Hotjar is the go-to for heatmaps, session recordings and surveys. People look for an alternative when they want a free or cheaper option, a cookieless tool, or - often - analytics that show which traffic makes money rather than how people behave on a page. Several options here answer a different question than Hotjar, so pick by what you actually need to learn.
If you're leaving Hotjar because you want to know which traffic actually makes money, that's the whole point of Clicked - revenue, conversions and conversion rate by source, from one line of code, no cookie banner, free to start. It won't replace Hotjar's heatmaps and recordings; it answers the money question the others make you guess at.
Try Clicked freeClicked, Hotjar and the main alternatives, on the things that decide it.
| Tool | Revenue by source | Cookie- less | Free plan | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Clickedthis is us Revenue by source | Yes | Yes | Yes10k/mo free | No |
Hotjar Heatmaps, recordings & surveys | No | No | Yesfree tier | No |
Microsoft Clarity Free heatmaps & session replay | No | No | Yesfully free | No |
Google Analytics Free pageview, session & event analytics | Some | No | Yesfree | No |
Plausible Privacy-first pageview analytics | Some | Yes | Notrial only | Yes |
Fathom Analytics Privacy-first pageview analytics | Some | Yes | Notrial only | No |
Matomo Open-source, full-featured GA replacement | Some | Some | Someself-host | Yes |
Competitor details are our reading of each product at the time of writing, kept to broad, stable facts. Products change - check each vendor's own site for specifics.
A completely free heatmap and session-recording tool from Microsoft. It shows how visitors move, click and scroll on a page - excellent for spotting UX friction. It's about on-page behaviour, not traffic sources or revenue, and it uses cookies.
Clicked vs Microsoft Clarity →The default analytics tool, used almost everywhere. Free and deep - but GA4 is complex, relies on cookies (so it needs a consent banner in the EU), and is built around sessions and events rather than the revenue each traffic source actually brings in.
Clicked vs Google Analytics →A clean, lightweight, open-source and cookieless analytics tool focused on simple traffic stats. Privacy-friendly and pleasant to use - but built around pageviews and visitors, with revenue attribution as a lighter add-on rather than the core.
Clicked vs Plausible →A fast, elegant, cookieless analytics tool in the same privacy-first family as Plausible. GDPR-friendly and simple by design - focused on visits and events rather than the revenue each source drives.
Clicked vs Fathom Analytics →The most complete open-source Google Analytics replacement. Self-host it for full data ownership or use their cloud. Powerful and GA-like - which also means it's heavier to run, configure and maintain than a drop-in tool.
Clicked vs Matomo →A deliberately minimal, cookieless analytics tool for a clean high-level view of your traffic. Privacy-first and easy - not built around per-source revenue.
Clicked vs Simple Analytics →One line on your site. No cookie banner, no signup to try. Clicked reads the ad pixels and cart you already have and shows revenue, conversions and conversion rate by source - live.
Only if what you actually want is revenue-by-source analytics rather than heatmaps and recordings. Hotjar shows how people behave on a page; Clicked shows which traffic makes money. If you need the behavioural side - heatmaps, replays, surveys - keep Hotjar. If you're trying to see which channels pay, Clicked is the better tool. They pair well.
Not really - Hotjar is built for on-page behaviour and feedback, not traffic-source revenue attribution. Clicked is built specifically to show revenue and conversion rate by source, from the pixels and cart you already have.
For heatmaps and recordings, Microsoft Clarity is a strong fully-free option. If what you really want is to know which traffic converts, Clicked has a free plan too - it's just answering a different question than Hotjar.
Money-first analytics for stores and anyone buying traffic. Know what pays, skip the cookie banner.