Plausible vs Hotjar: Analytics Comparison (2026)

An independent side-by-side comparison of Plausible and Hotjar 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 Plausible 13% across 108 probes.
ChatGPT
Plausible
3 / 12 probes
25%
Average
Hotjar
3 / 12 probes
25%
Average
Perplexity
Plausible
0 / 12 probes
0%
Invisible
HotjarLeads
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Gemini
Plausible
0 / 12 probes
0%
Invisible
HotjarLeads
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Claude
PlausibleLeads
3 / 12 probes
25%
Average
Hotjar
2 / 12 probes
17%
Average
Copilot
Plausible
1 / 6 probes
17%
Average
Hotjar
1 / 6 probes
17%
Average
Scale:NoneLowFairStrongExcellent

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

Pricing

Plausible
Starting price
$9/month
Free tier
Yes
plausible.io
Hotjar
Starting price
€0
Free tier
Yes
hotjar.com

Key Features

Plausible
  • Privacy-focused web analytics
  • Real-time dashboard
  • Codeless goals tracking
  • Custom events tracking
  • Automatic scroll depth tracking
  • Built-in bot filtering
  • API access
  • Team management
Hotjar
  • 200k monthly sessions
  • 1 project
  • Replays, Heatmaps + Funnels
  • Basic surveys
  • Error & performance monitoring

When to choose Plausible

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

When to choose Hotjar

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

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