Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics
Ahrefs vs Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) vs Microsoft Clarity
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Marketers and business owners who want to see what competitors rank for and find keywords worth chasing.
Pick it if: Store owners, marketers and UX teams who want to see and hear why visitors leave, with surveys alongside the recordings.
Pick it if: Store owners and marketers who want to know why visitors aren't converting, without paying for it.
Ahrefs scores highest overall, but Microsoft Clarity gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Keyword research, backlink checks and site audits in one toolkit. | Heatmaps, session replays and surveys that show why visitors leave, with AI summaries. | Free heatmaps and session replays that show where visitors get stuck. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Free |
| Starting price | $29/mo | From $39/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.4Winner | 4.3 | 4.3 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | No | – |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | No | No |
| Understands images | No | – | No |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | No | – |
| Learns your brand or style | No | – | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 6/ 17 | 5/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Ahrefs Free Free Checking the health and backlinks of a site you own. | FreeOur pick Free Most small business websites. | FreeOur pick Free Every website and online store. |
Starter $29/mo Occasional keyword research on a tight budget. | Growth From $39/mo billed yearly, or $49 monthly Businesses that want AI summaries and longer history. | ||
LiteOur pick $129/mo A business doing its own SEO seriously. | Pro Custom Teams running conversion work across many sites. | ||
Standard $249/mo Freelancers and small agencies. | Enterprise Custom Large companies. | ||
Advanced $449/mo Agencies and in-house teams with many sites. | |||
Enterprise $1,499/mo billed yearly Large companies that need SSO and unlimited data. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Start on Ahrefs Free to audit your own site. If you want to research competitors and keywords every week, go straight to Lite; the Starter plan's credits run out too quickly to be useful for more than the odd lookup. Each plan includes one user, and extra seats cost $40 to $80 a month. | Start on Free. For most small sites it does what Hotjar's paid plans used to. Take the 15-day Growth trial to see if the AI summaries save you time before paying. Survey responses are a separate product with their own Growth plan from $79 a month. | There's one plan and it's free. Microsoft says it's free forever with no traffic limits. Install the tracking code through Shopify, WordPress or Google Tag Manager and it starts recording within minutes. |
Key features
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Ahrefs | Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) | Microsoft Clarity |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Ahrefs, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) or Microsoft Clarity?
Ahrefs scores highest overall in our ratings (Ahrefs 4.4/5, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) 4.3/5 and Microsoft Clarity 4.3/5). Ahrefs is best for keyword research and competitor traffic estimates. Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) is best for seeing why visitors leave a page and heatmaps and session replays. Microsoft Clarity is best for finding checkout drop-offs and watching real user sessions.
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) or Microsoft Clarity?
Ahrefs: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $29/mo. Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar): There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $39/mo. Microsoft Clarity: It's free to use.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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