Amplitude
Amplitude Inc.
6
Overall Score / 10
Hotjar
Contentsquare (acquired Hotjar)
7.1
Overall Score / 10
Our Verdict
Choose Amplitude if:
- —You need deep behavioral analytics with funnels and cohort analysis
- —You want built-in experimentation and feature flags
- —You need predictive audiences and causal insights
Choose Hotjar if:
- —You want visual heatmaps and session recordings
- —You need user feedback via surveys and feedback widgets
- —You prefer a simpler, UX-focused analytics approach
The biggest difference: Amplitude does event-based behavioral analytics with funnels, cohorts, and experimentation; Hotjar provides visual insights through heatmaps, recordings, and user feedback
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Amplitude | Hotjar |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest Paid Plan | $49/mo (Plus)Source: Amplitude Inc. pricing page → | $49/mo (Growth)Source: Contentsquare (acquired Hotjar) pricing page → |
| Free Tier | Yes 10K MTUs or 10M events, session replay, feature flags, web experimentation | Yes 20K monthly sessions, unlimited heatmaps, session recordings, 1-month data retention |
| Value for Money | 6 | 7 |
| Ease of Use | 5 | 9 |
| Feature Power | 9 | 6 |
| Setup Ease | 5 | 9 |
| Migration Ease | 4 | 7 |
| Transparency | 5 | 6 |
| Deployment | cloud | cloud |
| API Available | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, ISO 27001, HIPAA | GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 |
Feature Comparison
Feature Comparison Matrix
20 features compared · 19 differences
| Feature | Amplitude | Hotjar |
|---|---|---|
| Core | ||
| Behavioral cohorts | Full | None |
| Causal insights | Full | None |
| Data governance | Full | None |
| Feature flags | Full | None |
| Feedback widgets | None | Full |
| Form analysis | None | Full |
| Funnels | None | Full |
| Heatmaps (click, scroll, move) | None | Full |
| Highlights and tags | None | Full |
| Predictive audiences | Full | None |
| Session recordings | None | Full |
| Session replay | Full | None |
| Surveys | None | Full |
| User interviews recruitment | None | Full |
| Web experimentation | Full | None |
| Advanced | ||
| Custom dashboards | Full | None |
| Product analytics | Full | None |
| Integrations | ||
| API Access | Full | Full |
| Contentsquare integration | None | Full |
| Streaming and syncs | Full | None |
Pricing Comparison
Amplitude Pricing
10K MTUs or 10M events, session replay, feature flags, web experimentation
Up to 300K MTUs or 25M events, behavioral cohorts, custom audiences, online support
Custom volume, causal insights, monitoring, feature experimentation, predictive audiences
Cross-product analysis, advanced security, multi-armed bandit, assigned account manager
Hotjar Pricing
20K monthly sessions, unlimited heatmaps, session replay, 1-month data retention
Higher session limits, extended data retention, no branding, unlimited seats
Advanced analytics, higher traffic volumes, extended retention
Maximum data retention, priority support, custom integrations
Who Should Choose Which?
Who should choose Amplitude
Best for
- Product teams needing advanced behavioral analytics and experimentation
- Enterprises wanting analytics + feature flags + experimentation in one platform
- Teams doing sophisticated cohort and retention analysis
Avoid if
- You only need simple web analytics
- You want transparent pricing at scale
- You have limited engineering resources for implementation
Who should choose Hotjar
Best for
- UX teams wanting visual insights into user behavior
- Marketing teams optimizing conversion rates
- Non-technical teams wanting easy-to-understand analytics
Avoid if
- You need event-based product analytics (Mixpanel/PostHog is better)
- You want an all-in-one analytics platform
- You are concerned about the Contentsquare transition
Switching Guidance
Switching from Amplitude
Common triggers to leave:
- •Opaque enterprise pricing
- •Implementation complexity
- •Feature overlap with other tools
Potential blockers:
- •Historical analytics data
- •Custom reports and cohorts
- •Experimentation setup
Switching from Hotjar
Common triggers to leave:
- •Contentsquare transition uncertainty
- •Need event-based analytics
- •Need self-hosted option
Potential blockers:
- •Historical heatmap and recording data
- •Survey templates
- •Team familiarity
Try Amplitude
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Try Hotjar
Start free — no credit card required