Hotjar vs Microsoft Clarity after the Contentsquare switch

Prices checked October 2026.

The short answer

Install Clarity first. It's free, records without a traffic cap, and covers what most Shopify stores open a heatmap tool for. You can't sign up for Hotjar anymore: new users go to Contentsquare, which owns it, so that's the real paid option here. Pay for it when you need on-site surveys, a year of replays, or an AI agent that can ask more than 10 questions a day.

Pick Clarity if…

• You want it free at any traffic. No paid tier, no sampling, up to 100,000 recorded sessions per project a day (Microsoft Learn).
• You buy Google or Microsoft Ads. Clarity puts impressions, CTR, CPC and CPA next to the recordings (Clarity blog).
• You want purchases inside the tool. Clarity's Purchases view only works on Shopify sites, and checkout abandonment only on Shopify Plus (Microsoft Learn).
• You mostly look at the last few weeks. Replays are kept 30 days, heatmaps 9 months.

Pick Hotjar (Contentsquare) if…

• You want surveys next to the replays. Clarity has none built in. Contentsquare's free plan includes basic surveys with 100 responses a month (pricing).
• You compare this quarter with last year. Growth keeps 13 months of data.
• Your AI agent does the digging. 300 MCP tool calls a month on Free and 36k a year on Growth, against Clarity's 10 requests a day.
• You're already a Hotjar customer. Your tracking code keeps working and your sites carry over, so staying is the least work.

What happened to Hotjar

Hotjar still runs for the people who had it. Nobody new can join. "It's no longer possible to create a new account on Hotjar," says Contentsquare (Contentsquare), and hotjar.com/pricing now redirects to Contentsquare's pricing page.

Existing accounts get 30 days' notice, then switch to Contentsquare Growth at the next renewal unless the account owner opts out. The Hotjar tracking code keeps sending data to Contentsquare. As of October 2026, the old Hotjar account then stays read-only for 12 months before it's deleted with its data (Contentsquare). Hotjar plans kept recordings and heatmaps for 365 days (Hotjar help), so export what you need before that window closes.

If the move is your cue to look wider, our list of Hotjar alternatives compares six more tools. Smartlook users have a harder deadline, covered in what to move to before Smartlook shuts.

From here on, "Hotjar" means Contentsquare.

Where they differ

Price and caps

Clarity is free forever with no traffic limits (Microsoft Learn). Contentsquare's free plan counts up to 200k sessions a month but records replays for only 5% of them, capped at 10k. Growth costs $39 a month billed yearly or $49 monthly from 7k sessions, and records 15% (pricing). Through the Shopify app, Growth runs from $49 a month for 7k sessions to $409 for 100k (Shopify App Store).

Recordings and heatmaps

Both cover the basics. Clarity draws click, scroll and conversion maps, each from up to 100,000 page views, and scroll maps stop at pages 65,535 pixels tall (Microsoft Learn). Contentsquare Growth adds zone-based heatmaps, journey analysis and impact quantification, which estimates how a behavior or an error affects conversions and revenue (Contentsquare).

The gap that matters most is history. Clarity keeps replays 30 days (Microsoft Learn). Contentsquare keeps 1 month on Free and 13 on Growth.

Surveys and feedback

This was Hotjar's strength, and it carried over. Contentsquare includes surveys on every plan: 100 responses a month free, 500 to 100k on Growth. Clarity has no survey tool. Microsoft's own blog pairs it with UserFeedback, a survey plugin for WordPress (Clarity blog), so on Shopify you'd add a separate survey app.

AI and MCP

Clarity's Copilot is free: chat with your data, summaries of one session or a group of them, heatmap summaries across devices, and ad campaign insights (Microsoft Learn). On Contentsquare, Sense chat and replay and heatmap summaries start at Growth. Free gets the MCP only.

For an outside agent like Claude, the gap is bigger. Clarity's MCP runs on its data export API: 10 requests per project a day, the last 1 to 3 days only, 1,000 rows, no pagination (Microsoft Learn). Contentsquare allows 300 tool calls a month on Free and 36k a year on Growth, and only calls that return analytics data count. Its write permission exists but no tool uses it yet (Contentsquare support). If 10 a day is what's holding you back, Microsoft Clarity alternatives compares the other budgets.

Shopify install

Both install from the Shopify App Store. Clarity's free app is rated 4.6 from 2,396 reviews (Shopify App Store). Contentsquare's launched in December 2025 and had no reviews when we checked (Shopify App Store). One Clarity gotcha: a theme change can remove its script, so check it after every redesign (Microsoft Learn). Heatmaps of the checkout itself depend on Shopify Plus whichever tool you pick, which we explain in the best heatmap tools for Shopify.

Consent and privacy

Since October 31, 2025, Clarity enforces consent for visits from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. Without a valid signal it sets no cookies there and collects cookieless data only, so replays and funnels for those visitors may be limited (Microsoft Learn). On Shopify, turning on Shopify's own cookie banner is enough: Clarity picks up the signal (Microsoft Learn).

Contentsquare argues its first-party analytics cookies should be exempt from prior consent, while noting that Germany, Spain and the UK don't grant that exemption (Contentsquare). If you sell into Europe, put either tool behind your banner.

Where Anry fits

Both tools show what visitors did on a page. Neither reads what your Meta ads cost, so neither can say which Meta campaign paid for the visitors who left. Anry follows each Meta or Google click to the visit and the order, prices each leak in your store's own orders, and has its own replays and heatmaps. On a Meta campaign we ran for anry.io, Meta counted 460 landing page views at A$0.27 each, while Anry showed about 98% of those visits never scrolled or tapped, nearly all from Instagram Reels and Stories. If you don't buy traffic, Clarity is enough.

Frequently asked questions

Is Microsoft Clarity better than Hotjar?

For most Shopify stores, yes, because it's free and records without a cap. Hotjar, now Contentsquare, wins on surveys, history (13 months on Growth) and room for AI agents.

Can I still sign up for Hotjar?

No. New users are sent to Contentsquare's free plan, and hotjar.com/pricing redirects there. Existing Hotjar accounts move to Contentsquare Growth unless the owner opts out.

Is Hotjar free?

Its successor has a free plan: 200k sessions a month with replays for 5% of them (up to 10k), 1 month of data and 100 survey responses. Clarity is free without those limits.

Does Microsoft Clarity track Shopify purchases?

Yes. Clarity's Purchases view works on Shopify sites, and checkout abandonment is available on Shopify Plus stores only.

Which one works with Claude?

Both have an MCP server. Clarity's allows 10 requests per project a day over the last 3 days of data. Contentsquare's allows 300 tool calls a month on Free and 36k a year on Growth.

Does Microsoft Clarity need cookie consent?

For visitors from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, yes, since October 31, 2025. Without consent it sets no cookies for them. On Shopify, enabling Shopify's cookie banner passes the signal to Clarity.

Sources

• Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare and Hotjar migration details, Contentsquare, checked October 2026
• How long does Hotjar keep my data?, Hotjar Help Center
• Contentsquare pricing, MCP setup and tool call limits, impact quantification and analytics cookie consent, checked October 2026
• Contentsquare Analytics and Microsoft Clarity on the Shopify App Store, checked October 2026
• Clarity FAQ, data retention, heatmaps features, Copilot, Data Export API, consent management and consent on third-party platforms, Microsoft Learn
• Clarity MCP server, GitHub, and Clarity Google Ads integration, Clarity blog
• Clarity and UserFeedback, Clarity blog