Microsoft Clarity vs Hotjar (2026): which one does a marketing team need?

The short answer

Microsoft says Clarity is "free, forever" and runs on more than 2 million sites and apps. Contentsquare's Hotjar page says its free plan captures up to 200k sessions per month and that Hotjar sign-ups are closed. Both pages were read on 30 September 2026. Here is how the two compare, feature by feature.

A note on the cells marked partial. We only mark a feature yes when the vendor's own page says so. If a vendor sells a feature and does not list it where we looked, the cell says what we could and could not confirm.

What happened to Hotjar?

Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare, and Contentsquare says the two platforms have merged. The Hotjar website redirects to Contentsquare, and Contentsquare states that new Hotjar accounts can no longer be created. If you sign up "for Hotjar" today, you get a Contentsquare Free account.

For existing Hotjar users this is mostly an upgrade in allowances. Contentsquare compares its free plan with the old Hotjar free plan on the same page: 200,000 sessions a month against 35 a day, and 100 survey responses a month against 20. For anyone reading an older comparison article, the practical point is that Hotjar's old plan names, prices and limits no longer apply. Most "Clarity vs Hotjar" pages still ranking were written before the change.

Is Microsoft Clarity really free, and what is the catch?

Microsoft Clarity is free with no traffic limits and no paid version. Microsoft explains why on its pricing page: Clarity helps it gather anonymous behaviour data that improves the machine learning models behind its products. It says it does not share your data with third parties. The practical catch is the 30-day recording window.

Clarity's free offer is genuinely complete. You get every feature, unlimited sites, unlimited projects and unlimited team members. The trade-offs are elsewhere:

• Short memory. Recordings are kept for 30 days from when they are made. Favourites and a random sample are kept for up to nine months. If you want to compare this quarter with last year, you need to have written it down.
• No surveys. Clarity shows what people do, never what they say. If you need to ask visitors why they left, you need another tool.
• You cannot delete one person's data. Microsoft says deleting a user's data means deleting the whole project.
• Consent enforcement for Europe. Microsoft requires a consent signal for visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland. Without it, sessions fragment and full replays are unavailable for those visitors.

For the full setup and privacy picture, including what Australian businesses should put in their privacy policy, see the Microsoft Clarity guide for marketers.

How much does Hotjar cost now?

Hotjar pricing is now Contentsquare pricing. Contentsquare Free costs nothing and captures up to 200,000 sessions a month. The Growth plan starts at USD 49 a month on monthly billing, or USD 39 a month billed yearly, for 7,000 monthly sessions. Pro and Enterprise are priced by quote. Customers outside Europe are billed in US dollars.

There is an easy trap in the Growth price. The USD 39 entry point buys 7,000 sessions a month. Contentsquare's pricing data steps up with traffic: the same page lists 20,000 sessions at USD 119 a month and 150,000 sessions at USD 569 a month on monthly billing. A site with 20,000 sessions a month is not unusual for an Australian B2B service firm, so budget from your real traffic, not the headline.

Because Contentsquare bills Australian customers in USD, convert at the day's rate and expect the AUD cost to move with the exchange rate.

Which is better for a marketing team, Clarity or Hotjar?

For most marketing teams, Microsoft Clarity is the better starting point: it costs nothing, has no traffic cap and flags frustration signals automatically. Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) is better when you need on-site surveys, a year or more of history, or paid analysis features such as journey analysis and impact quantification.

The verdict by team

A small in-house team (one to three marketers). Install Clarity. There is no budget decision to make, and the frustration signals give you a weekly shortlist of pages to look at. Add a single, well-placed feedback question later if you find you need the "why".

An agency managing several client sites. Clarity's unlimited projects make it the practical default: one project per client, each with its own consent setup. Contentsquare Free allows one project, so it suits one site, not a portfolio.

A team that already runs surveys and research. Contentsquare earns its place if surveys, interviews and longer history are part of how you work. Weigh the Growth price against your real session count first.

Everyone. You can run both, with Clarity for always-on recording and a survey tool for questions. Check the combined script weight on your key pages, and name both in your privacy policy.

