FullStory vs Hotjar: Analytics Comparison (2026)
FullStory and Hotjar both offer free tiers for analytics with session replay capabilities. FullStory provides 30,000 monthly sessions and 12 months of data retention, along with debugging tools and core capabilities for 10 users. Hotjar offers a higher session count of 200,000 monthly sessions, but for a single project, and includes heatmaps, funnels, basic surveys, and error/performance monitoring.
AI Citation Scorecard
How often each is cited by major AI engines when buyers ask analytics questions. Last 90 days across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot.
Probes run hourly; each (engine × query) combo retests every ~3 days.
Pricing
Key Features
- ✓30,000 monthly sessions
- ✓12 months of analytics retention
- ✓Session Replay
- ✓Basic analytics
- ✓Debugging tools
- ✓Core capabilities for 10 users
- ✓200k monthly sessions
- ✓1 project
- ✓Replays, Heatmaps + Funnels
- ✓Basic surveys
- ✓Error & performance monitoring
When to choose FullStory
FullStory is suitable for users who need 12 months of analytics data retention, debugging tools, and core features for up to 10 users, with a limit of 30,000 monthly sessions in its free tier. It also offers integrations like Data Ecosystem, Webhooks, Data Export, Consent API, FS.Identity API, and Element API.
When to choose Hotjar
Hotjar is a good option for users who require a higher volume of monthly sessions (200,000) for one project, and features such as heatmaps, funnels, basic surveys, and error/performance monitoring. Its integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zapier, HubSpot, and Google Analytics.