Hotjar vs Fathom: Analytics Comparison (2026)

An independent side-by-side comparison of Hotjar and Fathom for analytics buyers — pricing, features, integrations, and how often each is cited by major AI engines.

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.

Hotjar leads overall19% cited vs Fathom 7% across 108 probes.
ChatGPT
HotjarLeads
3 / 12 probes
25%
Average
Fathom
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Perplexity
HotjarLeads
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Fathom
0 / 12 probes
0%
Invisible
Gemini
HotjarLeads
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Fathom
0 / 12 probes
0%
Invisible
Claude
Hotjar
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Fathom
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Copilot
HotjarLeads
1 / 6 probes
17%
Average
Fathom
0 / 6 probes
0%
Invisible
Scale:NoneLowFairStrongExcellent

Probes run hourly; each (engine × query) combo retests every ~3 days.

Pricing

Hotjar
Starting price
€0
Free tier
Yes
hotjar.com
Fathom
Starting price
$15/month
Free tier
usefathom.com

Key Features

Hotjar
  • 200k monthly sessions
  • 1 project
  • Replays, Heatmaps + Funnels
  • Basic surveys
  • Error & performance monitoring
Fathom
  • Up to 50 sites included
  • Ecommerce/event tracking included
  • Easy integration with all CMSs/frameworks
  • API access
  • Forever data retention
  • 100% data ownership
  • No cookie banners required
  • Unlimited email reports

When to choose Hotjar

Choose Hotjar if your team prioritizes its strengths over Fathom's. Full guidance populates as Hotjar's feature data is indexed.

When to choose Fathom

Choose Fathom if your team prioritizes its strengths over Hotjar's. Full guidance populates as Fathom's feature data is indexed.

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