and platforms. 2 of 3 have a free tier.
Why Look for Hotjar Alternatives?
While Hotjar is a popular choice in the Analytics space, users often explore alternatives due to limited platform availability. The Analytics market is highly competitive, and several strong alternatives offer different approaches to the same problems Hotjar solves. Although Hotjar offers a free tier, some alternatives provide more generous free plans or different feature sets that may better align with specific team requirements.
What Are the Best Hotjar Alternatives?
PostHog
Open-source product analytics, session replay, and feature flags
- Open-source with optional self-hosting
- Bundles analytics, replay, feature flags, and experiments
- Generous free tier across every product
Plausible
Privacy-friendly web analytics without cookies
- Privacy-friendly - no cookies and GDPR-exempt
- Sub-1KB tracking script is faster than GA4
- Open source with self-hosting option
Mixpanel
Product analytics for building better products
- Free tier covers 1M events per month
- Funnels, Retention, and Flows are best-in-class for product PMs
- Group Analytics fits B2B SaaS account-level work
How Does Hotjar Compare to Its Alternatives?
Feature Comparison: Hotjar vs Alternatives
| Feature | Hotjar | PostHog | Plausible | Mixpanel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heatmaps | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Session Recordings | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Surveys | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Feedback | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Funnels | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Trends | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Event Tracking | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Session Replay | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Feature Flags | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| A B Testing | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Data Warehouse | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Privacy Friendly | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| No Cookies | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Lightweight Script | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Goals | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Events | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Open Source | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Retention Analysis | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cohorts | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Flows | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
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Hotjar Alternatives: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best alternative to Hotjar?
PostHog is the #1 ranked Hotjar alternative on SAASAF.AI, with a 4.5/5 rating. PostHog is an open-source product analytics suite that includes event tracking, session replay, feature flags, A/B testing, and a data warehouse. PostHog has a free tier, with paid plans listed on its website. Other strong options include Plausible (4.7/5) and Mixpanel (4.5/5).
How many alternatives to Hotjar are there?
SAASAF.AI lists 3 alternatives to Hotjar: PostHog, Plausible and Mixpanel. 2 of them include a free tier. 2 are AI-powered. Their ratings range from 4.5/5 to 4.7/5. Each one is compared with Hotjar below on rating, pricing model, starting price, free tier, AI capability and supported platforms.
Is there a free alternative to Hotjar?
Yes. PostHog and Mixpanel offer a free tier among the 3 Hotjar alternatives on SAASAF.AI. PostHog has a free tier, with paid plans listed on its website. Mixpanel starts at $20/month and has a free tier. Hotjar also has a free tier.
What is the cheapest Hotjar alternative?
Plausible has the lowest listed starting price of the Hotjar alternatives on SAASAF.AI, at $9/month. Hotjar starts at $32/month. For comparison, Mixpanel starts at $20/month. Plausible does not list a free tier. Plausible is rated 4.7/5 on SAASAF.AI.
Which Hotjar alternatives use AI?
PostHog and Mixpanel are the AI-powered Hotjar alternatives listed on SAASAF.AI. Hotjar is AI-powered too and uses a proprietary AI model. PostHog has a free tier, with paid plans listed on its website. Mixpanel starts at $20/month and has a free tier.
Still not sure?
Compare Hotjar head-to-head with any alternative above, or browse all tools in Analytics to find the perfect fit for your workflow.