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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) vs Mixpanel vs SE Ranking

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar)

4.3

From From $39/mo

Mixpanel

4.1

From First 1M events free

SE Ranking

4.1

From $129/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best overallEasiest to use

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: Founders and product teams with an app or SaaS who want to understand which users stick around and why.

Pick it if: Small businesses, freelancers and agencies who want a full SEO toolkit with AI search tracking for less than the big names.

Overview

AttributeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)MixpanelSE Ranking
In one lineHeatmaps, session replays and surveys that show why visitors leave, with AI summaries.Product analytics where you ask questions about your users in your own words.A cheaper all-in-one SEO tool that also tracks your brand in AI search answers.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumPaid
Starting priceFrom $39/moFirst 1M events free$129/mo
Free plan Yes Yes No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)MixpanelSE Ranking
Overall rating4.3Winner4.14.1
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
3.5
4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
4.5
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.5
4.0
4.5
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.

AttributeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)MixpanelSE Ranking
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes No
Mobile app No No No
Desktop app No No No
Browser extension No No Yes
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
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–––
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations No Yes No
Learns your brand or style–––
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score6/ 177/ 176/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)MixpanelSE Ranking
Plans

FreeOur pick

Free

Most small business websites.

FreeOur pick

Free

Early-stage apps.

CoreOur pick

$129/mo, or $103.20/mo billed yearly

Small businesses and freelancers.

Growth

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

Businesses that want AI summaries and longer history.

Growth

First 1M events free, then from $140/mo ($100 billed yearly)

Growing apps that need cohorts and alerts.

Growth

$279/mo, or $223.20/mo billed yearly

Agencies and teams with many sites.

Pro

Custom

Teams running conversion work across many sites.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies.

Enterprise

Custom

Large teams.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies.

Which plan to pickStart 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.Start on Free. It covers most small apps, and you get unlimited seats. Growth makes sense when you need saved cohorts, alerts or more than a million events. Young startups should check the Startup Program, which gives a year free.Start the 14-day free trial. Core covers most small businesses and freelancers, and paying yearly saves 20%. Agencies should look at Growth plus the $69 a month Agency Pack for white-label reports and client seats.

Key features

AttributeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)MixpanelSE Ranking
Standout features
  • Heatmaps
  • Session replay
  • Surveys and feedback
  • Funnels and journeys
  • Sense AI
  • MCP connection
  • Funnels and retention
  • Mixpanel Agent
  • Session replay
  • Experiments and feature flags
  • MCP server
  • Daily rank tracking
  • Keyword and competitor research
  • Website audit
  • AI visibility
  • Content tools
  • API and MCP

Pros and cons

AttributeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)MixpanelSE Ranking
Pros
  • 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
  • Generous free plan with unlimited seats
  • Strong funnels, retention and cohorts
  • AI agent and MCP server on every plan
  • Replays, testing and flags built in
  • Much cheaper than Ahrefs or Semrush for similar features
  • AI visibility tracking on every plan
  • API and MCP access included
  • Strong white-label reports for agencies
  • 14-day trial without a card
Cons
  • 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
  • Needs tracking planned and added before it's useful
  • Pricing climbs fast past a few million events
  • Less suited to simple website traffic reports
  • Alerts and saved cohorts need Growth
  • Smaller keyword and backlink data than the biggest suites
  • Extra seats, keywords and locations cost more
  • No cheap entry plan any more
  • Deeper AI tracking in SE Visible is a separate subscription

Who each one is for

AttributeContentsquare (formerly Hotjar)MixpanelSE Ranking
Best for
  • Seeing why visitors leave a page
  • Heatmaps and session replays
  • On-site surveys and feedback
  • Testing landing pages for ad campaigns
  • Funnels and retention for apps
  • Asking questions about user behaviour in your own words
  • Comparing groups of customers
  • Teams that want unlimited seats on a free plan
  • Daily rank tracking on a budget
  • Agencies needing white-label client reports
  • Tracking your brand in AI answers alongside Google
  • All-round SEO for small businesses
You'll find it used by
  • Store owners
  • Marketers
  • UX designers
  • Agencies
  • Product teams
  • Founders
  • Growth marketers
  • SaaS companies
  • Agencies
  • Freelancers
  • Small businesses
  • In-house marketers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar), Mixpanel or SE Ranking?

Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) scores highest overall in our ratings (Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) 4.3/5, Mixpanel 4.1/5 and SE Ranking 4.1/5). Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) is best for seeing why visitors leave a page and heatmaps and session replays. Mixpanel is best for funnels and retention for apps and asking questions about user behaviour in your own words. SE Ranking is best for daily rank tracking on a budget and agencies needing white-label client reports.

Which is cheaper, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar), Mixpanel or SE Ranking?

Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar): There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $39/mo. Mixpanel: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at First 1M events free. SE Ranking: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $129/mo.

Which is easier to use, Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar), Mixpanel or SE Ranking?

Contentsquare (formerly Hotjar) rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Store owners, marketers and UX teams who want to see and hear why visitors leave, with surveys alongside the recordings.

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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