Amplitude is a product analytics platform focused on user behavior tracking and cohort analysis with advanced segmentation capabilities, while Hotjar is a behavior analytics and feedback tool emphasizing session recording, heatmaps, and user feedback collection. Amplitude excels for data-driven product teams needing deep behavioral insights, whereas Hotjar is better for UX researchers and conversion optimizers wanting to understand how users interact with specific pages.
Amplitude vs Hotjar — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Product analytics platform for tracking user behavior and building data-driven product strategies.
Behavior analytics and user feedback platform featuring session recordings, heatmaps, and survey tools.
Primary Focus. Session Recording. Heatmaps & Click Analysis. Cohort Analysis & Segmentation. Event Tracking Limit. User Feedback Tools. Starting Price
Choose Amplitude if you're a product team needing sophisticated analytics, unlimited custom events, advanced cohort analysis, and predictive modeling to drive product decisions across millions of user interactions. Choose Hotjar if you're focused on conversion rate optimization, user experience research, or understanding how visitors interact with specific pages through session recordings, heatmaps, and direct user feedback collection.
Amplitude: Third-party integration only | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: No, requires manual setup | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Advanced ML models (churn, LTV, propensity) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: No (requires export) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Advanced multi-step with drop-off attribution | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 0 (custom setup required) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Advanced with curves & LTV | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: SOC 2 Type II only | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Requires third-party integration | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: ML-powered predictive cohorts + behavioral | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 500,000 events/month | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 7–14 days (event tracking setup) | Hotjar: N/A
Setup Time (implementation to first insights)
Amplitude: 100M events/month standard | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: UI-only, no native SQL | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Email, chat, phone (enterprise), dedicated CSM | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 4+ regions (US, EU, Asia-Pacific, China) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 200+ properties | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Web | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Real-time (0-5 seconds) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 10 million events | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 3.2% of analytics market | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Not included (add-on required) | Hotjar: Included in all plans
Amplitude: 200+ integrations | Hotjar: 100+
Amplitude: 700+ custom events | Hotjar: 50 tracked elements
Amplitude: 10+ stages | Hotjar: 5 stages max
Amplitude: Unlimited (paid plans) | Hotjar: 500 recordings
Amplitude: Limited (basic analytics only) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Available (via Amplitude Experiment add-on) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: $995 base + $0.75/user | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Requires integration | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 200+ custom properties | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 300-600 seconds | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: No (third-party integration required) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Churn, LTV, propensity scoring, retention forecasting | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Deep retention & behavioral cohorts | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 1,440+ minutes (2-4 weeks) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 13 months (with extended) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: $1,495 (annual commitment required) | Hotjar: $99 (month-to-month available)
Amplitude: 200+ integrations | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: ML-powered churn & propensity models | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 100% (required) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 10M events/month | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: $4,995/month (Enterprise) | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Multi-event behavioral cohorts with retention curves | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 350+ integrations | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Plugin-based only | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Third-party integration required | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Add-on required | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: 200+ behavioral attributes | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: iOS/Android analytics only | Hotjar: N/A
Amplitude: Unlimited | Hotjar: Limited by plan tier
Amplitude: Not available | Hotjar: Unlimited recordings
Amplitude: Not available | Hotjar: Up to 500
Amplitude: 120-180 minutes (requires dev team) | Hotjar: 15-30 minutes (self-service)
Amplitude: 500 million+ | Hotjar: 100 million+
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Click, scroll, move, and attention maps
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Standard with basic filtering
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Yes, native functionality
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 12 months standard
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 200+ integrations
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Limited enterprise tier
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: SOC2, GDPR, CCPA
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: $39-$99+ (depending on plan)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 100-500+ (plan dependent)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: ~50KB (moderate impact)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 5 (click, scroll, move, attention, rage)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: $199 (Hotjar Basic+)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 90 days (standard)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 4 types (click, scroll, move, attention)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Yes, native widgets
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 4.4 (1,200+ reviews)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 35,000 sessions
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 35 days on free tier
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Limited by plan
Learning Curve (Beginner-Friendly Rating)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 8/10 (visual insights)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: $0 (free tier available)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 100 sessions/month
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 4 types (scroll, click, move, attention)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Yes (custom segments, user profiles)
Session Recordings Per Month (Basic Plan)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: All plans included
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Manual setup required
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Basic funnel builder
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Sampling applied on lower plans
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Free tier, paid from $39/month
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 50+ metrics with custom reports
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 2,500 sessions/month
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Yes - for session recording and cookies
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Compliant with consent management required
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: ~56 KB with session recording
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Available on all plans
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 30 days (standard)
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Attention maps, AI clustering, scroll/click/mouse tracking, element-specific filtering
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Field-level dropout tracking only
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Limited customization, basic conditional logic
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: Yes—detailed step-by-step drop-off analysis
Amplitude: N/A | Hotjar: 3 (SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA)
How to choose between Amplitude and Hotjar
Amplitude vs Hotjar — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Amplitude vs Hotjar. Contains 176 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Amplitude vs Hotjar — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Amplitude vs Hotjar.
Which tool is better for tracking conversion funnels?
Amplitude excels at funnel analysis with its advanced segmentation and 50+ pre-built templates, allowing you to track complex multi-step conversion paths. Hotjar can track funnels but is better suited for identifying where users drop off visually through session recordings and heatmaps rather than building sophisticated funnel analyses.
Can I see individual user sessions with both tools?
Hotjar's core strength is session recording—you can replay full user interactions. Amplitude focuses on aggregate behavioral patterns and cohort analysis rather than individual session playback, though you can track individual user journeys through detailed event data.
What's the actual cost difference for a growing SaaS company?
Amplitude's minimum is $1,495/month ($17,940/year with annual commitment), while Hotjar starts at $99/month. For a company analyzing 10 million monthly events, Hotjar typically runs $199-299/month, making it 5-10x cheaper. However, Amplitude's unlimited event tracking makes it more economical as you scale to hundreds of millions of events.
Which requires more technical implementation?
Hotjar requires minimal technical setup—install one code snippet and you're tracking within 15 minutes. Amplitude requires more involved event instrumentation, custom event definition, and typically needs developer resources to properly track user behaviors, though it provides SDKs for most platforms.
Yes, many teams use both complementarily. Amplitude provides quantitative behavioral insights and predictive analytics, while Hotjar provides qualitative visual feedback on user experience. You can integrate Hotjar segments into Amplitude for deeper analysis, though this requires manual setup since their native integration is limited.
How to Choose Between Amplitude and Hotjar
Primary Focus: Amplitude has Product analytics & user behavior tracking, while Hotjar has Session recording & UX feedback.
Session Recording: Amplitude has Not included in core product, while Hotjar has Core feature with unlimited recordings.
Heatmaps & Click Analysis: Amplitude has Not available, while Hotjar has Full heatmap, scroll, and click tracking.
Consider: Cohort Analysis & Segmentation
Cohort Analysis & Segmentation: Amplitude has Advanced cohort tools with 50+ pre-built templates, while Hotjar has Basic segment creation.
Event Tracking Limit: Amplitude has Unlimited custom events, while Hotjar has Up to 500 heatmaps per site.
User Feedback Tools: Amplitude has Limited (surveys via integration), while Hotjar has Built-in surveys, polls, and feedback widgets.
Starting Price: Amplitude has $1,495/month (required annual commitment), while Hotjar has $99/month (month-to-month available).