The 6 best Hotjar alternatives
Short answer
The best Hotjar alternatives are Airtable, Notion, HubSpot. Airtable is our top pick — it scores 8.5/10 and is best for Agencies tracking clients, content, or campaigns. The right choice depends on your budget, team size, and which features matter most.
Why look for a Hotjar alternative?
Hotjar scores 8.8/10 in our review and works well for many teams — but it is not the right fit for everyone. The most common reasons readers look elsewhere:
- ✗Free plan caps at 35 daily sessions
- ✗Session recordings can raise privacy concerns — ensure GDPR compliance
- ✗Not a replacement for Google Analytics for traffic/SEO data
Hotjar alternatives, ranked
Airtable
Top pickThe database your team will actually use
Airtable is a flexible database platform that works like a supercharged spreadsheet. Used by agencies for client tracking, content calendars, project databases, and custom workflows. Extremely versatile with a large template library.
Strengths
- ✓Extremely flexible — fits almost any use case
- ✓Multiple views (grid, gallery, kanban, calendar)
- ✓Large integration ecosystem
Best for
- →Agencies tracking clients, content, or campaigns
- →Custom workflow builders
Notion
The connected workspace for notes, docs, and projects
Notion is a flexible workspace combining notes, docs, wikis, databases, and project management. Extremely popular with consultants and small teams as a client-facing wiki, internal knowledge base, and lightweight project tracker. Steep learning curve but limitless flexibility.
Strengths
- ✓Extremely versatile — replaces many single-purpose tools
- ✓Great for client-facing deliverable docs
- ✓Strong free tier
Best for
- →Consultants building client deliverables and SOPs
- →Solo operators centralizing their work
- →Knowledge-heavy businesses
HubSpot
CRM, marketing, sales, and service platform
HubSpot is the leading inbound marketing and CRM platform. The free CRM is genuinely excellent and used by thousands of agencies. Paid hubs (Marketing, Sales, Service) are expensive but deeply integrated. The affiliate program pays 30% recurring for up to a year — one of the best in SaaS.
Strengths
- ✓Free CRM is genuinely excellent
- ✓All-in-one if you buy hubs
- ✓Best integrations ecosystem in business software
Best for
- →Agencies managing multiple client relationships
- →Teams with dedicated sales/marketing
Google Analytics
The world's most used web analytics platform — free
Google Analytics (GA4) is the default web analytics tool for most websites — free, powerful, and deeply integrated with the Google ecosystem (Search Console, Google Ads, Looker Studio). GA4 uses an event-based data model that gives more flexibility than its predecessor Universal Analytics. It tracks sessions, users, traffic sources, conversion events, and user journeys. Essential for any business running paid ads or relying on organic search. The learning curve is real, but no other free tool matches its depth.
Strengths
- ✓Completely free for most use cases
- ✓Deepest integration with Google Ads, Search Console, and Looker Studio
- ✓Industry-standard — every developer and marketer knows it
Best for
- →Any business running Google Ads (tightly integrated)
- →Agencies providing traffic and conversion reporting to clients
AgencyAnalytics
Automated client reporting for digital marketing agencies
AgencyAnalytics is purpose-built for one job: giving digital marketing agencies an efficient way to create and deliver performance reports to clients. Connect 80+ data sources (Google Analytics, Search Console, Google Ads, Meta Ads, SEMrush, Mailchimp, and more), then build automated dashboards and scheduled PDF/email reports. Clients get a live dashboard URL, and agencies save hours of manual reporting every month. Pricing is per client campaign, not per user.
Strengths
- ✓80+ integrations covering every major ad, SEO, and social platform
- ✓Automated PDF and email reports eliminate manual reporting work
- ✓Client-facing live dashboards at custom-branded URLs
Best for
- →Digital marketing agencies reporting on SEO, PPC, and social performance for multiple clients
- →Any agency spending more than a few hours per month on manual reporting
Plausible
Privacy-first web analytics — no cookies, no consent banners
Plausible is a lightweight, privacy-first analytics tool that works without cookies, making it fully GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant without a cookie consent banner. It tracks the essentials — pageviews, unique visitors, traffic sources, top pages, countries, devices — in a single-page dashboard that's fast and readable at a glance. Open-source and can be self-hosted. No free cloud plan, but a 30-day trial. A growing number of privacy-conscious businesses use Plausible alongside (or instead of) Google Analytics.
Strengths
- ✓No cookies — no consent banner required in EU or anywhere
- ✓Single clean dashboard — readably in 10 seconds
- ✓Open source — self-host for free on your own server
Best for
- →Privacy-conscious creators and businesses that want analytics without GDPR friction
- →EU-based businesses needing compliant analytics
Hotjar vs. the alternatives
| Tool | Score | Starting price | Free plan | Ease of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotjar(current) | 8.8/10 | — | Yes | 8.5/10 |
| Airtable | 8.5/10 | — | Yes | 8/10 |
| Notion | 8.8/10 | — | Yes | 7.5/10 |
| HubSpot | 8.8/10 | — | Yes | 8/10 |
| Google Analytics | 8.8/10 | — | Yes | 6.5/10 |
| AgencyAnalytics | 8.8/10 | — | No | 8.5/10 |
| Plausible | 8.5/10 | — | No | 9.5/10 |
Hotjar alternatives — FAQ
What is the best Hotjar alternative?
Airtable is our top-rated Hotjar alternative, scoring 8.5/10. It is best for Agencies tracking clients, content, or campaigns.
Is there a free Hotjar alternative?
Yes — Airtable, Notion, HubSpot, Google Analytics offer a free plan you can use to evaluate the tool before paying.