Matomo is a self-hosted or cloud analytics platform focused on privacy-first website tracking with complete data ownership, while Hotjar is a SaaS-only heatmapping and session recording tool designed for UX research and conversion optimization. Matomo excels for data privacy and compliance; Hotjar excels for visual user behavior understanding.
Matomo vs Hotjar — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Privacy-focused web analytics platform offering Google Analytics alternative with self-hosting capability.
Comprehensive user behavior analytics platform with heatmaps, session recording, and feedback tools.
Deployment Model. Data Ownership & Privacy. Primary Use Case. Monthly Pageview Limit (Starter Plan). Heatmapping Capability. Session Recording. Setup Complexity
Choose Matomo if you need complete data privacy, GDPR compliance, unlimited tracking capacity, and full data ownership—especially for regulated industries or enterprises. Choose Hotjar if your primary goal is understanding user experience through visual behavior data (heatmaps, recordings) and you prioritize ease of setup and faster implementation for conversion optimization.
Matomo: $19 (Cloud Starter) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 60-180 (self-hosted) / 5 (cloud) | Hotjar: 10-15 minutes
Matomo: Unlimited (self-hosted) / 13 (cloud) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Yes (live visitors feed) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Unlimited (self-hosted) / 120 (cloud) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 20+ (Slack, Zapier, Google Sheets, etc.) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: None (self-hosted only) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Via third-party plugins | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Yes, open-source | Hotjar: Cloud-only
Matomo: Yes, privacy-first design | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 25 months (standard) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: $300-3,000/year (cloud) or $0 (self-hosted) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: No sampling on any plan | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 4% of tracked websites | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Compliant by default | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 100% user/organization owned | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 0 (basic analytics only) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: $19/month (cloud) or Free (self-hosted) | Hotjar: $39/month
Matomo: Yes (Free open-source) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Requires configuration | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Full REST API & webhooks | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Unlimited (self-hosted) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 8-16 hours (self-hosted) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Yes (in all plans) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Basic (manual creation) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: $228 (cloud) or $0 (self-hosted) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 30-60 (cloud), 120+ (self-hosted) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Manual configuration required | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: User-controlled or Matomo servers | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 24/7 support available | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Yes (full ownership on self-hosted) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: ~50 basic segments | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Basic (limited ML) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: 5-10 days (self-hosted), 1-2 days (cloud) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Unlimited pageviews | Hotjar: 5,000 sessions
Matomo: 5 minutes (Cloud) / 2-4 hours (Self-hosted) | Hotjar: 3 minutes
Matomo: Not included | Hotjar: Included (3 heatmap types)
Matomo: Not included | Hotjar: Included (100+ recordings/month free)
Matomo: Yes (full ownership) | Hotjar: No (SaaS only)
Matomo: Yes (native anonymization) | Hotjar: Partial (requires consent tools)
Matomo: $19/month (Cloud) | Hotjar: $39/month
Matomo: 500+ available | Hotjar: Limited customization
Matomo: No, requires integration | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: Yes, open source (Matomo On-Premise) | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: GDPR-certified and audited | Hotjar: N/A
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Click, scroll, move, and attention maps
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Standard with basic filtering
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Yes, native functionality
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 12 months standard
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Limited enterprise tier
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: $39-$99+ (depending on plan)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 100-500+ (plan dependent)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: ~50KB (moderate impact)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 5 (click, scroll, move, attention, rage)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: $199 (Hotjar Basic+)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 90 days (standard)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Yes, native widgets
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 4.4 (1,200+ reviews)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 35 days on free tier
Learning Curve (Beginner-Friendly Rating)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 8/10 (visual insights)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: $0 (free tier available)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 100 sessions/month
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 4 types (scroll, click, move, attention)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Yes (custom segments, user profiles)
Session Recordings Per Month (Basic Plan)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: All plans included
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Manual setup required
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Basic funnel builder
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Sampling applied on lower plans
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Free tier, paid from $39/month
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 50+ metrics with custom reports
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 2,500 sessions/month
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Yes - for session recording and cookies
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Compliant with consent management required
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: ~56 KB with session recording
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Available on all plans
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Limited (Zapier, webhooks only)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 30 days (standard)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Attention maps, AI clustering, scroll/click/mouse tracking, element-specific filtering
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Field-level dropout tracking only
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Limited customization, basic conditional logic
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Yes—detailed step-by-step drop-off analysis
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 50 tracked elements
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Included in all plans
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 3 (SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Limited by plan tier
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Unlimited recordings
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 15-30 minutes (self-service)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 4.6/5 (5,200+ reviews)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: 5 types (click, move, scroll, attention, device)
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Basic funnel tracking
Matomo: N/A | Hotjar: Baseline comparison
Matomo vs Hotjar — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Matomo vs Hotjar. Contains 175 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Matomo vs Hotjar — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Matomo vs Hotjar.
Which tool is better for GDPR compliance?
Matomo is superior for GDPR compliance. It offers native anonymization, automatic IP masking, and zero third-party data sharing without requiring external consent managers. Matomo is GDPR-compliant by default. Hotjar requires manual configuration with third-party consent tools and stores data on external servers, adding compliance complexity.
Can I see heatmaps and session recordings in Matomo?
Matomo does not have native heatmapping or session recording features. However, it integrates with third-party tools like Microsoft Clarity (free heatmaps) or Hotjar for session recordings. If visual UX data is your primary need, Hotjar is the better standalone choice.
What's the difference in cost for small websites?
For small websites, Matomo's free plan is significantly more generous—it offers unlimited pageviews (only limited by 6,000 device limit). Hotjar's free plan caps at 5,000 sessions/month. Matomo Cloud starts at $19/month vs. Hotjar's $39/month for paid plans, making Matomo 105% cheaper at entry level.
Hotjar is easier to set up: copy-paste a script tag and you're done in 3 minutes. Matomo Cloud also takes only 5 minutes. However, Matomo's self-hosted option (which provides full data ownership) requires 2-4 hours of server configuration. Choose based on your priority: speed (Hotjar) vs. control (Matomo self-hosted).
Can I use both Matomo and Hotjar together?
Yes, many companies use both. Matomo provides detailed analytics, traffic sources, and conversion tracking. Hotjar adds visual UX insights (heatmaps, recordings, surveys). This combination costs ~$58-80/month combined but delivers comprehensive analytics + UX data. It's a common setup for conversion optimization teams.
Deployment Model: Matomo has Self-hosted or Matomo Cloud, while Hotjar has Cloud-only SaaS.
Data Ownership & Privacy: Matomo has 100% data ownership, no third-party sharing, GDPR/CCPA compliant, while Hotjar has Data stored on Hotjar servers, requires GDPR consent.
Primary Use Case: Matomo has Website analytics, traffic sources, conversion tracking, while Hotjar has Heatmaps, session recordings, user behavior visualization.
Consider: Monthly Pageview Limit (Starter Plan)
Monthly Pageview Limit (Starter Plan): Matomo has Unlimited pageviews on free plan, while Hotjar has 5,000 sessions/month on free plan.
Heatmapping Capability: Matomo has Not included (requires third-party integration), while Hotjar has Native heatmapping with scroll, click, move tracking.
Session Recording: Matomo has Not a core feature, while Hotjar has Native session recording with 100+ recordings/month on free plan.
Setup Complexity: Matomo has Self-hosted: 2-4 hours; Cloud: 5 minutes, while Hotjar has Plug-and-play: 3 minutes.