What neither tool tells you

Neither Microsoft Clarity nor Contentsquare tells you which problem on your site is costing the most enquiries, or what to fix first. Both record behaviour on pages people reached. Neither reads your pages for clarity, trust, speed or search access. That diagnosis is still a job for a person or a different kind of tool.

Here is the arithmetic that makes this matter. Say your team watches 20 recordings a week at about three minutes each: an hour of viewing. Over the 30 days Clarity keeps them, that is roughly 86 recordings on a site that may record several thousand sessions a month. You will see a small, self-selected slice. Recordings are for confirming a hypothesis, not finding one.

This is the gap PostCliq fills. PostCliq is a free website audit from WP Creative, an Australian website growth agency. It reads up to 50 public pages across seven areas (speed and page experience, forms and calls to action, content clarity, search access, accessibility, trust signals and AI readiness) and gives you a private report with evidence and three quick wins to make first. Its Clarity connection is read-only: it puts Clarity's dead clicks, rage clicks and quick backs beside the audit's findings for the same page. See the Microsoft Clarity integration for what it reads.

If you are weighing more than two tools, the full field is in Hotjar alternatives: 9 options, including free ones. And for what the frustration signals mean once you have them, read dead clicks and rage clicks.

What to do next

1. Install Microsoft Clarity on your main site this week. It is free and takes minutes with a plugin or Google Tag Manager.
2. Connect GA4 from Clarity's Setup page so every GA4 session links to its recording.
3. Decide whether you need surveys. If you do, trial Contentsquare Free on your highest-traffic enquiry page, and check the Growth price against your real monthly sessions before you commit.
4. Set a weekly 30-minute review of dead and rage clicks on your contact and landing pages. Star the recordings that show a repeatable problem.
5. Get the diagnosis the recorders cannot give you. Run a free PostCliq audit on your site, then use Clarity recordings to confirm the findings on real sessions.

Frequently asked questions

Is Microsoft Clarity as good as Hotjar?

For heatmaps, session recordings and frustration signals, Clarity matches what most marketing teams used Hotjar for, and it is free with no traffic limits. Where Contentsquare, which replaced Hotjar, goes further is surveys and feedback, longer data history on paid plans, and enterprise analysis features. If you do not need surveys, Clarity covers the job for most teams at no cost.

Can I still sign up for Hotjar?

No. Contentsquare states on its Hotjar page that it is no longer possible to create a new Hotjar account, and new users sign up to Contentsquare instead. The Hotjar website redirects there. Contentsquare Free includes heatmaps, session replay, surveys, error monitoring and funnels, with up to 200,000 sessions a month, according to Contentsquare's own page.

Is Hotjar still free?

Hotjar's old free plan has been replaced by Contentsquare Free, which costs nothing and captures up to 200,000 sessions a month, with 10,000 replays, one project and one month of data access. Contentsquare's page also offers a 15-day trial of its Growth plan without a credit card. Check the page before you rely on these limits, because vendors change them.

Can I use Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar together?

Yes. Nothing in either vendor's documentation we read rules it out. A sensible split is Clarity for always-on recording beside Contentsquare for surveys. Two things to check: the combined weight of third-party scripts on your key pages, measured with Lighthouse before and after, and your privacy policy, which should name both tools and what they collect.

Which is better for GDPR and privacy?

Both vendors say they support privacy compliance, and both require care. Microsoft requires a consent signal for Clarity visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland and masks form input text in every mode. For Australian businesses covered by the Privacy Act, the practical steps are the same for either tool: name it in your privacy policy, keep masking strict, and take advice if unsure.

Does Microsoft Clarity have surveys like Hotjar?

No. Clarity does not offer on-site surveys or feedback widgets. It records behaviour and flags frustration signals, and it adds AI summaries of sessions and heatmaps, but it cannot ask a visitor a question. If you need the visitor's own words, pair Clarity with a survey tool or use Contentsquare, whose free plan includes 100 survey responses a month.