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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Amplitude 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.

Amplitude

4.0

From First 2M events free

Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar)

4.3

From From $39/mo

Microsoft Clarity

4.3

Free to start

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Product and growth teams at apps and SaaS companies who want deep analytics and AI that spots changes for them.

Pick it if: Store owners, marketers and UX teams who want to see and hear why visitors leave, with surveys alongside the recordings.

Best value

Pick it if: Store owners and marketers who want to know why visitors aren't converting, without paying for it.

Overview

AttributeAmplitudeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)Microsoft Clarity
In one lineProduct analytics with AI agents that watch your numbers and flag changes for you.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 modelFreemiumFreemiumFree
Starting priceFirst 2M events freeFrom $39/moFree
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.

AttributeAmplitudeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)Microsoft Clarity
Overall rating4.04.34.3
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
3.0
4.5
4.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
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.
4.0
4.5
5.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeAmplitudeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)Microsoft Clarity
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app No No–
Desktop app No No No
Browser extension No 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 No No No
Understands images–– No
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations Yes No–
Learns your brand or style–– No
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score7/ 176/ 175/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeAmplitudeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)Microsoft Clarity
Plans

FreeOur pick

Free

Startups and small apps.

FreeOur pick

Free

Most small business websites.

FreeOur pick

Free

Every website and online store.

Plus

First 2M events free, then usage-based

Growing teams that need more charts and history.

Growth

From $39/mo billed yearly, or $49 monthly

Businesses that want AI summaries and longer history.

Growth

Custom

Product teams at scale.

Pro

Custom

Teams running conversion work across many sites.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies.

Which plan to pickStart on Free, which includes the AI agents and MCP. Move to Plus when you need custom events, cohorts or alerts. Growth and Enterprise are for larger product teams and need a sales call.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

AttributeAmplitudeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)Microsoft Clarity
Standout features
  • Product analytics
  • AI agents
  • Session replay and heatmaps
  • Experiments
  • Guides and surveys
  • MCP server and Claude plugin
  • Heatmaps
  • Session replay
  • Surveys and feedback
  • Funnels and journeys
  • Sense AI
  • MCP connection
  • Session recordings
  • Heatmaps
  • Copilot
  • Smart events and funnels
  • AI visibility
  • MCP server

Pros and cons

AttributeAmplitudeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)Microsoft Clarity
Pros
  • Free plan up to 2 million events
  • Strong AI agents that monitor metrics for you
  • MCP and Claude plugin on every plan
  • Covers analytics, replay, testing and surveys
  • Huge free plan at 200,000 sessions a month
  • Heatmaps, replays, funnels and surveys in one place
  • Polished, easy interface
  • AI summaries save watching hours of recordings
  • MCP connection works on the free plan
  • Completely free with no traffic or team limits
  • Session replays and heatmaps that match the paid tools
  • Copilot turns piles of recordings into plain findings
  • Easy installs for Shopify, WordPress and Tag Manager
  • MCP server for Claude
Cons
  • Steep learning curve
  • Needs tracking set up before it's useful
  • Growth and Enterprise prices aren't published
  • Overkill for simple website reporting
  • The Hotjar name is gone and new Hotjar accounts are closed
  • Overlaps with Microsoft Clarity, which is free and unlimited
  • AI features need a paid plan
  • Surveys, product analytics and replays are separate products with separate prices
  • Pro and Enterprise prices aren't published
  • Your visitor data goes to Microsoft, which some businesses won't accept
  • Recordings keep for 30 days, so you can't go back far
  • The interface is rougher than Hotjar and filters take some learning
  • Can slow a page slightly if it's already heavy with scripts

Who each one is for

AttributeAmplitudeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)Microsoft Clarity
Best for
  • Deep product analytics for apps
  • AI agents that flag metric changes
  • A free plan with up to 2 million events
  • Connecting your data to Claude through MCP
  • Seeing why visitors leave a page
  • Heatmaps and session replays
  • On-site surveys and feedback
  • Testing landing pages for ad campaigns
  • Finding checkout drop-offs
  • Watching real user sessions
  • Scroll and click heatmaps
  • Spotting broken buttons
You'll find it used by
  • Product teams
  • Growth marketers
  • Data analysts
  • Large companies
  • Store owners
  • Marketers
  • UX designers
  • Agencies
  • Store owners
  • Marketers
  • Product teams
  • Agencies

Questions people ask

Which is better, Amplitude, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) or Microsoft Clarity?

They tie on our overall rating (Amplitude 4.0/5, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) 4.3/5 and Microsoft Clarity 4.3/5). Amplitude is best for deep product analytics for apps and AI agents that flag metric changes. 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, Amplitude, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) or Microsoft Clarity?

Amplitude: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at First 2M events free. 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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